Making Worbla Feathers

Hey guys!

Today I will be showing you how you can make feathers using the thermoplastic Worbla. I will just be making a small feather to show the basics, but you can make these much larger (especially if you add a thin metal wire for strength).

Also apologies if I do not manage to post every week. My current study topic has been so hectic that I've been having to stay after hours (so hectic that they will in fact be making it easier for future students since we have been the guinea pigs), and this could of course happen again at any point.

Now with that out of the way, let's get started!

(This is a WIP mask I'm currently working on using the Worbla feathers)

You will need:

• Worbla (I do it with black, but you could experiment with others)
• Heat gun
• Scalpel

Cut out the shape you want your feather to be twice (one layer is too thin), and thoroughly heat the two pieces so they're floppy but not melting. Press the two pieces together firmly, and heat a bit more.

Worbla sticks to itself when heated, so this is making sure the pieces won't just fall apart. Also take a close look at your Worbla. One side will be shinier which is the glue side so if you want your Worbla to stick together as best as possible then your two pieces need to be cut as mirror shapes and then pressed together with the glue to the inside.

For smaller feathers it will still be fine even if you don't press the two glue sides together, but it is better to so.

Now you have your Worbla sandwich heat it up again so it's relatively soft and using a scalpel carve a line down the center (do NOT cut all the way through, you just want an indentation). This is the center line that runs down a feather (the Rachis). If you'd like it to be more prominent you can hold your scalpel at an angle and press down on the edges of your initial cut while the Worbla is warm.

Now it's time to add the vane lines (vane is the word for the bulk of the feather where the barbs and such are). While the Worbla is warm score in lines at close to or as far apart from each other as you'd like all the way down the feather.

Once that's done go along the feather and cut through the entire feather in a few of the vane lines (only about the outer 50% of each line, not the whole line since the feather will fall apart then), and also cut off a few tips from the rectangles that form at random. Take a look at the picture below showing the back of one of the feathers to see what I mean.

You can also do this on both sides if you want to be able to make the feather look realistic from both sides, but just be careful since this will make the feather more fragile.

As a final step heat up the feather again and slightly 'ruffle' the tips of your vane so they're not all perfectly next to each other. And that's it!

If you want to add more detail you can add in barbs (little lines coming off the vane lines), but for small feathers this doesn't really show up. Also if you do not have access to Worbla you can make similar feathers from EVA foam.

I hope this was useful to some people and that it helps anyone wanting to make some fake feathers!

To finish off here's an example of what else you can make using Worbla feathers. =D