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Realistic Wing Tutorial - P.1
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Published: 2010-08-12 11:23:40 +0000 UTC; Views: 189328; Favourites: 2641; Downloads: 2263
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Description
3/20/10: My first video showing wing-movement ~8/12/10: Made some corrections for spelling & clarification~ And wow, I've underestimated the amount of information...I've gone from 2 tutorials to 5.
make that 6...
10/19/13: My second video showing two wing's movement~
8/5/17: Disney animator describes the Mechanics of Bird Flight - watch for the useful description of how wings are built from 8:40 - 11:31.
NEW Walkthrough Mockingjay Wings - Concept to Design
For those with screen-reading issues, here is the above tutorial in text-based format!
Part 0 - MATERIALS
Part 0.5 - TOOLS
Part 1 - CONCEPT
YOU ARE HERE Part 2 - FEATHERS
Part 3 - HARNESS
Part 4 - ASSEMBLY
Part 5 - COVERTS
Part 6 - ARM-COVER WIP
EXTRA - RESULTS : See what OTHER people have made following this tutorial~
The Feather Atlas
Slater Museum of Natural History
Bird Wings (Tutorial) by Key-Feathers
Bird's Wing Anatomy by unkraut
Bird Wing Tutorial by TheAntimonyElement has TONS of good links~
Already finished your wings? Please fill out this questionnaire , I'd love to hear about it!
Wing Design/Tutorial © Sunnybrook1
Model wildmage007
Related content
Comments: 198
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do you make these to sell or is that out of the question?
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thats fine! thanks for replying.
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Could you possibly you thick but bendable craft paper In the place of fabric?
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It's possible, though the resulting feathers end up rather noisy (click-clacking together), and you'd definitely need to use some kind of adhesive if you're sandwiching two layers of them together, paint wouldn't cut it here.
I used poster board for this set of "quick" wings (bad-photos are bad, my apologies in advance)
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Hi Sunny!
I really want to make these for Halloween this year, do I still have time? Also, if you are going to make a fabric version what are the cardboard feathers for?
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If you set aside a few weekends, or paint feathers in your evening free time, sure there's time~
And the while you make the final feathers out of fabric, it's still a good idea to test how big you want the final product to be, as well as have a pattern to use for both wings, so I found cardboard was easy to find, cut, and use as a mock-up material, as well as work as an easily traceable pattern for your fabric cutting.
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Ooh okay thanks!
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Question... im planning to make a feathered wyvern and after seeing this, i wanted to make it using this tutorial, but the wyvern also has 3 fingers sticking out of the wing that move with my other free fingers. any modifications you might suggest to make it work with the pinkie finger? (i dont have a WIP cause i havent started, but i plan to start)
thanks!
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3 fingers huh? You mean like this?
*totally lurked in your favorites folder*
Well, your pinkie alone won't be enough to lift up the wings, but you could find a way to strap the top feather to your hand, maybe in the form of a loop or velcro-strap that you can put around your hand that keeps the wings open. Means your hands/arms will get tired pretty quickly, and letting your arms down to rest means your feather-tips could drag along the ground (depending on how long they are).
Or to allow you to raise/lower the wings have the strap on the outside that you can slip your hands into, though it'd take some work to make it look natural on the costume.
Good luck in the planning~
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Hi sunny!
Im going to do these wings for a school science project. Do you have any tips? And just wondering is 10 weeks enough to finish 2 wings or does it take longer? Have a great day 😊
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Yes, 10 weeks should be plenty, though I recommend spacing it out, like an hour or two a day, or a few hours every other day (especially when it comes to painting & drying the feathers). Also, before you buy a lot of fabric or paint/glue/etc, I highly recommend buying just a little bit of it & making a test feather to make sure the results are what you want.
Post pics if you finish it!
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Finished stage 1 of the wings for the Fall 2015 renaissance faire that we attend. This included everything except the secondary feathers and the wing topper. Completed the wings for Spring 2016. It wasn't that difficult, following the directions, that is. I was happy with how they turned out, but I know I could have done a better job. That's why we're crafted a new set for my daughter (The first is hers as well) for use at the 2016 Fall renaissance faire. The one biggest tip that I think I could provide would be don't disregard using paint as the glue. It's perfect. I tried spray adhesive and fabric glue and it really just made a mess and didn't hold together as well. The pictures attached are from the Spring 2016 faire. I'll update after finishing the second set. Oh, and a word of warning if you plan on putting one color in the front and another in the back like I did...the paint will run through and you can only match one of the colors. fav.me/dak0fo0 fav.me/dak0fo9 fav.me/dak0fod
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I love you for making this <3 can't wait to try it <3
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Thank you for the tutorial. It helped so much. I am working on a Nature Conservation Project throughout the year and theme #3 was Birds of Prey. IF you want to check out my Peregrine Falcon check it out on my Facebook page: Treats Photography
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Glad to hear it, I'm always happy to see what people make!
