OK, in HO scale, there's some, but not a lot, of small flying rodents - I see Presier has a set of birds, which seems to include too few pigeons and a lot of Raptors, and BTS carries a set of 6 pigeons (microscopic image from their website), and also small birds (no image); are there other sets of small birds (this includes pigeons and things like sparrows, starlings, crows, or at least similar looking bird shapes - NOT raptors like hawks or owls, nor seagulls (lots of those available). And if people have molded their own birds (I've seen an article regarding rolling your own terns, but little else), some info on that would be cool. Basically small birds you'd find in the Northeastern US.
In the same vein, 4-legged land varmints seem to be a bit easier - I saw squirrels in some sets, albeit pricey, and Preiser, among other things, has rabbits (for some reason, I find the 'Feeding the Rabbits' mini-scene very bizarre, I don't know why), and there has been some set w/ squirrels, snakes (!), frogs(!!) sporadically featured in the Walthers Sales Flyer (squirrels are important, not only because they are omnipresent and omniscient, but also it was the fake squirrel wired to the tree that tipped off the abducted couple that they were on a giant kid's trainset in the Twilight Zone episode "Stopover In A Quiet Town" - well, maybe it was the giant kid herself instead). Dogs & Cats, plenty of sets of those, and Preiser seems set on molding ever possible Zoo exhibit there is (they may have cornered the market on HO scale Kangeroos and Chimps) - but anyway, who offers the best looking squirrels.
(Oh my my, oh he!! yes - Man, that song is 16 years old now!)
This statue of Civil War hero John Buford Brad, in the park which bears his name, is where one would look for pigeons in Moose Bay.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasleyThis statue of Civil War hero John Buford Brad, in the park which bears his name, is where one would look for pigeons in Moose Bay.
I was thinking more of a nest behind a sign w/ free-standing plastic letters, much as in real life on a commercial building near my home (the letters are about 1m/3foot high, with several 'O's that the pigeons like to sit in and watch traffic go by, and they nest on a ledge between the letters and the building wall - yeah, there's some guano* around that area). One place pigeons are now rarer is along the LIRR elevated sections, as the MTA added lots of chicken wire (which is also pigeon wire too, it seems) to cover the more popular perches, and the pigeon roosting (and guano-covered sidewalks) has decreased dramatically.
*Yes, I checked on wiki, and pigeons are neither sea-birds nor bats, but still it's a cool & useful term.
Those birds are from Preiser. To me, they look more dove-like, but, well, my story is that they're pigeons. Don't adjust your set, by the way, the picture is a trifle fuzzy, although optics demand that it must be in focus somewhere. I've got some more pigeons which are perched on a sprue right now.
But, why do the birdmakers insist on modelling flying birds? I've got a bunch of hawks and gulls with their wings spread in flight. I have put a couple of them in flight directly over trees, using a piece of floral wire to support them, and hiding most of the wire in the tree, but that's a trick I can only play so often.
MisterBeasleyBut, why do the birdmakers insist on modelling flying birds? I've got a bunch of hawks and gulls with their wings spread in flight. I have put a couple of them in flight directly over trees, using a piece of floral wire to support them, and hiding most of the wire in the tree, but that's a trick I can only play so often.
I think they were intended for photographic stuff myself---hang the birds you would 'normally' take the pic then erase the string on the image-----
Now, if someone was nuts enough, they could do birds in N---or even odder yet---Z
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
blownout cylinderNow, if someone was nuts enough, they could do birds in N---or even odder yet---Z
You could use a speck of ballast for a bird in Z scale... They would be so small!
MisterBeasleyThose birds are from Preiser. To me, they look more dove-like, but, well, my story is that they're pigeons...But, why do the birdmakers insist on modelling flying birds? I've got a bunch of hawks and gulls with their wings spread in flight
Are they from this Preiser bird set which is the one I spotted in the Walthers flyer - I only say that because not only does it include pigeons, but also a number of Hawks & Gulls in flight (or, as displays at a Boy Scout convention, flapping their wings but with their legs fastened to the perch - that's how I first saw Falcons & Owls & Hawks close up)
And, as for N scale, well from a National Geographic Bird Guide, 'Rock Pigeons' (the usual kind you find in cities & suburbia) are on average 12.5 inches (32cm), so that equals about .08" in N scale - certainly visible, so I wonder if you could get away with a rounded blob of putty, with a smaller blob attached to represent the head, painted a light grey w/ white areas...
Heh, looks like Musket Minatures also sells both pigeons & squirrels, but alas no images (the use for Robins and other large birds gets me wondering how accurate these models look). Foiled again!
There's pigeons down in Market Square
From the song "Mary Jane's Last Dance," by Tom Petty... in case anybody else was wondering (it drove me crazy all morning trying to figure it out)
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor
stokesdaFrom the song "Mary Jane's Last Dance," by Tom Petty... in case anybody else was wondering (it drove me crazy all morning trying to figure it out)
Sorry Dude..., I figured the last line of my OP "(Oh my my, oh he!! yes - Man, that song is 16 years old now!)" would have given it away.
I guess pigeons are as beloved in the model world as they are in the real world - not very (actually I don't like them much myself, but they are around and visible, so they deserve to be modeled). I guess Musket Miniatures and BTS are it...
Yes, I think that's the Preiser set those birds came from. This is one of my flying birds, mounted on floral wire:
And here's a seagull, coming in for a landing on Mermaid Rock:
MisterBeasleyYes, I think that's the Preiser set those birds came from. This is one of my flying birds, mounted on floral wire:
Actually you hid the floral wire very well w/ that hawk (?), and it does look rather cool.Unfortunately for me, it does violate the 'use only figures posed at rest or static positions', so no need of the Preiser Raptors for me; while the BTS pigeons seem (at least from that tiny picture) to be just sitting around, which is what the prototype pigeons in my area do really well.
I'm giving up on the songbirds though, as I can't find anything in that regards (Musket Mini has 'small birds' - OK, what do they look like). Maybe to explain their absence, get a lot of scale cats...and those Preiser raptors afterall )