the ice crystal...
... searched for a long time and then it happened very quickly....
For a long time ... after I had seen pictures on the DC Baar homepage ... the desire to build this magnificent kite grew.
Then in October 2015 things happened very quickly. A question in the kite forum who knows the kite or where to get a blueprint led within a few days to the blueprint and ultimately to this magnificent kite.
At this point a big THANK YOU to the designer Armin Krauss.
With this kite I would like to show you how I built it... it is the first kite that I sewed myself on the sewing machine. Sabine sewed all the others. So I first had to learn how to sew. But I'm slowly getting better at it.
But first 2 pictures of the finished kite to whet your appetite :-)
The pictures were taken during the maiden flight in Harscheid / Eifel
But now from the beginning....
After the material for the construction has arrived, I have had my first experiences with the sewing machine and I have also found the time to do so, the ice crystal will be the first dragon that I have to build without my Sabine.... she is now safely watching from above about her sewing machine. She also lost the fight against cancer 7 months ago... so the ice crystal will also be a piece of therapy for me to direct my thoughts to something beautiful.... she will certainly be with me on the meadow when he will rise into the blue sky for the first time.
Since I didn't know exactly how to do the coloring, I create a small paper model on a scale of 1:10...
first cut out the wings and glue them to bamboo sticks...
Now, for lack of a DIN A3 printer or plotter, I have constructed the template for drawing....
with a 2mm carbon fiber rod I was able to draw the "curves" of the wings very well...
Next I drew the colored "bananas" and cut them out.... 16 each of yellow, light green and green...
Then it was time to make the Dacron reinforcements for the wing corners and the center reinforcement from white Dacron....
Next I will have to cut the hem tapes to length 24 times in white and 24 times in green and then pre-fold with the iron....
then it's finally time to start sewing.
then build the model together and color the "bananas".... as a connector I drilled a piece of hot glue ammo.... is nice and flexible and holds the individual sails together...
The Dacron reinforcements and the "bananas" are still drawn in....
Then cut the 12 wings out of white cloth... I don't use a heat cutter or soldering iron, just simple scissors....
the edges are always edged with hem tape. I prefer the hem tape to a spinnaker tape. I like the look better.
You can see the green in the picture with the model.
I then cut the connecting cords for the sails to length...
... hmmm so a pin helps to hold the band a bit here... Caution Iron is hot and causes pain if you get too close to your fingers...
Now all the parts are ready and I was able to attach the Dacron reinforcements to the first sail... I tried to hold the Dacron with painter's tape where possible....
the bridles to tighten the sails had to be sewn on.... whoa, I didn't think it would be that difficult to sew a string onto a piece of fabric....
I found a solution tonight for my problem with sewing the bridle line onto the Dacron Well, not quite as nice as the profiles make it, but you can look at it....
First of all I have to apologize for the quality of the pictures.... somehow I don't have it with my eyes at night asleep... but you can see that the possibility works.....
Glue the scale cord with thin masking tape and press it on very well, then you can see it clearly when sewing.....
well straight seams I have to practice a bit...... but it will.
Then came the moment when it was the turn of the "bananas"... phew, they have to be sewn on the front and back CONVERTLY... hmm thought about it for a long time and then did tests on the spinnaker residue with a prit pen... sticks so that I could sew, there was nothing negative to see in the light, so get to the bacon or the "bananas"
here are the dark green parts:
The ice crystal is slowly thriving and I hope to bring it to the sky this year..
and so the rest of the wings are glued on the front and back.... I'll do the other 6 parts as soon as the wings are finished. because I also have to pay attention to the colors there.
and so the rest of the wings are glued on the front and back.... I'll do the other 6 parts as soon as the wings are finished. because I also have to pay attention to the colors there.
the virus runs deep... I just can't sit quietly on the sofa on Sunday evening when the parts are lying around here and the sewing machine on the dining table peeks around the corner.... so I sat down again and sewed the "bananas" and with the first wings made the lower hem edge.... since I use satin bias binding, there is no problem with the curves either.....
nicely attached with pins according to old fathers custom ....
and with a zigzag stitch onto the cloth...
Think the result can be seen. The lower loop for the cable ties is already sewn up....
the first wing is finished :... the white hem tape is on and the rod pockets are sewn and the rod also goes through
Here is a picture of the corner of the wing with the bridles for tightening
After sewing, check whether the rod still goes through and remove the painter's tape.... fits
And this is what the whole thing looks like... enough space to tension the sail, with a cable tie on the connector at the bottom and a rubber cord on the arrow nock at the top
finished the wings today. Then the arrangement of the colors of the "bananas" was determined for the 3 lower parts and 3 upper parts.... I numbered the sails on the model, then it was quite easy. Transfer the numbers to the real sails so that I know later how to sew them together.
here is a picture with the colors for the 3 upper and 3 lower sails.
the "bananas" are already sewn on and the green hem band is already on the first ones....
the sails are also numbered ..... something is slowly happening with the ice crystal
first finished the 2 upper and 3 lower sails and then sewed them together....
