Hewey's wood thread - Making a Paipo p20

The pirate slowly progresses. Taken a little off the top to give him more of a rounded head to get away from the square tiki head look a bit. Will probably take some more off. Also made the head a bit more level too. The bandanna will cover all of this, so I don’t have to make it too clean.

Here’s the side profile. Looks much nicer eh?

With work we do regular water quality monitoring in the field. I found these palm logs in the bush at one of the sites we test at. It’s quite common for people to cut down palm trees and dump them in the bush. A few of these required scrambling down a pretty steep embankment to get them, but they were the right price! I think one might be a little rotten inside, but the rest seem okay. They’re nice and dry and ready to carve, and no splits. Wine bottle for size reference

I’ve also done some decorating in my veranda area that is both my tiki lounge and also my workshop! Just some bottles, nothing special. Look at the voodoo shack in Pirates – Dead Mans Chest to see what my inspiration was.

This is Bailey’s (new puppy) house. Got the doghouse second hand off a mate. For now it will be guarded by the moai twins. Eventually it will get a tiki diner make over, but its not a high priority.

I’ve also done a little work on the wagon. Really need to get stuck into it soon so I can sell the bug before its rego is renewed.

Kustom Kahoona

[ Edited by: hewey 2007-02-06 14:17 ]

Further inspection has resulted in 3 logs going into the bin... :(

[ Edited by: hewey 2007-02-07 18:07 ]

Looks like your Pirate might be cool someday, keep chopping away. I'm Glad the wine bottle was for refrence, I was afraid you had a bunch of drunken logs that had driven themselves off the embankment!! lol

You find Hewey on his estate by following the trail of empty bottles that he leaves behind him. In the morning the trail starts with pepsi max over by the aac. It picks up at around 10am when he breaks into the wine, next to his pile of logs. The last bottle is usually pinstripped. The bottles on the rafters, don't ask! He's up on the roof, trying to find a roo to box...

Are those two different types of palm logs you have there?

Like the dog house. My dog is jealous.

You're on a roll man! Keep it up.

Not enough pictures of the frickin pirate! :wink:

Buzzy Out!

HEWEY!!

Get that pirate Tiki goin Bra!!! Can't wait to see it!!

~~ THOR

Great work Hewey !Keep posting! Lucky dog too!

Thanks for the comps folks :)

Benz: Yeh, the hope is the pirate will be cool. :)

Buzzy, we dont get Kangaroos on the roof. The rest of that is remarkably accurate though. There's not much to show with the pirate, Ive just taken a big chunk out of it so far...

Thanks Thors and Clarita :) :)

Been a crazy few days. Here's the shortened version:

Bad news:

• No progress on the pirate.
• All of those logs I picked up out of the bush are hollow and are going into the bin.
• The back patio is currently flooded.

Good news:

• I have found a local guy who has just chopped down a large tree and has a heap of logs waiting to be picked up. The stuff left is all the largest stuff that they left till last :)
• I will be displaying some tikis at the art show that will be accompanying the Australian Hot Rod Nationals at Easter! It is mainly hot rod based art, but some general kustom kulture displays too. The pirate will be there as will the forthcoming hot rod tiki :)
• I got a job! Yeh I know, I got one late last year. I got a second job, as a journo with Australia's best selling car mag Street Machine. Effective as of immediately - already got my first story assignment! This is THE mag I read growing up as a kid!

STOKED STOKED STOKED :) :) :)

Now if only there were more hours in a week...

Cool

Congrats on the new job!
...and the logs too.

Oh yeah, and the car show...

Take care,
Buzzy

Rounded off the head a wee bit more

He’s got an eye socket and a big scar now. His patch will cover where his other eye should be, the big scar explains the patch! Looks pretty with candles, but the flash kills the mojo.

Trial of how a scarf will look. This is actually one of my shirts draped over him. Scarf will most likely be blue marine grade vinyl, aged to look the part.

Well I burnt him with a butane burner and added some colour. The scar came out really cool, with burnt edges and the very bottom copped some red paint as well. Doesn’t photo too well though.

‘nother pic

Next step is play with the colour in the mouth a bit more, install an eye in the eye socket, and work out what the hell to do for teeth (leading idea is steeling Kirby’s bamboo teeth idea, of course one tooth will be gold, but still undecided). Then its give him some varnish, then give him some hair, then the scarf and eye patch as a finishing touch.

Nice design. It will look good when you get the blue patch on it. I would like to see some pictures when it is in location without the flash. Your toes give it some scale. It is still Feb here, so it is nice to see a post from the future and across the date line.

Good luck with the live carving adventure.

