I put the final touches to this reprobate yesterday. Took a few liberties by adding some real hair (horse hair actually!) which really brings him to life. I also repainted his upraised arm and sword to make the piece a little more acceptable if that’s possible. I left a little on his outer tunic to show just how bad he really is. The AK47 turned out real nice and I added a leather strap otherwise it would look strange as nothing would be holding it to his body. The list of things he doesn’t approve of is made from aluminum flashing. I burnished the surface, sprayed it with acid etching primer and then white before fan-folding it prior to lettering on the words. I nailed it down under his foot and epoxied it to his hand after a bit of antiquing.
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In adding the hair I had carved the hat indentation deeper than normal so it would bend down the hair when pressed in place. That worked out pretty good. For the mustache I cut a length of hair and glued it in place by forcing it up into a hole I drilled directly under his nose. This also bent the hair down on each side which looks nice. I really like the idea of mixing materials as you can only achieve so much with wood. It also just adds that extra something that brings him to life.
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This was a fun piece to do and am sure it will be a hit when displayed. Hopefully it will show others that it’s good to push the envelope to try new techniques and maybe be a little controversial occasionally even if it might cause offence to some. Life on this planet consists of many things both good and bad and there is no reason we shouldn’t confront them in any way we can.
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So, I hope you like him as much as I do and I’ll look forward to your comments.
Love what you have done