This is the only collectible model of a bald eagle made of LEGO bricks in the world. Its buyer – the winner of the auction – will support the noble cause of this year's WOŚP finale.
The white-tailed eagle model was designed and made by Dr Michał Duda from the Institute of Urban Geography, Tourism Studies and Geoinformation, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Geographical Sciences of the University of Lodz, known for the project budowlanezklocków.pl, as part of which he designed and built, among other things, the EC1 building, the Scheibler power plant and... ramen soup from LEGO bricks.
The bald eagle model took the author about 65 hours to design. No more copies are planned – this one will be the only one in the world. The model will be entered into the LEGO IDEAS competition.
The bald eagle by Dr Michał Duda consists of 891 new LEGO bricks and two used, very rare, archaic bricks depicting painted trees. This element appeared in only three sets in the history of LEGO between 1958 and 1961, so these two bricks from the model are at least 63 years old, constituting a valuable museum exhibit!
The assembled model is truly impressive. It is large and massive (dimensions: 35 x 35 x 21 cm, weight: 480 g). The set is packed in a specially designed box with a colourful dust jacket, which, in addition to the blocks, contains over 180 pages of colourful instructions for assembling the model, printed on art paper.
The model depicts a predator soaring over its natural habitat – over water and a dense forest with a variety of trees. The water reservoir and forest are placed on a solid and durable base, which is easy to move and looks great in the exhibition space. The bald eagle is perfectly balanced on a solid and thin support, constructed from LEGO Technic bricks. Each wing of the bird has several hinges that allow it to be positioned in virtually any phase of flight. The structure was assembled for the purpose of taking a photo, then disassembled and carefully packed into paper bags. The winner of the auction will have the opportunity to build it themselves.
The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) looks like an eagle, is as big as an eagle, so it is no wonder that it is traditionally considered the model for the eagle on the Polish coat of arms. Meanwhile, the white-tailed eagle is not really an eagle. It is the largest bird of prey nesting in Poland that belongs to the family Accipitridae, which includes many of the diurnal birds of prey, including the familiar hawks and eagles. Its body length is 74-92 cm, its wingspan is 193-244 cm, and it weighs 3.1-6.9 kg. The plumage of adult birds is grey and brown with a light fawn head and a characteristic white tail. The bird inhabits mainly areas adjacent to water bodies, along seacoasts and near rivers. The white-tailed eagle was the first among the species of birds of prey to be protected in Poland in the 1920s.
Source and photos: Faculty of Geographical Sciences, University of Lodz
Edit: Press Office, University of Lodz