In this segment, we carve and attach a couple of Ermine tails to the headdress. Like feathers, Native Americans use the Ermine animal skin and especially the tails in a lot of their clothing and headress ornaments. The tail is used in this instance as it’s white with a black tip which really adds some POP! to the piece. In the 4th photo you can see I carved a long doweled end to the tail as this will be inserted into matching holes drilled in front of the headdress beaded rosette.
For the feathers I cut about 6 thin but not to thin strips of basswood. These are carved down to a scale sized feather to be used on the shield and the spear shaft. In the last 2 photos you can see that I have added a bent piece of thin wire to the quill and wrapped it with thread and then glued with some super glue. This will allow free movement of this detail while also protecting it from viewers touching and possibly breaking it off.
Lastly, note that the figure has now been positioned on a wooden base. In this care I used a piece of walnut stained dark and made tall enough to allow the shield to be off the ground. With that the carving is now ready for the paint table.
Comments welcome.
