Johnny Reb - Part 3 - The Trumpet's Sounding!

What a guy!! He might be on the losing side but he's still a winner in my book! Standing at 23" including the base and flag, he's quite an impressive figure...certainly one to be noticed on the judging table. I can't wait to get the viewers reactions at the next show.
-
As I mentioned in Part 2, the rifle is based on an 1863 British Enfield. The bayonet was made from metal and while I made it to be removed I decided to go ahead and install it permanently as the paint on the rifle barrel would be damaged over time. The firing mechanism was also made from metal as was the trigger guard and trigger. The strap is leather.
-
The kit bag, canteen, cartridge & bullet cases were carved and attached and the tin cup made from tin. I like to make these cups from this material as it just looks terrific on the figure instead of the usual clunky piece of carved wood. Sure, some say this is cheating but as usual, I could care less! If you look close you'll note that his boot laces are actually laces! I made them from wire and inserted them into the boot.
-
The flag was also made from tin. I took the square of metal to my anvil and gave it a good pounding on the surface with a ballpeen hammer hoping it would give it some nice texture. Unfortunately, it was all lost once it was painted but it still looks good. After a coat of acid-etching primer I sprayed it white. Using painters tape I masked off the white border areas and then sprayed the red. Once that was dry I went to WalMart and bought some little stick-on stars and stuck them to the white border area then masked everything except for the blue center stripes. Once that was dry I carefully pealled everything off and bingo....it worked!! The flag is held on the pole by some soldered metal strips and three little decorative nails. As a final touch I thought I would add some gold tassels made from twisted wire. To get the wavy look I put a piece of 1-1/2" PVC pipe into a sock and carefully use it to bend the flag.
-
The figure, flag and rifle are all mounted to the base using 3/8" and 1/8" wooden dowels, inserted from the figure down through both wooden bases. The larger base is a nice piece of Cherry I've had laying around for the past 15 years for just such a figure.
-
This has really been a fun project, exasperating at times but fun none-the-less. There are lots of photos in the Gallery and I look forward to your comments.

Johnny Reb-Part 2-Suited Up!

I have one word for this guy so far...Wow! He really turned out nice. The attitude of the pose is just perfect, at least to me. I can just picture the Confederate Battle Flag flowing behind him. With the figure already standing 15" tall the addition of the flag will increase the size to over 22".
-
I once mentioned to a fellow carver that while you can play loose when doing a caricature you should still portray the figure as accurately as possible, especially if it set in a specific setting. This is what I've tried to do here. I did quite a bit of research to make sure I equipped him with just what he would wear into battle right down to the tin cup which will be attached next to his canteen. His rifle is an 1863 British Enfield and while it's not an exact replica all the details are there to where it is recognizable for what it represents. The bayonet is made from metal and I made it so it can be removed. He still needs some bootlaces and I will add those once he's painted.
-
The Battle Flag will be made from metal like I did for the Teddy Roosevelt figure. However this time I'm going to try to texture the metal so it doesn't look so smooth.
-
As Johnny has just arrived at the front his uniform and equipment will be fresh from the Quartermaster store. It's going to be fun painting him.
-
More photos in the Picasa gallery and after you select a particular photo you can enlarge it by clicking the icon upper right. As these photos are large by holding down the left mouse button and moving the cursor you can move around the picture.
-
Comments welcome!

Throwing The Book At Them!

My good friend Donald Mertz has a new post up on his Blog http://woodbeecarver.com/ titled the "Fundamentalists" which I think you ought to check out. He's a terrific carver and being an ex-skypilot he knows from whereof he speaks about such things! I mentioned to him that I too had carved a fire-breather quite a few years back so after retrieving ithe pictures from my photo files I thought I would pass them along.
-
I did this carving for the wife of a local Baptist preacher. I never heard back whether he liked it or not .... I sure hope so as I certainly wouldn't want a Baptist "Fatwah" floating around out there for someone to try and cash in on. You can't really see it in the photos but laying on the little shelf of the pulpit is a copy of "Cap'n Billy's Wizbag". I don't know whether he's laying into them because he found the book in the church cloakroom or maybe, just maybe, it belongs to him and he likes to thumb through it between sermons when the wife is at the Ladies Aid meeting. No doubt he could pick up a few good sermon topics from those pages. Whatever, he's a neat little character, I got paid and the check didn't bounce so all is right with the world.

