bookshelf decoy WIP

[Treever]

Been working on this guy as time allows, and I am ready to get after him and get it done. Such a little bird shouldn't take so long! He's about 6" long in basswood. Head done separately and glue on. The person I am carving this for wants it carved, then the feathers burned on and left at that. Getting close to burning...if I can keep after it.

[Treever]

A second view.

[markken5889]

nice work. the lifted wing and turned head add alot!

-Mark

[Treever]

Thanks, Mark. It worked into the piece of wood that I had to raise the wing. First time I have ever taken a stab at it, and although it's not exact, it looks good...at least for me and for the guy it's for! He wanted a turned head, so that was easy, and the block I had was just too tall, so why not try the wing? I have to thin down the cheeks, put in the eyes, thin out the wing and tail...there's more work left than I first thought!

[Treever]

Some update photos. Burning has commenced!

[markken5889]

It's looking really good! Keep those updates coming!!

-Mark

[Thomp]

Treever,

this little duck is looking great!
and the right size for a weekly project.

im a santa, hillbilly,cowboy carver, an occasional Lynn doughty horse or tom wolf dog or two,

we dont have any clubs in this area except one duck carvers club, but to join you have to carve big football size decoys,
now i might not have minded that but the cost for the first project and 10 lessons from a unknown local guy approached 3 hundred bucks,,and from what i seen from the group it was a career choice to get them finished...

like i mentioned earlier your duck looks like a one week project, is the pattern your own design? and how big is your duck ?, can it be cut out of 4 inch stock.? i got bandsaw limitations ,

[Treever]

Hey Thomp. It might take a week, but I got distracted so much it's been about 2 months! The duck is about 6 inches long, three inches tall and 3.5 inches at the widest. The head I cut separately and glued on. It's about 1.5 tall, 1.25 wide and 2.25 bill to back of head. These are rough gestimates, as I can't find a measurin' stick anywhere in this house! I scaled down a pattern I received from a friend years ago to make it. But, I have made my own from doing Google searches on "black duck pictures" (insert your type of duck-pictures) and looking through the images. Find one that is taken as close to the water as possible to get the best true profile...then print it off and trace to graph paper. Then you can scale up/down as you need.

I'm pretty much self taught, with the help of online tutorials I have gleaned from here and there. Willie McDonald at duckblind.com has a good tutorial on duck decoy carving. Just grab some wood and go for it! Hope this helps, let me know if I can provide any more information.

[Thomp]

thanks Treever,

ill have to wait till i get a little closer to the bottom of the stack of to do's around here before i start a new project. but ill holler when i get it on the desk,

thanks again

[Sharon of the Dell]

I like your pretty little duck.