How to Make a Dopero Kite

Step by Step—Page 2 of 4

The MBK 1-Skewer Dopero

How to Make a Dopero Kite
Spars

For this dopero, you need four 30 cm (12 in.) bamboo BBQ skewers for the spars. The photo shows all the spars laid over the sail before being snipped to length with scissors.

The 1-Skewer Dopero - spars in place over sail.

Lay down two skewers vertically over the plastic, lined up as in the photo. Snip the bottom end of each skewer to length, so they line up with the bottom edge of the lower sail. These are the vertical spars.
Lay down another skewer across the left and right corners of the upper sail, and snip to length, removing the point. Also, make an easily seen mark on the skewer at each point where it crosses a vertical spar. This is the upper horizontal spar.
Using a sharp corner (perhaps a blade of the scissors), make an indent in the bamboo at the crossing points you marked.
Do those last two steps again, over the widest part of the lower sail, to create the lower horizontal spar.

How to Make a Dopero Kite
Attaching Sail

Lay down the vertical spars over the sail, and wrap a short length of clear sticking tape around the tips, securing them to the top corners of the upper sail and the bottom corners of the lower sail. The photo shows a top tip in closeup.

The 1-Skewer Dopero - lower sail leading edge

Lay down the upper horizontal spar skewer, and attach its tips to the upper left and right corners of the sail, in the same way.
Lay down the lower horizontal spar skewer, and attach its tips to the left and right corners of the lower sail.
Fold down the flaps over the lower horizontal spar, and secure with short strips of tape on each side. In the photo, I have drawn yellow rectangles to show where the tape goes.

The 1-Skewer Dopero - crossing points glued

Bend the upper horizontal spar at an indent until it starts to crack! Carefully increase the bend until the wingtip stays at 0.08 SL (2.3 cm, 1 in.) off the tabletop. Do the same for the other indent as well.
Do exactly the same for the lower horizontal spar, cracking the bamboo at both indents.
Dribble some wood glue all around where the skewers cross each other, for both horizontal spars—see the photo. Use enough glue to make the bent part of the bamboo strong.

Be careful that the horizontal spars don't slip up or down the vertical spar while the glue is still wet.

How to Make a Dopero Kite
Sail Tethers

Dacron line in 20- to 50-pound strength is suitable for all the Skewer Series kites.

Cut off a piece of flying line of length 0.75 SL (22 cm, 8 in.). Tape one end to a corner of the upper sail as in the photo. See how the tape points to the tip of the lower horizontal spar. Excess tape can be trimmed with scissors or folded back on itself.
Pass the other end of the line around the tip of the lower horizontal spar. Pull most of the slack out, and tie off with a couple of Half Hitchs. Using the Half Hitch makes them easy to unpick and retie later if any adjustment is needed to make the kite fly straight.
Repeat the previous steps on the other side of the kite.
Snip off some of the excess line if you want to, but leave enough for adjustment purposes.

The kite should now look like the photo.