Shorebird Collection

Also, see the inspiration for these lovely chicks in some videos I shot:

The final shorebird! Black Skimmer! This build was especially difficult. It’s a unique bird with distinct features: long thin bill, long wings, short body on teeny legs. Getting the shapes and proportions right were imperative. Also had to keep in mind its relationship to the other birds in the series. 😅 

I think I built and rebuilt this model more than all the other birds combined. 😮‍💨 But I’m sure happy it worked out in the end! She’s stunning!

A defense mechanism of these guys is to poop on you.

Well, here it is. 🤭

Third on the shorebird list is Common Terns! I can’t wait to show the weird techniques I used for this one! OOF! Legs and bills are always tricky! Why do shorebirds have such teeny legs!? 😆

I was so stoked to make the *screaming* baby tern! Hilarious because they actually look like that! 

After I made the Piping plovers, I thought, could I make another shorebird? I don’t know? Well, I just started to build this American Oystercatcher and couldn’t stop, so, evidently I could! Haha! Then I made his chick! Eep! This was another build that just spontaneously came to fruition. 

It was definitely a bit tricky getting the legs right and having the heavy model balance / be stable. Proportion is always a struggle too. But it worked out pretty well! 

More details and insights coming!

This is the first of several posts to show a bit more of the models. I’ll also be releasing some insight into how I built them / if they have any interesting techniques! We are starting with Piping Plovers because these were the first models I created in the set!

Gotta love that probe lens shot!