TUTORIAL - Brant Silhouettes

Steve Sanford

Steve Sanford

Well-known member
Good morning, All~


View attachment sm Field 11 - Ten Birds brighter.JPG



(as ever - CLICK to enlarge any photo)



I just posted a complete Tutorial on my website for making Brant silhouettes:


https://stevenjaysanford.com/brant-silhouettes/



Here is a quick overview of the process:


Pattern is from a batch I made in 1981 - for rocket-netting wintering Brant when I was with NYSDEC in their Region1 office in Stony Brook. We trapped on golf courses and parks "up west" - in Nassau County along the South Shore.


View attachment SJS and Dave Riehlman with Brant.jpg



If you print each of these pages on 8.5 x 11, you'll have a ~ 18" LOA Brant.


View attachment sm Brant pattern fwd - w LABEL.jpg



Here's the stern.


View attachment sm Brant pattern aft - w LABEL.jpg



I use 1/4-inch AC plywood. I glue 3 or 4 layers together - with the glue only on the scrap areas - so I can saw out 3 or 4 sets at a time.


View attachment sm Silho 04.JPG



Steel legs are drilled on the press.


View attachment sm Silho 10 - drilling legs.JPG



I used brass machine screws, washers and nuts to fasten the legs.


View attachment sm Silho 11 - assembled pair.JPG



I made a stand to keep the painting organized and clean. The White, Grey and Black are done here.


View attachment sm Brant 16A - Black all done on stand.JPG



The sides do not require this much detail, but...it only takes a few minutes.


View attachment sm Brant SIDES 07 - pale edging done.JPG



The Sentries carry the initials of their owners on their starboard necks.


View attachment sm Necklace 03.JPG



Hope this information is useful.


SJS









 
They look great.

I just cut out my first 6 Canada Goose silhouettes yesterday, and am planning on sanding and cleaning them up this week after work.

I was planning on giving them a coating or two of spar before paint. Do you treat yours with anything? Or do they hold up fine with just paint?
 
Mark~


I discuss sealing them on my website post.


I did not seal them with spar varnish - just flat oils - because they will not sit in the water as floating decoys do. (I do seal all of my wood or cork floaters with spar varnish before priming with flat oils.)



All the best,


SJS

 
Steve, your generosity of sharing your knowledge with others is above and beyond. The effort you go through to compile these tutorials has to be time consuming. Thank you for that!
 
Thanks Steve, missed that on the website.

I'll likely be giving mine some spar varnish for good measure, and then follow your Canada Gunner paint tutorial. Thanks again for all the great info!
 
Steve -

Your Sea Geese silhouettes look good, and sturdy. Eleven, if I count correctly, not twelve, for good luck (per the Old Duck Hunters).


I've been a fan of silhouette decoys for many years, and had a good collection.

Only Brant silhouettes I have left are two from the west coast, and two on a arm of a Y board from Chincoteauge.

Best
VP
 
Good looking Brant. Brant silhouettes have been on my have to get to list for a while. Full body Brant just take up a lot of room in the boat.

The upright bird with a mod to the base looks like it would work well on a V or Y-board.

Have you ever tried them as floating silhouettes?
 
Steve, the Brant silhouettes look great. I know a couple of guys that will be thrilled to hunt over them.
 
Are you concerned about galvanic corrosion issues with brass machine screws and nuts mated to steel stakes?
 
Good morning, Rick~


Yes - but only "somewhat"....


Here's how I addressed it on my site:


"I used brass machines screws with washers and hex nuts to fasten the legs. Although mixing brass with steel can lead to galvanic problems down the road, I was more interested in grinding down the excess threads to reduce chafe (and I am not building a boat nor installing plumbing?.). Aluminum fasteners would be a good alternative, but I could not find what I needed locally. In the Ideal World, heavy rivets would be the best fastening choice."


A pragmatic compromise to be sure.


All the best,


SJS





 
Steve, how many brant per sheet of ply? did you orient them for easy stacking/multiple cutting or squeeze as many on a sheet as possible. bob
 
Good morning, Bob~


Short answer is: I don't know.


Back in 1981, I got 28 birds out of one sheet. So, I'm guessing I got 7 out of each 12 inch length. This time around, I just pulled a bunch of "scraps" off my "narrow plywood" shelf in the loft. I made a total of 36 - which includes 31 Feeders and 5 Uprights. I believe the width - and maybe even the length - of my scraps varied somewhat.


Although one might be able to squeeze another bird or two out of a sheet, I certainly would not run the patterns across the grain. And, there was not a whole lot of waste.



All the best,


SJS

 
For plywood, even 1/4", the underlying layer would be have the grain oriented at up to a 90 degree angle to the previous layer, enabling the layout of as many bodies as can be fitted on the sheet's surface.
 
Good morning, Rick~


I concede your point, but...I still prefer to minimize the end grain by laying out the patterns horizontally. These silhouettes live a rough life via handling and storing and I want to give the paint its best chances of survival.



(Keep in mind, too, that I am a Hide-bound, Dyed-in-the-Wool, Old School Traditionalist.)


All the best,


SJS

 

The vast majority of the damage done to my silhouettes results from me tripping over them in the darkness, when my headlight beam fails to offer me advance warning of their proximity. Consequently, my hidebound traditionalist side moves me to thoroughly seal them to protect the endgrain in all the ply layers prior painting. The lauan I use is .217" thick with three ply layers (I think).
 
Good morning, Rick~


re: Hunter Safety


Instead of that Crane Crossing sign - perhaps you need to brighten up those caps with Day-Glo - and would flashing LEDs work for eyes???


Let's be careful out there!


All the best,


SJS

 
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