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hey Sunnybrook1, I'm trying to make Jack Noir wings for my cosplay i really want to finish. and i really like how tyigra did theirs. do you think you could kind of help me? thanks!
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oh, just another deviant. i don't know them personally though. well jack noir has a long wingspan, probably 12 ft. and i was wondering how i would make the wings.
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Sure! 
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I bet you could make dragon wings using this same concept... Maybe instead of individual "feathers", have all the wires connected with one piece of stretchy material. What do you think?
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Yup, agreed.
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Hi, I would really like a set of these wings, but don't have the time to start on such project. I'm willing to buy a set of these. Do you make these for sale? Please let me know if this is possible.
Thanks.
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I've started my concept work up already....and at first I was confused at how you reached the 27.5" measurement for the basic feather. Wanted to put this here for anyone else that might get confused too...correct me if i'm wrong but I'm assuming that measurement is roughly the length of the longest primary minus your hand measurement. Maybe adjusted a bit so you have .5" to 1" to grip. This allows the shaft to come back to the pivot point somewhat bare to keep from pinching the material and allowing everything to fold up nice...
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Yes, that's about right. 
And the shaft location can be a bit lower than shown, to allow for an easier/more secure grip once the main feather is swung up to be held open.
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I've been admiring these wings for a loooooong time, I really love them!
I'm going to make these for a cosplay, they're perfect!
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Thanks!
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You're welcome!
Sure, I'd love to share it! I will cosplay an OC that I designed a couple of month ago: a quren of the eagles. She looks like kind of a humanized eagle so she's got white hair, brown clothes, of course some awesome wings
I'm working on a concept art of it, I'll send you a link once it's done!
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Hey Sunny, I needed some wings for a cosplay and I came across these wings. I decided to make a talonflame for my cosplay and I am in construction of the wings but I am having some issues.
1.) Is the material list for BOTH wings or just ONE?
2.) How did you measure the length of the feathers? Did you just make the measurements up?
3.) When making the harness, I got confused on how you twist the wire (the diagrams were a bit vague?)
Please help ;^;
PS: here is the talonflame I will cosplay
fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/201…
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Gah, videos are harder than they look. 
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Hey Pip, cool pokemon to choose, very hawklike~ 
So, answers!
1) BOTH
2) I originally took the measurements of a raven feather in centimeters & turned it into inches (aka scaled it up 2.5 times) and found the resulting wing size pleasing. NOW I take a straight-on photo of the wing I want and scale it to another photo of myself arms outstretched holding a yardstick. I fiddle with it until I'm happy with how it looks, then I import the resulting image into illustrator, make sure my 1-inch artboard matches the inch-measure on my yardstick, trace the feathers in illustrator and print them out to use as patterns.
A bit of a process, I know, but it works for me.
3) Ah, wire twisting is tough to describe sometimes, may make a video showing how I do it in the future...in fact, why not now? 
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You did such an amazing job on this WOW. I ant believe how logical and great the result turned out!
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Glad you think so, and it surprises me too sometimes!
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i haven't decided that yet
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Aaah, so many! Pokemon Gijinka (pidgey, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, any of the legendary birds, etc...), birds of prey like Hawks, Falcons, Eagles, Vultures, or Parrots like Blu/Jewel from the movie Rio, or something more artistic like swan wings painted to look like a starry night sky....
I could go on for hours~
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Totes going to use this for my Mytho Raven Prince cosplay from Princess tutu ;3; <3
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Yaaaaaay post pics! X3 And let me know, I'll come favorite it~
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How magnificent! Thank you for sharing this beautiful design!
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how did you do it without the gloves? I just hate wearing gloves and try to figure out how make them without it...
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Well the gloves hold the pivot point in place & make it easier to manipulate the wings, but if you don't like how they look I have found success by simply separating the bolt (with all the feathers on it) from the actual pivot point & just making a loop big enough to fit over your wrist that attaches to each end of the bolt.
It's what I used in this quick-pair 
Pictures are a bit blurry but I think they show what I mean - does that help?
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Thank you, I think got an impression. It's not about the look of gloves, I just dont like the feeling of fabric on my fingertips ^^" So I will try out the loop version...
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Do you think it would be possible to do a bat-wing verson of this? The feather set itself is amazing, I'm just curious. Great job and concept : )
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