I Finally Got This Years Diver Rig Started

T

Tom Rowe

Active member
As usual I'm way behind. The wife took the kids to the Adirondaks this weekend. I stayed home and started casting this years hunting rig. Cans, Redheads, Sleeper Redheads, and Bills. I've got a pile of sleeper Cans in the garage. Cast from HD polyurethane foam. All have solid plastic tails. Bills are solid plastic. Got a bunch of keels put together also. I'm about half way done casting. Next I have glue everything together, then install the glass eyes, then paint/flock.

Here are some individual shots of blanks that are in the Pile O' Parts



 
They look great! Tom, what do you use to glue them up with?
Click to expand...


I pin the heads with a 3/8" dowel and gorilla glue. Once the gorilla glue dries I blend the joints with apoxie sculpt. I attach the keels to a block of wood molded into the bottom of the decoy using 3" stainless deck screws.
 
Very nice start to this year's rig! Tom, I've watched you make these decoys over the last few years and was wondering if you build a rig for each year or if it just gets bigger with each season?
Do you sell them off after the season?
Thanks,
Mike
 
Thanks all.

Mike I make a new rig every year. I pretty much sell off each rig after the season then use the $$ to pay for the next seasons decoys. One of these years I'll actually have the rig done BEFORE the season starts.
 
Tom, you should take a picture of your masters arranged in time sequence... assuming you have kept them all.
 
Tom~

I never cease to be amazed! Each of those masters looks wonderful.

How many birds in the rig altogether?

SJS
 
Steve, I'm shooting for 40 upright head Cans, 30 sleeper Cans, 18 redhead sleepers, 20 upright head Redheads, and 15 upright head bluebells. Can you tell I love Cans?

RL, I think I have most of my original masters. I know for a fact I don't have all of them because I modified a few from one year to the next. As soon as I finish I'll try and dig them out and take a pic... That's a great idea.
 
That is a great looking rig in the making! Are your rigs already sold before you build them, or do you advertise them at the end of the season?
 
Tom~

I notice you were very careful to have an odd number of decoys - because ducks NEVER come to an even number. With so many decoys, though, I bet you can see their lips moving and - when they have to count on their "fingers", they tend to slow down. And, since 123 is also a prime number, those ducks don't have a chance!

As always, I look forward to seeing your finished products.

All the best,

SJS
 
Yep... We see their lips moving. It's them laughing at us. We also see their fingers. Mostly the middle primary as they fly away.

Believe it or not the numbers coincided with my boredom. Once I got bored making one I stopped and moved to the next. I'm going to try to get one of the redheads painted. I'm curious to see what they will look like.
 
If you are going to texture them and remain undecided on which item to use from the two we discussed, I have had those 15 mallards I carved and coated with 3M rocker panel spray Medium in the water seven times since the season opened. One 1/8" inch "chip" that looks like it was made by a dog toe nail in one breast is the extent of the major damage incurred to date.
 
RL,

I textured the the Redhead sleeper and the Redhead upright before I built the molds. The way my process works, I end up with a plastic shell surrounding a foam core. The plastic shell captures the texture perfectly. My thoughts were that it would create additional surface area to hold more flocking adhesive. I think its going to work well but some serious hunting will be the real test.
 
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