Updated Australian avocet (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae)

Hey guys, maybe some of you remember my red-necked avocet:

Pardofelis wrote:

3. The Australian avocet, Recurvirostra novaehollandiae. From the 4 avocet species this is the more attractive for me so it's what I chosen for made
Of course, legs are wires, tough bill is made from paste and I fear for a future breakage This model was a bit of disaster because it don't stand. I had to add crude modelling paste under the feet for make them flatter and paint over crude paste! I hope this don't will have bad consequences for the figure in the future...
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Until now all my Australian fauna consisted on mammals, so it's nice to start to disversify my Aussie range :)
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But I always tought that I made the bill too thick. Real avocets have bills like needles!
So now that I have air-drying paste and so I'm able to modify finished figures, I wanted to change the bill by a thinner one.

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Absolutly amazing

widukind wrote:

Absolutly amazing

Yes definitely agree!
It must be so hard to make something so thin but you did it amazingly!

better like that! :)

Thanks my friends! Definitely not hard, it's just taking a very small piece of paste and then roll it over a surface! But the result is indeed an improvement :) The only issue is the base of the old bill, that remained and make an irregular surface in what now is the front and throat maybe I should fix it too...

Far better now

It is hard to make these figures stand. Even real avocets took centuries to learn how to stand, they have their legs far back under their bodies and a robuste chest, so they were always falling and falling forward. That's the reason why modern avocets herited the crooked beak from their ancestors.
It is surely much better, I am surprised you haven't used wire to make the beak. A complete armature could surely help. Then, thin layers of clay only to give the correct thickness to the beak and give to it its shape. I am afraid without the wire it will break easily. Well, it is a redesigned beak and your work is very good.

Hey Roger! You always know to put the funny note in your comments It reminds me of these tales about why the animals are as they are, ilustrated with an elephant obtaining its long trunk because came to drink and a crocodile caught it by the nose and was pushing.

Wire to the beak? Absolutely no! First, when I did the bird I only had thick wire, about 1 mm diameter. Now I have a thinner one, but it's the same. With wire I could do the main of the bill but never a tapering end - unless I spend many hours using a file for sharp the wire tip, and even then the result would be probably more ugly.
About resistance, also don't worry. WePam (the paste of the new bill) is much less brittle than SuperSculpey (the paste of the old bill) because the finished result is more flexible.

Crocodiles are defintely important animals regarding the evolution of the species.
Nice to know about the wire and clay. There are loads of things to take in consideration when sculpting a figure. I admire all of you who are able of making animal replicas.

Surely an improvement, - but the old one was gorgeous also

Roger wrote:

It is hard to make these figures stand. Even real avocets took centuries to learn how to stand, they have their legs far back under their bodies and a robuste chest, so they were always falling and falling forward. That's the reason why modern avocets herited the crooked beak from their ancestors. .....

Of course !!! That was how it happened