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Carved Tufty decoy project


holloway
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Our clubs yearly quiz and raffle is coming up soon and i try to donate a decoy or carved stick for the auction .This year i thought i would try a Tufty.The first picture is the starting point an Opinel and a piece of Cedar picked up from the banks of the river Dart whilst Seatrout fishing several years ago.I decided to try mdf for the body but after an hour of carving i began to feel fairly unwell so instead dug out some ancient Cedar that i reclaimed from a clients ancient greenhouse that he was scrapping ,i had to use 3 pieces stuck together not ideal but i didnt want it to cost anything so had to make do.

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Now onto some rough carving just to see if the woods going to do the job ,not convinced of the shape yet but have left loads of material so that we can change it later. 

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Starting to take shape and have added the eyes,to be honest the eyes dont look right not lairy enough for a Tufty but hey ho they are all i had in the stores also head is wrong shape but we can work on that later.

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Nearly happy with the head (except the eyes) so have wacked on some paint just to see if its worth going on with there is still material left for a few changes also time to try the body material for size.

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Having laminated the body material together time to start getting a rough body shape ,i wanted it dumpy and to sit low in the water,once again leaving tons of wood to work with in case it goes pear shape which it usually does .The head isnt fixed on yet as i havent worked out what attitude i want it in ie alert at rest etc.I still am struggling with the eyes as well wrong shade of yellow and the pupil too big not sure what to do about that though !

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Although this will probably never be used i like to test it in water to make sure it floats as a decoy should ,the other criteria that is important to me is that it should be tactile and try if possible to show the particular breeds own individual style and posture.Still not fixed the head on yet but thinking maybe turned to one side and a resting posture.A diving duck so tail down on the water  ,starting to carve wing position and get a little definition going but i am going to have to come up with an idea for the eyes.

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A little happier now we have got the head finished and fixed on ,i use a brass screw with the head chopped of and some epoxy resin with sawdust mixed in to fill any gaps .Happy with body shape now nice and dumpy tail relief carved and decoy tested in a tank if water  ,it was front heavy so have added lead shot to the tail end which levelled it up nicely.By now i have the keel fixed on another piece of Cedar used for that .The eyes are now making me wonder if the whole thing is going to look wrong ,only a small detail  but to me if the eyes aren't right its a failure.wood has now had a coat if sealer .

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Edited by holloway
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This is my favorite bit now painting  ,i use acrylics in quite thin washes so as  not to gum up the texturing that i have tried to add for feathers.Trying to get a bluey  green sheen in with the black but not sure i am getting what i want ,it will take several coats also the bill needs some more work.

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Just about there now never totally happy with the end product .

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As i said at the start this has been made for our club auction someone always buys them usually between £20 and £40 ,if anyone would like to make a commision bid send me a message i will pass it to the auctioneer on the night April 4th,i am happy to cover postage myself.sorry if i have bored anyone with this .

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Think maybe a Pinkfoot  next year !

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57 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Not boring at all, wonderful to see your work.:good:

I'm surprised they don't sell for more!

To be honest we always have 2 people bidding the same chap always wins so not much scope for a big sale ,the money will go to the Devon wildfowlers land purchase fund.Thats why i thought i would post it on here it would be good to have a wider bidding platform .Also thanks for the positive feedback.Dont forget i will post free of charge to the UK.

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15 minutes ago, Old farrier said:

£50 

Much appreciated thankyou.

If any one else wants to make a commision bid can they private message me please as i dont want to be in breach of any forum rules.(perhaps if a mod reads this they could let me know if its ok ?)

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