Introduction: How to Make a Miniature Plane From a Coin

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This is an instructible on how to make a coin into a tiny plane. it doesnt really have a purpose, but its quite a cool thing to make.
i originaly made it because a guy from college said he had one is grandad had made. i couldnt find one on here, or on the internet after having a quick look, so i just went for it and this is a step by step on how i made mine. if you make one, then please post your pictures!
(the back left fin has broken of mine so thats why its missing in the photos)

Step 1: Heat and Hammer Your Coin, Then Bend It in Half

this first step is to choose your coin, i used a 10p piece for mine, (about the same size as a quarter) i choose a 10p because its silver in colour as opposed to the coppery colour of a 2p, this was purely for aesthetics, you could use any coin, but id recomend about this size.
i used a blowtorch to heat it up and hammer it out so it was flatter, slightly larger and didnt have the pictures on either size. the unheated coin is abit too thick, but be careful not to hammer it too thin. (in the picture is a 50p aswell because i hadnt decided what coin i was going to use)

once its hammered out, get the coin in a vise and bend it in half. it needs to be bent equaly so both the sides meet level at the top. once its bent, heat and hammer it again so its flat along the fold. you want to have no gap between the sides at the folded side, but it needs to have a gap at the sides that meet at the top. i forgot to take a picture of that bit and its hard to explain but it should make sense in the next step.

Step 2: Cut the Basic Shape and Unfold

now youve got your folded coin, you need to cut out the basic shape of the wings and tail.
i put mine in a vise and used a jewellers saw (very very fine hacksaw) and cut down into the rounded side. you need to cut down like i have in the picture to mark out where you want the wings and the tail fins to be. you also need to cut out a wedge on the spine to make the upright tail fin.

once youve done this, you need to 'unfold' the wings and fins. this is where the whole thing about having the gap when there sides meet comes in. i put mine so it was in a vise held by the spine, then used a chisel to bend out the wings, the picture may help here. you want to bend it out so that it looks roughly like a plane blank.

Step 3: Final Shaping and Mounting

this is the last stage, all thats left to do is to shape the blank into your desired plane shape. mine is based roughly on a spitfire.
i used the smallest files i could find to shape and polish it up abit.
i also hammered out the wings abit more on mine so they were longer and thinner.
you could spend forever doing this part using sandpaper, files, everything.
so if you finish one, post a picture!

i mounted mine on a coin i had that has a cool design, i just cut a triangle shape and bent it up, then super glued the plane to it.

good luck and thanks for reading