Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

[Kevin WS]

For a change, and because I like birds, and have cats who like to keep me company when I build, I decided to start a bird!

That way the cats can enjoy the progress as well!

Decided to have a go at the Bird Mobile model.

My very first attempt at a bird!

At first glance I had difficulty understanding the instructions, so decided to also do a build thread to help others learn by my mistakes - which are sure to come!

So here is the build thread............

Picture 1 - Comes nicely printed in a folded A3 sheet paper - with a colour picture on one side and the instructions on the other. The paper colour is slightly off white - maybe aged, but it looks fine.

Picture 2 - Started to cut it up enthusiastically and forgot I had to to take pics as I went along. So here is the basic sheet, along with my starting cut!

[glounsbury]

Hi Kevin,

A great project.
I built their Merlin (Pigeon Hawk) a while back. The instructions are not bad once you have parts in hand and fiddle with them a bit. They come out very nice.

George

[airdave]

I have seen these models for years in the Educational Hobby stores
but have always been put off by the price.
But then again, everything in those types of shops are a little overpriced.

Where did you get yours and how much was it?

[SCEtoAUX]

Nice looking bird when finished. I believe the page is A4 size.


This is something I recall when building the birds in that series, but don't take my word for it since I built them a while back and can not remember clearly.
On part 1 there is what looks like three flaps. The one with the arrows should not be cut, it is there to show how far the tail is inserted. The other two appear to be there to help in the gluing by giving access to hold the areas to be glued together.


Sometimes it seems like you cannot cover up all of the arrow when overlapping some parts and areas to be glued, but with a little maneuvering it can be done. Be sure to dry fit everything before apply the glue.

Good luck and have fun.

[Dancooper]

And of course, the cat loves birds as well
Never watched nor done a bird-biult though.

[JohnM]

Don't forget to colour the card edges Kev. Too many white edged feathers really does detract from the otherwise life like appearance of these birds. It's best done before assembly, and as SCEtoAUX mentioned ... ALWAYS dry fit every part until you're certain how it fits. It's not always obvious where and when to pre-curve a part, and it's so easy to ruin a part. Especially on the smaller birds. G'wan, give Johan's Wren a go. It's free ... papercraft Johan Scherft

The free Canon birds are much the same too. I've just finished their Falcon. It came out great, but being 1:2 scale I'm now tempted to try to blow it up to 1:1. I'll have to go into town to get it printed on A3 though. At least it's only 8 pages, unlike their 1:2 Eagle which is 38 pages.

Canon never have been tight on card. Their designs are all well spread out. I think I'll feed the Eagle through the GIMP and try to re-arrange the parts onto fewer pages before getting that blown up to 1:1 on A3.

Keep on snipin' ..... Johnny.

[legion]

The reason Canon models don't skim on pages is to sell more (photo)printer paper!

[JohnM]

Originally Posted by legion

The reason Canon models don't skim on pages is to sell more (photo)printer paper!

You're probably right there Legion. They'd sell even more if they released the big birds in 1:1 scale.

By the way ... do you know the website link in your signature ain't working? Haven't forgot to pay the bill have ya?

Johnny.

[legion]

I do still have to pay the bill, but the site does work for me. It might just be your DNS (a internet phonebook) that isn't updated yet.

And a 1:1 rock lizard would be cool too, but you'd need to go full mony there and burnish all those scales individually...

[Diderick A. den Bakker]

Originally Posted by SCEtoAUX

Nice looking bird when finished. I believe the page is A4 size.
Attachment 157226

This is something I recall when building the birds in that series, but don't take my word for it since I built them a while back and can not remember clearly.
On part 1 there is what looks like three flaps. The one with the arrows should not be cut, it is there to show how far the tail is inserted. The other two appear to be there to help in the gluing by giving access to hold the areas to be glued together.
Attachment 157225

Sometimes it seems like you cannot cover up all of the arrow when overlapping some parts and areas to be glued, but with a little maneuvering it can be done. Be sure to dry fit everything before apply the glue.

Good luck and have fun.

The two flaps in part 1 should not be glued - when folded open, they help preserve the shape of the large white area.