Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Good morning, All~
I am in the thick of completing two duckboats right now - yet another South Bay and a Duck Wrangler (a first for me). In the "interstitial time", I am also rehabbing a few gunning decoys. I have a handful of Bean's Pintails and Mallards almost done - but have been repairing 4 little Herter's Model 63 divers - which came to me as pairs of Cans and Bluebills. The Cans were the earlier flat-bottom birds (my favorites) and the Bills had the extruded keels with the all-to-common rust out of the cast iron ballast. My job was to get them once again ready-to-hunt - and change the Bluebills into Whistlers.
The heads were sanded - both on the table sander for the heavy "sagittal ridges" and by hand with 120-grit paper.
The heads then got coated with epoxy + fine sawdust (which I collect from my band saw).
I try to avoid the coating on the bills and eyes.
Next step is priming with flat oils - mostly different flavors of Rustoleum - in approximations of the final hues.
Here they are in final paint - subject to touch-ups after joining up with their respective bodies. Topcoats are Behr latex and the bills and eyes get Satin Spar Varnish.
The Bluebill heads make a passable Whistler - 'though I am always tempted to trim those bills down a bit.....
The Canvasback bodies were sound. They got epoxy + fine sawdust on the bottoms...
...and epoxy + ground walnut shells - from Homer Decoys - on their topsides.
Continued.....
SJS
I am in the thick of completing two duckboats right now - yet another South Bay and a Duck Wrangler (a first for me). In the "interstitial time", I am also rehabbing a few gunning decoys. I have a handful of Bean's Pintails and Mallards almost done - but have been repairing 4 little Herter's Model 63 divers - which came to me as pairs of Cans and Bluebills. The Cans were the earlier flat-bottom birds (my favorites) and the Bills had the extruded keels with the all-to-common rust out of the cast iron ballast. My job was to get them once again ready-to-hunt - and change the Bluebills into Whistlers.
The heads were sanded - both on the table sander for the heavy "sagittal ridges" and by hand with 120-grit paper.
The heads then got coated with epoxy + fine sawdust (which I collect from my band saw).
I try to avoid the coating on the bills and eyes.
Next step is priming with flat oils - mostly different flavors of Rustoleum - in approximations of the final hues.
Here they are in final paint - subject to touch-ups after joining up with their respective bodies. Topcoats are Behr latex and the bills and eyes get Satin Spar Varnish.
The Bluebill heads make a passable Whistler - 'though I am always tempted to trim those bills down a bit.....
The Canvasback bodies were sound. They got epoxy + fine sawdust on the bottoms...
...and epoxy + ground walnut shells - from Homer Decoys - on their topsides.
Continued.....
SJS
