Post #486360 by amate on Sun, Oct 4, 2009 12:54 PM

Thank you all for your warm welcome and encouragement. I consider these pieces modest because they lack the fine detail I see on many carvings here on TC. After all, the Kon-Tiki doesn't even have toes!!! I believe this was my first attempt at fingers and I guess I decided to leave well enough alone. As far as materials go, Kon-Tiki is cottonwood and the head is elm. The Moai is a very mature driftwood log I recovered from a riverbank. The finish is a result of two failed attempts. The wood was honeycombed with borer holes and very soft wood. I attempted to stabilize it by applying a couple coats of polycrylic but did not like the way it looked. I started to sand the polycrylic off and realized how much work that would be and decided to cover it with walnut stain. It looks kind of old so I'm going to leave it as is.