How to make a pair of Angel Wings

Step 9 Making the Frame 4

Now we will cover the frame in fabric.

I started by taking the whole sheet of fabric, making sure the weave runs parallel to the leading edge spars and gluing one edge of it to the underside of the long spar from the largest snail to the far tip of the wing. This is on the front side of the wing; that is, on the top side of the snails' bodies. I then allowed it to dry. I wrapped it around the snail's shells, under their bodies and to their heads where I folded it over and glued it. It needs to be pulled quite taught so it can support the feathers we will stick to it. I held it until the glue dried and watched for slippage. You could tape it if you are in a hurry but it might not work as well. Fold and glue along the large snails body and shell, again holding it whilst it dries. I trimmed the excess material away as I went so as to get the size right and to make gluing easier.

I then ran a string diagonally from the largest snails head to a point near the beginning of the long bamboo strut and tied and glued each end so that the string was taught. Make sure you don't tie it to the shorter one as it would pull as the wing extends. The string holds the material taught.

The process is repeated with the rest of the leading edge of the wing but without the part with the snails' bodies; a simple tube is formed instead. The picture shows the finished result for the rest of the longest part of the wing. Repeat on the shorter wing spar. The finished ends of the tube are shown in picture 2.

Repeat 'Making the frame' steps 1 to 4 in mirror image to make the right wing.