August workbench...

My girlfriend and her mother went away for the weekend and came back yesterday with their 9 year old nephew/grandson for the week.

So he and I started a hen gw teal tonight and hopefully we get it all painted before he goes home on Saturday.

Was kind of iffy letting him run the bandsaw though (kidding)

Never done a hen teal before, what color paints do I need?


 
Great stuff as usual everyone.

I got back in the shop twice in the last week and finally made some progress on some long overdue projects. a cork pintail for a friend, whistling duck pickle weeds, and a balsa mallard or black. I still have the black crowned night heron in the mix and finally ordered the eyes for it so I have no good excuse to not finish it soon. It's hollow white pine w/ a mahogany bill.

A friend just asked me to make a green heron next so I guess it's time to draw a pattern and see what happens.

Thanks to Yukon Mike I now use antler for the tails in my pintails. It's been way too long since I made one, and the last one I did is in Manitoba in Mike's home town in his friends office. That's also where my first two pickleweeds ended up.

-D

photo5_zpsb7651a67.jpg


photo3_zpsba6c3ffc.jpg


photo4_zps7dc8e7e8.jpg

 
It been a long time since I could post on this thread. With a new house and a new baby boy in the past 10 months, I suppose I have an excuse :)

I just wrapped up rehabbing a 6 pack of LL Bean Coastal Magnum black ducks. 4 drakes (1 low head) and 2 hens (1 low head). Thanks Pat and Tim for posting the secret wash technique, I tweaked it a little and used it on the heads. It really toned down the acrylic paint. Here's a couple samples;
22AE605D-3770-45C9-9C0B-4AA3060CC5E3-3852-000003404685AEB5_zps5c158348.jpg


5880B99D-1B44-4E8E-8193-8B6018910577-3852-000003404E7F935B_zpsf5208ff6.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice job on the rehab...those look great.
I'd be interested in hearing about your process.
 
Adam....the hardest part is STARTING....

So start.... buy a kit from Willy is the easiest way.... there are a few other companies selling kits too. And once you start you will be glued to craigslist looking for a bandsaw.....
 
Thanks Jeff. Good technical info for me, but this is going to be a 9 year old painting. Need SIMPLE. He spent some time sanding today while I was at work, and we epoxied the head and keel on tonight. Finish sanding tomorrow and paint it between tomorrow and Thursday.
 
Thanks Jeff. Good technical info for me, but this is going to be a 9 year old painting. Need SIMPLE. He spent some time sanding today while I was at work, and we epoxied the head and keel on tonight. Finish sanding tomorrow and paint it between tomorrow and Thursday.
Click to expand...

i thought that might be good to give you the basic colors. the simplest paint scheme i can think of that still makes a great gunner is jim romig's paint style on his teal. hope those help you make a simple version. jim's birds look to be very few colors. just a sponged on base of two colors, with the feathers overlaying that base.

http://www.woodwizarddecoys.com/gallery/
 
I haven't posted on a workbench thread in quite a while. Here's a mallard that will be a traveling decoy here in PA.

Basswood head, HD tan cork, pine tail and bottom board, and mahogany keel with brass screws.

1184981_10100635568173186_822784668_n.jpg


1208793_10100635568188156_122719777_n.jpg

 
I recently started my first rig of Buffleheads. Rhode Island has numerous salt marshes that they will be used in and i'm sure that they will see plenty of action. The first one is a hen with a basswood body and white cedar head. The two heads in the background are also white cedar.
IMG_5363_zps7106065e.jpg

IMG_5364_zpsbca764b5.jpg




IMG_5365_zpsb405164c.jpg

 
i dont really have anything to offer this thread but compliments... great work.. i am however very interested in getting into this. the only drawback i foresee is that i dont want to use power tools.. i like to do things with hand tools. what would you suggest be the best starting point for me since thats what im struggling with the most is how to get started. there are thousands of tools, but i just want to use the main basic must have tools and go with the approach of someone doing this in the beginning of decoys.
 
When I moved into my house 2 years ago I started a tool chest because I lost some cabinet space in the move. I finally finished it and have been working on a few widgeon. I haven't carved anything for 3 years due to moving and life happening. This is my first hollow decoy.

 
Tan cork from theduckblind.com, basswood head, pine tail and bottom board, Mahogany keel. Eyes are glass, and painted with acrylics.

1098422_10100638024291106_51826213_n.jpg

 
View attachment Fall13 007 (600 x 399).jpg
Doing some painting on birds, but also getting a bunch of calls ready for the coming season..... Some great Indian & Honduran rosewoods, outstanding bloodwood, and other interesting stuff. Of course, I've been working with some of that great salt-cedar as well. Besides sounding terrific, the salt-cedar is some of the prettiest stuff I work with .... here's a shot I took of a "custom shop" salt- cedar goose call I worked on this a.m. It was still on the lathe just after I applied the first sealer coat. When the lathe stops spinning, and I see swirls & burls like this, it never fails to take my breath away

View attachment Fall13 009 (600 x 411).jpg

Will probably post a bunch of these in the classifieds next week.
 
Sean, yes I did make the chest of drawers and happy to finally have it finished. I built the carcass and cut all the pieces for the drawers last spring until I finally got around to assembling the drawers and putting the finish on it. The goal was make it with material I already had. I had enough scrap maple from another project and teak to make it work. It was a bit of a challenge to use remnants that were all different sizes to get a design where I wouldn't run out of material.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top