This old tweaked image is the best I have for showing the basic assembly, and where the lines connect. Click on any of the images to enlarge.
Please take the time to set up your kite indoors a couple of times before trying it in the wind. The MacStar has a lot of floating bits, and a crowded kite field with heavy wind is not the place to discover what goes where. Also, don't be embarrassed or concerned at the end of the day, for loosely stuffing the MacStar in your kite bag and folding it up neatly once you get home. The wrinkles come out next time you fly it!
If you carefully unroll your kite bundle, the body of the kite will look something like this. We got here by folding the points in towards the center, the resulting hexagon in half, and the sides of the resulting shape in towards the center again to make a triangle stack.
Note: If the bow lines and/or tail lines came out of the bag with a series of knots in them, don't fret, that's just daisy-chaining. Grab each end firmly and pull to release the lines.
Lay your sail out with the top pointing into the wind. The connector for the top-center point is wrapped with silver tape. In the wind, it helps to lay something across the top points of your kite to keep it in place.
There are three kinds of sticks. From the left, we have spars for the top points, middle, and lower points. I made all three sticks in each set identical, but in reality, one in each set really doesn't need the bow line attachment. You can take it off if you like, but it doesn't hurt anything to keep it on, and it's one less thing that's different.
You'll see that each stick, besides the middle, has two pigtails attached. The pigtails at the tips of the sticks are for the bow lines, which will be attached at the 10 o'clock to 4 o'clock positions, and the 2-8. Check out the picture above. No bowline at 12 and 6.
The three upper sticks have a pigtail about 2/3 down. These are for the bridle attachment.
Start your assembly by pushing all three plain carbon tubes through the bungee loop on the backside of your kite. Roughly center the sticks in the loops. These sticks will become fanned out towards the points of your star. Once you get these three in place, you can start putting the sticks in for the top three points.
The star's body assembly is completed by installing the three lower sticks. The picture to the left shows the view from the front side of the sail. The easiest way to tell front from back is to look at the red seams. I (almost) always put the darker colors on the top, when viewed from the front, because I think it makes a cleaner line.
When you're connecting the three lower points, you have the option of opening the loop that attaches the bungees to the sail or not. I think it's a little neater to open that bungee loop and push the stick through, but it makes no real difference to the structure or flight of your kite. The two lower pictures will show you what I'm rambling on about.
At this point, attach the bow lines at 2 to 8 and 10 to 4. At the lower points, I would attach the bow lines to the inner pigtail, but it really makes no difference, just be consistent.
The final pigtails on the bottom three points are for tail attachment. Hook the bridle to the three pigtails between the upper gaps, and you should be ready!
One final check is to make sure there are no twists in the outer point panels. It's easy for them to get flipped at the plastic connector buttons during storage or assembly. You'll know it when you see it!
I suggest 150lb Dacron line. Your bridle should be close but might need a little adjustment based on the wind. I like to set the bridle so that, at altitude, the outer (lower) bridle lines are just a tiny bit slack. The top-center leg should carry the weight, and the outer legs keep it oriented square to the wind.
If you'll look back at the very first picture, you'll see one panel marked with a red dot - the second one down in the center row. That panel can be used as a tell-tail. If it seems to be overly deformed and carrying more than its share of the load, adjust your bridle up a little to let your MacStar float on the wind instead of fighting with it. Have fun out there!
