Power Kite Making Two

TO ALL COMMENT POSTERS - I'M NOT IGNORING YOU!

Sorry I can't reply - youtube's comment system won't allow me to reply - all I get is "error, try again?"

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@Allibow Thanks!

A 10m2, with no colour changes, would take about 20 to 30 hours - though, I have a lot of experience & know the pitfalls to avoid. If you're new to it I imagine it'll take at least twice that long.

If you want details of how to do it have a look at this thread I ran on kitecrowd: http://forum.kitecrowd.com/beach-zone/frenzy-rebuild-project-172605.html

Also, here's my latest kite making film - this time a 12m2 Manta M3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfAutsV6STc

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This is the is the latest, and last, in my series of Calvin & Hobbes kites, and it's taken me near on six months, on and off.

At times I felt my spirits flagging, thinking I'd taken on too complex a design on too small a kite. I had this design in mind from the very start, way back when I was building the kite featured in my first kite making film (check out my vimeo channel for more kiting films http://vimeo.com/channels/powerkite ) but the complexity was daunting and I didn't feel able to tackle it back then. I'm glad I waited.

I learned a lot making those earlier Calvin & Hobbes kites; filming and writing about the process helped too - and so, back at the start of 2010 I started work on this one. Strictly speaking it's not a Calvin & Hobbes kite, as Hobbes doesn't appear, and Calvin's appearance is a brief daydream.

In typical Calvin fashion he's ignoring his teacher whilst sitting as his school desk; instead of the tedious business of learning he's off traveling the galaxy as his alter ego, Spaceman Spiff.

I've tried to tell a story with this kite. In much the same way as Bill Watterson used to in the original comic strip, this kite has a distinct narrative; the three sections following on from each other. Foil kites can't be seen in the round when flying. The back presents one side or the other, depending on the direction of flight, effectively separating imagery into two distinct halves; you never get to see both. Whereas the front foreshortens images into one complete whole.

So with this one, Calvin daydreams his way through the school day on the first half of the back, and takes to his flying saucer as Spaceman Spiff on the other. The front features the inevitable conclusion of his space-faring: being shot down by aliens (which usually coincides with a rude awakening by his teacher).

The making of this kite fell into to two phases; prompted by the popularity of my first kite making film. There was the process of making the kite itself, and that of documenting it. I decided very early on that I would make a special effort to improve on that first film.

I'd done the informative "this is how I do it" film, and written a very detailed blog of the process from start to finish. So this film takes a different tack. I doubt very much that you'll be any the wiser about the how exactly I go about making these kites after you've seen it. I hope instead you'll begin to understand how it makes me feel, making and flying my own kites, and knowing that each one is unique (that's code for "heavy on drama, light on information").

One of the other reasons this kite, and film, has taken much longer than I'd at first hoped, was that I switched from Final Cut Express to Pro, and invested Adobe After Effects, meaning that I faced an unpleasantly steep learning curve. It was worth it though. I finally feel like I know exactly how to get the result I want; rather than trying to cobble together the footage I happen to have shot that day, I now know what I want before the camera comes out of the bag. The downside? Well, I could always do with a better camera...

As I haven't posted on youtube before, I think I should point out that none of my kites are for sale, please don't ask, and I will not allow their use, or any of the videos, for commercial purposes.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Power
• kite
• Kieron Jansch
• Kite Making
• Ozone Kites
• Kite Buggying
• Kite Landboarding
• Kite Surfing
• Snow kiting
• Ozone Frenzy
• Calvin & Hobbes Kite
• kj-kites.com
• timelapse
• motorized dolly
• Richmond Park
• kitevibe.com

[rulof87]

great job! where 's the FABRIC from?

[kjkites]

@rulof87 Thanks! I get my material from Vliegerop in the Netherlands.

[tigger00025]

hi im ne to power kiteing i got my first kite cuple week back it is a two line 3.45mtr but wen i fly it ther is no power ther at all in in the pawer window nothink what so ever the only time igot a bit of power out of it was yesterday in the verry bad winds whats up with it/what i doing rong it that week my sons rabbit wood not have a problam with it

[kjkites]

@tigger00025

H,i I'm sorry you're not enjoying your kite. I can't really help with your problem without knowing a bit more: it could be that your kite isn't very good, or that you haven't set it up properly.

You said that it's a 2 line 3.45m kite: are you sure about that? It seems a little big to be a 2 line kite - I'm wondering if, in fact, it's a 4 line kite. If it is, and you haven't used the brake lines, that might explain why there is no power at all.

Tell me the make and model.

[kjkites]

Hi, glad you like it. the chase shots were done using an identical kite being flown in sync with my kite. It had a Contour HD bullet cam mounted on the leading edge facing forwards. I don't use a gopro as I don't like the extreme wide field of view - there's too much distortion with a gopro (by that I mean that the fact that the lens is so wide it's almost a fisheye, and as a result you never see a straight line with a gopro).

[arnoldaszlt]

awesome music,video and kite.

[Allibow]

excellent work!

how long time would you estimate it would take u to make a "10m2 " around 25 cells foil kite without graphics?? can u make a how to stich and glue these things ?:)

[Aqueries44]

this video is VERY well made.

[darkhunterso16]

Thats a cool video dude

[foilkite09009]

Just curious...where can someone learn about kite construction and how to do it (particullarly traction kites)? It would be a awesome hobby...

[tigger00025]

@kjkites it just over 14feet if u wont i can email u pics? not a clue on make and model.ther is only 2 lines that come off it .