Wing Tutorial P1 - TEXT

Realistic Wing Tutorial
Part  1: CONCEPT
~by Sunnybrook1

Step 1:
So, you wanna make human-sized wings that open and close like a real birds', huh? Well, first things first – choose a bird to mimic! For this tutorial, I'll be using a Peregrine Falcon.
Google images is a good start, but for high-quality reference photos I recommend the "Slater Museum of Natural History" and "The Feather Atlas" (links will be at the bottom of this tutorial).

Got your pics? Good – now let's get some measurements!

Step 2:
To scale your wings correctly you will need:
a. Your height (or fingertip-to-fingertip – they are about equal)
b. Length of your arm from shoulder to the tip of the middle finger
c. Hand length from the heel of the palm to the tip of the middle finger
To keep track of the measurements, I suggest drawing a simple picture of yourself to scale (for example, change inches to centimeters, or millimeters). If that's not your style, take a photograph of yourself holding a yardstick horizontally in one hand, with the 1 inch mark at the heel of your palm like in the picture below.

Do whatever suits you, as long as it is as accurately to scale as possible…

Step 3:
Photo-method – Place a picture of the wing-shape you want on a different layer of your photo (preferably using a wing that is as straight and flat as possible). Turn the opacity down to around 50% and place it over your arm. Try to imagine where the birds' arm bones are, and line up your own arm with them.

For info on wing skeletal structure, see the links at the bottom of this tutorial.

Note how far the longest feather is away from your arm (if you used a good enough camera, you can just zoom in and read the yardstick). Add a point just below your wrist. This is the "pivot point" that will be used to determine the length of each primary-section feather you make.

Now, doing one feather at a time and on a separate layer, draw a line from the pivot point to the tip of each feather. Rotate the line until it is parallel to the yardstick and note how long it is. Then number it, set it aside, and move on to the next one.

All the feathers in red (like the picture above) will be a part of the primary-fan structure, while the blue feathers will hang from a straight piece of 1 inch elastic.

This means that all the feathers on the right side of the pivot point will be measured from said point, while all the feathers left of the pivot point will be measured from the orange dotted-line, which stretches from the pivot point to somewhere around the shoulder-blade.
PS – the secondary area is very flexible, so don't worry too much about it now…

Sketch-method – Look carefully at the reference images you got and sketch the shape of the outline of the wing. Don't worry too much about the individual feathers, just try to capture the wings' distinctive look and silhouette. Are the wing slots large, small, non-existent? Is the wing long and narrow, or short and broad?

Now decide how many feathers you want on the primary section of your wing. You can count the number of feathers on your reference image and use that, or add as many/few as you please. Do the same for the secondary section.

Add the "pivot-point" (see photo-method).

Using a ruler measure the distance from the pivot point to the tip of each feather. Keep track of the data, you will need it for the next step.

It's sometimes easier to just draw the wing again, larger, to measure the length with more accuracy.

Step Four:
Whew, that wasn't so bad, was it? Don't worry we're almost done, and after all this prep-work actually making the wings will be a cinch!

Now that we know how long each feathers needs to be we can start constructing our wing template. I use a large, generic feather-shape to begin with – specific shapes will come later – and trace it onto a large sheet of cardboard (though any stiff, easy to modify material will do).

NOTE: Generic primary feather pattern is 27.5 inches long and 6 inches at its widest point.

I find it useful to number each feather as I trace it, so they don't get mixed up later.

The black dotted-line on the right picture is the initial trace. The solid red line is the corresponding length to the feather from the previous step.

The blue dotted-line is free-handed, and not included in the final wing template, but will act as the shaft of the feather for now. Remember to leave an inch or two of extra space at the end of the wing shaft, so that you can attach them to a test-pivot and they'll still be the correct length.

Do the same for the secondary's (only this time with a less-pointy, generic secondary feather pattern).

After tracing & cutting them all out you should have a nice, big pile of cardboard feathers, like the picture on the left.

Not really useful, but still satisfying. ^-^

Now the real fun begins – arrange your cardboard cutouts on the floor (or table) in the shape of your wing, like the picture below.
To make arranging the primary-section feathers easier, punch a hole into each about 1 inch from the end of the shaft (or at the end of your line – my holes in the picture are 1 inch off, so ignore them… ;; ). Stack all the primary/fan feathers in order and string them onto something like a pencil or a bolt (I use a quarter-inch bolt 2.5 inches long, with a corresponding washer & nut).
Place the feather fan on your flat surface with the first feather facing UP (otherwise your wing will be BACKWARDS), arrange them to match your reference picture, and add the secondary's. They need to layer underneath the feather fan, like in the picture below.
Now's the time to trim and modify the feathers to match your reference pics. The Feather Atlas is a GODSEND during this part, since it usually has good quality examples for each type of feather on a wing, for most every species!
Once the feathers are done & the overall silhouette is satisfactory, mark where each feather lines up with each other (that'll make it easier to reset later).
Try putting the feathers in different configurations – open, half-open, closed, raptor hunting-pose – anything you think you'll do with your wings that might need major adjustment.
Continued in Part 2: Feathers & Harness