Whose head is this?

[Steve Sanford]

All~

As I mentioned in the Work Bench thread, I have just amassed 40 Herters Model 63s - mostly Mallards and Blacks. I have 3 vintages of Herters: Early - with the flat bottoms and brass screw eyes; Late - with the molded keels and the plated steel screw eyes; and Burlaped.

In my most recent batch of 15 - from across the Lake in Burlington - I discovered 3 (the Greenwings) with Herters bodies but some other manufacturer's heads. I have seen such heads before but cannot recall who makes them.

Here are the "odd" heads:

I prefer the Herter's (on left).

The eye is set too far aft - and the bill does not curve backward into the cheek as it should.

Your thoughts re maker/when/where ?


These "Wood Ducks" - Mallard bodies with Bluebill heads - will probably become Wigeon - sometime during the Winter Carving Months.

These could be re-born as Mallards, Blacks or Gadwall.

Here are the 10 I have completed so far - epoxy + sawdust and fresh paint.

All the best,

SJS

 

[Al Hansen]

Your skills seem to have no boundaries when I looked at those ten completed decoys in the last picture. Wonderful job, Steve.
Al

 

[Derek Bendell]

Steve - Those are Herters heads. The Woodies came with the diver/head on #63's and the #63 Teal as well came with that different head. There were only two puddler heads for the #72 decoys and for the #63's those were the standard teal heads. Some #63 pintails came with those heads from Herters too if I recall. It was their best effort to offer heads that matched the species with the limited molds they were using. There were 3 head-types for each model #63's, and 72's. (Diver, 2 Puddlers) Not including the #63 Coots which were obviously different too...

 

[Tony H]

Steve - Those are Herters heads. The Woodies came with the diver/head on #63's and the #63 Teal as well came with that different head. There were only two puddler heads for the #72 decoys and for the #63's those were the standard teal heads. Some #63 pintails came with those heads from Herters too if I recall. It was their best effort to offer heads that matched the species with the limited molds they were using. There were 3 head-types for each model #63's, and 72's. (Diver, 2 Puddlers) Not including the #63 Coots which were obviously different too...

nailed it, the teal 63 heads were not offered later in production only earlier. We recieved several of these and the 72 pintail heads when we bought the remaining Herters from cabelas several years ago.