Big Minecraft Parrot

We're making a Minecraft parrot today! My sister has a tiny Minecraft parrot figure and I though it'd be fun to make a big one. This parrot ended up being around 28" from bottom to top, and is a pretty solid build.

• 1 Large Cardboard Box
• Hot Glue
• Red, blue, yellow, black and peach Paint
• Boxcutter or Xacto Knife
• Pencil ,Ruler and Paint brush

Sketched out above are the pieces to make the bird. They will all need to be cut out of your cardboard box. All the pieces are made up of 2" squares, so it might be easiest to grid your box in pencil and draw out the shapes in marker.

See dimensions on the lower left of the above notebook page (picture) for each section of the bird and how many you will need. Please see sketch for non rectangular pieces.

Cut all pieces out of cardboard and sort into stacks of each body part. This will make assembly a little easier. At this point I also added color notes to each grid square on my pieces to make sure I painted correctly later. Use the color chart in the previous step to map out colors.

You will need four 6"x12", and two 6"x6" pieces.

The body is the easiest part of this build since it is just a rectangular box. Unless otherwise noted my gluing technique is just a line of glue on the edge of one piece and sticking it to the very end of the other's face. If there are gaps in seams you can always fill in with a little extra glue.

Start by gluing your 6"x10" rectangle sheets into a 3D rectangle.

Top with the 6"x6" square pieces on either end. I found it best to glue one edge down, wait for it to set; then the two sides and close up the final once the others are set.

This should give you a pretty solid rectangular body.

You will need two 1"x10", two 1"x6", and two 6"x10" pieces for each wing. Two 6"x8", two 2"x8" and one 2"x6" for the tail.

The wings use the same basic idea as the body but it is a thinner rectangular prism. If you mapped out your colors already be sure to grab the correct pieces. You want one of each color option, of the sizes listed (for one wing).

For the wings instead of putting the smallest pieces on last it is easiest to put the final big piece on last.

Add the thin 1"x10" and 1"x6" pieces to the back side of one of the 6"x10" pieces; then sandwich the second 6"x10" on top, the same way as the final piece of the body.

Repeat for second wing.

The tail** is pretty similar to the wings, except one end stays open.

**I goofed when I assembled this one(the tail), I shouldn't have glued all the way to the top on one side and ended up having to cut it later. To avoid this, just don't glue the top 2" on one side(a 6x8 piece)

You will need (Skull) two 'L' shapes, one 4"x8", and one 4"x6"; (Face) four 2"x4", four 1/2"x4", and both 'T' pieces

The head is the trickiest part of this build. I glued it together in two main parts, then combined them. In addition to being the trickiest part to assemble, this was also the trickiest part for me to articulate, so bear with me. I recommend reading the instructions, looking at the images, then assembling.

The first part is the skull part. To assemble this take your 'L' shaped pieces and attach them with the 4"x8" and 4"x6" pieces. The shorter of the two connecting the 'L's on the back of the head and the longer connecting across the top. The order of these ones doesn't matter a ton as long as your result looks like a rudimentary helmet.

Next up is the face. This isn't too hard it's just a little weird. Use the second picture as your end result. Start with the big "T" and add on to either side. First add a 2"x4" to either side of the 'T' as if making a box.

Add a 1/2"x4" piece off of each piece you just added. As if adding little wings to the almost-box you just made. It should now look like the left piece in the first picture.

Repeat the previous two steps, adding a 2"x4" to each of the little pieces you just added. And another 1/2"x4" to those.

Apply glue to all but the longest edge of the small 'T' and stick to the bottom of the face.

Now for the easy part, linking the two. They should nest inside each other, as seen in image 3. To connect, add a line of glue along the top three edges of the tall 'T' and glue into place in the top of the skull/helmet piece. Add some more glue to the 1/2"x4" and the bottom 'leg' of the helmet/skull

Painting and painting and more painting... Not much else to say here, except, Paint all those bird pieces!

I highly recommend drawing out the grid and labeling the squares before starting to paint. You may also want to double check how well your paint covers pencil, mine did not cover the best and I had to erase my color marks before painting for some of my colors. Other than that, pulling up a picture of a Minecraft parrot is not the worst idea if you'd rather not mark up your bird.

The body is pretty straight forward, assembly-wise. Find your parrot comb (those ruffly feathers on their head) and decide where you want it on your feathered friend. Add a line of glue to the 4" bottom section and attach to the top of your bird's head. Set the head aside and add your wings.

Figure out your wing placement and orientation before adding glue (I did not do this). If you want to be true to the game, your wing should be red-end up with the side with more yellow pointing behind the bird. The wing angle is personal preference. If you are really set on an angle I would mark the top edge of your wing on the body with pencil, but I just eyeballed it. To attach, just squirt a bunch of hot glue all over one side of your wing and hold it onto your bird's body.

Repeat with second wing before moving on to the head.

Similarily, with the head... decide on a placement, add glue to the bottom (edges and any beak overlap) and stick to the top of your bird.

You now have a tail-less bird

To attach the tail you will need to fold and glue a little before attaching. If you accidentally glued your whole tail (like me), you will need to make two cuts to form a flap that runs the length (6") of your tail. Fold this down (into your bird) at a 45 degree angle. Fold the edge pieces in to hold your flap in place. It may help to cut a slit through one layer of your cardboard (on the outside) to make it easier to fold.

To hold the flap in place, add some glue to your side tabs and hold them until the glue is set.

Same as the wings and head; find your tail placement, add a bunch of glue, and stick it on.

Your bird is done!!

I included pieces for the feet in my initial sketch (the color sheet in the early steps) but ended up not using them for stability reasons and since my little example (sitting on a music box) looked fine without them.