JP

Kool looking pirate Hewey, the red paint may be cool or overkill, don't know which, Pro'ly cool. Put some on them townails too.

Thanks :)

So far all the pics have been taken at night because thats the only time Ive had to play with it, but yeh will get some proper pics, if nothing else when its completed.

As far as the red Im hoping it will be cool! I will sponge some darker red over the current colour to give it more depth and get that more aged/weathered look. Once the teeth are installed they will also lessen the amount of red too, and the gold tooth will draw its own attention but because it will be relatively small it wont overpower any of the other elements. The idea of the blue bandanna is to equal out the red, or it might just clash with it... I figure by aging (and as a result darkening the red and fading the blue) it should be okay, but ultimately I wont know until I do it.

looking good dude, man yeah that scar is looking good , isnt burning shait fun ha ha

First of all a pretty sunset from last week, the flash kills the foreground

So how has the pirate progressed? Not very well! We got rain - lots of it! The water is supposed to go down the drain, not come out of it!

The good news is that "Kustom Kahoona" is now officially set up as a legal business :) Now to just make some tikis... :)

Last night I painted an eye up out of the top of a sweetened condensed milk can :) There's a nice twist to the eye, you'll just have to wait for me to post pics. I tried to take some last night but the battery for the camera died - sorry folks. The great part is that the eye is a perfect fit in the eye socket - the gods must be smiling on me! The eye gives him a very crazy look which is great too.

More pics!

This is the eye for the pirate. They say the eye is the window to the soul - this guys got a black heart :)

Gave the mouth some more detail. Copped a darker red, then some black too. I smeared the wet black paint with a rag, came out pretty cool. I also burnt the edges of the mouth to 'hide' the edge a little.

Overal view with the mouth paint

Here he is with the eye - finally getting an idea of how it actually look.

Im thinking I might ditch the hair idea. Next is clear polly (I did think about leaving it natural, but black hands every time I move it said otherwise). Then install the teeth (still working that out), and scarf and patch. Then its hot rod time! :)

Bailey is wondering when I will mow the lawn...

Gave it a clearcoat tonight - man its come out almost black! :o Flash just gets lots of reflection, so Ill get some pics later. Interested to see how it is when its dry and in the daylight...

Arrrgh! Thar be no pirates mowin no lawns! He's comming along great mate. I like what the burning did for the mouth. I bet your pirate tiki could swallow your puppy in one bite!

That guy is gonna be COOOOOL! I can see it already. Finish that sucka--you can mow lawn later! Can't wait to see the final results.

Finky - the inside of the mouth is all paint, just burnt the bark a little around the mouth to hide the edge. Yep the pirate could swallow the puppy in one bite! But I think Bailey would lick him to death first...

Surf-n-turf - lawn is mowed, we even got the real estate asking us to mow it (must have driven past and seen how bad it was!)

My girl didn't think I was busy enough so we have put down a deposit on a car for her, doing the loan thing, all approved okay but doing all the paperwork. Once thats done the bug is up for sale (and I will driver her car until the wagon is going). So something else to do - clean and detail, advertise, etc etc and on top of that my regular job will be working next couple of Saturdays (6 day weeks), and Easter is starting to loom...

The pirate is a lot darker with the varnish, but not as dark as first thought now I can look at it in daylight. Cant start on the hot rod tiki yet because dusty AAC and wet varnish are not a good mix! Still pondering the teeth, and have to scope out some material for the patch and bandanna - probably tomorrow.

Very busy but all is good :) :) :)

Cool place you got there, sorry about the rain.
The pirate is looking great,can't wait to see the teeth!
I like Bailey a lot too! :)

Thanks Clarita :)

Here are some pics with varnish in the sun, so you get a proper idea of the colour.

side

closer

closer still

Hydee Ho!

Excellent Pirate Heewey, I Love the eye on this guy. Way Cool.

Thanks B Lodge and Ben :)

Its funny, I painted the eye a couple of days before LLT posted his tiki with the skull eyes, but I didn’t post my pics till after… ah well.

I bought some black vinyl for the eye patch and at best it looks cheap and tacky :( Soooo…. I am now looking at doing a coconut eye patch (like a coconut bikini cup) and that’ll be all burnt and varnished up to fit in. Hoping it will look cool. Got some blue cotton for the bandanna, the colour works well. Only thing is, if it’s in the sun it’ll fade. Ah well. Still undecided if I want to sell it or keep it.

Since Ive got so much spare time, Ive started on a moai for the carving swap too, this is despite not having started the hot rod tiki that I will be taking down to the art show for Easter… :)

Oh yeh, tonight Im picking up a really cool embossed tiki stool to carve, will post pics. Sometime….

