“THE PROCESS”
- Blueprinting—-A process used to ensure proper scale and spacing of fins gills and other prominent features. Pics
- Rough carving—–bandsaw, chainsaw, reciprocating saw, angle grinder……whatever gets wood gone in a hurry. Hollowing the head for an open mouth is the toughest part. Pics
- Getting down to shape—-carefully getting down to size without going too far using an angle grinder and orbital on both the head and body. Pics
- Hand sanding—–slowly shaping the body and smoothing all curves getting down to 220 grit.
- Detail carving—–using hand tools and rotary tools to get fine detail on the face, in the mouth, and around the fins.
- Eye Mounting—-probably one of the most challenging and most important parts of the piece. Eyes are first hand painted and airbrushed and then mounted and smoothed with epoxy.
- Teeth—-if it’s a toothy fish….now is the time
- Head attached to the body.
- Fin slots
- Fin bending and mounting.
- All scales are burned into wood and carved into epoxy areas.
- Final touch up and final detail…its now or never.
- Vinyl sealer- prevent moisture from entering or exiting
- White primer
- Antiqueing—a process of blasting the whole fish with a dark color and then sanding it away leaving darker colors in the low lying areas.
- Paint….Airbrush, hair brush and sponge. Many translucent layers makes for a realistic fish.
- Clear coat—commercial grade lacquer applied with many coats leaving a rock hard glossy finish