Fleet of ships from walnuts

Press, 18 April 1978, Page 22

Fleet of ships from walnuts

You can make all sorts of ships from walnut shells — clippers, sailing boats, and pirate ships. Be captain of your own fleet and sail it over rough and calm waters. You will find your ships sturdy and seaworthy. You need: halves from walnut sheels; soft play clay of the type which does not harden; scissors: stiff coloured paper; liquid white glue; toothpicks; crayons or felt-tip pens. First, press little clay balls into your walnut shell halves, and then follow the directions below, according to the type of ships you wish to make. sailing boat Cut out a small triangular sail from the stiff paper. Don’t make it too big for its toothpick mast. Glue the sail to the toothpick, leaving the bottom end free. Push the lower end of the toothpick into the clay. Let the sail dry. CLIPPER Cut two squares the same size from the stiff coloured paper. Cut out a third one which is slightly smaller. Crayon a cross or other design on the smaller square. Make a tiny hole near the top of a sail; push the toothpick through it and out again at another tiny hole near the bottom of the sail. Make sure you leave sufficient toothpick mast free of sail at the

bottom end, for you must push it into the clay. Attach the other two sails in the same way. Cut out an anchor from the

stiff paper and glue it to the side of the shell. PIRATE SHIP Cut out two rectangles from the stiff paper. One rectangle must be larger than the other. Decorate the big rectangle with a skull and crossbones.

The sails on your pirate ship will not be fixed in an upright vertical position. Instead, they will go across the width of the shell horizontally, the small sail at the top of the mast and the bigger one below it, stretching from one side of the shell to the other. Glue sails in this way to the toothpick. Leave to dry. Push the toothpick into the shell boat.