Then drilled the distributor disc with a 6mm drill.... and filed the notch for the balance cord in the center hole.....
Attention:
here it is not noted in the instructions that if you have sewn the cord to the back of the sails, then you have to make the notch in the FRONT of the hole, otherwise the upper and lower wings will twist very ugly....
Then came the exciting moment: the poles were put together and the sails pushed open.... well not tightened and adjusted, but you can already see what it's going to be like and how it's going to be
Built a little further and apart from the stabilization ring and the scales it is complete
Here's a look at the connector in the middle:
and the colors:
white for the ice crystal and the green, light green and yellow for the coming spring.... the prospect that it will be nicer and warmer again.
And for me personally the prospect of meeting my Sabine again when I climb up into the kite sky and then look at the kites from above....
but until then I'll fly my kites and then I'll be a little closer to her. Long may they fly... my kites.
made the stabilization ring and the clips today.....
blackened the sleeves with shrink tubing and adjusted the diameter of the rod to the inner diameter of the sleeve... hope it will hold.
this makes the ice crystal more stable.
Now I just have to rework the ease of movement of the center disc, as described by Armin... so that the sails can be tensioned better.
Successful maiden flight
Well, after it was glorious weather this morning with decent, even wind, I was looking forward to this afternoon...
then packed the kite.... if you do it sensibly, apart from the thin rods for the ring, you don't have to remove a single rod and on the windy way the assembly is very quick.... Kudos to the designer
Then set it up on the meadow and tested it where the bight knot for the line has to be on the scales..... there is very little scope from flying great to always flying.... but then I found the point for my crystal and tied the line ....
Since the wind was getting gusty, I just released him into the air and he willingly pulled on the leash...
At first he just wanted to fly a flat line angle, but then he plucked up all the courage and climbed higher... :
here are a few pictures from below.... garnet so easily when you are alone on the meadow and the wind changes from 0 to way too much and you also have to work on the kite so that it stays up and you then take a picture want......
When he then took 3/4 off the leash, it started to rain lightly and I imagined that Sabine shed tears of joy from above...
Yes, it was a very special moment, the first kite without her and then he flies on the maiden flight....
And one thing I know for sure, it hasn't been seen for the last time over the heights of the Eifel.... will always carry it in the kite bag to have.
Whenever the opportunity arises, you will see the green/yellow ice crystal over the meadow when the Indian is there.
So here's another picture when I took it to the meadow because of the rain to pack it up and set it up again in the living room to dry.
ps today my laundry list came, sewn on the bag directly during the lunch break .....
It takes a rusty nail in the head to do that
Today, September 25, 2016, with a steel blue sky and warm weather, the ice crystal was allowed to fly again over the heights of the Eifel.
a look through the crystal at our Eifel village
Kite Festival Malmsheim October 8th and 9th, 2016 It was a meeting of 7 ice crystals and with Armin Krauß, the designer of the kite. It was fun even if there was no wind. But we were able to share our experiences and take a group photo.
Halde Northern Germany on October 16, 2016 It was a beautiful autumn Sunday among friends. After I had time to implement Armin's tips and suggestions, I was able to release the ice crystal on the coal heap into the steel-blue sky of the Lower Rhine and it flew excellently.
First build the crystal and look after the careful tensioning.
Now the stabilizing ring for the wings must be attached. But be careful, a 2 mm CFRP rod breaks quickly.
Final visual check to see if everything is properly seated and tensioned.
Libra checked again for the wind conditions - everything was fine
The crystal can easily be launched by hand - use gloves, the line can burn your fingers badly.
Well, here I am to see how I released the crystal into the autumn sky.
Just a wonderful sight and with such bright colors in the autumn sky, if that isn't an advertisement for our beautiful hobby, is it?
He stands like a one next to Herbert's Genki. A beautiful sight, with some strollers stopping to look at the crystal.
Then on April 27, 17 I was able to fly the ice crystal in Heidkate on the Baltic Sea near Kiel together with friends. It was a very nice evening and we had a lot of fun together. Nice if you can also meet friends in the north.
If you would like to build this wonderful kite, you can send an e-mail to Armin via the kite forum....