I only guess that everyone would like to ask a question: “Does it fly?”. Just in case if anyone does – I haven’t tried. It could and probably would fall down, leaving scratches on the painted surface. It would be also too dangerous for anyone around. It wasn’t my intention to build a weapon, I wanted to make something that I used to make every day when I was a little boy. Only this time I used more advanced material. Childhood memories and the beauty of flying – that’s all this project is about. Recalling happy memories – one of the functions and purposes of art was used in this project, not to mention the idea of upcycling things!
The project was started by scoring a couple of lines on the metal ridge capping sheet I had. I used tin snips to cut along the lines and eased all sharp edges with a file. I needed a safe workpiece and not something I could chop my fingers with. Safety first, right? The metal sheet was quite pliable and it bent easily. I used a regular hammer (and not a rubber mallet) when it came to shaping the tip.
I didn’t like the angle at which the plane was sitting on the bench, so I cut off 2 corners. It looked better, but I still had to remove a wedge from its tail. I wanted 3 points of contact with the bench rather than a long line. Once I was happy with its shape, I filed and sanded the edges smooth and removed the protective film.
I liked its top colour and used spray paint to cover the bottom black as well. I applied the paint to the edges and the front too, turning the original glossy surface into a matt layer. The paint dried fast and I could display the plane the same afternoon. It’s not exactly light and not white like a sheet of paper, technically it doesn’t have any features of a paper plane except for the shape. It’s not that fragile, however, and it’s waterproof – metal wins.
