All Things Flocking

The first redhead is flocked and ready for airbrush, although it would hunt just fine like it is. I always paint the bills by hand with full strength rustoleum in gloss the appropriate color, in this instance it will be a slate blue to start and then airbrush, that will make the paint on the bill stronger. I can still paint gloss on the bill with a hazing technique that give it a more satin look. grandkids are coming today, so the craft room will be occupied with all sorts of fun stuff, so the redhead will be curing for a few days. I'm really liking the red flocking, I've never ventured too far from 3 colors of flocking in the past and with the selection of colors from Flocking Unlimited for waterfowl, it's time for a little more fun. I have some canvasbacks to do and they have a specific red for that which is a little browner I think the canvasback head might be a good candidate for a blended flocking by painting the forehead from the bottom of the bill at an angle past the front of the eye to the top of the head with black rustoleum, then blend it to red rustoleum the rest of the way and flock the whole thing with what they call bull canvasback red and see where that takes me.
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If I remember correctly I think the calf was going to be a predator calling decoy.

My dad shot some snow geese one time probably in the 40's by walking beside a horse drawn hay wagon into a field of snow geese. I never asked, but always wondered how the ride was in the wagon after the shots were fired, but knowing that neighbor decades later in his old age, I'm sure he was shooting too.

I made some whitetail doe decoys out of big sheets of cardboard about 40 years ago for me and my dad, they were just airbrushed. Both of us shot deer with our bows with those decoys. I let my neighbor with a farm across the road borrow it and he said it worked great for him too, however when the buck was wondering around the silhouette and got end ways he got really weird, kind of like where'd she go. Didn't know anything about flocking other than my dad would flock the scull plate on deer antlers to hang on the wall.
 
Flocking day, I flocked first coats on 16 of these this morning. Here is how I decide on the color for first coats. Whatever flocking I have the most of which is brown and whatever paint I have the most of, which is brown. In other words, it really doesn't matter, the first coat is mainly the layer that's going to help you get a thicker more durable layer after you put on the second coats. I did do a few mallard drakes grey, just because I been playing with some new flocking colors. The light grey mallards I think will be a better late season choice, it's the light feather grey from flocking unlimited and rustoleum smoke grey mixed with white, probably only 1/3 smoke grey. I'll still probably mess around with some of the combinations. I also got some dark feather grey and put it one the goldeneye for a base. I even did that dark grey over black on the back of the hen goldeneye on the January workbench thread.

Another thing I've started doing when I remember is to base coat the bills with full strength rustoleum in a color close like the orange hen mallard, let is dry a few days before flocking. That gives you a little stronger coverage on the bills and you don't have to be all that careful since you will flock up to the edge of the bill later.

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