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Balloon Twisting From Scratch 2 - The Sword

Equipment:

1 modeling balloon1 pump

Level:Very easy

This photo tutorial is a complementary resource for the video Balloon Twisting From Scratch 2 - The Swordwhich you can also find on Môssieur Ballon's YouTube channel.

A hit with the children, here's another very easy balloon sculpture to make. You will however learn three new andimportant basic skills: making loops, pinch-twists, and making a sharp angle on a balloon segment.

To go over these basic skills in depth and enable yourself to put this tutorial in practice in the best of conditions,please feel free to refer to the following lessons:

Skill 1: KnotsSkill 2: BubblesSkill 3: How To Curve A BalloonSkill 4: Make Angles With BalloonsSkill 5: Pinch-TwistsSkill 6: Air Pressure ControlSkill 7: The Loop

1- Inflate a balloon leaving a verysmall margin. Let a little airescape, then tie the knot withoutmaking it too tight The balloonmustn't be either too compressedor too soft.

2- You should be able to pressthe balloon between two fingers,without forcing on it too much, orconversely, without your fingersreaching each other too easily.

3- At about 3 or 4 centimeters (11/2 inches) from the knot, pressthe balloon, and twist...

4- to form a small, roundedbubble

5- Holding the bubble with onehand, bend the balloon with theother hand to shape a loop that's10 to 12 centimeters (4 to 5inches) high.

6- Firmly hold both ends of theloop together

7- then keep the loop in place bytwisting it several times aroundits base.

8- Open the loop wide to createan opening at least as wide asthe balloon is thick.

9- Bring the tip of the remaininglength of balloon to the openingin the loop.

10- Push the tip of the remaininglength of balloon through theopening in the loop, widening theloop slightly with your thumbs ifneeded, to pass it through theloop.

11- As soon as this portion ofballoon is long enough, pull on itto bring most of the remainingportion of balloon through theloop. You will see a second looptake shape.

12- Careful! You shouldn't pullthe balloon all the way through,but stop when the second loop isabout 15 to 20 centimeters (6 to8 inches) high.

13- Our balloon sculpture is nowvaguely starting to look like asword. Now all we need to do isperfect it. Let's start with an angleat the bottom of the sword.

14- With one hand, compress thesecond loop to bend it into twoparts, with the side located underthe bubble slightly longer thanthe other.

15- Gently pinch the newlyformed angle to push the air fromit, then twist the latex betweenyour forefinger and thumb andrelease it very gently so that theair gradually comes back into theangle.

16- You should get this shape:perfectly straight under the firstloop, but slightly rounded underthe bubble.

17- Pull on the bubble's knot withone hand; meanwhile, with yourother hand, you need to bringboth ends of the bubble closetogether, while pushing thecenter of the bubble away withyour middle finger.

18- When both ends of thebubble are touching, twist thebubble around its base to keep itin place.

19- What you have just made iscalled a pinch-twist. It's a greatway to hide knots, and this skill isuseful for many other things, aswe'll see later on.

20- Push the air to the end of theballoon, if need be, to evenlyspread the air over the entirelength of the blade.

21- You may decide to keep theblade nice and straight. By theway, here is how you hold thesword.

22- Or you can choose to give it acurved shape.

See you soon! For another lesson... with Môssieur Ballon!