Eagles and Eyries

Lex A. Parker, MMR, CRC

A few years ago I bought a package containing a pair of eagles manufactured by Berkshire Valley. Since my layout had numerous rock faces, I always thought there would be a place for these birds. The problem was what to make the nest from. Then one day I saw a documentary on eagles that showed one of their habitats; a rock face. The eyrie appeared to be made from a variety of branch and twig sizes and, for protection, was located in an inaccessible place. These birds are obviously capable of carrying good sized branches and twigs. However, I am sure that they choose nesting locations based upon some existing structural support, such as dead trees or wedged branches. They are large birds and their nests can be up to eight feet across.

Bird

I followed the instructions provided with the casting, drilling the underbelly and ACC'ing the supplied brass wire in place for the legs. This worked, but the legs seemed a little skimpy. Therefore, I applied a little white glue to the wire with a tooth pick, blending it into the body and building up the thigh as if partially covered in feathers. After applying several layers, I was satisfied. I used the excess wire to attach the bird firmly into the selected location. I planned to locate one bird in the nest.

I wanted the second bird perched on a nearby telegraph pole cross arm. To do this I first drilled the top of the cross arm to receive the two legs. Then I cut the wire to length and glued it into the cross arm using ACC. I bent the legs backward while tilting the bird forward, creating an elbow joint and giving it a balanced look. The claws were cut from short lengths of brass wire, curled and glued into place, starting from the leg and curling over the edge of the cross arm. The joints were filled with white glue until I was satisfied with their realism. Alternatively, I could have soldered these parts together using a perch jig. Of course, I did this part after the bird was painted. All that remained then was to paint the legs and touch it up.

The eagle could be painted as one of several species such as the Golden Eagle. I preferred the Bald Eagle because the white head made it more visible. I used the same techniques explained in previous articles on painting figures. I painted the eye first in a gloss black and the legs and beak in the appropriate shades of flat yellow ochre. The head and tail feathers were painted white. The remainder of the body was painted in shades of brown working up from a dark base to lighter outer feathers, shading the underbelly and finally dry brushing lightly with white for highlights.