Yet Another Vane Mod.
How to make one:
Took a cereal packet side (I used Puffed Wheat as that seemed somehow rather appropriate), folded it in half, used the crease to form the leading edge of the fin. Traced the outline of existing fin, used that as a guide to draw the new desired shape on my folded card. Cut out both side at once keeping the folded edge facing forward.
Picked two wooden kebab skewers with flatish sides (there's almost always a few like that in a pack), taped them with the flatish side to the card about one third to one half the way back from the leading edge. These give the fin vertical rigidity. I used them with the points upper most to give a slight taper at the top and make it easier to seal with tape later. I trimmed the protruding ends with side cutters, nail clippers can work too in a pinch.
Then took a laser transparency, you could just as easily use ink jet or photo copier ones. Folded it in half along it's length, this is to be our outer skin.
Just drop the fin and newly taped on sticks, leading edge first, into the crease in the transparency, and trim outer edges to match the cardboard inner fin.
Tape the open top and rear edges closed, leaving the bottom edge open as that is where the existing fin slides up into the new one.
So, having got this all assembled, slot it over the existing fin, it goes in the middle of the two card inner sheets. I used mini bulldog clips to pinch fit it to the existing vane.
Seems a bit more decisive about where the wind is coming from now. Still windmills a bit of course!
Given the encouraging results, I think I shall do more work on this in other materials at some future point.
Mine weighed in at 10 grams. Not too bad from that point of view either.
It makes it so much easier and quicker to experiment with new shapes, before getting into perhaps a more costly material and time commitment.
This is pretty easy to try out; real Blue Peter stuff.
Hope it helps someone else too.
