Miniature Kite Tips

Building Tips

There are thousands of great ideas surrounding the construction and flight adjustments for indoor models. Here are a few.

General Tips

Use smaller or thinner spars to build a lighter kite.

Use the lightest covering materials.

Use tweezers to place spars instead of using your fingers

Use a "jig" to help you build with the correct angles

If you use tissue paper, iron it flat.

Christmas tinsel works well for tails.

Use Ambroid, Testor's cement or Duco cement because they are very lightweight. For most kites small amounts of white glue are just fine.

Use very little cement. For most miniature kites a drop is too much. Use a toothpick to apply small spots of cement.

If you're using film, use spray adhesive to attach the film to the kite frame

Be very careful handling razor knives or razor blades.

Avoid touching the kite so that it does not get creased, folded, dirty or broken.

Store your completed kite in a box that does not contain other objects that might crush the kite.

Recommended tools: scissors, tweezers, ruler, toothpick, markers.

Flying Tips

Fly the kite indoors by walking

As you walk with the kite, and try varying your speed to see how the kite reacts

As you walk, your arm and your body create turbulence. Keep the kite away from your body

Use a flying rod such as an antenna from Radio Shack or a dowel from the hardware store, hobby store, or craft store. We call that a flying rod. You attach the end of the thread to the tip of the rod and it makes it easier to fly the kite by waving the rod in a figure eight. If you walk with the kite it will fly too, and the rod helps give the kite "clean" air rather than the turbulent air near your hand or behind you as you walk.

Do not "whip" the kite around by flicking your wrist. This generates excessive speed and may damage the kite.

I recommend a dowel that is 1/4" in diameter and 2' or 3' long. They should be fairly cheap... less than a dollar.

Store the kite carefully to prevent folds that will ruin the ability of the kite to fly.

With practice, you can dump the kite out of the box ...and fly it in one quick motion. It's very impressive!

Online Tips

Literature with More Tips

Guide to Building Miniature Kites with 26 Plans by Glenn Davison Everything you need to know with tips and techniques for building sails and frames and help with detailed plans to build 26 miniature kite designs. Miniature Kite Plans book on amazon.
Japanese Kites, Concepts and Construction by Dan Kurahashi. In chapter seven there is an excellent explaination of how to split bamboo and it gives instructions on how to make a Canada Goose, Hummingbird, Pteranodon, butterflies, birds, mini Edo, Coyne, Winged Box and Mini Cody kites. See the weights of different materials on page 4-4.
Kiteworks by Maxwell Eden. See Chapter 42. Instructions for Eddy, Delta, Optical Confusion and modified Japanese Wanwan kites.

"What a surprise to find so many people making, flying, and competing with these little wonders. You making this information available online has sparked a renewed interest in one of my favorite hobbies. Thank you ever so much." -Raven Poes