Assembly and Painting (AP)
Once the Kingfisher is carved and textured it is sealed using a good quality wood sealant. Given that the Kingfisher had a separate head this now needs to be attached and blended into the body. Feet also need to be made and then the bird painted and attached to a suitable perch which for competition also needs to be made by the carver.
The eyelids are created from two part epoxy. Given that the Kingfisher would be scratching behind its left ear I used the epoxy to replicate the eyelid and partly close the eye.
The orange, black, and blue have been applied to the head. Only a simple base coat is laid down at this stage. The paints used are acrylic. The paint is thinned down and applied in several wash coats to build up the colour. Each coat is allowed to dry before adding the next. Wash coats are used so that the fine detail is not clogged with pigment.
The tiny feet were created from brass wire. The ends were ground to a point to imitate talons and curved over. Each toe was then soldered to each other.
I then gently squeezed the outer and middle toes together and added a little superglue to replicate the fused toes of the Common Kingfisher. A thin layer of two part epoxy was added to build up the missing flesh. Detail such as the scales were then added.
The scratching foot was glued to the side of the head. This was after the foot and head feathers had been enhanced with finer painting.