Blue Whale

   Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) are one of the most amazingly large animals that humans have ever encountered. Growing to a whopping length of 110 feet, they are not only the largest animal alive today, they are the largest that humans, and what's more, the Earth, has ever seen. One reason they can grow so big is that, unlike land animals, they do not have to support their own weight, or worry so much about how to keep their blood from pooling in lower areas. And yet, despite their massive size, a blue whale eats a tiny shrimplike animal called krill. How small is it? Well, the largest species, Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is a maximum of 2 1/2 inches long.This effectively means that an average blue whale eats tons (not metaphorically; literally, tons, as in the measure of weight) of krill every day!

      This set is, as most of mine are, the product of a plan I come up with for one small part, which grows into a full model/set. For this one, I had been trying to come up with an idea for the top of the head for a while, but I always used curved plates. For this set, I used hinges, slopes, and S.N.O.T. to create a realistic decapitated whale head, and from there I built the whale's body.

     I believe that this would make a great set because it is an accurate, fun model for display or play, representing this amazing (and huge) animal.