Parrot's Wings

Having nearly finished the Parrot, I decided to work on the wings. I found a suitable piece of Idigbo, which more or less matches the main pole. However it is somewhat drier, less dense and flakier. As it happens this is not a major problem as it gives the feathered area a somewhat 'ruffled' feel.

I scaled the wing design from the Stanley Park Pole seen in a previous blog. Conveniently it fitted onto one page of A4. I traced the outline onto the board and cut around it with a band saw. I then reversed the cut out piece, drew around it on the remaining piece of board and cut out the other wing.

With work like this, which will have exposed edges, I find it best to work from the centre outwards. So the centre curved line is witnessed first and the scalloped cuts of the upper feathers cut in to it, gradually deepening. Only when the upper surface of these feathers are as I want them do I cut their edges and then start surfacing the lower feathers, gradually approaching the bottom edges.

Having done both rows of feathers, I shaped the upper wing design which has the 'eye' in the centre.



On this photo you can see one wing completed and the other after about 1.5 hours work.
The upper feathers completed and the second row in progress.

As can be seen on the completed wing I have 'feathered' the whole wing by cutting back the underside to give it a certain delicacy and lightness. This was mainly done withe wing face down on an anti-slip cloth.

Approx 7.5 Hours