May - Whats on your workbench?

Bob~ That's one beautiful Wigeon head growing out of that palm tree...

Bill ~ Great hens - nice rolly-poly Broadie-beaks!

Ron ~ Has that Ringbill taken a liking to those old paper hulls?

Jerod ~ It's a shame you had to cut that garvey in half to get it up onto your new shelf.


I've been getting a few birds ready for an event this weekend. This Blue-wing is hollow White Pine with oils:

1BluewingDrake2small_zps92258409.jpg


I've posted this Broadbill earlier (April?) - but just finished a few details in the paint:

2BroadbillDrake-small_zpsd7e065d5.jpg


I will be giving a talk about carving a Whimbrel like this - solid Basswood with a Hickory bill, finished in oils.

8Whimbrel-fullsmall_zps9dc57c3c.jpg



The leg is 1/4" aluminum rod.

4Whimbrelsmall_zpsc90aac6e.jpg


The neck is my favorite part on any bird.

5Whimbrel-closeupsmall_zpsd4aa7768.jpg


All the best,

SJS
 
Steve, the BWT speaks to me. I love it. I saw one like it in the Ward museum 10 years ago. I never got over it. I scattered old junk around that ringneck to add interest. He actually loves any plastic shells under $15 a box.
 
Reality has set in that until I get my wife a house and out of the apartment that my bandsaw will be stuck in my garage in Fort Wayne, IN and not Houston...Since this dilema I have formulated a plan of building a home built hot wire table top cutter and use styrofoam as my median to make decoys. Not to mention that the lighter decoys will be a blessing when packing across rice fields of the Eagle Lake prairie this coming season. So far I have 6 carved teal (only 4 showing in the picture). I still need to go through the process of burlapping. An additional step I may proceed to take on is to brush a thin layer of epoxy in the regions around the bill, neck and tail. I made the bodies and head in the same fashion I would carve any decoy. The difference is that the head is held on using a wood skewer through the body with a small dab from the heated glue stick. The bill also has a wood skewer that presses through into the head. I do not know the outcome of the life expectancy of these birds in a hunting situation. To be honest I am happy thinking of the days in my future walking through a field of "gumbo" mud without an additional 50 lbs of two dozen cork/wood decoys strapped to my back. My thoughts are going to be after burlapping and epoxy coat to just paint black with tan/white mixture around the side pockets, breast, neck and cheak areas. Coming back with a dry brush across the back with tan, white and drawing in some rough primary in the shape of elongated V-shapes with tan, highlighted in white on one edge. Keeping it at the bare minimum for painting these decoys. I am not going to put eyes on the decoy. The process of standing the decoy in the field will be me adding a 1/2 round dowel into the body securing with glue and drilling a 1/4" hole before burlapping. I will then use a fiberglass or wood 3/16" dowel to stick in the mud. My goal for the year is to have 24 full body birds completed with a mixture of 50% teal, 30% Pintails, with the last part of the mix of a shoveler, gad, and Black bellies.

I started out, if you will notice the foam board the bodies are sitting on top, 2" x 12" x 36" foam from Smoothfoam. This foam block gives me the capability of creating two birds since I sandwich into 6" x 6" x 12" sections. So far the cost is roughly $11 per sheet from Smoothfoam.com but I am looking into avenues of finding foam for free.


View attachment Foam Decoys 3.jpg

Regards,
Kristan
 
Kristan~

These birds look great - and your thoughts on painting are right on the money. Long "strolls" through gumbo are no place for cork birds.

A couple of thoughts:

When you epoxy the heads, bill, etc, consider sprinkling some fine sawdust onto the wet epoxy. It gives a nice tough skin with no shine that takes paint beautifully.

I might go a little heavier with your stakes and sockets. How about gluing a length on 1/2" PVC pipe in as the socket, then using 7/16 dowels for legs? (3/16 bends a lot) The additional weight would be negligible.

Have you looked for dock foam? It saves the laminating and is a nice dense material.

I look forward to seeing the rig.

All the best,

SJS
 
Very nice Steve, I agree with the others that blue wing speaks to me. I'm going to have to steal some of those lines. Its gorgeous.
 
Finally got a chance to finish up a swan for my wife. This is my first preening swan.

Just noticed my wife's new dog "photobombed" my pic...hahahaha
dc
 
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I sure enjoyed seeing the beautiful workmanship on those birds you did, Steve. My favorite of the 3 being the Whimbrel.
Al
 
Incredible Work! I'm still a newbie and for some reason I really struggled with the paint on this one. I came to realize after several failed attempts that I am only capable of so much with the skills I have. Back to the bench for some more practice. Jeff



 
Thanks Chad! It was fun to do. It is going to a customer in Massachusetts for a Father's Day gift. Now back to some gunning birds for my rig.
 
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