Here's a barrow's goldeneye I carved a few months back.
Some birds headed to Westlake
I haven't posted in some time, mostly becuase I've been working on competition birds, and I don't like posting them while I am competeing them. The good news is that I'm doing ok in the competitions. I won second best in show for gunning birds with my low head mallard at the Core Sound contest in December. In February I headed down to San Diego for the PSWA show. I ended up placing in the best of marsh, but my standard head mallard didn't make it any further. Then it sold so that bird is done competing.
I'm headed to Westlake, OH tomorrow for the ODCCA show. I've got some birds to compete in the pool and the IWCA tank, but here are few birds I'm bringing just to display and sell. One of these is going into the Firday night swim and sell, sponsored by the decoycarvingforum.com, and other will be displayed in Dwane Ong and Tom Matus' room 123. Stop by and check them out if you are at the show.
Barrow's Goldeneye
Here's a Barrow's goldeneye I finished recently. I haven't done many diver ducks in recent years and I had fun doing this one.
Finished wigeon pair
Here's that widgeon pair I was working on. All painted and keeled up.
Base-coated Pintail
Here's that cedar pintail I post a couple entries back. I went out to close the garage window before I went to bed and ended up with a base-coated bird before I made it back inside.
My Wigeon Rig is Coming Along
Here's a rig of wigeon and a single pintail I've got in progress. These four (3 drakes and 1 hen) are all sealed up and ready to paint. I've also got another low head hen and high head drake wigeon in the works, but they aren't really worth taking a picture of right now. One of the drakes is carved from basswood that I've had for a while now. The others are white cedar I bought from Dwane Ong.
Here's a pintail I've been casually working on as well. I'm still putting the finishing touches on the carving. It's carved of white cedar but I've inlet a piece or hard maple for the tail.
I've also another hen and drake wigeon in the works, but they aren't really worth taking a picture of right now.
Wigeon drake almost done
I think I'm just about done with this wigeon. Just need to add a keel now.
Some in process stuff
We're packing up the house and I haven't had too much time to spend in the shop as of late. Here's some stuff I've got in process. I was especially curious to see how mobile posting works with my new squarespace app.
The wigeon is hollowed, weighted, and glued together. I sealed the insides with WEST epoxy. I also coated the primary feathers to add some toughness. It's just about ready to seal up and paint.
The gadwall body is pretty much carved, but the head isn't too much more than cut out.
The mallard is basecoated with a little bit of detailing added to a couple areas.
