Cardboard models of birds (Birdmobile & Johan Scherft)

[stargatedalek]

Beautiful! I have quite a few papercraft animals downloaded that I haven't printed off, I even bought cardstock but I need to buy ink before I can get around to it.

That osprey in the OP is my favorite, absolutely outstanding.

[brontodocus]

Thanks, Jetoar and stargatedalek!

That osprey in the OP is my favorite, absolutely outstanding.

As far as I know the Birdmobile Osprey is still available. An updated edition with enhanced colours has been released a few years ago but mine is from the original edition (I still have an unbuilt kit at home just in case my osprey falls from the ceiling and needs a spare part but so far there has never been an accident in about 11 years since I built it). The kit is expensive (around €50) and some experience is required to glue the wings - you'd have to cover a ridiculously large area with the proper amount of white glue so that the glue neither dries before everything is covered nor too much excess glue spills out when the parts are pressed together.

I'd recommend building a few of the other kits first. Considering the level of difficulty, I found that Johan Scherft's female Superb Bird-of-Paradise was probably the easiest one to assemble. But all Birdmobiles other than the Osprey are quite easy, too, and if you have small hands and small parts are no problem for you, Johan Scherft's firecrests are fairly easy, too - and the templates only require very little ink. Usually, I print out most models twice to have spare parts if something goes wrong (although this rarely ever happens but I recall I had to make several attempts with the Ruby-throated hummingbird's wings).

If you attempt to make one of these birds you should use a pair of very good, pointy scissors, an x-acto knife or scalpel, tweezers, white glue (and no other glue), and something to paint the cutting edges. I prefer Pitt Artist Pens (the thicker ones labelled "B") or crayons. Johan Scherft himself touches up his models with watercolour but I'm very hesitant to do this when the templates were printed with an inkjet printer because of the risk of colour bleeding. This is a big advantage of commercially available kits that are offset printed, here you can easily paint the cutting edges with watercolour without the risk of bleeding of the template's original colours. In some cases I also use small neodym magnets (6 mm in diameter) which can hold glued tabs in place until they are dry.

[stargatedalek]

I have absolutely no experience, so I think I probably made a good choice to start with the Canon Papercraft models. http://cp.c-ij.com/en/categories/CAT-ST01-0072/index.html

Most don't hold a candle to any of these birds you have, but some (the insects in particular) are still very nice.

[brontodocus]

I have absolutely no experience, so I think I probably made a good choice to start with the Canon Papercraft models. http://cp.c-ij.com/en/categories/CAT-ST01-0072/index.html

Most don't hold a candle to any of these birds you have, but some (the insects in particular) are still very nice.

I've built some of the more complicated free Canon Creative Park models. The PinoArt Giraffe and Zebra might be more difficult to assemble than Johan Scherft's birds. Some of the models at Canon Creative Park are just too simple for my taste but I'd like to recommend these: There is a huge Supersaurus (over 1 m total length if it wasn't for the curved neck and tail) which is quite easy but requires very much ink. And the Emperor Penguin is easy, too, but the result looks good (it's also quite a large model standing approx. 24 cm tall). Both models are by Ayumu Saito/Craft Pocket. Unfortunately, I have no experience with assembling Ikuo Anazawa's bird models, yet.
If you want to start with really easy beginner's models, Keiji Kawaguchi's Peramodel and Raspera templates used to require a password which could be bought (and I did that in case of the Raspera models) but they are now available for free. Some of the Raspera models are quite nice and they are very easy to assemble. So far, I have built the Panther Chameleon, Ferret, Shoebill, Southern Cassowary, Black-crowned Night Heron, "Rhinoceros Hornbill" (actually a Wrinkled Hornbill), Humboldt Penguin, Dodo, Gemsbok, Mammoth (looks more like a Mastodon), Chicken, Japanese Grosbeak, Blue-footed Booby, and Four-horned Chameleon.

[stargatedalek]

Those are amazing! And most seem really good to start with! Thanks you so much, I think I'll try out some of those blank templates to get the feel of it while I wait on colour ink.