The Bird…

Orange/grey = bad. Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I should point out that in this case, it looks even weirder than usual. The beak is large and red. The legs are orange. Everything that would be covered by feathers is grey. It kind of makes it look like a really old bird in orange socks.

This is probably one of the two most desired creatures from the MNOLG, partly because your character gets to ride it all over the island. Unfortunately, the design does not allow a MATORAN to ride it without either standing on it like a surfboard, laying flat on its back, or having some sort of chair attached to it. The beak is the only part that is skinny enough to wrap a MATORAN’s legs around, and somehow I don’t think that would make a very comfortable perch.

The part I liked least about the physical design is the way the legs are attached. They have a lot of side-to-side movement, but not a lot of front-to-back movement, which really restricts the posability when it’s standing on the ground.

Easily the coolest thing about this design is the wings. While they are permanently unfolded, and the bulk of the wing looks rotated 90 degrees, there is a curious little gear system that causes them to flap. When you spin the large gear in the center of the torso, it causes the orange #3 angle-connectors to rotate. The large balls on the ends lift the wing during part of their rotation, and if you get the speed right, the wings will flap. It’s a bit tricky to get working right, though, since the wings do bounce freely, and they don’t always fall back down at the right time. Sometimes they even settle out in a vertical position, but a quick dip to the side will cause them to drop back down.

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