Yes,I think it will be lots of fun! I am planning a full size, perched Peregrine Falcon and a Bleriot XI in flight, in 1/10 scale .Peregrine because it is natures highest expression of flight design and speed and Bleriot because it represents one of our first tentative steps into the air.The bird will be bearing witness to our early feeble attempts.

The first order of business will be a scale mock-up of the idea that I am working with.This can be a lot of fun and is the most creative time for planning any piece be it diorama or a model sculpture.The process is about the same, deciding on the overall composition,figuring out how bird and airplane will relate to one another.
I like to think up a title for the piece right away as it helps to give me a sense of direction,right now I like the sound of "Bearing Witness".
I like the Bleriot subject matter as it is a monoplane that looks a lot like a live bird and Bleriot seems to gotten the basics right,monoplane,basic design,pilot behind the engine etc..etc..It has a definite connection with WW1 and was one of the first military airplanes.
I want this piece to be more in the vertical than horizontal plane with a steeply banked airplane flying over the head of the bird.I want the bird to have a sense of dignified curiosity about this new rival to its mastery of his skies.
Why the peregrine? because it is at the top of the food chain among predatory birds.It can dive at almost 200MPH in a stoop.It comes out of the sun and takes its prize on the wing initially striking it with its clenched claw and then diving down to catch the falling prey bird before it strikes the ground.It uses all of the skills we associate with fighter pilots contacting its prey with a claw instead of bullets.In short it is just a damn cool bird!

There will be no pilot figure in this piece Why? because I want the relationship between the bird and airplane to be from the birds point of view.The bird is relating to the machine not the man.The bird after millions of years of dominating the skies is the first to bear witness to this sudden huge,slow,clumsy and noisy rival.
The piece will be a combo of realism and suggestion.Parts of the airplane will be realistically modeled using some kit parts such as the engine ,fuselage and wheels.The wings will be made from tupelo wood carved from a single block and will be attached at one wing tip from a yet to be designed base,maybe a circle or crescent moon idea that I am working with.

The bird will be realistic in every way except for the minute feathering and will be painted in a subdued fashion.I don't want the airplane and bird as rivals for the viewers attention as the relationship is the important thing here.

The no pilot idea I am counting on as a real attention getter and hopefully it will lead the viewer into the deeper meaning behind the piece.Same thing with the prop which would be a blur to the bird but the engine will be finely modeled as you could be sure that he would definitely hear that.

nother pic

This will be the bird part of the sculpture,something I was working on 15 years ago or so and I had lost interest in.
I knew someday I would finish him but I never knew till now what would be his final destination.I am glad now that I never finished ,what were to be, his burned and realistically painted feathers.I think he has just enough detail as is.

I had never seen this Amati kit - Can you tell me where I can get one?

Thanks

Jerry Azemar
[email protected]

I want to keep this piece in the vertical plane as much as possible, so the Bleriot will be in a steep turn position.It will be a big museum piece that will take up a lot of room in my workshop/studio as it is.
I think that I will need some help from the museum with the base construction on this one but that is still a way down the road.

can you please tell me where I can get this, its an amazing sculpt

Hi Jerry ! I don't think that Amati still makes them but I could be wrong on this.Try ebay.Cheers John.

Shawn, what is it your looking for?

Thinking about a title.
I haven't even started yet but I am still debating a title for this new piece.I want it to reflect the birds point of view on early aviation.I have been thinking along the lines of "Stranger in the Sky" or the more personal "Stranger in my Sky".I would think that his initial reaction would be curiosity more than anything.The rivalry for air dominance would come later.Little did he know that one day he would only be a collision hazard or sucked up in a jet engine.

hrm, I meant to include the pic of that gorgeous falcon sculpt.

Is it commercially available?

No,I made it. Cheers! John.

This is the closest thing that I can find to a model sculpture like I am planning.Cast in silver, it is the Gordon Bennett trophy, won by Glenn Curtiss at the world's first air meet held at Rheims France in 1909.
My model sculpture will be multi-media piece made with a wood bird and airplane,stone base,and brass hoop. I will be doing my sculpture in honor of the 100th anniversary of the first air meet in Canada at Lakeside Quebec near Montreal .It was a Bleriot that flew over the city for the first time in June 1910 during that same meet.
I will leave out any sign of human presence as I want this piece to be about the bird/airplane relationship from the bird's point of view.

This base was originally to be made of wood but a black stone would be better I think, with some sort of cantilever arrangement to support the weight of the airplane.The black base represents a Peregrines claw and creates a nice "S" curve between base and bird.There is also a wood part to the base that will follow the same curve.
The ring could even go through the base at some point.The cantilever support could be a pair of carved bird wings or in the same metal as the hoop.

Awesome work there John. Love the concept,characters,display. As far as the base? I vote cliff edge above the clouds setting.
You have great vision and killer carving skills!
Cheers!
Rick

wow John, thats amazing work!

any thoughts to market one in resin?

This is a clay and aluminum mockup of what was going be my next bird sculpture.I never got around to doing it in wood but all is not lost.I love this position a bird takes when on the wing,it has a real sense of motion.
Steep turn,wings straining under G forces,tail twisted beyond the vertical etc...
(Note how the head of the bird always stays level no matter what position it takes in the air,this is natures artificial horizon!)
Well when it came time to put the Bleriot in the air.......can you see the similarities? Although this bird may never fly,the Bleriot will !
Of course the Bleriot in real life would never assume this flight attitude on purpose, but hey this is art so you do what pleases you.