The main problem when hunting wild ducks is that this bird is not so easy to attract or make to sit on the water, but to shoot at them when they fly too high rarely leads to a good result. This problem is solved by using stuffed ducks. Such a scarecrow is set in a pond, and the hunter then goes to a position and expects a victim. When ducks fly over a pond, they see their relative on the water and often sit on it in the water. This is where they can begin the hunt.
In total, there are a lot of ways how to make a scarecrow, one author suggested how it is easiest to make a scarecrow using mounting foam.
Materials and tools for manufacturing:
- polyurethane foam;
- boards, a piece of fiberboard, nails (used to create a form box);
- a hacksaw, a hammer;
- gypsum or alabaster (to create a form);
- disposable plastic bag;
- a piece of solid foam;
- electric drill and so on.
The process of making a stuffed animal:
Step one. Making a mold
In order to cast stuffed ducks in the future, you need to create at least one shape. For these purposes, a piece of solid foam is taken and the duck's body is grinded from it. Still, to create a mold for casting, you will need a box, the author collects it yourself. It is very simple to assemble a box, you will need a hammer, nails, a piece of fiberboard and boards. A box is knocked out of the boards, fiberboard is used as the bottom. The size of the box should be as effigy as possible, and more can be, but more gypsum is needed.
After the box is assembled, it is fashionable to proceed with the creation of the form itself. You need to take alabaster or gypsum and mix it well, adding water. It is possible to use inexpensive building plaster for these purposes.
For stirring, the author used an electric drill, in the cartridge of which he clamped a piece of wire curved in the form of the letter G. After that, you need to take the made duck and coat it well with grease such as solid oil, or there is also a grease called graphite. This is necessary so that the gypsum does not adhere to the foam. Alternatively, you can also use oil.
Now you need to take the gypsum and pour it into the box made so that it does not leak, you need to put a disposable plastic bag in the box. Next, a duck is taken and drowned in half in gypsum; it must be held for some time until the gypsum sets. Before that, you need to draw a line in the center of the workpiece so that you do not get nervous in the process.
After that, the duck can be carefully removed, and after hardening, gypsum with a half-mold can also be removed from the box. The second half-mold is likewise manufactured.
Step Two Cast a scarecrow
In order to cast a scarecrow, you need to take gypsum molds and thoroughly grease them with the same graphite grease or oil, otherwise the foam will stick to the gypsum. It is also necessary to make a duck profile from copper wire, it is needed in order to make it stronger. A sinker will also be attached to this wire. Now foam can be poured into both molds, immediately after that the manufactured wire profile rests on the foam.
Until the foam has frozen, the two half-shapes need to be quickly connected together. A load is placed on top of the form, it can be a stone, in this position the form remains at night.
In the morning, the author takes a knife and cuts off the excess foam, without taking apart the form. After that, the mold can be disassembled and the duck blank can be removed. The workpiece must be removed with extreme caution, as the shape and foam are very fragile, and if handled rough, not only can the workpiece be damaged, but also the shape.
Step Three Modifying a scarecrow
At the next stage, the duck should be carefully processed with sandpaper, this process is not complicated, since the foam is quite soft. In some places, you need to work with a knife, with the author it is made in the form of a saw. If it so happened that shells formed on the workpiece, this is not a problem, you can add foam to such places. Also, do not forget to free the ring from the foam, for which it is very convenient to hook the weight.
Step Four Workpiece painting
For painting, you need to use oil-based paint, it does not corrode foam. But its significant drawback is that it dries for a very long time. Well, such stuffed animals are painted by everyone to his own taste. If you approach this process responsibly, you can make a very high-quality stuffed animal that can not be distinguished from a real duck not only by a bird, but a person himself can get confused the first time. But the main thing here is not to rush and not to shoot at the scarecrow, otherwise all the work will go to waste.
According to the author, using one form, already managed to make 15 blanks of ducks. To use the molds for so long and to cast high-quality workpieces, a layer of paraffin was applied to the mold. To do this, you need to warm up the form a little and then coat it with a candle. Here you need to be careful, because if you heat up the mold very sharply, it can crack. For such a case, the author used stearin candles, and to work comfortably, rag gloves were used.