How to sculpt a soft glass hummingbird

[Quintessential]

If you'd like to try some off mandrel work, check out my new YouTube video tutorial. I'd love to see what you come up with. https://youtu.be/TKgo3wEXwSI

[Vicki Gough]

After watching your tutorial several times, these are two of my three attempts. Bird #2 had no eyes-I forgot that step, then his wings fell off when I took it out of the kiln. Am still psyched to try try again! Great tutorial, thank you!

[Quintessential]

Having wings, beaks, or tails fall off happens when the glass you're adding and the place you're adding it to aren't the same temperature. Make sure both pieces are glowing brightly then remove from the flame and attach the pieces. If the weld is good, you shouldn't see the seam. The glass will have flowed together. If the wings cracked somewhere other than the attachment point, you may have either hit the wing with the flame after it was cool or thermal stress built up in the glass for a variety of reasons. For example if you robbed the glass of heat with your mashers by keeping them on the glass too long or trying to move the glass when it had cooled off, stress builds up and can cause cracks. Does that help?

[Vicki Gough]

Yes, it was thermal stress because I didn't get the wing stretched out well enough the first or second time, or the third... ; )