Comparatively, the KAREAREA Falcon was a lot easier to produce than the parrot, and I am happy with it, but they are really in two completely different worlds.

Starting with the original GOKO-KAHU design, I flipped the hip-joints out so the legs would get greater front-to-back mobility, and I replaced the #3 angle-connectors with some #5’s, which allow it to stand taller. I also replaced the #3 angle-connectors and TECHNIC® balls from the wing-flapper mechanism with some more #5’s. I found that they are far less obtrusive and do just as good a job as the original pieces. Finally, for the KAREAREA, I went with a more compact beak design.

The brown/black/grey color scheme is very loosely modelled after the look of a lot of the local birds, which consist entirely of dull, muted, earthy colors. I suspect it would look a lot better if it was almost entirely brown, but there is a severe shortage of brown parts, and a lot of the more prominent parts in this design just haven’t been made in brown.

This is probably the best example I can provide of the sheer unexplored potential of the Masterbuilder designs. I love parrots, and I even have a 3’x6′ towel with a rich parroty design that my parents picked up for me in El Salvador about ten years ago, and which has long since been turned into a wall-hanging. I would have been happy with being able to produce some simple recolored versions, like the ones we see in the MNOLG, but while I was building the original design to photograph, my eye fell on one of my spare TAHU swords, and I realized how much it looks like feathers when viewed from the correct angle.

I used the brilliantly colored Red Macaw as the model for this design, working from images I was able to track down on the internet. I had to take a few liberties with the color layout, and I would have preferred it if I’d been able to use darker green pieces for the wings and legs, and maybe yellow claws as well, but I’m thrilled that I was able to track down the right pieces to be able to get it looking the way it does. Still, I might replace the hip-joints with darker ones from the Pit Droid set.

Also, the tail is so long that it is impossible for the PORETE to stand free without burying its beak in the ground, so I had to build a special perch for it to rest on. It may not be the prettiest thing I’ve built, but the PORETE more than makes up for that, I think.

And here you can see, with the #5 angle-connectors, how much higher the wings flap. This design is even tricker to work correctly than the original one, but I feel the improved looks more than justify the change.