A Monarch Butterfly which has died is trimmed for flight and flown as a walkalong glider. The butterfly was found with its wings in the folded position. The butterfly is put in a humid chamber to losen up the muscles. Once unfolded, the butterfly wings are dried in a mold and fingernail polish is applied to the fuselage to add weight and strengthen the wings. The butterfly is then flown as a walkalong glider. It is recommended that first time builder/pilots learn how to fly a walkalong glider by following the instructable titled "Tumblewing Walkalong Glider Made from Phonebook Paper"

The result is a dried Monarch Butterfly which can be flown as a walkalong glider:

Here is the latest video on mounting the butterfly:

Step 1: Humidifying the Butterfly

The butterfly is placed in a plastic container with a small amount of water. This will limber up the muscles so the wings can be unfolded.

Step 2: Molding the Wings

The butterfly's wings are spread and mounted on a flat piece of 3/4" polystyrene insulation. A wire is fixed under the midsection of the wings to shape the trailing edge as an up elevator surface. The wings are held on the flat surface by strips of paper and pins or thumb tacks:

Step 3: Strengthening the Wings and Adding Ballast

Fingernail polish is applied to the fuselage (body) mainly forward both to strengthen where the wings meet the fuselage and to add forward weight which moves the center of gravity forward.

Once the wings have dried in the mold (at lease one day, outside humidity chamber), additional fingernail polish is added to the top of the fuselage to further strengthen the wing roots.

Step 4: Reshaping the Wings

After the first molding of the butterflies wings, the elevator did not have enough upward shape and the butterfly flew too fast and thus its maneuverability suffered. Here is a video of a flight with not enough up elevator:

To get the final trim, the elevator trailing edge was shaped to trim for a more nose up attitude. The process was begun by rehydrating the Monarch Butterfly and molding components (paper strips) by placing them in an airtight container with a small amount of water:

After at least a day in the container, the butterfly is ready to be reshaped. First, the inboard sections of the wings are shaped over the wire to provide more up elevator: