What's on your workbench? October 2019

I guess I can start things off. A hen greenwing I just finished as a retirement present for a former colleague. Hollow white cedar body, basswood head, self righting and painted in Traditions.



View attachment Hen greenwing.jpg

It's duck season here, and everything's flooded. More time to paint on decoys, I guess.

Joel
 
It?s the restle goose body. I carved the head from two pieces of wood with the grain following the curve approximately. I plan on a couple dozen by December.
 
Great curves, Bob!


Here is the pair of Larry Udell Pintails I procured for partner Jamie Woods at Tuckerton. They are "tan" cork. Lary was a fellow carver and friend from Long Island. He lived in Center Moriches. I believe I last saw him in the mid-90s - when he welcomed me at the launch - after I crossed Moriches Bay in a "fresh gale" in my Sneakbox RED-LEG.



As purchased: Drake's tail laminations needed re-gluing - and some judicious lopping of the sprig.



View attachment sm Larry Udell Pintail pair BEFORE on bench.JPG



Here they are after some touch-ups.....


View attachment UP Pair 03.JPG



The Drake got some re-configuring of the major color patches. The Grey sides came further forward and the Black undertail got smaller.


View attachment UP Drake 01.JPG



Bills on both birds got new paint - and a protective coat of Satin Spar Varnish. I tarted up his head with a bit of Chestnut (Behr Artisan) and a lower eyelid.



View attachment UP Drake 03.JPG



I highlighted and elongated some edges on the scapulars and tertials. Lary carved them nicely radiated and with the requisite "droop".



View attachment UP Drake 05.JPG



The Hen got some new face-paint (just an over-painting).


View attachment UP Hen 07.JPG



I edged some of the side pocket feathers....



View attachment UP Hen 04.JPG



and lightened the undertail area.


View attachment UP Hen 05.JPG



Larry surely carved some sweet Pintails.


View attachment UP Hen 01.JPG



I still need to -re-seal the bottoms with some flat oil.


All the best,


SJS







 

October is off to a very creative start.

A tip of the hat to all, as "The Season" we all love is here, or nearing.



The start of a oil paint on wine case lid sign for a donation.

Very early stage of the project.

It will keep me busy on rainy nasty days (like today) when I don't want to be down in the shop...




View attachment canvasback oil sign.jpg
 
Good morning, Caroline~


Great find! I've put a bunch of Beans back into service and have posted some of the processes at:


https://stevenjaysanford.com/re-painting-l-l-bean-coastal-blacks-and-mallards/



and at:


https://stevenjaysanford.com/painting-goldeneyes-tutorial/



If you will be replacing the tail inserts (looks like some are either missing or worn off), I would use 1/4-inch AC plywood. I would seal each insert thoroughly with epoxy, then set it in thickened epoxy (epoxy + microballoons) and clamp - or tape - lightly during the cure.



Hope this helps,


SJS

 
Confession time: those posts gave me the confidence I could restore these! Belated thank you for all the incredible resources you post on your blog. :) Handy quick links also very much appreciated!

Duly noted on the tail boards though. The one intact one appears to be some sort of fiber board, not plywood. That one I am going to attempt wicking in an adhesive (probably a high quality CA) and then clamping flat to repair the "bloom". On closer inspection, I'm having a hard time determining if all 5 originally had tail boards. Some of them have a distinctly different undertail pattern from the one intact one

There's actually a few little fun restoration details on these. 4 of the decoys have a simple head-turn mechanism with a pin in the back of the head behind the main dowel, allowing the gunner to choose different head positions when placing the decoys. I know I've seen pictures of it elsewhere, but it's a really sweet little detail I didn't expect. Of course the pin holes on the body are totally deteriorated, resulting in wobble heads. Looks like the original head collar thing was wood on top of the cork, so a new wood insert is in order. I am thinking I will probably inlay brass tube to prevent exactly the same thing from happening again if I have the clearance between the main dowel hole and the pin holes. Decoy number five looks like a different pattern with no fancy head antics.

Out of curiosity, do you prefer the phenolic or glass based fillers? I'd rather go with phenolic if it's a comparable performer cause of the whole "glass dust and lungs don't mix well" issue. Can't always avoid respirator work in the shop but I don't necessarily want to add to the list of things I do in one!

Heh, maybe I should spin up a new thread and stop cluttering up the monthly workbench post :)
 
Caroline~


Those multi-position heads were around for a while - not sure when they began or ended.


I definitely prefer the phenolic microballons. I use U S Composites Fairing Compound - which is mostly the microballoons with fumed silica (Cabosil) added to prevent sag.


All the best,


SJS

 
Hey, it is entirely possible that the one furthest from the viewer is the only Bean in the bunch. The others appear a bit more home made. Chances are pretty good that the ones without tail inserts have finishing nails inserted to lower risk of shearing on the tail ends. In lieu of nails, there may be dowels, also. Check the butts to see if there is any evidence of plastic wood, which is often used to cover both of the tail ends.
The others also kind of look like they are not black cork, but some other composite. If they are Wiley, you got LUCKY!
Anyway, have fun rehabbing.
If you need some color materials, drop me an e mail
gwdecoys@Verizon.net
Specify species. Since those appear to be good sized puddlers, just ask for mallard and black duck paint.
 
Jeff, I left you a reasonably easy method for eye setting over at working decoys. Give a look. Been using that method since 1975 and have not had one fall out. Some stuff needed replacement, due to errant shot, but for that, you can always make a patch, like Bomber did. Perhaps he has a picture!![;)]
 
Beautiful decoys Pat!

Steven - Thanks! Great to know I will definitely pick up a can of the stuff :)

George - Thanks for the thoughts! I finished removing excess old paint yesterday (they clearly had been painted a bunch of times since they wore their birthday suits) and they're definitely all cork under there. Some have been patched before, found some filler and a bit of steel shot in the process :)

The four farthest from view have identical heads and head 'seats' on the body, so they most likely were made by the same manufacturer. However, the one closest to the camera is markedly different (different head, different body pattern), and I would absolutely believe was homemade to match. Or possibly from a different year. The previous owner believed them to be Bean's but I didn't ask more about them.

Cheers,
-Caroline
 
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