A few Johan Scherft birds

[Erik Zwaan]

Thank you Glen, Vermin King and Joe! I love these models and they're all really worth a try. The merlin is indeed a bird mobile model, by Malcolm Topp. I remember I built it back in 2004 and it was a very satisfying model to build. Most of the birds I already built long time ago, the sparrows and starling date back from 1996. Missing in the collection is the barn owl, it doesn't fit in the cabinet.... and that one I built when residing in Malaysia in 1998. I think this is still one of the most ingenious ones designed by Johan Scherft.

As far as I know the latest of his models is the yellowhammer, which can be downloaded for a few euros. In Dutch the bird is called geelgors (geel = yellow). The challenge here is the opened beak and it's mount is a piece of rock, for a change.

The build-up is nothing particular. Amazing how few parts can make up such a great model. All printed on 120 grams A4 size paper, with exception of the rock parts (only 2 parts!), which I thought would be wiser to print on 160 grams, to make the base stronger.

Another thing is that I didn't varnish the sheets. While building the flycatcher I noticed that the glue isn't particularly holding well on the very small tabs and I must say working with "pure" paper really makes a difference, the glue holds much better and dries faster. Something to consider for future builds.
The only thing is that you have to be aware of that: Less time to correct.

The pictures were taken late at night, under artificial light conditions, so the colors are a bit orangy.

Cheers,
Erik

[romanmodels]

looking good Erik.

[birder]

Beautiful work, very precise, looking forward to seeing this

[N96HBK]

Really awesome birds, fantastic clean work! You assemble Johan's birds beautifully, full of life and motion.

[Kevin WS]

Great outcome for the Flycatcher. Very neat.

And good progress on the Yellowhammer!

I am interested in your comment that the glue does not stick if you are using varnished parts.

I always varnish and have never had this problem at all, despite the fact that I really only ever use PVA for all my work.

Are you using PVA and if so what type? Does the bottle give you composition?

The PVA I use is basically an original polyvinyl acetate glue. Low VOC.

It is also a wood glue - so is found in hardware (not stationary) stores. Many other PVA's especially PVAs for stationery and school use, have a different composition, which is not as effective.

[Erik Zwaan]

Gents, thanks for your responses. The yellowhammer is of very precise design and a joy to build up so far.

Kevin, I am using white paper glue (tacky glue) and UHU All Purpose Adhesive (PVA). For larger surfaces like gluing wing, tail and feather upper and lower halves I use UHU and for the smaller tabs, like the body thinly applied white glue.

White glue holds lesser when varnish has been used before assembling. I figure that it sort of blocks the pores in the paper, which makes white glue less effective as it doesn't get absorbed (or lesser) in the paper.
I noticed this before already and never considered it as an issue but with the small glue tabs in these bird models it makes a bit of difference. As said, the yellowhammer wasn't varnished, which has worked out fine up so far.

Probably if you ask 10 builders about their experience, you hear 10 different opinions, so it's also a matter of preference.

By the way, any update on your bluethroat (I just checked your thread...)?

Regards,
Erik

[Erik Zwaan]

I must say, the head is a wonderful piece of design and fits very well. The beak is already "on", it only consists of two halves that need to be carefully glued together and then the throat skin to join both sides of the head. Finally the lining of the mouth. It needs a bit of dry-fitting and trimming but if you glue it patiently into position, there's nothing much that can go wrong.

I recommend to glue a strip of scrap paper inside the collar where the head needs to be placed. This reinforcement allows you to put a bit of pressure on the body to obtain a neat and sort of fused connection. 120 grams paper is still very thin and easily buckled.

At the neck side small wedged openings remain after gluing the head to the body and I used small cut out pieces of a spare copy to mask them. If you use thin paper (80 grams) for this purpose, the corrections are hardly visible.

The legs are pieces of a skewer that protrude into the mount. For proper alignment the mount needs to be constructed first as it provides the correct distance between the legs. To reinforce the bottom of the mount I used a piece of 1mm thick cardboard placed inside the glue tabs instead of on the outside as the extensive building instructions indicate. Leave the center open, as you need to be able to reach the inside when gluing the legs to the inside of the "rock".

The claws need to be slid on the legs and only glued into place after the bird has been fixated on the mount. I was a bit surprised to notice that there is no skin included in the model for the legs, they need to be painted. I used a double copy of the claws and used it to cover the legs. Still part of the legs need to be painted.

Almost finished!

Regards,
Erik

[birder]

Again very nice construction work Erik and I really think this is a great little model, it is what I based my White Crowned Sparrow on and I did draw up different legs and feet out of paper, and I did simplify the head/beak formers slightly to be easier for me to make. I was able to get a copy of the Merlin, and am enjoying the artwork although I think Johan's artwork is my favorite, the barn owl was beautifully painted.

[Erik Zwaan]

Ah, the merlin! One of the most wonderful bird models I've seen. Especially the beak looks so realistic and the way the body feathers have been designed make the model somewhat fluffy. I concur with the art work, Johan's way of painting them with water colors is very realistic. For instance, even the hint of transparency of the wing feather tips is very convincing.

Well, the yellowhammer is finished, whistling happily on its rock. Upon completion I varnished the model semi matt/gloss (satin) and painted clear gloss on the eyes. It makes a good companion for the collared flycatcher!

The first picture shows how the legs protrude through the rock by approximately one centimeter. They're glued from the inside.

And the third bird in a row will be ..... the bluethroat. Coming up next .

Erik

[romanmodels]

Nice work Erik.