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Sunnybrook1 — Realistic Wing Tutorial - P.2
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Published: 2010-08-16 06:11:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 116922; Favourites: 841; Downloads: 1792
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Please let me know if you need this transcribed, and I will do so...
9/21/16: If alligator clips are too pricey and/or you won't need to adjust the feathers much after you've placed them, just leave on 2.5" - 3.5" inches of extra wire to bend around the elastic. It's not as pretty or easy to adjust, but it's cheap & it works!
Also, some pro-tips from Imagi-Nethat :
- Old bedsheets are a much cheaper alternative if you don't want to buy fabric off the roll.
- While using fusable web instead of paint seems like a good idea, I do NOT recommend it. The web doesn't stick to the wire and you end up having to go through extra steps to correct it.
- For the wire, I cut it to the length of the feather and then folded and squashed one end down about an inch. It keeps the fabric on well.
- If you live in America, Menards had reasonably priced alligator clips. It cost about $9 for two people's (36) clips.
- While it's entirely possible to spray paint your feathers after the fabric has stuck together, be careful about it, as it can leave a mottled look if you don't spray evenly.
3/22/10: My first video showing wing-movement.
12/3/13: My second video with two wings~
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.
3/6/2018: Correct #1 Primary feather wrapping example
Part 0 - MATERIALS
Part 0.5 - TOOLS
Part 1 - CONCEPT
Part 2 - FEATHERS
YOU ARE HERE 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
Already finished your wings? Please fill out this questionnaire , I'd love to hear about it!
Wing Design/Tutorial © Sunnybrook1
Related content
Comments: 267
Ah, weight really depends on the finished product - materials, wing size, etc - by my OWN wings were about 7 lbs total, 3.5 lbs on each arm. Doesn't seem like much, but as the wings aren't the most ergonomic of designs & the muscles used aren't that buff you start to feel it after awhile.
I recommend stretching before & after, and practicing before the actual event, maybe even building up some extra muscle.
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Thanks!
Yeah, stretching and practicing seems like a good idea
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Hello sunny, hey for painting both sides, do you mean glue it? i mean in the section where you put an old monopoly board
i dont understand that reference because im a spanish speaker.
thanks a lot
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That's right - I use the paint like glue, and when it dries the fabric stays together~
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Hello Sunnybrook! I absolutely adore this tutorial and am planning on merging this with another tutorial I found to make extendable wings that attach to my back. I hope to make these for Halloween and I was wondering if you have any suggestions for alternate materials to make the feathers with, since that seems to be the most time consuming part. Do you think craft foam would work, or would that have too much friction to fold properly?
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Oooh, I'd love to see your resullts!
Alternate materials? 
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Thank you so much! It may be a while before I can start these, but I will definitely show you as soon as I finish!
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Hello!
Thank you so much for posting an amazing tutorial! Me and a friend plan to make a set of phoenix wings, but we have a few questions. What kind of fabric do you recommend? We plan to spray paint the feathers, and possibly use sharpie for detail, but we're not sure what kind of fabric would absorb the darker colors that we have. That brings up our other question; the painting technique at the bottom only yields one feather, right? If you're double layering the fabric to make a feather, then how are you keeping the fabric stuck together? Thank you!
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It saves coloring time to buy fabric in the color you want the wings to be in, as for type I've just used "broadcloth" type fabrics. And the paint I'm using IS what's keeping the two fabric layers together 
That make sense? If not, lemme know~
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That clears up a lot, thank you so much!
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I plan on doing this for a costume but I have a question. My budget is extremely tight. Do you have any ideas for materials I could substitute? Like the aligator clips. Are they absolutly necessary?
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Ah, I understand budget cosplay well~
If you look carefully, you'll see it's what I did with my remake of the corvid wings:
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Thank you! That's very helpful.
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okay, so im in need of a single wing for a cosplay im doing, and ive done loads of research and your tutorial is the one that was most promising! i plan to do a cosplay of Touka Kirishima, and for the costume i want to do, i need literally a single wing, preferably like the ones in this tutorial. so i was wondering if this could be done with one wing? i have a few more questions if thats okay, but i thought id start with that one. Thanks!
