Good morning, All~


Inspired by David Cites' post about his Victor decoys, I thought I would share my process for putting a Herter's foam decoy back in shape. This drake Pintail came to me from southern Jersey as a single bird. I have been easing away from rehabbing others' gunning rigs of late as my time is in too-short supply. I made an exception for this bird because 1) it's a Pintail and 2) it's a single. My Dad had a single Model 72 Pintail when I was growing up. We do not have many Pintails hereabouts - but I would usually shoot one or two per season when I lived on Long Island. I gunned with a pair (hollow wood) in the rig - mostly to add some brightness to the Black Ducks.


In any event, the decoy arrived in very good shape - shipped in 2 pieces.







As with so many 72s the head and its screw eye hardware had evidently pulled up through the Durlon foam body. The diameter is about 2X on deck.







Down below, lots more foam was lost.






Another view through the keel. I'm not certain when Herter's started molding these extruded keels - but the earlier birds had flat bottoms.






The stern was in amazingly good shape. And, all the feather details on the body remained well-defined.






The crack in the head shaft is also common - especially if slightly larger replacement hardware was used.






Here you can see how large the hole had worn.






Nevertheless, the head seats nicely on the body.






I ground the ridge (left at the seam between the 2 halves) off on my table sander, then sanded the rest of the head by hand, with 120 grit paper. I then wiped it with acetone.






Continued in next post....


SJS





Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

Continued - filling, coating, some priming....


I coated the head with epoxy + fine sawdust. I use sawdust from my band saw. Most dust from a table saw is too coarse, in my opinion. I do not put epoxy on the bill or eyes.







The cavity was filled with thickened epoxy - I used fairing compound - and "molded" with duct tape at its edges. I filled it flush but could have dimpled in the middle as it needs to be drilled out anyway once cured.







I also coated the underside of the tail section. When not having to fill (as on this bird), I normally coat in 2 steps. I coat the bottom and undertail in the first step, then coat the topsides after the first cures (~ 8 hours or overnight). This decoy will require 3 steps.







Here is Step 2 - coating the topsides. The bottom will be done later today - after boring the holes for the head.






Here is the first primer - flat oil paints - on the head. The rest of the head will get a dark brown later today.






Back to work....


SJS







Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

Perfect timing Steve! As I have a pr of Pintails started on the shelf, with the basic colors blocked in.... will follow the details closely.

Dave Diefenderfer
Manassas, VA

"Once you set out to build a boat, throw away your square. And if you work on her after she's launched, throw away your level." author unknown

looking good steve, i am working on a prototype right now of a teal body made from pink foam to be the start of a huge rig. Speedy body construction is my consideration . i can shape a body in 5 minutes . The first one i ended up burlapping but is a PIA. I coated my mallard rig i built last fall with either epoxy ,titebond, or rustoleum / sawdust and it worked well.

Dave , your INVADM decoy idea sparked my interest in this project
DHBP Member since May 1999

Bob~


FYI: I have not sampled all of the foams - but did use the pink foam (Owens-Corning) for these birds....


https://stevenjaysanford.com/...black-and-a-mallard/



...and for these Oldsquaw:






All are coated with epoxy + sawdust. I can depress the foam with my thumbright through the skin. So, I question their long-term durability.



I have helped a friend carve with blue dock foam. I have not field tested it but I suspect it mighty be a bit firmer.


All the best,


SJS





Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

Dave et al~


We got about 8 inches of snow today - the first good snowfall of 21-22.






The bird is now fully primed....


I will finish paint the head before I attach it to the body. Much easier to paint details if I can manhandle it freely.






I painted the bottom with duckboat paint - then painted the White areas once the bottom had dried. I paint the flanks pure White at this stage - because it's close enough to the pale Yellow it will get later.






Next the Black areas.....






Then the Grey. All of the primer paints are flat oils. I primed the tail feathers with Parker Marsh Grass duckboat paint.


As I have mentioned previously (ad nauseum ?), the purpose of the oil primer is twofold (maybe 3-fold?). I seals the sawdust coating, it fills the grain partially, and it provides an approximation of the topcoat colors (and especially the tones) so that the inevitable wear will not reveal any starkly-contrasting undercoat.







Here are colors I will use on the latex topcoat (this is the smaller Herter's Model 63):







Stay tuned!


SJS
Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

I agree with your oil paint primer assessment. I was fooling around with the teal project today . Coated the bare pink foam with rustoleum/band saw dust. The other previously burlap/tile mastic body got recoated with rustoleum and the coarser table saw dust.
DHBP Member since May 1999

Good morning, Bob~


I really like the head on that Greenwing! I look forward to seeing him all feathered out.


All the best,


SJS

Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

Steve, we had a lot of herters decoys and holes enlarged and busted off. Enlarged the holes and plugged with dowels. Epoxied head on and put in screw eye..
Had a bunch of heads detach fron the base. Any one had luck glueing them up again?

Good morning, Rich~


Before the heads break off, I have reinforced many weak ones with tabs of light (6 oz) 'glass cloth and epoxy resin - to distribute the forces out onto the body and away from the neck shaft and screw eye.






See you next week!


SJS





Steven Jay Sanford
Pencil Brook Farm
South Cambridge, NY
http://www.stevenjaysanford.com

Rich, I have restored dozens of damaged Herters heads. I drill out the stem/base of the heads, fill them with 2 part or spray foam. Once foam is cured, I excavate out about an inch of the foam and backfill that with thickened epoxy. Once cured, sand/grind flat, then drill for hardware. Works quite well and adds very little weight.

Dave Diefenderfer
Manassas, VA

"Once you set out to build a boat, throw away your square. And if you work on her after she's launched, throw away your level." author unknown