Steve Sanford
Well-known member
Well, I have waited 'til noon - to give Tod Osier a chance to start this thread. So, here goes - with a bit of Long Island decoy history thrown in.
A friend recently asked me to finish a half-dozen McCormick Broadbill stool - which he had just gotten from another friend. Al McCormick was "Mr. Decoy" on Long Island for decades. His typical M. O. was to teach others to carve their own rigs. His style of pedagogy was very "hands on" - i.e., there was only One Way to carve a bird. So, regardless of whose birds they were, most looked strikingly similar to a McCormick Original. And, some never got completely finished or hunted.
Al used brown (black/refrigerator) cork sealed with a slurry of spar varnish and cork dust. Heads were of Red Cedar - usually from 4x4 stock. Although most famous for his Black Ducks, he also carved Broadbill, Brant and even Geese (I believe). I own a couple of Blacks and one Broadbill.
Here is a McCormick Broadbill. I do not know what the standard McCormick paint looked like on this species. (Please send photos if you have some.)
These birds came to me in different stages of readiness. Four were sealed and primed, ready for finish paint. One other just needed a prime coat. The last needed filling, sealing and priming.
Here is a pair of the finished birds.
The eyes are just painted on. I almost wish I had kept them off - just Black and Brown heads.
The back was stippled: A base of Pale Grey (Behr Elephant Skin) then Black then White. I made the back "breeding season bright" - not the darker tone you'd see earlier in the season.
I wrestled with how much detail to put in the paint on these birds. So many true gunning Broadbill never used more than Black, Brown and White - with a bit of Grey for the bill and often not even a painted eye.
Note how Al liked the flat keel - even on divers which would not "ground out" on a low tide. It certainly helped to support and protect the fairly fragile cork.
These migrate back to Great South Bay later this week.
Finally, I must say I enjoyed the opportunity to look carefully at some McCormick Broadbill. I really admire the birds and think they are excellent gunners.
All the best,
SJS
A friend recently asked me to finish a half-dozen McCormick Broadbill stool - which he had just gotten from another friend. Al McCormick was "Mr. Decoy" on Long Island for decades. His typical M. O. was to teach others to carve their own rigs. His style of pedagogy was very "hands on" - i.e., there was only One Way to carve a bird. So, regardless of whose birds they were, most looked strikingly similar to a McCormick Original. And, some never got completely finished or hunted.
Al used brown (black/refrigerator) cork sealed with a slurry of spar varnish and cork dust. Heads were of Red Cedar - usually from 4x4 stock. Although most famous for his Black Ducks, he also carved Broadbill, Brant and even Geese (I believe). I own a couple of Blacks and one Broadbill.
Here is a McCormick Broadbill. I do not know what the standard McCormick paint looked like on this species. (Please send photos if you have some.)
These birds came to me in different stages of readiness. Four were sealed and primed, ready for finish paint. One other just needed a prime coat. The last needed filling, sealing and priming.
Here is a pair of the finished birds.
The eyes are just painted on. I almost wish I had kept them off - just Black and Brown heads.
The back was stippled: A base of Pale Grey (Behr Elephant Skin) then Black then White. I made the back "breeding season bright" - not the darker tone you'd see earlier in the season.
I wrestled with how much detail to put in the paint on these birds. So many true gunning Broadbill never used more than Black, Brown and White - with a bit of Grey for the bill and often not even a painted eye.
Note how Al liked the flat keel - even on divers which would not "ground out" on a low tide. It certainly helped to support and protect the fairly fragile cork.
These migrate back to Great South Bay later this week.
Finally, I must say I enjoyed the opportunity to look carefully at some McCormick Broadbill. I really admire the birds and think they are excellent gunners.
All the best,
SJS
