In this Instructable I will explain how to make a pair of wings which could be used to dress up as an angel, bird, or anything else with feathered wings (for example certain species of dragon). My blog at www.tobysangelwings.com describes the process in more detail.
Visit my How To Make Angel Wings page on Squidoo.com for more photos, hints and updates on what the wings have been up to recently, as well as to find out about my latest projects.
The motivation for this outfit was 1) I like to make a spectacle of myself, 2) I was going to the local Surfers Against Sewage fancy dress ball, the theme being recycling. I decided to go as a recycled human being. This evolved into 'Recycled Elvis', although I actually looked more like 'Recycled Morrissey'.
I am somewhat of a perfectionist and wanted to make the wings the best that they could be, hence I spent around 70 hours on them. There are many shortcuts you could take to do it in much less time.
It's rather difficult to rate the expense and difficulty of this project; I spent about 200 pounds on the wings and another 200 pounds on the rest of the angel outfit, although you could do it for next to nothing with a bit of effort. I will explain as we go through. As for difficulty, it is not technically complicated but it does require a lot of patience. In this Instructable I have described most of the simple practical and mathematical techniques used to make the wings; I have assumed very little previous knowledge and ability. Please be patient with these passages if they do not apply to you.
If you do decide to make wings from this Instructable please make sure that you read all of it carefully first, then read well ahead of the point you are working from in order that you pick up all the relevant points before you go ahead.
You will find out later how I attached the wings, but I can say that I danced the night away and a particularly irritating man tried to pull the wings off but they stayed on. I fell over he pulled so hard.
Check out my moulded earplug company website at www.zenplugs.co.uk. I've developed a new technique for making moulded swimming earplugs, sleeping earplugs and snoring earplugs.
My latest project is my free iPhone app Skootch at www.mutantsoftware.co.uk
Visit my How To Make Angel Wings page on Squidoo.com for more photos, hints and updates on what the wings have been up to recently, as well as to find out about my latest projects.
The motivation for this outfit was 1) I like to make a spectacle of myself, 2) I was going to the local Surfers Against Sewage fancy dress ball, the theme being recycling. I decided to go as a recycled human being. This evolved into 'Recycled Elvis', although I actually looked more like 'Recycled Morrissey'.
I am somewhat of a perfectionist and wanted to make the wings the best that they could be, hence I spent around 70 hours on them. There are many shortcuts you could take to do it in much less time.
It's rather difficult to rate the expense and difficulty of this project; I spent about 200 pounds on the wings and another 200 pounds on the rest of the angel outfit, although you could do it for next to nothing with a bit of effort. I will explain as we go through. As for difficulty, it is not technically complicated but it does require a lot of patience. In this Instructable I have described most of the simple practical and mathematical techniques used to make the wings; I have assumed very little previous knowledge and ability. Please be patient with these passages if they do not apply to you.
If you do decide to make wings from this Instructable please make sure that you read all of it carefully first, then read well ahead of the point you are working from in order that you pick up all the relevant points before you go ahead.
You will find out later how I attached the wings, but I can say that I danced the night away and a particularly irritating man tried to pull the wings off but they stayed on. I fell over he pulled so hard.
Check out my moulded earplug company website at www.zenplugs.co.uk. I've developed a new technique for making moulded swimming earplugs, sleeping earplugs and snoring earplugs.
My latest project is my free iPhone app Skootch at www.mutantsoftware.co.uk
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Signing UpStep 1: Key Features
Key features of the wings;
1) They are made of real feathers
2) They are articulated and so fold up and down in a fairly realistic fashion.
3) (My favorite part) they have no visible attachment, making it look as though you actually have wings.
My moulded earplug company website is at www.zenplugs.co.uk; Ive developed a new technique for making moulded swimming earplugs, sleeping earplugs and snoring earplugs which you might find interesting.
1) They are made of real feathers
2) They are articulated and so fold up and down in a fairly realistic fashion.
3) (My favorite part) they have no visible attachment, making it look as though you actually have wings.
My moulded earplug company website is at www.zenplugs.co.uk; Ive developed a new technique for making moulded swimming earplugs, sleeping earplugs and snoring earplugs which you might find interesting.
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AWESOME wings though.
Did you read the original two?
When the wind blows and The lake house?
Fly on,
Hazel.
Thanks for the tutorial, it was a great help and motivation for me to make my own wings for my end of year assignment.
Your instructions were a bit hard to follow, so I sometimes found myself changing or 'winging' (hehe) parts of the project, however, it all turned out good in the end.
I attached a few images of what your production has inspired.
Keep up the great work~
- Kathie
want to make now.
wonder if I could get away with this for prom...
and thinking out loud...
can they be scaled up?
IMHO, i'd want to add just a little extra length to them. maybe no more than a foot.
would el wire work or those fiber optic things instead of that many feathers?
I intend to use them during my final assessment task in Theatre Studies at school and will be needing full movement of my arms for that
i could never build this
IMHO I think any decorations should be in white, cause I think a lot of the beauty of it is the pure whiteness. I think adding bright colours would make it look... less cool, but tiny white lights... Understated magnificence.
Regarding the instructable - WOW - so totally want a pair of these - massive ones that hang down to my feet, and open out to a large wingspan... LOVE the fact that they open out - is there a way to make them stay open without holding them?
As an extension - I would try make a pair that i could control with some form of string with catches, so I could open and close them surreptitiously.
Even more cool would be flexible ones that I could fold over the front of my body...
So wish I had the time and money to make these!!