Winter 2006 - Northern Kite Group

panels from the original printout (now mounted on card) and used them to produce another set oftemplates with an allowance for the simple overlap seam where the panels are joined together. I usedabout 8mm on each edge, which turns out to be about twice as much as is really needed, but provides auseful margin of error for beginners. My latest project is a Nazko, which is a similar but larger sportkite, and the seam allowance for that is 4mm on each edge, giving an overlap of 8mm which has provedto be ample. These templates with hem allowance are the ones that will be used to cut out the sail fabricand are probably the only ones that really need to be mounted on card. I also copied the orientationmarkings from the original printout to the working templates.The SailI cut out the sail panels from ripstop nylon using a hot soldering iron and making sure that I laid thetemplate on the fabric with the threads going the right way. It is important to do this because fabricstretches differently depending on whether it is being pulled in line with the threads or on the bias. Thedesign calls for simple glued and 3-step zig-zag stitched overlap seams. This is a very simpleconstruction that is used in many of the top commercial stunt kites. I used miracle tape, which is a kindof double-sided sticky tape that is designed specifically for sewing through, for my first Virus.Unfortunately Miracle Tape is also quite expensive at about 50p/metre and cheaper double-sided tapescan gum up the sewing needle, so I experimented with using heavy-duty Pritt stick adhesive on numbertwo. Pritt works quite well on ordinary ripstop nylon or Icarex polyester but one of the fabrics that I wasusing for both viruses (because it is a striking yellow) had an unusually slippery coating that resistedmost efforts to stick it.One thing to bear in mind is that you will be making two half sails that are mirror images of each otherbut you will be using the same half-sail outline to position the panels. This means that if you want yourkite to stand up to close scrutiny you have to make the panels overlap in the opposite way on the secondhalf to the way they overlapped on the first. I found the sewing to be quite straightforward, apart fromthe slippery fabric problem. Every time you start and stop sewing seams it leaves loose threads so I triedto arrange to do as much continuous sewing as possible on each trip to the sewing machine. The Virusdoesn't seem to be designed with seam continuity in mind but the Nazko that I have just completed,which is a later design, has a clever sail pattern that uses seven panels for each wing but involves onlythree seams and no sharp corners.Construction detailsThe websites listed at the end ofthis article will describe the detailedconstruction but there are still areaswhere you will have to make it upas you go along. For instance, Iwas unable to obtain Mylarlaminate for strengthening key areasof the kite so I used Dacron leadingedge material and extra layers ofripstop nylon as I thought fit.I have now made two Viruses and there are some areas that became much easier on the second one.Perhaps the most startling improvement in ease of construction was with the attachment of the leadingedge tunnels. These are made from 50mm Dacron tape that has been creased along its length by foldingit and running the fold over the edge of a table. On my first Virus I went to considerable trouble to gluethe Dacron in place before sewing and ended up using superglue (cyanoacrylic) because there wasnothibng else that would hold the stiff Dacron fabric in place. Before I made my second Virus I read an14Picture courtesy of Stuart Baldwin