Steve Sanford
Well-known member
All~
I just finished rehabbing 3 Herter's Model 81 Brant for a friend last week. I wrote the step-by-step tutorial in the wee hours of last night and posted it today at: http://stevenjaysanford.com/brant-decoy-rehab-painting/
Here are a few of the (40 or so) photos and steps:
All had really loose heads - the screw eyes had almost pulled through the foam bodies.
And the very rusty keels were working their way out.
I used epoxy (US Composites 1:3 medium cure) with microballoons and 1/4" 'glass fibers to fill cavities and reinforce around bases of necks.
A couple got new SS screw eyes from Bob's Rigs.
Birds were coated with epoxy (with some colloidal silica) and sawdust from my band saw.
I made this rack over my bench for curing the epoxy.
No sanding or priming is needed before paint.
I always paint from stern to bow. Brant show lots of White on their sterns.
Only a little Black shows on the tip of the tail feathers but extends forward from the primaries onto the back (tertials and secondaries).
While the Black is still wet, I drag the back color - I use Behr's "Fedora" from Home Depot - back and forth to get a nice gradation.
I base-coat the sides a solid "Mocha Accent" (Behr again) and use it behind the neck to grade into the dark back.
I then paint the head and breast/shoulders Black and let the birds dry.
I paint the dark barring first - 3 long ones at the rear of the side, a tighter bunch of smaller ones right behind the Black chest. Then I lay in a top tier of pale (Behr Ashwood) feather edging along the top of the side pockets.
A middle and lower tier of pale edges are added, staggered top to bottom.
To complete the sides, I add a few pale edges to the dark bars and "connect" most of the feathers at the top of the sides.
Necklaces are drawn on with chalk first, then painted with a fine brush.
Here is the finished trio - ready for their return to salt water. And, yes, it does say "RED" on the closest necklace - for owner Red Oster.
Hope this is helpful,
SJS
I just finished rehabbing 3 Herter's Model 81 Brant for a friend last week. I wrote the step-by-step tutorial in the wee hours of last night and posted it today at: http://stevenjaysanford.com/brant-decoy-rehab-painting/
Here are a few of the (40 or so) photos and steps:
All had really loose heads - the screw eyes had almost pulled through the foam bodies.
And the very rusty keels were working their way out.
I used epoxy (US Composites 1:3 medium cure) with microballoons and 1/4" 'glass fibers to fill cavities and reinforce around bases of necks.
A couple got new SS screw eyes from Bob's Rigs.
Birds were coated with epoxy (with some colloidal silica) and sawdust from my band saw.
I made this rack over my bench for curing the epoxy.
No sanding or priming is needed before paint.
I always paint from stern to bow. Brant show lots of White on their sterns.
Only a little Black shows on the tip of the tail feathers but extends forward from the primaries onto the back (tertials and secondaries).
While the Black is still wet, I drag the back color - I use Behr's "Fedora" from Home Depot - back and forth to get a nice gradation.
I base-coat the sides a solid "Mocha Accent" (Behr again) and use it behind the neck to grade into the dark back.
I then paint the head and breast/shoulders Black and let the birds dry.
I paint the dark barring first - 3 long ones at the rear of the side, a tighter bunch of smaller ones right behind the Black chest. Then I lay in a top tier of pale (Behr Ashwood) feather edging along the top of the side pockets.
A middle and lower tier of pale edges are added, staggered top to bottom.
To complete the sides, I add a few pale edges to the dark bars and "connect" most of the feathers at the top of the sides.
Necklaces are drawn on with chalk first, then painted with a fine brush.
Here is the finished trio - ready for their return to salt water. And, yes, it does say "RED" on the closest necklace - for owner Red Oster.
Hope this is helpful,
SJS
I plan to paint these myself, I hope I can not mess up Canada Geese too bad!