Parrot Men Village

Inspired by the good gentleman at Victoria's Boys in Red I have found a renewed interest in my Parrot Men project. Though I had not intended them for VSF proper, they easily work for such a game without modification. I am using GW's cool Kroot minis for them and intend to do a host of conversions and modifications to create various Parrot Man personalities. But on to the new ideas.

Somewhere along the way, I had acquired several of those cheap plastic champagne glasses that come in two parts - the stem (which make for good flight bases for larger models) and the cup proper. I have been holding on to them since then, thinking that some day I would have use for them, and indeed I have finally devised something that has inspired me - nest huts for my Parrot Men.

The concept for the nest huts draws from several sources both real and fictitious. I first looked at bird nests. They come in so many shapes and forms that nature would surely provide me with something usable. I looked at various woven nests as well as those of mud construction. Next I looked at how they were situated in the trees - nestled in crooks, hollows, the ends of branches and even hanging. I drew a little bit from all of these.

Next, I looked at man-made constructions for bird houses and such. It sounds silly, but you have to assume that a birdlike species is likely going to develop some similar concepts when they move from instinctual to engineered designs. My main points of consideration here were perches and decks as I figured my Parrot Men, living in a tropical environment, would likely want some sort of veranda to spend their days on.

The end result was the sketch below...

The basic idea is the marriage of a common craft store bird nest to the thatched over plastic wine glass using carved and shaped craft or natural sticks for the uprights and the decking. I am not sure if I want to make them hanging or built on the tops of branches or both.

The way I see the Parrot Men living in them is similar to how some of the South American tribes live in their simple shelters. Like regular bird nests, the Parrot Men use their nest huts primarily for the safe-keeping of their young. Eggs are laid in the center below the line of the veranda as are the family's other possessions. Daily life is spent perched outside on the veranda perches or on the surrounding trees. As Parrot Men cannot fly, but are excellent climber and leapers, they can easily access even the most remote nest huts.

We'll see how this develops.

-Eli