Time for my first model of the year!
In my build thread of the Scops Owl (
Scops Owl - Johan Scherft), Erik Zwaan suggested another one of Johan Scherft's birds - the Collared Flycatcher - as my next bird. So, here goes Erik!
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The model is available from Johan’s site as a download and is priced in Euros.
It is a small model (although lifesized still) and consists of 2 A4 pages, each with a scale on the one side to ensure the prints come out at the right size.
The instructions are six pages of coloured photographic instructions for each of the various stages, and also include a colour photo of the finished model and some information on the real bird.
I actually have had it printed out for some time now, and eventually found the print, only to think it felt rather thin. I checked it with callipers, and as I suspected the paper panned out at 80 grm paper. Johan's instructions say to print on 80 or 120 grm paper.
Although I generally prefer making the birds out of thinner paper, after a bit of thought I decided to print it put on 120 grm rather - bearing in mind that it is going to be a bird in flight, which means the added stiffness could well be needed. In the USA/Canada, 120-gram paper equals 26lb bond or ledger (a paper thickness .065 of an inch +/- 0.004 inches).
The picture below shows the 2 model sheets – the white overspray is my work! The picture is low quality - just to give an idea of the parts - and is not representative of the quality of the actual model (which is very good).
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I know nothing about the real bird at all, so after reading the info included with the instructions I looked up what I could.
A few facts about the real bird.
- They breed in central/southeast Europe/southwest Asia and are migratory, wintering in sub-Sahara Africa.
- Habitat is deciduous forest, gardens, and parks, where they nest in cavities in old trees (oaks are preferred).
- Suprisingly population numbers are increasing - fairly unusual in today's world!
- The birds feed on insects in flight, caterpillars and berries.