Master Lammergeier

This is a maquette made to answer a prompt for an animal character. I had wanted to make a character that could belong in a new line-up of kung fu animal masters from another country, with the idea that each country had its unique group of defenders in the Kung Fu Panda universe. Other countries and cultures would have their own unique animals representing their regions and climates and that idea was very inspiring in this case. I figured he would be the Master character of his region, perhaps from South America or Chile more specifically because the vulture he's modeled after is indigenous to that region. He would be ideal as the leader character because he is as majestic as any eagle, despite his vulture classification, and the bird's lifestyle of living off of bone marrow that it slowly digests in it's stomach lends itself to a character with inordinate patience and experience, and long seeing eyes literally and figuratively.