i thought i might make a kite with my grandson,would this be a simple kite to make its a simple npwc ,i have plenty of fabrics and industrial sewing machines webbing and tape binders ect can also do some graphics with sublimation inks ,i have read some topics on home made kites on the forum but the bridles put me so want to keep it simple ,those who made kites what your view on this kite http://2e5.com/kite/npwc/ all advice welcome,i can make bridles but only horse one's

The NPWC looks simple to build and hard to fly. There is a reason for all our bridles, not just to keep the line manufacturers in business You could be tweaking those few lines forever and the described flight characteristics don't sound promising.
I would consider all kites on 2e5 to be "experimental" - for crazed kite enthusiasts only, really. Many have never been replicated and this often means frustration without contacting the builder.

There are a lot of great single liners with simple bridles to build with a kid and if you can do graphics, a big Rokkaku is a crowd pleaser! You could also build a classic delta or a fighter (steerable by changing line tension). If you want no sticks, Peter Lynn's Pilot foils are easy to build in many sizes and pull like a truck.

Hey, you are in NZ! Why not contact PL and get one of his Skin kits! Simple sewing and bridling and practically guaranteed to fly well!

A question for you now, what is this dye sublimation process? I want to put graphics on my Tyvek kites, but all paints tested flake off. The only thing that stays is marker, which obviously doesn't cover multiple square meters well!

most sport uniform clothing is done with sublimation it involves a heat press and sublimation inks ,some nylons you can heat press ,it is best on polyester fabrics,google sublimation there is a lot of info out there on it ,you could use vinyl and solvent inks as well for graphics

Make a big single line kite like a flowform

Then a giant tail for it

Or any kite with a smiley face on it

But for any kite that needs to be bridled accurately... I like to put a metric tape measure onto a board, and then have two nails at the end. Sew a loop onto one end of bridle line, put on one nail and then goes around the other and then tension the line and mark it where the distance the plans call for... the sew the loop on that end. The nails and their distance take a little playing with to get right,,, but they simulate the amount of line taken up when you attach it to the bridle loop...

Some kites can be off by a quite a bit with no real problems, and other kites need to be with a millimeter or two of the plans.

Quote: Originally posted by rectifier

A question for you now, what is this dye sublimation process? I want to put graphics on my Tyvek kites, but all paints tested flake off. The only thing that stays is marker, which obviously doesn't cover multiple square meters well!

If you don't have ready access to dye sublimation services or the price doesn't work for you....

From the Rhonda and Lindsey at Phantom Star Kites (the do a lot of Tyvek kites):

"Permanent markers (Sanford® brand- Sharpie®), Design Master spray paints, artist’s acrylics and latex paints work well on Tyvek®."

ATB,
Sam