A few more photos in the gallery and your comments are always welcome.

Johnny Reb

It's been a long time since I did a Civil War figure so I thought a Confederate Infantryman would be interesting especially with the challenge of making all that great equipment he'd be carrying. He'll be a fairly large figure, probabl in the 16-18" range depending on how he holds his rifle.
-
The only thing different so far is the method of attaching the bill of his Kipi. I made it out of Tupelo as when wet you can literally tie that stuff in knots. I carved a deep groove just under the hat band and using a profile gauge I whittled the thin piece to where it fit snugly into place. I then used epoxy to anchor it and held it in place with toothpicks as you can see in the gallery photo. Once the glue sets up you can easily pull those out before it completely sets hard.
-
Lastly, I burnt on some details and ran it through the flap-sander to soften the edges and clean up the carving. I used two decorative nails for the hatband studs.
-
This should be a real impressive figure as I've been going through a lot of research material to make sure I get all the equipment he'd be fitted out with. I'm thinking a bedroll across his chest would be a really neat detail I haven't tried before.
-
Hope you like him. Lots of photos and lots more to come. Comments welcome.

Stretching His Rope - The Head, The Hat and the Carving Part Is Over!

Hooray!!!! I finish the carving part and I must say he's looking pretty good. I'm even thinking about maybe running a little Auction again. Anybody Interested?
-
There are loads of photos in the associated Picasa gallery and I've explained the whole process as what I wrote in past tutorials was lost due to the old gallery problems.
-
So, the only thing left now is the paint job which I'll try to do in the next couple of days. I doubt if I go into a lot of detail with that part as most of you know how I do that already.
-
Again, loads of photos and comments are always welcome.

Picasa Gallery Note!

While I've mentioned this before I'll repeat it as there is still some questions about gaining access to the Picasa photo gallery. Here's how to do it:

1. On the "Picasa" logo line click on "Out West Blog's Gallery". This takes you to the various folders associated with each Blog post.
-
2. Clicking on the main Album photo will take you to the photos stored in the album.
-
3. Clicking each individual photo within the album will enlarge it and display any associated caption or description. You can also enlarge the photo by clicking on the magnifying glass icon.
-
4. At the bottom of the individual photo page there is a space to "Add a comment". Only Google account holders can access this area but even if you have access please don't leave comments in these areas. I post so many photos that there is just no way that I could find the time to search out and reply to any comments posted there. Please post any comment or question you might have in the main Blog page comments box. Thanks!

I hope this helps you navigate this new Picasa system.

Stretching His Rope - Part 4 - Attaching the Arms

Well, what do you know....I finally got around to working on this project again. There has been a lot of interest lately on the WCI site about how to attach arms so I thought it was a good time to show how I go about it and hopefully finish this carving. This is the first tutorial utilizing the Picasa albums format and I think it will work out great as it lets you see a much larger photo along with the description.
-
I'll try and carve the head tomorrow at our local carving group meeting. Would like to get him finished before the Kansas City show on March 20th & 21st. There are lots of photos in the Picasa gallery along with descriptions of how I went about it. As always comments are welcome as are any questions.

No Swimming!

Nothing like a nice cool dip on a hot day! I've been working on this one for quite a while and finally got around to finishing it this morning. It 's always a learning experience putting something like this together while the resin is still fluid. Here's how I did it:
-
When using resin or epoxy you have to make sure you have all your ducks lined up and the process well thought out before you begin. In this case I had the dowels in the horses legs and the mans body glued and ready and the corresponding holes in the base drilled. I didn't dowel the mans legs as they were small enough to where the resin would hold them in place. The base was painted and all the other scenic material in place. I mixed up the 2-part -30 minute epoxy resin which I'd found at the Tulsa Hobby Lobby the day before and poured it over the painted water, I picked up the horse and mans body and inserted them in place and watched the resin puddle around them just like it should. So as not to stir up any dust I quietly made my exit from the shop for the house to give the resin the required time to set.
-
Everything went as planned and even though I had not used the 30 minute epoxy before it worked just as the 5 minute version but that extra working time really made the process easier. I like to use the epoxy mix instead of that other acrylic resin as it sets much harder and seems to stand up to fingerprints. So, it turned out pretty well and I look forward to showing it to see what the reaction is.
-
Here's a good link where you can get the 5 and 30 minute epoxies plus all your CA needs.
-
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0097p?CATEGORY=RG
-
There are a few other photos in the Picasa gallery and your comments are always welcome.

