I was looking for some paper that I could draw my template on, when I stumbled across a turquoise organizing file. I grabbed it, ran down stairs and (while the file was still folded in two) drew half a Manta on it (You'll see). The drawing was WAY out of proportion, so I cut it down to fit the dimensions that would be allowed in a war. After that I drew "scales" on my template (still while folded in two), numbered them, and cut them out. Then I had perfectly symmetrical scales that would eventually make up my Manta.
The Manta Ray scales were numbered. There ended up being 46. Here's a picture of them laid out to give me a basic idea of what it was to look like.
The next step was to find a material that was sturdy, but did not require more than heavy duty scissors to cut. I was looking in my garage for some sort of plastic sheet, when I saw a massive bag of Tupperware lids that were going to be thrown out. I stole several, and made my way back down stairs.
They looked like this in the beginning.
And looked like this in the end.
That's all I have so far, but I'm planning to pick up zip ties and craft foam tomorrow (I guess where I am I'm technically picking them up today...).
I will post updates on the project each major step.
Edited by penguin807, 24 February 2008 - 06:08 PM.