V-22 Osprey Military Aircraft Out of Popsicle Sticks

This is a miniature V-22 Osprey military aircraft made from Popsicle sticks. This is a great thing to put on display or add to your collection if you have one. Hope you enjoy. :)

1.Ruler

2.Jumbo Popsicle sticks

3.Gray acrylic paint

4.Black acrylic paint

5.1-1.5mm wire

6.Hobby knife

7.Wood glue

8.Super glue

9.Pin vise hand drill

10.Wire cutters

11.Paint brushes

12.Masking tape

13.Sand paper

14.Close pins (or some sort of clamp)

15.Pencil

16.Protractor

17. (Optional) a 3D printer

18. The template (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/52/10/62/5210626139cc756fd3bde92762f31bef.gif)

I use wood glue to glue wood to wood and super glue to glue the wire to wood (unless specified other wise).

I printed out two sheets of the templates both at 45% but you can do whatever size you want. I cut out the shapes you can see in the photo with and hobby knife and ruler and grabbed a couple popsicle sticks. (You're going to need to refer to this photo for template numbers.)

I used template1 (refer to original template photo) to cut out seven pieces(pic.1)(there's only six in the photo but a added an extra one later)and then used wood glue and glued them together. Once I had clamped them for a little bit I traced template2(pic.2) on top and sanded the edges(pic.3).

Next use template3(pic.1) and cut out six of those pieces(pic.2) (three for each side, pic.3) and glued one on each side (pic.4) and stacked the rest on top(pic.5). Then round all the sides(pic.6,7,8,9) and move on to the next step.

Cut out one template4(pic.1) and two template5's(pic.2). Sand the edges to form a nice airfoil shape(pics.3,4) and your also going to want to sand the two ends of the back wing(pic.5) to match the shape of the tail pieces. If you want you can cut a line along the back wing to look like a flap(pic.5). Lastly glue the back wing onto the main body and the two tail pieces onto the wing(pics.6,7). Make sure the two tail pieces are slightly farther up than the wing(pic.6).

Cut out two template6 pieces(pic.1) and glue them together. Sand the wing into an airfoil(pic.2) and then drill one hole in the center of each end of the wing big enough to fit the wire your using(pic.3).

Take template7 and cut six of those pieces out(pic.1), glue together three for each side(pic.2) and sand the edges(pic.2). [(Optional)Then drill a hole all the way through the center of each piece(pic.3)]. Drill a hole on the top/front but not all the way through(pic.4,5).

(I didn't use the template for the blades but you can if you want).Each propeller blade is 0.8 inches long plus two have a little "tab" at the end of two of them(pic.1).

A. Make three blades for each propeller two without tabs and one with(pic.5).

B. You're then going to want to sand the edges of the propeller to give it a nice angle(pic.2)(The pencil line indicates the angle of the blade). Make sure you have three angled to the right, two without tabs and one with a tab and same for left.

C. Next use a protractor to draw three lines 120 degrees apart for the placement of the blades(pic.3).

D. Angle the tabs on the two blades as shown in pic.4 and then glue the blades together(pic.5,6).

Remember three angled to the right get glued together, two blades without tabs and one blade with a tab and three angled to the left get glued together, two blades without tabs and one blade with a tab.

E. Lastly drill a hole in the center of the blades(pic.7)(you might need two use super glue to reinforce them).

If you don't have a 3D printer you can just skip this step or make it out of something else. I 3D printed a little piece to go on top of the propeller(pic.1,2). The piece was so small that the 3D printer just printed over the hole so I had to drill a new hole in it and then I a sanded the sides at an angle(pic.3).

A. Sand a little curve on the top of the main body for the front wing and glue them together(pic.1). Sand a popsicle stick and get a pile of sawdust(pic.2) to mix with a drop of wood glue to fill the gaps around the wing(pic.3,4).

B. I started painting the main body but realized I needed to fill some more gaps(pic.5)

C. Make sure everything is nicely sanded and then paint everything as shown in pic.6

D. Next take a pencil and trace the lines for the cockpit windows based on the template(pic.7)

E. Cut about a 1mm strip of masking tape and tape over the lines(pic.8)

F. Paint it black(pic.9), let it dry for a little bit and remove the tape(pic.10)(If you're like me you're gonna need to do a little touch up)

G. Glue pins into the holes on the front wing, attach the "motors"(pic.11) and glue pins into the holes on the "motors"(pic.12). I covered the holes on the side of the "motors" with paint

H. Lastly put the propellers onto the pins, cut the pins to length, glue on the end caps(pic.13) and paint over the end(pic.14,15) [If you didn't make any end caps you can just add a drop of super glue to the end of the pin]

I hope you enjoyed making this as much as I did. I'd love to see a picture if you made this. :)