Carving Habitat

[woodchips4u]

To date our club suffers from bland displays. Not one member knows how to carve habitat. Its all found wood. I have the Badger book on leaves and branches from brass however . . .

What are some favorite ways to carve, mold or assemble realistic

a) fallen logs
b) rocks for underwater displays or boulders for ground work
c) pine tree branches and pine cones.

Do people tend towards apoxie sculpt or karvit or paper mache' or clay or wood or what? Not that I'm not into experimenting but I would like to save some learning curve time.


Thanks all and Happy Thanksgiving down there !

Larry

[Robert Cahill]

I put carving habitat in the search engine above general wood carving and got a few response you may interesting. Your post is the first one so scroll down

[woodchips4u]

Thanks Robert;
I went through the 4 pages and found some great tricks on snow and moss but still loking for carver's creating rocks and logs and regular forest ground cover other than brass or copper sheeting.
Larry

[LisaS]

Would the type of terrain used by model railroaders suit your purposes? There are many how-tos for making rocks and forest floor/logs in that context.

[Donna_T]

Larry,
I've used Bondo (2 part pinkish car body gook) to build habitat, especially water or marsh habitat. It sets up pretty fast, so you usually just have 3-4 minutes to mold it. I have used bamboo skewers (soaked in water) to split and use for marsh or desert grass. I've also used them for cattail stems. I've also had good luck with bamboo strips that basket weavers use to make leaves like cattails and other grass. It bends, twists, curves when wet and/or warmed over a candle flame. It also sands fairly well, but the natural lines in it lend themselves well to veins in leaves.

I've also carved rocks out of basswood and they can be so many shapes and colors so they are more difficult for me--no set shape and color! When I go through magazines to look for photos of carving topics, I also look for photos of rock formations to help future projects.

I've used 2 part epoxy to use for water--but if you're doing very much, avoid the 5-minute kind. It sets up too fast to cover much area evenly. I paint the base under it whatever color I want the water to appear. I've also covered wire with 2-part epoxy and shaped and textured it, before painting.

I have never tried the copper for leaves and other habitat, although I'd like to learn that myself. If you can find a professional carving who builds his/her own habitat, and offer workshops on it, try that. I know that bird carver, Bob Guge, teaches both bird carving and habitat. Hope there's someone like that in your area.

That's about all I know. I like to look at entries in various carving competitions to see what they've made. Sure moves a good carving into "better" category. When I first started carving, I asked a judge at a show what was the difference between a 1st place and a no place carving, and he said, aside for the quality and integrity of the carving, how it was presented as a whole--base, habitat, complimentary and realistic colors, etc. made the most difference.

There's lots of really good/great carvers here and I'm sure they can offer even better suggestions.

Donna T

[woodchips4u]

Thanks to all. Donna - Absolutely fantastic. Its always refreshing to get some pointed suggestions that give not only motivation, but a great spot to jump in. I will give all those a try. Most people in my area want to take trade secrets to the grave. I owe you big time!

Larry