[Novacaptain]

Alright kiddies! Last month i showed you how to prepare a feral chicken for food using a knife. Today I will dispense some very much less gruesome information.

Disclaimer:
I do not take responsability for your actions. So if you poke your eyes out, kill your neighbors dog, break your thumbs off or cause any other sort of unpleasantness to yourself or others - it's your own fault.

That said, here comes the step-by-step revelation of the lost art of paper-dart manufacture and use.

I had a lot of spare time in my last year of highschool and i managed, through many redesigns and prototype constructions, to produce this highly accurate, long-range (about 50 meters with favorable conditions), low cost and extra-fun paper projectile system.

Requirements:
Paper
Manual dexterity
Targets


Take a piece of paper (almost any size works). It works better if you have a failed piece of art on it...because then you can convert your own frustration into frustration for someone else...thus giving the whole thing a theraputic value. Make sure the paper is rigid enough to stay folded (unlike newsprint).


Rip two strips of paper off on the long side...or cut them if you have scissors or knife. You can also fold the paper prior to ripping to get a more even edge to it but it works either way.


There you have it...two strips of paper!



Now take one strip and roll it like this from one of the corners. Make it as tight as possible.


Rollin rollin rollin, keep em doggies rollin, RAWHIDE! er, right. Anyways...roll that paper into a cone with a TIGHT tip.


This is what a true paper dart artist's rolled paper-cone looks like. Yours will look better of course...


Now flatten the cone by pressing on it (do not slide your fingers along it because it will probably have some adverse effect on the delicate but TIGHT rolling you've just been doing). One of the reasons for this is that the paper will stay tight and rolled while you repeat the steps with the second strip of paper.


So in the end you have two tightly rolled and flattened paper cones.



Since there always is some insonsistency in our rolling one of the cones will be a little thiner and longer than the other. Take whichever is thinnest and insert it into the back end of the other.



Push it in a little (but be careful not to bend them) The end result should be this. I am here pointing at the rear cone that sticks out from the back of the tip cone.


Now unroll the backside cone as far as the tip cone will allow. This will create a spiral shaped of stabilizer that will keep the dart on its intended trajectory. This is the view from behind. Leave it like this and trim a little off if it makes too many loops.


There you have it...The paper dart in all its glory.
Paper cuts are no longer the most dangerous paper-related injuries.



To effectively launch and hit things at a range you might like this method.
Hold the paper dart like this between your index fingers.


Invert the position so that the tip is forward. Take aim and by pushing your fingertips together and forward - launch the deadly paper-missile of doom.



Direct hit! Goodbye camera-assistant!

I thank you for your attention and hope that you have fun with this.

Note: the most effective way of reaching long distances is to fire at an upwards angle of 45 degrees (in vacuum) ( _.-^'^-._ )
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It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice - Scooter

[[Shizo]]

Hah.. i don't believe. 50 meters? Impossible..

[Matthew]

yeah 50 metres is amazing. Cool work. :)

Matthew

[ceenda]

Awesome!

What's tommorow's tutorial? Preparing the poison tip?

[Tzan]

I think the next tip will be how to prepare the camera assistant for dinner. I hear they are good eat'n, tastes like chicken

[gLitterbug]

Awesome indeed! I made one right after I read the instructions and it works like a charm, way better than I thought!

[Andromeda]

[Max]

cool idea man!

First time I got a kinda big dart. Broke after two flights.
Second time I have done it better. This really works!
I'll try to make a new record...let's see - 51 meters?

:::-------------->

PS: the "failed pice of art paper" works better, you're right

[jr]

good stuff, toamrow, flaming bag of dog poo at the door of your enemy!
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[Rat]

Yay! Something to do during science!! *grins*
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~Gio

afterglow

[Andromeda]

BAH i give up... i cant stick one at the back of the other ...
got frustrated and took one of my really tightly rolled cones, covered it in superglue, smoothed the edges, filed the end so it becomes a sharp point and threw it at stuff around the house before throwing it into my neighbours window...

i missed ...
thing cant fly.
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�This be my website�

[Novacaptain]

hehe i'm glad some of you managed to make your own...suggestions and improvements on the design are welcome. Anyways...50 meters with *Favorable conditions* ie. Standing at the top of a 12 storey building with the wind in your back. But seriously...these things can go far.

There actually IS a way to make it poison tipped too. If you roll a pin into the tip cone, the rear cone will hold it in place (and keep it from sliding into the dart upon impact). Works great on those cork/wood message borads.
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It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice - Scooter

[starfish]

Ninjacaptain strikes again!