Make a Balloon Animal
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for all balloons previously posted.
Charles Dolbel's
2 Balloon Helicopter
Charles Dolbel designed this quick but impressive helicopter and sent me
the instructions. My version is only slightly different from his original,
and is a little more cartoon-like.
Charles is a professional entertainer based in Auckland, New Zealand. In
addition to balloons, he has several other skills, including fire performing,
juggling, and unicycling. You can contact him
here by email.
Rotors
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A 160 is best for the main rotors, but a 260 works well too. Inflate it
almost all the way, leaving about 3 inches uninflated. Make a 1/2-inch
pinch twist in the knot end followed
by three large loop twists for the blades,
leaving about 3 inches of balloon left at the end. |
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Arrange the loop twists like the spokes of a wheel with the pinch twist
on one side and the short end on the other. Make a 2-inch bubble in the short
end, followed by a 1-inch pinch twist. Deflate and remove any remaining
balloon. |
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Body
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Using a 260 with a 3-inch tail, make a 2-inch pinch twist hiding the
knot in the middle. Make a 6-inch bubble, 1-inch, 3-inch, 1-inch and
6-inch. Twist the end of the 6-inch with the 2-inch ear twist to make a
triangle. |
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Pinch twist the two 1-inches; they are the wheels and the
triangle is part of the body and undercarriage. With the remaining balloon,
bend it a little and push the end through the triangle. Adjust the length
and shape of the bend so that from the side it looks like the cockpit. |
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Bend the remaining 'tail' to point upwards a little. Then leaving at least half, make a 1-inch ear twist and then a 2-inch ear
twist.
Put the 2-inch underneath with the 1-inch on top, making the
rest of the balloon point upwards more sharply than before.
Use the rest of the balloon to make a motorbike tire. (A soft loop with a small
round bubble tucked inside it). This is the tail rotor.
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Twist the ear twist at the top of the helicopter and the ear twist
after the 2-inch bubble on the rotors around each other a few times.
Arrange them so that the rotors stick up and away from the main body.
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Charles Dolbel
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