Willard Wigan – model maker (light aircraft)

Programme Outline

This programme highlights the high precision skills of an artist/craftsman working with delicate materials on a small scale – the need for excellent eyesight, patience and a steady hand. By cutting and bending the thinnest strips of balsa wood imaginable, then moistening the wood with saliva, Willard demonstrates how to create the wing structure of his model aircraft. The second delicate operation is to cover the wings with microfilm (many times thinner and lighter than cling film), carefully trimming the film to fit accurately to the frame and attaching it with superglue. When this section has been glued to the main frame, the balsa wood propeller is attached to the front of the aircraft. The balsa wood of the propeller has been shaved as thin as possible. The propeller is powered by a sliver of elastic (much lighter than an elastic band which in itself would weigh more than the whole aircraft). We see Willard creating tension in the elastic by winding hundreds of turns into it with the help of a small electric motor to which the elastic is hooked. Finally Willard launches the aircraft which glides round the sculptures in his gallery like a giant, diaphanous dragonfly.




© 2000 Channel Four Television Corporation