Native American Woman with Papoose – Part 6

Here’s the first segment on carving the woman’s body.  I show you how to cut a few corners in sawing out the blank.  Warning!  Don’t attempt this if you’re not that confident with your band saw skills.  

One thing you might be noticing with almost each video I now post…..I’m not giving you as much instruction as the earlier projects.   I’m not doing this to save me time but hoping that with the carving experience from those earlier projects you are getting confident enough to know what to do.  When I see areas that might need a little broader explanation I’ll go into those with more depth.  Hope that’s okay.  I ask for your comments with this part so I can aim the camera at those areas. 

Native American Woman with Papoose – Part 5

Native American Woman with Papoose – Part 4

Here is Part 4.  I even learned something on this one…..I need a haircut!

Native American Woman With Papoose – Part 3

With this segment we finish up the cradleboard container.  There is some pretty fine carving around the outer rim of the opening so be careful and take your time.  A sharp knife is really a must. 

Native American Woman with Papoose –Part 2 – The Cradleboard

In this video we cover reference material and layout and cut the block for the cradleboard.

The Chief's New Blanket - Painted

This one really turned out great!  I really like the color selection as they balance each other out just right.  I decided to use the face of the Peace Medal instead of the back and I used the medal issued by President Van Buren in 1837 as a guide. It makes a really nice detail.  As you can see I also changed the base which looks a lot better than the round one used earlier.  Once the brass nameplate is in place it should look pretty snappy.
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Hope you like him.  There's a couple more photos in the Gallery and your comments are always welcome.

Native American Woman with Papoose - Part 1

It's been a while since the last project and as many of you have ask me to do a series on a Native American Woman I thought that would be a good one to do.  As a little bonus I'll add her Papoose to make it really interesting.
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I originally did this particular figure back in 1998 so the one we'll do will probably be a little different but basically the same and hopefully improved a bit.  To start we'll do the Papoose as you could use this part as a stand along piece.  I've posted a template for the blank in the Gallery and the dimensions for the blank are:  4-1/2" long by 2-1/2" wide by 1-3/4" thick.  For the hole for the baby's head we'll be drilling a 1-3/8" hole with a Forstner bit.  Make sure you don't drill it all the way through!!  The carrying frame will be made out of thin wood strips.  All these steps would be shown in the upcoming video.
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This should be a fun project and not that difficult to complete.  Hope you follow along.

The Chief's Red Blanket

Now here's a regal looking Redskin!  I kind of jumped the gun and started painting before I remembered that I hadn't taken the first set of photos!  Actually, I think he looks pretty good this way but he'll look a lot better once that blanket is painted.
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This bust is a pretty good sized one....standing about 15" tall with the base.  Still haven't decided on whether to use the base in the photo or not.  What do you think?  The circular neckerchief slide will be the back side of a peace medal...shaking hands with a crossed tomahawk and pipe or maybe I'll paint the front with President's profile.
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The fan will have a beaded base as will the hat band and the lower part of the hat decoration.  I'm thinking the stripes will be black & white so with the red they should really pop.  I really like the look of this guy.
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This is the only photo so far but I'd still appreciate your comments.

Stretch Gets Some Color

For such a little guy this carving is sure taking a long time to complete.  Yesterday I finally got the rope installed and painted and now I note from the photos I still have to do the spurs!   Back to the workbench!
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More photos in the Gallery and your comments are always welcome.
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Knight of the Plains

Whew!   Am I glad this guy is off the paint table!  My eyes were so blurry from all that painting over the past several days that it was cutting into my cowboy movie viewing!  Now that is something serious!
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I really like this fella.  I'm almost sorry that I didn't make his head more realistically scaled with his body then I could have entered him into some realistic carving categories and maybe stirred up a few ripples on those calm waters.   One thing new on him is the use of horse hair to simulate scalp-locks.  I added two to the shield and hung a couple off the bottom of the bow and arrow case.  I just pinched off a few hanks of hair, wrapped one end with some colored thread and a very small drop of superglue holds it all together.  Oh...I did insert a loop of wire into the middle of each one to give me something to hook on to.  While the ones on the shield are locked into place with a loop of wire the other two swing freely.   All the designs from the vest, shield, leggins and moccasins are taken from research material.  I really like the moccasin design.  For the hawk feathers hanging from the shield I just left the wood natural and painted on the darker stripes.  I fletched the arrows with some very thin aluminum cut from a drink can.  I used my burning pen to cut the small slots on the shafts and then super glued the fletching in place. For the bow string I used a piece of  28 gauge wire .  I gave up on the Tupelo strap across his chest and decided to use a piece of thin leather instead.  It's tight against his body and just looks a lot better than the wood would have.
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Anyway, I sure hope you like him as I really went all out with this one and I look forward to your comments and opinions. Loads of photos in the Gallery.