How to make a pair of Angel Wings

 by T0BY
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Angel 034.jpg
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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



 
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Step 1: Key Features

Angel a031.jpg
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.
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iggy-da-bird-kid says: Oct 24, 2012. 5:37 PM
How much would this all cost?
jwhite58 says: Oct 2, 2012. 4:31 PM
hey man would you know where else to get feathers? i prefer raven/crow/black feathers. I checked Ostrich.com and they went out of business.
jwhite58 in reply to jwhite58Oct 2, 2012. 4:35 PM
also for cheap please
VampireFrancesca says: Sep 19, 2009. 1:01 PM
I love maximum ride, and these wings are kind of what i'd imagine the kids' wings to be like. cool instructable!
kitkatscat in reply to VampireFrancescaSep 30, 2012. 12:30 PM
ikr? I'm gonna be maximum ride for Halloween, cause I'm just obsessed like that.
your dog in reply to VampireFrancescaOct 2, 2009. 8:31 PM
same
Gnara in reply to your dogJul 13, 2010. 6:03 PM
agreed
badideasrus in reply to GnaraDec 7, 2010. 1:50 PM
except, bigger than these, right? not to dis the wings, they're great. i just always imagined the wings in maximum ride to be huge (which would be much more realistic if one wished to give man flight, bird bones or no)
VampireFrancesca in reply to badideasrusDec 7, 2010. 3:36 PM
yeah, much bigger, but it's how i imagine the basic structure.
CluainnFhada in reply to VampireFrancescaJan 6, 2011. 4:34 AM
I used to love maximum ride, then it died and I pretend that saved the world and other extreme sports is the last one...


AWESOME wings though.
monkeys98 in reply to CluainnFhadaAug 18, 2011. 12:02 AM
yeh the books really arent very good now but they started out as one of my favourite series
Gnara in reply to CluainnFhadaApr 6, 2011. 2:57 PM
I so agree! the first three are the best. from there it goes down hill.
Did you read the original two?
When the wind blows and The lake house?
Dirzdra in reply to GnaraApr 27, 2012. 5:38 PM
When the Wind Blows and The Lake House were so good! I remember reading the first in 2001 and the latter in 2004. I honestly haven't read the Maximum Ride series, but I did flip through the first book. It seemed more like a rewrite with different details rather than an altogether part of a series.
Gnara in reply to DirzdraApr 27, 2012. 6:23 PM
Yeah, pretty much. The series turn into a teen relationship drama. lol
kitkatscat says: Sep 30, 2012. 12:27 PM
Can you tell me where to get the feathers? Ostrich.com closed its doors a while back, so i cant do it until i get feathers, and i need to make these before oct. 23!!!! also, could you make a video cause im not very good at making things if its just instructions.

Fly on,
Hazel.
katheriine says: Sep 11, 2012. 2:04 AM
Hey Toby,
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
photo (7).JPGphoto (9).JPGphoto (10).JPG
Nyanman says: Feb 20, 2011. 6:28 PM
hmmm...
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?
T0BY (author) in reply to NyanmanDec 13, 2011. 2:01 PM
I'd have made them longer but I wouldn't be able to sit down. I had to travel by car with them on.
bfaygo in reply to T0BYAug 5, 2012. 2:17 AM
im 6' 4 3/4 without the gothic 3inch platformboots that go with my costume, so im gonna try and add at least a foot and a half mabe 2
bfaygo says: Aug 5, 2012. 2:14 AM
hey dr. toby, im a HUGE fan and i hav some half demon half angel wings im makin with a wing span of 6-8 ft, im basein them on ur entir designe but i hav encountered a slight problem, im usin realistic synthetic leather for the demon side, but i cnt find the right feathjers for the angel wing, ostrich.com went outta buisness a lil while bak and i cnt find the right type of feather online if u hav any sugestions at all, pplleeaassee let me no. u can contact me on face book at, bridget faygo, its my fiancee's page, pls help me with this im not sure if i can complete these wings in time for mtac with out ur help, thnk u for ur time and i deeply deeply appreciate any and all help u may be able to provide
susanchen2011 says: Apr 27, 2012. 2:24 AM
How long did you complete it?
janderson64 says: Oct 30, 2011. 12:46 PM
your house has ghost orbs in it freaky lol !!!!!!!!
bubot17 in reply to janderson64Apr 2, 2012. 6:29 PM
his house is just dusty kid :D
Asm0deus says: Apr 1, 2012. 11:58 PM
Would I be able to move my arms forward when wearing these?
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
janderson64 says: Oct 30, 2011. 12:48 PM
your house has ghost orbs in it freakyyy!!!!!!!!!!!
rboggess1 says: Oct 10, 2011. 4:46 PM
i would like to know if it would be possible to change the feathers into a more bat like appearance or even a shredded fabric?
FrozenIce says: Sep 1, 2011. 7:42 AM
i really like it :) i might even take ur concept idea and make wings for an action figure to use in a stopmotion short :)
acoleman8 says: Aug 23, 2011. 4:41 PM
If i wanted to could i change certain parts to make them into demon/angel wings? You know like one wing is like a red bat the other your angel wing design.
monkeys98 says: Aug 17, 2011. 11:57 PM
these are so awesome and detailed
i could never build this
bobbubbles says: Apr 18, 2011. 4:03 AM
sryman, but these dont look like ibis wings, maybe they'd look better if you didnt fold them, you just make them lift up
bobbubbles in reply to bobbubblesApr 18, 2011. 4:05 AM
and they wouldnt bash into people or doorways
yuanyuan9.mli says: Oct 14, 2010. 3:09 PM
i want to decorate my wings, any suggestions?
starrymirth in reply to yuanyuan9.mliJan 17, 2011. 10:34 PM
A fluffy sparkly white yarn would probably look quite good, and for ultimate coolness I'd try white fibre optics tinsel-like stuff.

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!!
crak-a-bottle in reply to yuanyuan9.mliOct 18, 2010. 8:11 AM
I'm not sure how well it would work, but sewing in LEDs with conductive thread or whatever it is might be cool. Putting LEDs on ANYTHING automagically makes it cooler :P
shmuki in reply to crak-a-bottleOct 29, 2010. 6:49 PM
Maybe some fiber-optics like they have in the wings of home decoration angels?
BM13 says: Mar 30, 2009. 10:31 PM
My stars these are AMAZING! I have a small question though.... You have how to attach them onto your back....but what about on clothing? I use duct tape with alot of things, and I quickly learned that duct tape doesn't stick to clothing very well..... What would you suggest I do for clothes? *I'm not going to cut a hole in the back so the wings will pop out attached to my back. The dress I'm using is way too nice for that XD I'll stick things on it, but not cut it.*
badideasrus in reply to BM13Dec 7, 2010. 1:53 PM
try double sided tape. it will hurt like crazy if you use it on your body tho. we used it to tape a plastic sheet over the old windows in our house. when we tried to pull it off the window, it ripped the plastic (thick stuff too)
despairedpheonix in reply to BM13Nov 24, 2009. 3:17 PM
indeed...how DID you do it?
BM13 in reply to BM13Apr 10, 2009. 9:07 AM
Oh! Nevermind! I figured it out! :D
bristait in reply to BM13Aug 31, 2009. 1:59 PM
You got me interested there :D How did you do it??
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