April Workbench

I keep seeing images of the Warner Brothers Bugs Bunny cartoon Marvin the Martian when I look at that hoodie.
 
Last edited:
Patrick,

I love your style with those hoodies. It will be a lot of fun to hunt over. Thanks for posting.

Tom
 
Last edited:
Good morning, All~

I finished rehabbing the Pintail body that goes with my old Model 72 head - as reported here earlier.

I did lots of filling prior to my epoxy + Homer Coat. As with so many Herter's foam bodies, the recess for the screw eye had compressed and collapsed from use. So, I filled some of the cavity with thickened epoxy - then made a nice clean landing with a Forstner bit in my drill press.

View attachment sm 72 Pintail - Filled recess.JPG

Consistent with these early, flat-bottomed birds, the head was fastened with a solid brass screw eye and washer. (Not the plated steel that rusts so much on salt water.)

View attachment sm 72 Pintail - brass screw eye.JPG

Because this is a one-off - and not a big herd of gunners - I painted in all of the wing details - coverts and speculum - even though they are mostly covered by the tertials and scapulars later on.

View attachment sm 72 Pintail - wing details.JPG

I painted the flanks a pure, rich Behr Cork. This area varies a lot, but is usually paler. For a more realistic job, I would fade this forward, toward a creamier hue. For a gunner, though, I suspect this little patch will not result in any fewer Sprigs in the bag.....

View attachment sm 72 Pintail - flanks.JPG

Although the head had been restored a couple of years ago, I made the bill a bit bluer (Behr Dark Storm Clouds).

View attachment sm 72 Pintail - head closeup.JPG

Here is the BEFORE.

View attachment sm 72 Pintail 01.JPG

Here is an AFTER

View attachment sm 72 Pintail - FULL 03.JPG


Ready-to-hunt.

View attachment sm 72 Pintail - FULL 02.JPG

All the best,

SJS










 
Last edited:
C'mon, Steve, give in to "artistic license" and paint that neck stripe in parallel to the arc or neck! I recall reading your previous comments the last time you painted a dake pintail...never thought much about the subject until I was setting the E. Allen drakes I painted nearly two decades ago this past fall, only to notice I arced that finger the same way....just didn't look right to do it naturally!

How do your brushes "like" that texture coat?
 
Good morning, Rick~

My Artistic License is still valid. I began painting the "life-like" fingers on Drake Pintails when I rehabbed my Model 63 (and 50) Pintails last year. So, this bird will match the rest.

My "mantel-piece" Pintails will still get that nice sweet curve up over the eyebrows.....

Painting coated birds is certainly different. I generally use "flats" and angle shaders. I have to plan differently and certainly apply a heavier coat. The payoff for me - aside from the tougher coat - is how the colors and markings really stand out. They are never lost in the sheen of a smooth or wet surface. I have watched many Mallards and Blacks swim among my Model 63s - and they compare very nicely. Mr. Restle certainly has a place in the Waterfowling Pantheon....

All the best,

SJS

 
The worst version I ever concocted was made from some silica sand I had left over from a sand blasting effort. Oddly, sand paper, remains sand paper, even with several coats of paint layered on top of it. Those birds remain stored in slotted bags, unable to directly mix with their brethren when not on the water.
 
Steve,nice job on the pintails. I have been taking a different approach. Totally lacking finesse i use a 1" spade bit to enlarge the hole then cut and glue a 1" piece of dowel to fit flush with the bottom, bore a 1/4" hole through the dowel for the screw eye then epoxy and finish. This puts the screw eye even with the bottom of the decoy.
 
benp said:
I haven’t had much time to work on the turkey decoy but I did get out Saturday with my brothers decoy and had my son with me and we were blessed to be able to get one.
Click to expand...

Nice one Ben!!
 
Good morning, MLB~

Looks like you're off to a fine start, but....

That second photo has me worried. Although I've never held a "tree duck" in my hand, at least one of those legs looks like it's in the wrong spot - and both are way too short!

All the best,

SJS

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top