Wandering Albatross

Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans)

I have now designed a huge set, with very high detail. It looks very realistic, but unfortunately, is not life-sized. That is because Wandering Albatross' have wingspans of 3.5 metres. I decided to make it because the Albatross is a magnificent bird and no-one has ever made it for LEGO Ideas.

The use of different joint pieces means that you can move the wings but they don't move on their own. The beak can also open and close to a certain degree. This means that it can look like it is going to catch food. I have spent a long time making the shape right and I made multiple attempts on the set. It has a smooth body and the wings are very realistic. The tail is short and stubby and the eye prints are of real Albatross eyes.. Please support this set because I have spent a lot of my time designing it and I would love it to become a set. I think this is a great way for people to get in to conservation since the Albatross is in decline. Please support both the species and this set!

The Wandering Albatross

• The Wandering Albatross is the largest member of its genus (Diomedea)
• Diomedea refers to Diomedes, a hero in Greek mythology.
• Wandering Albatross have the largest wingspan of any living bird, stretching up to 3.5 metres.
• They can actually use up less energy in the air than they would while sitting in a nest.
• They are capable of flying around the world.
• Wandering Albatross can live over 60 years in the wild!

Albatross are a Threatened species, some causes of decline are:

• FISHING NETS entangle Albatross and drag them underwater.
• INVASIVE SPECIES that get on to islands attack the Albatross nests.
• PLASTIC kills tens of thousands of Albatross chicks every year.

Content

The set comes with the Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) and you can see how big it is in the pictures. The wings have 3 different joints; In between the body and the wing, the middle of the wing and the tip of the wing. All of my pictures have the wings in the most realistic position but they can move up and down however you want them to. They use a mix of different joints so that they stay in position on their own but they can be moved smoothly. The beak also opens and closes to give the bird a more realistic feel.

It is mostly made up of white pieces but the wings have a large amount of black on them as well. The beak and legs (The legs are tucked up at the back) are a light tan coloured and the area just around each eye is light grey.

Extras: The set also comes with a food source for the Albatross; a fish. This is not based on any particular species but it looks realistic. The set will also come with nylon so that the owner of this amazing bird can hang it off the ceiling. The name label is the same font, size and colour as the labels on the LEGO Birds set which helped inspire me to make this. But seen as this set is either sitting on a table or hanging from a ceiling, the label has its own stand that is not attached to the main bird. The stand has a nice wooden look to it.

Suggestion

I know that on LEGO Ideas you can't say what the final packaging design is but there is one suggestion I would like to make. Because of plastic pollution threatening the Albatross and many other species, I would like the bags that contain the pieces to be made out of (sustainable) paper. It surely can't change the cost too much and would make this set even more important.

PLEASE SUPPORT!