Hoody body pattern

K

Kevin Puls

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I’m going to do a hooded merganzer or two. We have them in my area in spades. I might take one for the wall this year.

I have a head pattern. What species of birds would be similar in body size and shape? I have a pattern book with many common species.
 
As far as a similar body shape, probably a bufflehead would be close.

As with any pattern I develop I do a ton of research, look through thousands of photos. I get an idea of the look I want on a head or body, usually pretty generic on the body to allow for multiple poses. Heads vary so much you really just need to settle on a particular look you like within the confines of reality or in some cases a stylized version.

My hoodie pattern is very close to the same size and shape as my bufflehead pattern.


489039360_1218469893312938_9116767128112838172_n.jpg
 
Alot of my duck patterns come from Grayson Chessers book. If not directly from the book I have modified his patterns to suit my needs. The hooded merganser I posted in the other thread was based off his wood duck pattern. I obviously changed the shape some to be more merganser but the basic dimensions came from his pattern. Personally I think its a tad small if I was using the patterns for actual gunners and not what mostly end up on people's shelves but I am a fan of big decoys.
 
Don Mintz said:
As far as a similar body shape, probably a bufflehead would be close.

As with any pattern I develop I do a ton of research, look through thousands of photos. I get an idea of the look I want on a head or body, usually pretty generic on the body to allow for multiple poses. Heads vary so much you really just need to settle on a particular look you like within the confines of reality or in some cases a stylized version.

My hoodie pattern is very close to the same size and shape as my bufflehead pattern.


View attachment 77797
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Thanks Don. I agree with the sentiment. A diver body has some variation but not a ton of it. I might cross a bufflehead with a red breasted merg body.
 
JasonM said:
Alot of my duck patterns come from Grayson Chessers book. If not directly from the book I have modified his patterns to suit my needs. The hooded merganser I posted in the other thread was based off his wood duck pattern. I obviously changed the shape some to be more merganser but the basic dimensions came from his pattern. Personally I think its a tad small if I was using the patterns for actual gunners and not what mostly end up on people's shelves but I am a fan of big decoys.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I will say given the way I confused them in low lights with woodies in my youth that would make sense. I’m not kidding when I say hoodies are the most common bird in my area at times.
 
Kevin Puls said:
Interesting. I will say given the way I confused them in low lights with woodies in my youth that would make sense. I’m not kidding when I say hoodies are the most common bird in my area at times.
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I figured they were roughly the same size so it was a good place to start. I will say I plan to slim down the top profile some on the next one I make.

If it makes you feel better my red breasted merganser pattern basically came from his pintail pattern and one of his pintails I have. They are similarly sized and both pretty streamlined birds. I've only made one bird off that pattern so far and will probably tweak that pattern next time as well.
 
Im thinking if you don’t want to alter the body pattern much, bufflehead.
But Im confident you could do a number of different body patterns and have it looking really good.
Last season, I saw a raft of a few hundred hoodies, Im not used to that. I was probably 300-400 yards away with some glare on the water. Looking at them through binoculars, I COMPLETELY mistook them for bluebills, and then buffleheads for minutes.

Here’s a pair I did off of Keith Muellers pattern.

IMG_4407.jpeg
 
Nick Papavasiliou said:
Im thinking if you don’t want to alter the body pattern much, bufflehead.
But Im confident you could do a number of different body patterns and have it looking really good.
Last season, I saw a raft of a few hundred hoodies, Im not used to that. I was probably 300-400 yards away with some glare on the water. Looking at them through binoculars, I COMPLETELY mistook them for bluebills, and then buffleheads for minutes.

Here’s a pair I did off of Keith Muellers pattern.

View attachment 77805
Click to expand...
Those are sweet!
 
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