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Oh yeah, you can just make one wing, much like this gal 
It's how I started out myself, only added another wing to finish my Raven Mytho costume~
Though this Touka Kirishima character, it's a wing coming out of their back, right? 
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yeah, the wing is something like that, i was going to see if i could bunch a few "feathers" together to make it look something like that, but i really wanted a way to control the wing as its what she uses to fight ^^
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Well good luck, experiment with cheap materials first (like posterboard) to see if it'll work the way you want, have fun!
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okay i realize i have asked a stupid question omg i looked at the single wing video and it hadn't registered in my mind that you only were wearing a single wing lmao
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could this be done for angel wings...say I wanted to cosplay Castiel from Supernatural?
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Well back wings are a different design (check out Bushitaka 's work for some epic motorized/articulated back wings) but the feather construction & stringing of the feathers can still apply. 
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Just had to chime in and say thank you for this tutorial. I haven't even started yet but my mind is racing with the possibilities. I'm a bigger and taller guy and always wanted wings that fit me better and HATE those cheap pre-made cardboard wings. Tossing around the idea of a Great Owl from the Secret of Nimh for Halloween this year. I'll keep you posted and see what I come up with 
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Glad to help! 
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So I've been working out measurements and all with my wings. I pulled the image of the Great Horned Owl feathers from the atlas (what an amazing resource!), cropped, and re-sized each feather's length proportionately to fit to my hand drawn diagram guided by none other than yourself. I dropped those into Illustrator and quickly pen traced the shapes to get feathers that are basically anatomically accurate and will already have the basic shaping when I get to them. Hopefully, cutting down the risk for making a mistake in shaping them. I plan on testing mine via poster board to save my hands from cutting all that cardboard and I'll reshape as needed. So, I just printed my first feather from Illustrator and it's not even the longest one, and can I just say, "WOW!" The process is a bit brain wracking to make sure you have the right numbers and all (and because I'm a perfectionist at those things). But seeing the size and scale of just one feather has blown me away! I'm even more excited to complete them now!
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Whoo, the illustrator tracing/printing has definitely helped me too! 
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Hi! I added another pic of the rest of my primaries all pattern on paper from my Illustrator templates. I have the primaries all done in poster board now but I'm waiting to add the secondaries to take a pic. I think the costume is evolving more into a steampunk character of sorts but still with an owl theme. Excited as each step goes by and I'll keep you updated. The Great Owl just ended up maybe being a bit too ambitious and hard to move through lots of people for this year.
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Definitely! I've started with the first pic HERE. I'll probably continue to post pics as I go or I'll forget to do it, LOL!
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How were you able to make the feathers so stiff with just broadcloth fabric? Did you spray fixative on it or is it just the wire and glue keeping it stiff?
I absolutely love this tutorial. I'm making myself a pair of bluejay wings for a convention next friday and I am so excited to be able to wear them
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The magic to stiff feathers? 
Does this description help at all? I know that others have made it work for them, though it seems to be easier if the fabric used is felt (for obvious reasons - soaks up paint easy & is very thick to begin with) so if you are worried try both in small quantities & go with whichever you prefer.
Glad you like my tutorial, and hope to see your bluejay wings soon!
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Hi! wonderful tutorials :3 I'm part-way through making my own wings right now. Instead of a harness, I thought about just cutting out the top part of a long-sleeved shirt (with the sleeves, back, and maybe chest still attached) and attaching the secondaries directly to that. As the one with all the experience, what are your thoughts on this? I'm also going to use slightly watered-down Elmer's glue (papermache-esque) for the feathers X3
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If the shirt-material is strong enough I don't see a problem.
And before you after down the glue, have you made a test feather with that method? It may stretch your glue out but may not last long, I'd try a feather with straight glue as well, since it dries clear~
What is your wing concept? Post pics plz!