Blog Maintenance

I am in the process of transferring all the older tutorials over to the new Picasa gallery. Unfortunately, the descriptions associated with the photos in the old gallery are lost during the transfer. Also, some of the Picasa photos may appear out of sequence. Hopefully, over time I can address these problems but at the moment they'll just have to be the way they are.
-
Here's a Heads Up! In about a month I will take down the old gallery and, God willing, leave the problems we've been having with it behind us. If there are photos of carvings you'd like to keep I suggest you download copies of them. One thing I want you to remember is that any photos you do download are still under copyright, as is anything on this blog, so they cannot be used in any way for commercial purposes. You're more than welcome to use them as reference for your personal use but please, honor my request that thats the only way they will be used.
-
On future projects I will again add captions and descriptions to the photos of any tutorials I do so maybe we can get back to normal. Like most of you, I too like the Picasa format as it allows you to see the pictures in a much larger scale and it should be much easier to locate the album you're looking for.
-
So, please continue to bare with me during this process as I certainly don't want to lose your interest in this Blog or my work. If you have any questions about these changes or suggestions just drop me a comment.
-
Thanks!

A Little Bit Of Blarney! - Part 2

Even though it was a nice warm day and we saddled up the ponies and went for an enjoyable ride I managed to get this character finished. I personally think there is a little too much green but I guess that's what makes him Irish and a Leprechaun!
-
I tried a few different things with this little guy. His Shamrock is made from metal sheet as to get the detail I wanted there was just no way to get a piece of wood that thin and standing away from the body like I wanted. Being metal I don't have to worry about it breaking someday. I turned the pot on my lathe then whittled the outside so it has a carved appearance. The bail is just wire. The gold coins......well that's one secret I'll just keep to myself for the time being. Don't ask as I won't tell you!
-
So, for a two day project I think he turned out pretty good. Lots of photos in the Picasa Gallery and comments welcome.

A Little Bit Of Blarney!

Our son's wife and daughter met the Irish President, Ms. Mary McAleese, the other day during her official visit to Bahrain. The guy is the photo is the First Leprechaun. You might remember Hannah from a couple of earlier appearances here. She and her sister Miriam have dual citizenship through their mother. I thought I would commemorate the occasion by carving a symbol of Ireland for them. I'll do it as a bust and probably stick a Shamrock to his vest. Can't wait to paint that beard orange!!

-

As St. Patrick's day is just around the corner this would be a good project provided you can stay away from the Guiness long enough.

-

There are a few more photos in the Picasa Gallery and I will post some more once the piece is finished. Just click on "Lynn Doughty's Gallery" tab if you don't see this carving.

-

As always comments are welcome.

The General-Napoleon

Well, what do you think? Should I stick with Cowboys? Actually, I think he turned out pretty good. The one thing I don't like about this piece is the side profiles. As you can see if you look at those shots in the gallery the hat, the head and the lower part of the piece are all vertical which gives the piece an odd look. But, that's how it would be I guess.

-

In painting him, for the hat I used Licorice, which is Black with a little white added. Straight black on bare wood just looks terrible so I don't use it. While the paint was still wet I dry-brushed white around the rim and used my finger to blend it out then painted the ribbon and rosette.

-

For the head I just painted it the way I always do with a mix of Red Iron Oxide and Yellow Ochre washed over the entire facial area then coming back with a stronger red mixture for the lips & outer cheeks. The beard and eye areas were very lightly washed with an extremely thin wash of Midnight blue. When I say extremely thin I mean extremely thin. When making that wash in your tray and you think to yourself..."Why that won't work, I can hardly see any color!"....that's the color you want!!

-
For the coat I used Mudstone and shaded it with Raw Sienna and then dry-brushed with white and blended it like before...with my finger. The inner uniforn is Midnight Blue with Bright Red trim. To make the red stand out I undercoated first with Moroccan Red which, like the licorice, has just a touch of white to make it opaque. The Medal was painted the colors you see but I added Interferrence Green, a Liquidtex irridecent color to make the colors sparkle a little more.

-
So, there you have it. A carving of a fellow who fought just one to many battles and ended up on a rock in the middle of the Atlantic. As Clint Eastwood so aptly put it: "A man's got to know his limitations!"

-
Lots of photos in the Picasa Gallery and comments are always welcome.