Woodcarving with Brian

check eye sockets before starting to insert 5 mm straw eyes

Fill the eye socket with wood putty and remove excess as the eyes are inserted checking for vertical and horizontal alignment.

Build up eye lids after the eyes have had a chance to set in place.

Width of the head at point 5 measures close to 12mm from the centre line

Rough out the beak first. Beak width at the base of the upper and lower mandible measures 5mm from centre line.

Start by shaping the beak

Crown of upper mandible measures 3mm from centre line. Make sure you leave the wattle a little wider at this point as the edge of the wattle does not go right to the beak. Once you have the wattle outlined you can create the ear feathers

Hollow the eye location out for a 5mm straw eye.

Smooth the surface of the head by sanding in preparation for placing the eyes.

Make a left and right profile template of the head. Using a glue stick, glue the templates to the carving.

They serve as a reference for removing excess wood and establish the contour of the head. 

In the photos you will notice I have removed wood down from the centre line, leaving the centre line a little higher at this time.

The tacks on either side it is easy to align the eyes vertically and horizontally. The tacks will leave a small hole that you will be able to use a reference for maintaining symmetry of the head as you remove wood.

Before going any further, take a break, take the time to look at the balance of the carving and give thought as to how it will look on a base and prepare to add detail. It is well worth taking advantage of looking at what photos are available with the internet search engines Fotosearch   Google or Bing

legs are 17 mm from the centre line

mark and drill 1/8” hole 

Remove the wood in the shaded area to establish the inside of the legs.

Round the underside. 

Determine which leg you wish to use as the base and which leg you wish to have raised and outline them before you start to round the body any  further.    

  measuring from the tip of the tail on the bottom

                        to point A    65 mm

                             point B  105 mm

                             point C  134 mm

 from the head

                    to point D  100 mm

                         point E    19 mm 

between point B and D draw lines parallel to the centre line 

                      8 mm from centre line for inside of leg. 

                      25 mm from centre line for outside of leg

after creating a bevel by removing the wood from the shaded area, continue to round the top

Once you have cut out your blank draw a centre line and mark on the line some reference points.

Measuring:

from the tip of the tail

            to point 1   105 mm

                 point 2   125 mm

from the head

                point 3   75 mm

                point 4   45 mm

                point 5   15 mm

at the tip of the head measure 1/8 “ either side of the centre line and draw a line to the outside of the head at point 5

draw lines parallel to the centre line from point 4 to point 1 

remove the wood in the shaded area.

Proceed to round the top of the body

Trace top and side profile of the pattern onto a Basswood block measuring 2 1/2”x3 3/4”x9 1/4” as a reference for removing excess stock quickly with a band saw or coping saw