For this project I’m going to show you how to raise a squadron of 3D fighter jet puzzles,
and assemble an elite fleet, of foam fighter jets, that’ll fly straight as an arrow,
and cruise over 40 ft away.
To start this project, you’ll just need a piece of foam-board from the dollar store.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a black or white board, because we’re just after
the foam on the inside.
Pick one of the corners, and use a fingernail to carefully peel the top layer off the board.
Then flip it over, and peel the paper off the other side as well.
This should leave you with a nice large sheet, of medium density styrofoam.
Now the next thing you’ll need are these styrofoam cutting templates I made, for building
a SU-27 fighter jet. And I’ve put a link in the description, to where you can get those.
Print off the templates, and use a sharp pair of scissors, to carefully cut around the outlines
of the puzzle pieces, as neatly as you can, and take time to do a good job, because the
finished product, will only be as straight, as your cuts.
Now if you printed your templates on full page label paper, you can simply peel off
the backing, and stick the pieces directly to the foam.
Otherwise, just use some glue to slap them on, instead.
I cut and pasted all my pieces to the foam board, so let’s get ready to slice and dice, with electricity.
The quickest, cleanest, and easiest way to cut these styrofoam shapes, is with the “Styro-Slicer”,
I showed you how to make in a previous project.
This homemade “wire foam cutter”, uses electricity, to heat up a very thin wire,
and melt through styrofoam, like butter.
Flip the red switch to the “normal” power setting, then press the control knob, to get
the electricity buzzing, and turn up the dial.
It should only take about 2 seconds, for the system to heat up. And you can see the instant
the wire touches the foam, it glides right through it, without any trouble at all.
Now I find the best approach, to precision styrofoam slicing, is simply to rough out
the individual pieces first, then focus on tracing the templates themselves, once they’re
smaller and easier to handle.
You can see the wire slices through the foam with ease, but notice how it doesn’t actually cut through the paper.
That means, that anything you can make out of paper, you can now, make into foam.
When you finish tracing the edges, you should be able to pop the templates right out of
the foam, leaving you with clean, and professional looking, puzzle pieces.
Alright our 3D puzzle’s, nearly ready for assembly. There’s just one thing we need to do first.
The little white slots on the paper still need to be cut out, so find a sharp knife
with a pointy tip, and carefully begin carving, along the edges.
I put a piece of scrap foam on the bottom, to help protect my work surface, and you can
see it gives the blade a little better penetration, through the foam, as well.
Now when all 4 sides are cut, simply press it with the tip of the knife, and the piece
should fall right out, leaving a clean, blank hole in its place.
Go ahead and cut the other slots the exact same way, and your 3D puzzle, is ready for assembly.
Now do a quick check, to make sure you have 29 puzzle pieces, that look like these. And
it’s ok to leave the paper glued to the foam, because I designed it, so that you could.
Now rather than spoiling the fun and showing you how the puzzle goes together, I’m going
to let you try and figure it out by yourself.
But the pieces are made to inter-lock, and hold themselves together without glue.
These finished 3D fighter jets make an awesome addition to your desktop or dresser, and can
make really fun gifts as well.
The aircraft is modeled after an SU-27 fighter jet, and if you give it a gentle tug upward,
it’ll separate, right off the base.
You can see how the missiles, and each of the other components, interlock with each
other, making the jet surprisingly robust, and durable, considering it’s made of foam.
Now when you’re done admiring your handy-work, just look on the underside, directly in the
center, and you’ll find a hook for connecting it back to the base.
Simply push the stand into place, and your foam fighter stands proudly on its own, until
you need it, for the next mission.
Now just for fun I tried peeling the paper off the templates, and made a couple versions,
in plain white foam. Which actually look pretty cool, in-and-of themselves.
In fact, I made a whole squadron of different shapes, sizes, and models, which are all really
awesome. But would be even cooler, if they could fly.
Now with a few modifications, I just created a “Fling Fighter Jet” version, that’s
powered by rubber bands, and will easily cruise over 40 ft away.
The design’s similar to the 3D puzzle, but it’s different enough, that I gave it it’s own template.
The “Fling Fighter Jet” only has 4 pieces to cut out, which can be done quickly and
easily, the same way you made the others.
And similar to the puzzle, the pieces are designed to interlock, and hold themselves tightly together, as well.
Now you will need a way to balance your “Foam Fighter” so it flies straight, and I recommend
using a small wire nail, like the kind you use for hanging pictures.
Carefully push one down into the nose, and it’ll shift the center of gravity, forward.
Now the weight of the nail you need, will be different depending on the type of foam
you use, the elevation you’re at, and the temperature, so you’ll need to experiment
with which nails work best for you, in your area.
But in my experimenting, #16 wire nails between 1-1/4” - 1-1/2”, worked best for me.
When you’ve got your jet perfectly balanced, it’ll shoot as straight as an arrow.
Load your “Fling Fighter", by looping an elastic band around the hook under the cockpit,
then grab the tab, at the end of the jet.
Pull back, to power it up, then simply aim, and release.
These “Fling Fighters” can be launched over and over, and they fly impressive distances. Especially indoors.
Well now you know how to convert pieces of dollar store foam-board, into interactive
“Fling Fighters”. Or raise a micro Air-Force, of 3D fighter jet puzzles, you made yourself.
By the way. With the “Styro-Slicer”, you’re not just limited to making airplanes either.
In fact, you can make anything you can think of.
Well that’s it for now. If you liked this project, perhaps you’ll like some of my others.
Check them out at www.thekingofrandom.com