The Little Wooden Tour Guide Who Never Exaggerates!

The recipient of this carving has been teasing me about carving him a "voodoo doll" for months now. He doesn't really want a voodoo doll but he's watched as I've given carvings to other people and so he likes getting "on my case" (so to speak). I've kept him waiting for sometime now. Of late, he seemed to have given up teasing me, thinking he's never going to get one.
Well, I couldn't help but carve him one when I came upon the idea of this particular caricature. JZ has an uncanny knack for telling "tall tales" and made up stories at the drop of a hat. Therefore, Pinocchio is most fitting. The outfit is the Summer Tour Guide costume here at Disney World. JZ has been a tour guide for many years and his talent for telling stories comes in handy with children of all ages as he guides them about the parks. I hope you like "The Little Wooden Tour Guide Who Never Exaggerates!"

 We'll begin on the band saw to cut out the blank for this carving. The tupelo wood blank will be roughly 3" X 3' X 6" without the base.

 Below, the surface sketch is trimmed off to allow me to use it as a guide.

 On the front, guide lines are added to help for faster removal of extra wood to save some time.

 

At this point you can begin to visualize the overall carving. Working the entire piece at this point allows small corrections for positioning features, etc.

I try to leave small features (like hands or long noses in this case) for last to avoid breakage.

Below, except for his shoes, the piece is ready for final finishing and detailing. 

Carving pieces for Disney Cast Members usually involves the addition of their nametag.

Now it's time to figure out just how the piece will be mounted to the base. Sometimes they are screwed to the base and sometimes they are inlaid and glued. I decided to inlay this piece so the extra wood below his shoes can be trimmed.

 

Below, two coats of Minwax 209 stain are applied and allowed to dry for 24 hours. Prior to the

application of paint he will be burnished with pieces of brown paper bag to help smooth him out. 



A 1/8" dowel is used for his nose.



 

At last, color is added.

The Little Wooden tour guide is in full summer costume and ready for his new home.

Chewbacca and the Game Board

"Chewbacca and the Game Board" will be headed home with another fellow Cast Member who happens to be connected to Chewbacca's character. Glen also loves board games. That is how this carving came to be.

Carved from a 4" X 3" X 7" piece of tupelo wood, "Chewbacca" seemed to work up quickly. (His entire body didn't really call for a great deal of detail... if you don't fuss over all the hair!) At first this carver was somewhat intimidated by "Chewbacca's" hair. It was decided that I'd simply run a rough burr over the "hair" and let it go at that.

As with all carvings they begin with a frontal sketch of the piece to be. At "Chewbacca's" feet is the piece of wood that will become the checkerboard. 

 

 Next, the sides are coped out on the band saw.

 

After the sides are coped the profile drawing will allow front and rear coping.

 

  Then the bulk reduction can take place.

Front/right side.



 

Rear/right side.

 

Being careful to maintain protruding features is a must. Pencil marks are added to prevent cutting too deeply into an area.

(It's always easier to reduce wood than add wood!)

  

The forehead had to be reduced quiet a bit.

 

The piece is somewhat more stocky than the actual person in the suit.

  

I prefer to secure glued pieces rather than just rely on the glue. You can see the wooden (toothpick) dowel protruding from the carvings left hand. The dowel will extend through his hand, board and into the thigh.

Once all the pieces; figure, base and checkerboard are fitted and given a final inspection, the painting begins.  Below, the figure and base have been stained.

I've been having good luck sealing the pieces with MinWax 209 clear wood stain. The base is given its finish stain. There's a variety of ways I mount pieces to the base. In Chewbacca's case, his right foot will be held in place by a long thin woodscrew and his left foot is secured by a 1/8" dowel glued into the left foot and base and glued. You can see the screw, two dowels and the wood plug to the left of the carving.


 

 The checkerboard was quite easy to work up. Using a rule, lines were marked at 1/8" spacing and drawn with a pencil. Then the lines were traced over with a dull edge metal rule to deepen the line without making too thin a line. The hole is for the dowel for additional strength to be held in place.

  

When it comes to painting and mixing colors, this carver is very much a beginner. Experimentation is on full display in all of my carvings.

 

 

"Chewbacca and the Game Board" may not look exactly like the real character but seeing as it's a "One of a Kind Wood Carving" I hope the recipient will still enjoy having him on his mantel.

"Brutus" The Ohio State Mascot

"Brutus" was a long time coming due to another carving project (The Butterfly Effect) that will be covered in another post.
I wanted to give "Brutus" to the recipient much earlier in the football season. However, better late than never as they say.

"Brutus" is going home to a true football fan. Melony lives and breaths for Ohio State football! I'm sure this carving will have a "place of honor" in her home football arena.

"Brutus" got his start as a 7" X 4" X 3" piece of tupelo wood.

 

After a few minutes on the band saw, he will be roughed out. The wedge shaped piece to the lower right will be his baseball cap.

 

I used the cap to "loosen up" after finishing the last carving project.

 "Brutus" is ready to be roughed out.

 

 In some carvings, I sometimes cut too much away of one area or another and I end up adding wood someplace. With "Brutus" I cut the arm holes too soon and ended up having to add wood to the armpits.

 In the photo below I've added some wood to correct the problem.

 

Alas, that didn't workout all that well. The left arm was much too small. After some grumbling, I decided to perform a little "surgery." I would remove the left arm at the pencil lines below.

 

 (Warning, graphic photo below.)

Fear not "Brutus" didn't feel any pain!

 

"We can rebuild him, better and stronger than before."

(Where have I heard that before.)

I gave him plenty of wood!

 

Fitted with his new arm, I can continue with his progress.

After all his paint is added, his cap will be held in place with a 1/8" dowel and glued.

 

He will be screwed and glued to the base.

 Because his ankles are so thin I opted for one screw in his left foot and a dowel glued for his right foot.

 

 Aha, that works.

Now to bring him to life with a little color.

 Printing small letters is something I need some help with. The pictures I use as guides often times has just what is needed. I resize the photo to match the size of the carving. Then, I print out the photo on regular print paper and trim out just what I want and glue it to the piece. Luckily, the color I painted his red strips matches the color of the background of the printed images.

 

"Brutus" is ready for his new home.