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I decided to not use the shirt thing, and I ended up using straight up glue, which worked great :3 much better than the watered-down stuff. I skipped the secondary feathers completely and went with a simple piece fabric cut to resemble a block of secondary feathers, attached to a sleeve of sorts, and I'll attach that to the last primary feather so it opens out a bit. I don't have pics yet (because it is in the ugly stage), but once I've strung them, I'll send some pics your way
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Sweet!
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last-verse.deviantart.com/art/… Here's some WIP stuff
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I'm curious, do you know what the overall cost of creating these wings is? How much fabric did you use for one wing?
Also, what would the difference be in cost, and weight of the wings, if I used paper materials instead of fabric?
Thank you! I am so excited to finish these wings. I have my cardboard pattern ready, and now I'm aiming to get the material for the real feathers.
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Well materials vary (based on fabric type/quality, & stuff you already have versus what needs to be bought) but I estimate $80-$100 - if this changes I will update part 0 to reflect the new info~
Speaking of which I listed 11-12 yards (of 34"-36" fabric) for two wings, so 5.5-6 yards for one wing~
Paper IS cheaper and ends up being lighter because if its stiff enough you can cheat & make the metal shafts shorter, and I used hot glue instead of paint for THIS set (a line down the shaft/middle & a ring around the edges keeping them closed). DOWNSIDES are you'll need to avoid water & they won't be as forgiving to general wear & tear, but they may be cheap enough that replacing the odd wrinkled/torn/soggy primary may be quite simple~
If you choose to use paper instead lemme know how it goes, and post pics!
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Just wanted to say, you can buy galvanized wire by the roll at hardware stores (At least, I've found it at Lowe's and Home Depot). It's as stiff (if not stiffer) than wire hangers, which have become increasingly scarce at my house since I design stuffed animals and they frequently need a support skeleton. I think I paid around $8 for a 50ft roll.
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Oooh, I've tried wire rolls before & found them too soft, but "galvanized" wire, huh? Will try that next chance I get~
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I checked mine before I commented to make sure I wasn't mis-remembering and it was harder to bend than a wire hanger. It's good for me because sometimes I need lengths greater than what you get from a hanger. ^_^
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Biiiiiiiiiig wings~ 
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Oh my goodness, what a thought. I'm awe-struck just thinking about it!
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I'm confused; what exactly is the Cardboard used for?
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Lol, used in step 2, you trace around the cardboard pattern onto the fabric before cutting it.
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Ahhh, the picture of paint you used on your tutorial has Latex on it. It's a white paint (And after adding red to it, it appears I can only make shades of pink. But alas!)
First feather is looking okay. But... so many more to to. ;-;
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Ahh, good eye! 
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Keeping at it~ In your tutorial, it says to use a sealant on the endges of the feathers ot keep them from fraying. What would you suggest for that?
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Y'know, I never actually got around to doing that on my own wings and they've held up rather well. O_o Hmmm...I'll try a few things & update the tutorial to either specify or remove that section.
Thanks for the heads up!
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Much appreciated to you replying!
So, I'm working on my wings, and I got an acrylic Latex paint. Is that alright to use? I didn't see acrylic on the larger can that you had. It also didn't seem to stick as well, so am I supposed to just use a lot of paint on these? The page wasn't quite clear on how much to use.
Additionally, it's kinda turning the fabric the colour white. Am I supposed to tint it with other paint?
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My paint was either matte wall paint or gesso, not sure how latex would fare. And it's best to use a color as close to the fabrics' color as possible (unless wing is two-colored, then choose the lighter color & paint over the parts that seep through in the darker color).
Amount of paint? Well, I make sure to coat both layers of fabric as evenly as possible, enough to partially soak into the fabric itself (some seeping out is ok, too much is either thin fabric or an over abundance of paint) so you have something to squish together when sandwiching the layers around the metal shaft. I didn't provide paint amts because I didn't really know, it depends on the fabric thickness/quality...good news is that two wings (primaries & coverts) only used up about a third to half of my gallon paint bucket.
Does that help?
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Do you think standard bed sheets would be thick enough?
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