While I was in architecture school I did a side trip into toy design for my son. The first of the toys to be developed was a model of T-rex cut from plexiglass and assembled with bolts. It was meant tob e a model that was easy for kids to build and had a jewel like quality. The bolts were bulky and perhaps magnets would work better.

I also began developing model aircraft. I started with Rhino and used Autocad to cut the parts with a laser. The models had sculpted airfoils and I had hoped to develop a model that looked like an actual aircraft. They proved difficult to build because the parts were so small. Maybe larger scale models would be more practical for construction.
 

I took alesson from the dinosaur models and built aircraft from sheets. These were easier to customize and got decent flight times. Durability and cost were problems which need to be addressed in order to manufacture them.

This is the last version of my plane. Built from foam meat trays and a weight made of rolled up paper (a crayon piece works too). These planes are more durable than the paper planes and much easier to make with excelent flight distance. They need to be thrown hard. The wings can be slightly crushed to give them an airfoil profile.

This is the laser cutter, which works like a printer, milling the parts for T-rex.

This triceratops was made from masonite in the same way as T-Rex. The edges of the board are blackened by the laser.

A hybrid T-Rex of plastic and masonite made from scraps.

These cardboard models evolved from simple puppets of an angler fish and a sperm whale to 3-D models. The sperm whale features a tail with a cardboard spring to allow it to swim and provide a seamless joint.

The puppets started like this model of Red Centepede (a character from Kikiada 01. This puppet was drawn by my son.