We Outa Fly Our Colors

[Draftnik]

Tell Mrs. Drachenschwanz to get busy. My penquin is done, the owl too, and thisclose to finish on the crow/tiki. Need to get stakes for the banner. Don't have a pic, might take one Saturday-it's suppose to snow , so the penquins should feel right at home. (Are emperor penquins artic, or tropic?)

We pretty near stopped traffic tonight to inspect a Verizon banner that was very thin cloth. Here's a theory about the banners...using heavier cloth might create more shadows and some banners may need those shadows to show their movement.

I'd like to see some 200d and a 1.5 ripstop banners side by side to compare...I'd like to see some 200d nylon by itself for that matter...

[Mike]

Hancock fabrics carries some 200 denier flag cloth.
I have some scraps of both I can bring to Sycamore--if I come. The weather doesn't look to promising. Could be a bad drive.

[TheBigKiteGuy]

Here's a theory about the banners...using heavier cloth might create more shadows and some banners may need those shadows to show their movement.

I'd like to see some 200d and a 1.5 ripstop banners side by side to compare...I'd like to see some 200d nylon by itself for that matter...

My experience is that thinner banners tend to be noisier. So if you set up camp with a bunch of ripstop banners, you won't be able to hear yourself or others over the noise.

[Mike]

My experience is that thinner banners tend to be noisier. So if you set up camp with a bunch of ripstop banners, you won't be able to hear yourself or others over the noise.

Yup, ripstop can be really loud. Some commercial banners are tensioned to keep the flapping to a minimum.

Welcome home, Al!

[SkyWalker]

Nice job there Drafty. I prefer the banner on the left as well.

Jhale

[Draftnik]

Good grief, ripstop makes _alot_ of noise!! The penquins nearly deafened us Saturday with the roar they were making, while the IKE banner (nylon) hummed along quietly. Mike also showed me the 200 denier he had and it's nice stuff.

Thanks, Jhale.

[Frodos Majik]

Well here is a shot my choice of Flying Our Colors. I plan on using Taffeta (sp) same stuff Chris's banner is made of. I just need to figure out the amount to get. It should be somewhere around 4x11.

and now with out further ado...



so let hear the thoughts...
and no comments about my drawing, an artist I am not.

[Chris]

It should be a quick project, that is until you do the logo(applique is a little time consuming) I think it will look great!

[Frodos Majik]

Mike help there Chris, he sent me a pdf file of it in size, it was only 30 pages. But will make it alot easier the to free hand it.

[Draftnik]

Looks good Ken, I like that it's not symetrical top to bottom...that's cool.

I don't know how wide the baby penquin was, that was at MAKR, but he was having a hard time staying open. Just something to remember.

[Mike]

I like it to Ken.
The applique will take some time, don't let 'em fool ya.
I'll be interested in seeing how it works with taffeta, people do it, but I've only ever done applique with ripstop.

[Drachenschwanz]

Hey, I've got a color chart for the SolarMax and I was wondering, which red should I use for the banner? There's a bright cherry red (Canada Red) or a darker, richer red like the OG red.

I should have looked a little closer at Mike's logo kite last Saturday in Sycamore.

[Mike]

I don't know that we've really decided that closely on the red. Which one more closely matches the logo at the top of this screen?
I guess as pure a red as you can get.

[Drachenschwanz]

Ahhh, you're asking a coumpter geek to chose a color based on a screen shot! Different video cards and different screens produce different colors, along with color correction profiles, gama, contrast, brighness, and other variable doohickies.......



Sorry, I tend to get carried away with my cleverness sometimes. I'll probably go with the Canada Red, it's the brightest and should look the coolest!

Thanks!

[Babbman]

speaking of colors...

Today, I was offered the opportunity to advertise IKE after the credit roll of Drumshow at Naperville Central High School. This is the show that I have been working on for a couple of weeks. There are 3 shows, each seats about 800 people or so.

Unfortunately, I am so busy working on the show video that I haven't had time (or footage) to put something together for the show... Jeff, can you cut together about 1 min of video from Sycamore that I could drop in after the credit roll for Drumshow? Not that there are many people left in tie auditorium after the credits but there will be a few... including lots of kids...

[Frodos Majik]

Up date on my banner, all templates are cut out as of tonight. If all goes according to plan I will have it done for Decatur. Fingers are crossed.

I also elected to go with ripstop rather then taffeta, do to that stuff is dry clean only. The ripstop I will be using the softer stuff from JoAnnes, so it will not be as annoying loud like the kite ripstop.

[Chris]

I wouldn't worry too much about the dry clean only, I've hand washed my spike ball a couple times with no ill effects. I'm afraid to machine wash though.

[TheBigKiteGuy]

Dry clean.....Hand wash.....

I tried to wash a show kite ONCE, or rather at least hose it off. It took several hours at a friend's house in the country, when it dried, it looked the same. Now I wait for rain.

Seriously, I guess you could go over it with a soft brush and Woollite and a lot of patience, I know of one show kite flier who did this with pretty good results. I guess I just don't have that kind of patience and just wait for the dirt to wear off.

Others have flown kites with a little bit of grime:

I submit to you, what I believe to be the world's dirtiest kite: The Megabite. This was Peter Lynn's first world's largest kite. My reaction the first time I saw it in Berck (2000) was, "OMG, that is SO dirty"

[Draftnik]

I also elected to go with ripstop rather then taffeta, do to that stuff is dry clean only. The ripstop I will be using the softer stuff from JoAnnes, so it will not be as annoying loud like the kite ripstop.

Oh, it'll be interesting to see how that ripstop works! The fabric store ripstop we've used in that past has really great color saturation and you're right, it'll be quieter.

Taffeta...I machine wash everything and have washed taffeta. Some of the taffeta's are fine, but once in a while the wrinkle set in so badly that an iron won't get them out. I think it has to do with the sizing (like a starch) that's put on the fabric. Some fabrics are more dependant on that sizing to keep shape. The flowing taffetta's don't seem to rely on it so much, but the crisper ones do.

[Frodos Majik]

Oh, it'll be interesting to see how that ripstop works!

Draftnik that is what I had used for making Gus, and he has held up fine. I also agree the materials from the fabric store has great color to it.