A DIY CARDBOARD AND PAPER SPACE SHUTTLE

This is a DIY Space Obiter (shuttle) I made for my high school, St. Henry's College Kitovu, for its centennial celebrations back in 2022, in my senior year. I made this to illustrate its rokectry theme depicted in the school badge, which has a rocket in it, and the school's magazine, called the Shuttle. I made this out of manilas, cardboard, tape, Arduinos, some other electronics, and home-made sugar rocket motors, all with funding from the school (it was really a generous gesture).

This was a very complicated project that required me to employ my model aircraft skills, rockecty skills, Arduino skills, and cardboard skills that I, thanks be to God, have been able to grow over the years.

The idea was to build an obiter that would take off from a launch lug and then glide down with the help of a 3D-printed EDF at the back. Due to the fact that I am writing this instructable for the Paper Cardboard Contest, I am going to concentrate on the building of the obiter from cardboard and manila.

Special thanks go to the Head Teacher (then), Bro. Mugabo Agustin, Mr. Busulwa Felix, Mr. Muggaga, https://www.youtube.com/@HomeGrownPyrotechnics, Youtube creators at large, the Hawk Team, and my family.

For this build, we are to end up with two versions of the obiter, one simple and may be boring, the other more exciting and RC modellers' grade or style, and I am going to give STEPS 1-3 for the simple one and the rest to the more interesting one. So now let me summarise this complex yet simple project with the following steps:

Not the best pictures, but you will need:

1. Carboard, both single and double-corrugated
2. adhesives like wood glue, super glue, etc.
3. Tape both packaging and masking.
4. A printer to print out the plans (we are going to have to have sets of plans), these files were just found online.
5. A projector
6. makers
7. pencils
8. Office glue stick.
9. tape measure
10. Cutter, scissors, and maker knife

Sadly, I do not have the pictures for this small one, but if you print out the plans below on A4 printer paper, cut them out (kids, get help from an adult), and then glue them together, you have a simple small model. This I best recommend to the young ones; the steps are quite straight forward.

Now, for those who want to go big, skip to step 2.

Now get out your projector and project the pdf file in step one. Use a tape measure to measure part of the projected plans, and try to adjust the zoom of the pdf so that a part of it is at least the desired size and length.

After that, get some manilas and tape them to the wall so that they are laid over by the projected plans. Now trace around the plans with a pencil on the manila paper. Then, when all is traced, put them down and clearly trace out the pencil markings with a marker. This will help with the final appearance and locating the cutting lines. Please refer to the softcopy of the plans.

Don't worry if it doesn't look good or that clean; my first wasn't, and I immediately got help from an artist friend of mine who also provided some assistance so that it looked good.

Now cut everything out and assemble it like a big cardboard project, with the help of glue, tape, or anything else you can think of.

Note: The parts, if large, may need some sort of reinforcement, be it layering with cardboard or spars. Some parts may be difficult to place in, but if you play around with them, you will get it right.

Well done on the building; depending on the size of what you made and the thickness of the manilla used or even the tape, you might need to strengthen it. Yes, I didn't add this in the supplies, but now you may get anything like a rod or piece of timber as appropriate to act as a spar for it. You can place it on the outside or might have already placed it on the inside. (Sorry, I didn't tell you, but I didn't know you would make it that big.)

Now that you have your very big model, you can decide to paint it or just leave it. ( The second picture also shows the more complex model).

Now that the kids are taken care of, we are going to make something like the same model, but this time way cooler and more functional. This is the one I used for the project, and with skills like the ones I learned from Ramy RC, you too can. In fact, I will write a follow-up instructable if need be to talk more about the project.

Now I used a picture of the plans I got from the internet and scaled them up using Excel (the trick is on Youtube), then got plans that were roughly the same size as the simple big one I made. For you, you just need to print the plans below and arrange them as seen in the picture with reference to the plan's picture below.

Now stick them together as you please; I used tape. Then, cut them into the distinct parts as seen in the third picture; these are just the papers. Now glue the papers to pieces of cardboard. I recommend strong double-ply for all, and for the ribs except for the rudder face pieces, use single-ply. Cut out the parts with a sharp maker knife and/or with the help of scissors. This was very hectic, and if I am to do this again, I am using a laser cutter.

Now I am going to describe the next few steps in terms of the next part. And to build well, just try to follow the plan carefully. I know it doesn't say much, but just follow.

Now mine will look a lot different from what you have; mine was to be made functional (it has a servo in it). Now just align the ribs I, J, and K along the makings as shown on the side view of the plan. To make the cardboard follow the shape of the ribs, you will have to bend it around the ribs.

After that, apply some wood glue to the ribs and then place them on the cardboard rudder faces. Also, try some masking tape to clamp things in place. Then, if you did one at a time, which I expect, now apply glue and secure the other side too. You may have an ugly gap in the part; I can't tell exactly why, but I just glued some manila to cover it.

Here you are done with the rudder; for me, I had to cut it so as to be able to move it. The second picture shows how it will intergrate with the rest of the body.

Now that you have already cut out the ribs and the rest of the body, try to fiddle with it and place everything to look more like the skeleton of a shuttle as much as possible. It's quite straight-forward in that you just follow where the rib goes according to the plan. Take your time to visualise it, and do not mind if it does not look quite appropriate. Well, since we are just building for the sake of gaining the RC model's experience, just place in everything as you see fit.

As you do this, use some super glue, for it holds better and faster. My ribs have their insides cut out because I had to access the space inside for my electronics. So my pictures may not make so much sense, but I know they will help, so I am putting them there anyway. You may also notice that my ribs in the wings are kind of cut because I was trying to create space for the signal wires (I will tell you more on request). Try to add some wood glue around the bases of the ribs too, for it can help secure things.

NOTE: I do not have the middle rib; mine was to be accessed on the inside, so just try to follow the plans; it's quite easy.

Now that you are done with the ribs, you can decide to stop here and have a model that looks like a laser project. But for some of you, you may feel something is missing, and so do I. This is the hardest part, though, and it may turn out ugly.

Now to put on a skin to our aircaft, we shall use manila paper as this project is for the paper cartons, but for RC modellers, we would now be putting on fibre glass or carbon fibre. (Told you we are getting the experience.)

To do this, you need to lay the manila along the ribs in the area you plan to cover up. And while doing so, you cut the manila to that size. Now you get out your wood glue or glue gun, if you wish, and apply it along the afore-chosen ribs. Then you lay the cut manila paper piece approximately while holding it in place with some strips of masking tape. (Sorry, I do not have these pictures, but I think you get them.)

Do this for the rest of the body. I know it may be hard, but you should not give up. I figured this out slowly too.

Note: The nose will be tricky, so work on it a little at a time. You can also add some packing tape to cover your seams. I will for sure try to come up with skin plans in the future, though, to make everything a lot easier.

The the grooves in my elevons is because its to be functional.

Now, before you make any cuts in the manila, I came to find out that it's best to first tape that specific part with packing tape, for it prevents the cuts from progressing and destroying everything (you might have already experienced this).

If you plan on painting (spary painting), I came to find out that after me taping the whole craft, the paint was kind of peeling away, so I suggest that you first paint and then tape the model. This is just a suggestion, but the reason why I first taped the model for my case was because I hoped it would shine more than it would if I painted it on Manila first. Though I still think I might have been right and only failed because I didn't allow time for the paint to dry well,.

So whatever approach you choose, make sure the whole body is covered with packaging tape in order to strengthen it.

Now you are done, and there you have it, your model.