Quest for the Flying Dragon

On special request following one of the comments on my last instructable ( Bird out of the box) I designed a dragon with flapping wings and up and down bobbing head an tail. And all that from waste carton and cardboard. Simple materials, simple techniques, but with great effect. Enjoyable to build as well as to play with when it is finished.

Materials:

a (used) cardboard box

Leftover carton from groceries

Iron wire approx. 2,7 mm, 1,3 mm and 0,9 mm thick

Tools:

hot glue gun

round and flat pliers

paper knife

pair of scissors

optional: a hole punch for the eyes

two attached PDF files

Cut 3 squares from the cardboard, 7 x7 cm in size. When you are used to inches 2.5 or 3 will be OK. Two of the squares should be reinforced with a little cardboard square in the middle. When the glue has set draw the diagonals to find the center and punch a hole. I used a big needle, but an owl or nail will do the job too.

Before constructing the box, the wire mechanism should be made first. Start with thick wire ( 2,7 mm) of about 22 cm. bend it as the photos show.

Use the not reinforced square cardboard as base. With a gluegun place one reinforced square on the left side on top of the bottom part. Then place the wire crank and glue the right side on the bottom.This stage is vulnerable so ad the backside to make sturdy . This part in not exactly square. Its 7x7.3 cm ( 7 cm plus cardboard thickness). It is glued against the first three squares. Do the same with backside . Then we need the extra piece of wire support animal ( see PDF step 2). hold it in place against the backside and glue in place with an extra piece of cardboard.

The lid looks a bit complex but it is not that difficult. There are four slits made. Two along both sides of approx. 2 cm, and two smaller ones, one in front, one in the back. Make them wide enough to let the wires move through without friction. You will experience that the body-support wire is in the way, so make tiny slits to allow that to pass trough the lid.

Cut out all dragon parts from the pdf ( bodyparts) from the supply list above. Copy all parts in groceries carton. Look for carton in desired colour. Take notice of the fact that body, neck, head and toes are made from a folded double piece of carton. All wing parts are made twice in a upper colour ( I used green) and twice in a underside colour ( I used yellow). glue the smaller piece of the head ( nose) on the bigger part. Punch holes for eyes

Take on colour of wingparts and arrange them upside down in the right position. Bend U shapes of thin (0.9mm) wire. You can use the wire PDF in the supplies list. Glue the wire between upper and under wing parts. Make O shapes on the ends. Connect the O shape of the wingtips with the middle part of the U in the center wing shapes

make a little cut in the thick side of the leg and glue sides over each other to make the leg three-dimensional.The leg pieces are folded lengthwise and after that folded in the middle to form a heel.( on the back leg of a mammal or reptile this is not a knee bending backwards, it is a heel) The legs are glued onto the body on both sides. The feet reveal a bit of my origami background. start with the long center toe. A folded strip of carton with pointy ends. Place your thumb inside the fold in the middle and with your other hand press the sides of the toe together. With this hand press the carton downward a little, then take out your thumb and press the whole toe flat.( see the video) You made one bend in the toe. Make two bends on all toes.

Glue one short toe on each side of the longer one, so it looks like a bird foot, three toes forward, one at the back. glue the feet to the end of the leg.

The connection between head and neck, neck and body, and body and tail are made by punching holes and threading a small piece of wire through ( 0.9mm). With some round pliers bend rings on both ends of the wire. Make sure the connection can move easily and is not to tight. There are some thing to take in mind. The head goes over the neck. The neck sides go over the body.The two side of the tail are glued together from the tip to the middle. The broader part is placed on each side of the body.

Punch holes in the body. thread a piece of thin wire trough and bend rings on either side. Do this very loosely, because the sides of the body will be widened when placing the body on the cube. Hook up the wings into the rings and make sure the wings can move freely.

Fold a strip of carton and cut it in little pieces on an angle. Glue the chevron shapes over the neck, body and tail. Make sure they do not hinder the movement.

Place the body of the dragon over the body-supporting wire on the cube. Glue some pieces of carton on the inside of the body over the wire to secure it. Set the crank in a position so the wing wires are at their highest point. Flap the wings up and glue the wire to the wingtip by covering it with a piece of carton. Then bend the wingtip horizontal.Proceed with the wing on the other side. Thread the head wire through a hole in the nose of the dragon and bend the wire. Experiment with the movement and adjust the lenght of the head wire. When satisfied bend it in a O shape and cut the rest of the wire. Repeat with the tail in the same way.

Then be proud,your quest is fulfilled. Turn the handle, and let the dragon fly.