Birds - part II

Well, either you can't get the type of wire Glassenberg recommends, in the UK, or you can but it's called something else, and I've no hope of identifying it from a picture on the internet.

I sulked about this for a little while, and then I hit on another idea. The wire I used originally was manufactured in some complicated arrangement, wherein two length of it are encased in rubber tubing, and - along with another, slightly slimmer, piece of wire - are put together and encased again in rubber. I had to strip off both layers of rubber to get to the wire.

Anyway, I thought I'd try using the slimmer piece of wire. And it doesn't look too bad...

Maude rather fancied him too...

The next step was to wrap the wire legs and feet in floral tape. I admit I was a little dubious. I have never used floral tape before. To those of you in a similar situation, floral tape is like a thin, papery tape, with a slight stretch to it, that doesn't appear to have any 'stick' to it at all.

It works though. As Glassenberg explains, it is waxed, and as you work with it, the wax warms up and seals together. The only really noticeable indication of this is that, as you work, your fingers start to feel 'tacky'. In the meantime though, it is fairly easy to unstick and redo if something goes wrong in the process. Genius idea!

Unfortunately, we only had green tape, so here is my delicate little bird with his big swamp monster feet...

Tee hee!

I think I made the feet too big - which is why it looks like he is wearing green rubber gloves. These would be fabulous feet for an eagle though - or indeed, an owl.

Do we like this pattern? Yes - at least, I do. There are little things about it I would change - the shape of the head, the length and thickness of the neck, the inclusion of the outer wing pieces, the attachment of the tail. But the main body of this bird has a fantastic shape, and the wire legs - and particularly the floral tape - are a great idea.

I think I need to practice making small, delicate wren-feet, but before that, I'd like to try making an owl - for whom these big feet would be more appropriate.