Knobbed Hornbill and Brown Lemur

Here they are
http://hkhollinstone.blogspot.com/2011/03/knobbed-hornbill-and-brown-lemur.html

Harriet, I LOVE your birds! I think next you should make a Mandarin Duck! :)

-Kristie

Izzy wrote:

Harriet, I LOVE your birds! I think next you should make a Mandarin Duck! :)

I agreed, but only with first sentence
Time for Lappet-faced vulture

Congrats Harriet

No Robert, I asked first!

-Kristie

Izzy wrote:

No Robert, I asked first!

-Kristie

Thanks Kristie and Robert! I'll maybe put those two birds in the next voting poll on my blog

Izzy wrote:

No Robert, I asked first!

-Kristie

Save the best for last

Well most people here like mean, flesh eating animals, so the vulture will likely win.

-Kristie

It's not like that, 2 brands already have Mandarins in production - Safari and Bullyland and there are far more vultures which are unknown in popular toy mass production

Harriet, very nicely done. I love the birds, and if you are interested I have a way to make the legs and feet that makes them much more delicate. I have trouble with doing it because the scale of my birds is so small but for a bigger bird or someone like Ana (I have big fat fingers, while you probably have thin, delicate fingers) it works with smaller birds as well.

Here is what I do:
Using thin gauge wire, I use thin florist wire, take 4 pieces about the same size and longer then you want the feet and legs to be. line up one side of the wires so when you are done the toes will all be about the same length. Taking a pair of thin pliers grip the 4 wires at the length of the toes and twist the other end together in a tight braid all the way to the end of the set. Cut the end off at the correct length, leaving a little extra to push into the sculpture as an anchor. Next spread out the toes in the pattern of the bird you are making and shape the leg, and finally cover with clay and sculpt the details. At this point I attach the legs and make sure the feet are even and the bird stands up, if the bird is going to be perched I shape the toes around the perch or branch so when the clay is hard the bird stands on it's own or fits the perch. If you are using polymer clay bake the legs attached to the bird, or I use Magic Sculpt for the legs and feet. Magic Sculpt is a two part putty clay that hardens in about 3 hours so you have time to sculpt, and fully cures in 24 hours so it becomes rock hard and permanent. What I do is after the rest of the bird is finished (before painting) I attach the wire to the bird and use the Magic Sculpt to sculpt the legs and feet, the next day I paint the whole thing. For me this works great for the legs but the toes are so small and thin I have not figured out how to do them yet, but with more time and effort I will find a solution.

Philter4 wrote:

Harriet, very nicely done. I love the birds, and if you are interested I have a way to make the legs and feet that makes them much more delicate. I have trouble with doing it because the scale of my birds is so small but for a bigger bird or someone like Ana (I have big fat fingers, while you probably have thin, delicate fingers) it works with smaller birds as well.

Here is what I do:
Using thin gauge wire, I use thin florist wire, take 4 pieces about the same size and longer then you want the feet and legs to be. line up one side of the wires so when you are done the toes will all be about the same length. Taking a pair of thin pliers grip the 4 wires at the length of the toes and twist the other end together in a tight braid all the way to the end of the set. Cut the end off at the correct length, leaving a little extra to push into the sculpture as an anchor. Next spread out the toes in the pattern of the bird you are making and shape the leg, and finally cover with clay and sculpt the details. At this point I attach the legs and make sure the feet are even and the bird stands up, if the bird is going to be perched I shape the toes around the perch or branch so when the clay is hard the bird stands on it's own or fits the perch. If you are using polymer clay bake the legs attached to the bird, or I use Magic Sculpt for the legs and feet. Magic Sculpt is a two part putty clay that hardens in about 3 hours so you have time to sculpt, and fully cures in 24 hours so it becomes rock hard and permanent. What I do is after the rest of the bird is finished (before painting) I attach the wire to the bird and use the Magic Sculpt to sculpt the legs and feet, the next day I paint the whole thing. For me this works great for the legs but the toes are so small and thin I have not figured out how to do them yet, but with more time and effort I will find a solution.

Thanks Phil, that's great, I will try it. I mentioned in one of your threads that I'd like to make some cranes, the only thing that was holding me back was the legs.

HKHollinstone wrote:

Thanks Phil, that's great, I will try it. I mentioned in one of your threads that I'd like to make some cranes, the only thing that was holding me back was the legs.

Your welcome, and if you have trouble email me and I'll send you a tutorial with photos, sometimes I don't explain myself very well.

Lovely, Harriet!

Phantastic models!!

Gabe wrote:

Lovely, Harriet!

Thank you Gabe and Andreas

:) :)
Congratulations my friend Harriet .it is a good work.......¡

Wonderful as always, Harriet

landrover wrote:

:) :)
Congratulations my friend Harriet .it is a good work.......¡

Thank you Fernando and Susanne

They are gorgeous, Harriet

You are so good at doing birds, and the lemur looks fantastic, I love the color (you dont often see brown lemurs)

Congratulations Harriet!
Figures are really great! Already voted in your blog, the bird was of course the Nubian vulture for Robert's African diorama! Kristie, the Safari mandarin is very nice! makes a nice group with your mallard ducks! The mammal, which one I voted, surprise!!! :)

I'll have to be on the lookout for the Safari Mandarin duck. Hopefully he won't be as big as the aardvark!

-Kristie

Izzy wrote:

I'll have to be on the lookout for the Safari Mandarin duck. Hopefully he won't be as big as the aardvark!

-Kristie

Aardvark sometimes is a large animal, anyway the Safari is big. The mandarin is small, here pictured with the ColletA duck and the retired Schleich duck, I think!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oh, he's beautiful!!!! :)

-Kristie

Izzy wrote:

Oh, he's beautiful!!!! :)

-Kristie

Yes, I am, of course the ducks are too!:)
But see here the big headed mandarin by Bullyland in Torben's Collection!


[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

They are both lovely enough to be in my collection someday!

You are lovely, too, Crociger.

Kristie