I finished this build a few weeks ago and am finally getting around to posting some pictures. The model was designed by Johann Scherft and is available as a free download at origami-shop.com along with another of Johann's earlier models, the Crested Tit (really, that's what's called). Johann's original models are designed by hand, then hand painted to create some amazingly life-like models. I wish mine looked half as good as his.
He has a few other models you can download from his website. Some others are available for purchase and the files are emailed to you, others as printed kits, and his completed models are offered for sale as well.
I quite enjoyed building this one, will definitely build others, and I've been seriously considering buying some of his printed kits. They're a bit expensive with shipping factored in, but I think they'd be worth it.
Anyway, here's a shot of the finished bird on a custom wood stand I made from scraps I had in the shop. It's not the best build in the world and my edge coloring stinks, but from a distance it still looks great and I'm quite pleased with it.
The entire model is layed out on a single A4 page, which I just printed to fit on letter sized. The only instructions are in the form of brief notes and a couple diagrams on the page, but at sixteen parts total, eight of which are toes, I found these to be sufficient. In this next picture I've got the main body cut out, and you can see the parts sheet.
Next is the main body, further along in the assembly process. I used joining strips rather than the tabs to get a smoother body. I'd like to go back and build it again, but next time I would edit the pattern to lighten the black cut lines. I didn't worry about getting all of the line cut off, and in some areas the cuts are so fine it's almost impossible, and the black of the lines show in the finished project.
And now a wing. On the wings I did use the supplied glue tabs (with a little coloring along the borders) as this adds depth to the wing.
Next we have the face and bill. It was a little fiddly getting the bill glued in place, and a little more so getting the face glued to the body. All of this needs to be done before closing the body completely and adding the tail.
Last but not least, a couple shots of the toes. These are in the form of small tubes. I used a straightened paper clip and rolled the tubes around it for gluing. After the tubes were formed and the glue dried I cut small notches in the underside of the toes so they could be posed more realistically. This was all Very fiddly work as they are small parts. For gluing the toes to the legs I used regular white glue initially as I got the toes glued in position so that the bird sat properly on the stand, then coated them with CA glue to strengthen them. Even then I still broke several and had to re-glue them, but in the end it was all well worth it.
The pattern does not include anything for the legs, but suggests using BBQ skewers. After studying several photos of the actual bird I decided to make some legs from paper. A real birds legs are not round, but more like two ovals wrapped in skin. The photo below shows the legs I fashioned. They're a bit too large to be realistic, but they were close enough for me. I still haven;t painted them. Been too lazy to drag out my watercolors and mix up a decent color.
My only criticism of this model would be around attaching the tail - you make the tail, and then have to cut your own hole in the back of the bird for it. It would have been nice to have some guidelines on the pattern, but this wasn't a major problem either. I ended up with the hole slightly larger than it needed to be, but I just glued the tail to the top of the hole, leaving the gap hidden under the base of the tail.
Hope you enjoy the pictures, and I strongly urge you to check out the designers web site. You'll be amazed at the work he does.
Steve
He has a few other models you can download from his website. Some others are available for purchase and the files are emailed to you, others as printed kits, and his completed models are offered for sale as well.
I quite enjoyed building this one, will definitely build others, and I've been seriously considering buying some of his printed kits. They're a bit expensive with shipping factored in, but I think they'd be worth it.
Anyway, here's a shot of the finished bird on a custom wood stand I made from scraps I had in the shop. It's not the best build in the world and my edge coloring stinks, but from a distance it still looks great and I'm quite pleased with it.
The entire model is layed out on a single A4 page, which I just printed to fit on letter sized. The only instructions are in the form of brief notes and a couple diagrams on the page, but at sixteen parts total, eight of which are toes, I found these to be sufficient. In this next picture I've got the main body cut out, and you can see the parts sheet.
Next is the main body, further along in the assembly process. I used joining strips rather than the tabs to get a smoother body. I'd like to go back and build it again, but next time I would edit the pattern to lighten the black cut lines. I didn't worry about getting all of the line cut off, and in some areas the cuts are so fine it's almost impossible, and the black of the lines show in the finished project.
And now a wing. On the wings I did use the supplied glue tabs (with a little coloring along the borders) as this adds depth to the wing.
Next we have the face and bill. It was a little fiddly getting the bill glued in place, and a little more so getting the face glued to the body. All of this needs to be done before closing the body completely and adding the tail.
Last but not least, a couple shots of the toes. These are in the form of small tubes. I used a straightened paper clip and rolled the tubes around it for gluing. After the tubes were formed and the glue dried I cut small notches in the underside of the toes so they could be posed more realistically. This was all Very fiddly work as they are small parts. For gluing the toes to the legs I used regular white glue initially as I got the toes glued in position so that the bird sat properly on the stand, then coated them with CA glue to strengthen them. Even then I still broke several and had to re-glue them, but in the end it was all well worth it.
The pattern does not include anything for the legs, but suggests using BBQ skewers. After studying several photos of the actual bird I decided to make some legs from paper. A real birds legs are not round, but more like two ovals wrapped in skin. The photo below shows the legs I fashioned. They're a bit too large to be realistic, but they were close enough for me. I still haven;t painted them. Been too lazy to drag out my watercolors and mix up a decent color.
My only criticism of this model would be around attaching the tail - you make the tail, and then have to cut your own hole in the back of the bird for it. It would have been nice to have some guidelines on the pattern, but this wasn't a major problem either. I ended up with the hole slightly larger than it needed to be, but I just glued the tail to the top of the hole, leaving the gap hidden under the base of the tail.
Hope you enjoy the pictures, and I strongly urge you to check out the designers web site. You'll be amazed at the work he does.
Steve