I've decided to share some tips on how to better create a more realistic looking bird type ornithopter.

I'll start off with discussing the wings. I chose to use Orcon film in the following example as the wing membrane. It is a semitransparent material. So after the wing is constructed in the manner you want it is easy to lay a design pattern under the wing and see it through the wing as a guide. The wings pictured below are from my Black Sparrowhawk. I chose to make a Black Sparrowhawk in large part because they have a dramatic black and white pattern on the wings. To render this pattern I chose to use common Sharpie markers and a Prismacolor Colorless Marker Blender. For the top of the wing which is the threadless side I used a black "industrial pro" sharpie to give really dark black. Then I used a common grey sharpie to soften the edges of the black barring and create shadowing. And I followed that up by using the colorless blender to soften the edges of the grey marker. In the end it has a great airbrushed or watercolor look to it that looks very realistic.

Flipping the wings over you can clearly see the newly rendered pattern through the wing. The only thing I personally didn't like was that the white ripstop threads on the bottom side were extremely visible over the black barring. So I decided to ink those threads. To do this I used a black Extreme Sharpie, which I don't normally use since it has a purple-ish tint to it when blacklit. But a normal sharpie will rub off ripstop threads and leave a residue, so using the Extreme Sharpie was necessary. And since the wing had been inked black on the other side also, the black was very opaque. One note of caution - even the extreme sharpie will bleed down the threads on the underside, so don't ink too close to the edge of the barring. Hope this is helpful. If this thread is popular I'll keep posting.

- Matt

Originally Posted by DaVinciBrainchld

I've decided to share some tips on how to better create a more realistic looking bird type ornithopter. And the Great Black Sparrowhawk that I am making right now is the the ideal bird to use as an example since it uses so many different materials and techniques.

I'll start off with discussing the wings since they are mostly finished. I chose to use Orcon film as the wing membrane on this bird. It is a semitransparent material. So after the wing is constructed in the manner you want it is easy to lay a design pattern under the wing and see it through the wing as a guide. I chose to make a Black Sparrowhawk in large part because they have a dramatic black and white pattern on the wings. To render this pattern I chose to use common Sharpie markers and a Prismacolor Colorless Marker Blender. For the top of the wing which is the threadless side I used a black "industrial pro" sharpie to give really dark black. Then I used a common grey sharpie to soften the edges of the black barring and create shadowing. And I followed that up by using the colorless blender to soften the edges of the grey marker. In the end it has a great airbrushed or watercolor look to it that looks very realistic.

Flipping the wings over you can clearly see the newly rendered pattern through the wing. The only thing I personally didn't like was that the white ripstop threads on the bottom side were extremely visible over the black barring. So I decided to ink those threads. To do this I used a black Extreme Sharpie, which I don't normally use since it has a purple-ish tint to it when blacklit. But a normal sharpie will rub off ripstop threads and leave a residue, so using the Extreme Sharpie was necessary. And since the wing had been inked black on the other side also, the black was very opaque. One note of caution - even the extreme sharpie will bleed down the threads on the underside, so don't ink too close to the edge of the barring. Hope this is helpful. If this thread is popular I'll keep posting.

- Matt

Great work

Thanks.

VERY realistic !

Thank you very much. It's not my best work, if I could go back I'd change a few things. But artists are their own worst critics. Lol.

love it
Sam

Thank you very much Sam.

Originally Posted by KOROBELNIK

VERY realistic !

Actually I'm a little worried that it will be too realistic and scare every small bird in the area away.

I like your direction of your ideas.

Thanks. My perspective is that of a wildlife artist and raptor expert. I've been drawing, painting, and photographing birds of prey (and other wildlife) my whole life.

that is a nice target bird, and your artwork looks superb and really nearly photorealistic or at least artistic. thanks for explaining the techniques you used, will be helpful for anyone. only that i don't like that it is filling the surface completely, and the extended pinion wings are print only, but hey its gonna be a model only hehe. besides that the framework looks kinda strong, did you use hollow tubes for the thicker spars? where did you get the orcon from?

Thanks. They are solid spars. I bought a roll of Orcon film from an online kite supply company several years ago, but I can't remember the name of the site at the moment.

One unique way to make a realistic looking bird head is to use a prop spinner. Here I have taken a black plastic e-flite prop spinner and used a Dremel tool with a small grinding bit to remove most of the reinforcement cross piece inside the tip of the spinner. Then I used a heat gun to heat the plastic on one side of the spinner near the tip, until it was soft enough to use my thumb to create a dimple under what would be the Hawks jaw. After letting that cool down, I heated the sides of what would be the base of the beak until soft and pinched them together, and repeated the process until the sides were pinched nearly flat together at the tip of the spinner. Next I took a common piece of clear plastic package material and cut out the actual hooked beak, and added a dove tailed part to be inserted into the spinner locking the beak in place. Using a black Extreme Sharpie I colored the clear plastic beak black. This type of beak can easily be replaced with wear and age.

Next I added the eyes. For the most realistic eyes, there are plenty of small businesses that hand make small glass eyes for use in taxidermy and doll making. You can find them on Etsy and Amazon. And I have found that if contacted they are often willing to custom make a specific eye type for you. The ones I had made have a post on the back that I put through a tiny hole drilled with my Dremel tool, and then secured in place with epoxy.

To finish the look I took my Dremel again and used a tiny etching bit to create the line of the mouth, the nostril, and the lines around the eye. And used some 400grit sandpaper to scuff the surface of the plastic where the hawks feathered area becomes skin.

The only detail I couldn't quite create was an actual protruding brow ridge over the eyes. I had to settle for one drawn with the edge of the sandpaper.

I'm very happy with how this one turned out. The photos don't really do it justice.

Thanks for sharing, this looks very nice

For my custom raptor head I have in mind to use a software like sculptris and then print the result on my 3d printer. This way one can easily add lots of details and manufacture as many heads as required without too much effort. Have you had any experience with this process already? Any tips?

Arnaud

My only advice is know your subject really well from every angle.