Kris,its funny when you set up for a big batch of birds at one sitting you gain alot be keeping everything constant in shape and paint. You run a mini assembly line. Cut out the birds, shape the bodies shape the heads screw and glue heads on , seal,prime paint backs ,sides feathering and so on... You gain speed . Kind of wash rinse repeat methodology. But you also lose something in the process, the creativity in the knowledge gained from each bird and the afterthought that you could have done something to make the next bird a little better. But I needed a rig so my thinking was more of the function vs form. dont get me wrong on that point, I still think they look good but they are not a one off type of carving. Im glad you noticed that turned head block because it was my favorite of the bunch also. During the carving process i had a head that split when I was carving it so I had to cut an extra out. I took my same pattern and tweaked it(because frankly I was getting a little bored too) and gave it an extra long neck and turned it when I put it together because it looked right . It will probably be the first one that gets broke though.
Agood number of birds to do at one sitting is about 6-8. Then go back and make changes. The buff pair are prototypes and I like a lot about them but I already see some improvements to be made down the road.
The teals will be just fine for Cameron Parish LA in September.