Here’s my entry for the carving swap. Nice fat and smooth moai.

So, to make it look like he’s made of lava, I carve in grooves. I will paint the whole thing bright red, then paint the flat sections black so the cracks stay red. Still not sure if it will work yet!

I picked up this embossed leather tiki stool off ebay, US$13! Side:

How nice is that design?

Detail shot to show you the scale.

Between buying a car, picking up a stool, working back late for work, the pirate hasn’t progressed. Worse still I am working all day Saturday for my day job, and covering a car show on Sunday there’s no spare time there. Oh yeh, I also have to sell the bug sometime too.

Here’s the update on my carving swap piece. Gave him a coat of red.

Then detailed him with some black. Looks cool, but I was hoping for more ‘pop’ from the red. If I do it again I will use bright burnt orange. Reckon it would look sweet under a black light though.

Bought a coconut for the pirate eyepatch but I dont think its going to work... But I did see some sweet seashells at the seafood shop so think I might go with one of those... Still no teeth, deadline fast approaching and no start on the hot rod tiki... or the wagon...

He looks like it would burn if you touched him! Nice job!

Thats a neat effect, I'll have to borrow it :)

Cool lookin' Moai there Hewey...looks HOT!

I'll give ya double your money for that stool and give you that bone hammerhead you liked? Deal?

-Gman

well done! looks great. awsome idea for the lava look, different and i like it. that one shot where he is just painted red looks like 'The Thing'.
great work

Finky: Thanks mate. He's just posing, he's not all that hot :)
TeaKEY: Look forward to seeing a lava mug
Gman: Nah, the stools MINE! I stole it off ebay fair and square... Throw in ya tekoteko and I might start talking :D
Duddy: Thanks. I got the idea off the Balrog in the Lord of the Rings, all shadow and flame and bad-ass attitude. I was kinda thinking he looked like the Rock Eater from Never Ending Story with bad sunburn :D

The little moai I have guarding the doghouse might get a hot-rod make-over for the art gallery show too, if I get time...

Woohoo! The pirate tiki is finished! I didn’t end up going with the hair on this guy, as you can see. Kirby’s bamboo teeth concept works really well, and of course one of them is painted in gold. The eye patch is a coconut shell from the top of wind chime which was sacrificed for the project. Overall very happy with it. It was finished late on Saturday night, I threw it in the garden for a couple of pics in the morning before barrelling him into the car for a 2.5 hour drive.

I also threw these together for the art show (non-tiki).

Im looking to paint some tiki exotica themed art on records soon too.

But for now I have a 4 foot high log I can barely move, which I need to quickly get to resemble a tiki in 3 days so people know what it is when I chop into it at the art gallery show…

COOOOL Stoool, Hot Lava and Punky pirate. cool!

Thanks Ben.

One of the stool legs has broken (it had broken right through and been repaired previously), so that is another one for the project list... At the same time I will get it restitched too.

I really like the abstract vinyl with pin-striping Hewey, it feels very cohesive and has a personal style greater than the sum of it's parts. The record wasn't immediately identifiable as your ground and instead acted as an integral abstract element. I'd do a series based on that one! At first glance I thought it was a piece of metal, like a recycled hub cap or who knows what.

Also the Pirate is very funny and the coconut eye patch was a great idea, as was the gold boo tooth!

ahh how cute...the pirate tiki turned out cool, real simple but it gets the point across i love the coconut eye patch,the bamboo teeth look good too but its kinda hard to tell the tooth is gold but mabey its just the photo.

Sneaky - Thanks for the comps on the record. The best part is, at $1/record it's a cheap canvas! :D Definitely looking to do more.

Kirby - Yeh, he is a cutey. Design wise it's very simplistic, he doesnt even have a nose or ears, but all the add-ons give him a bit of personality. In person it's easier to tell it's a gold tooth, but it still doesn't stand out as much as I had hoped.

And looky what I got! :D

And this gives you some idea of where I am heading with it. Im not completely happy with the details, but I wanted to get the concept down on paper. He will be kneeling (hence no feet in this angle), still haven't settled on what to do with his arms, or facial design. The mouth will be deep enough so I can put some dry ice in it so he breathes smoke, and yes that is a plasma ball in his head (it will slide in from the back).

The coolest tiki art is not bought on ebay, it comes personally from my fellow artists on TC

[ Edited by: hewey 2007-04-02 02:09 ]

[ Edited by: hewey 2007-04-03 06:12 ]

The hot rod nats were great. Highlight was getting the keys to a t-bucket hot rod for the cruise of the main street on Saturday night :D The cruise went for 2.5km along the main street of Goulburn, and was easily 5 deep both sides the whole way.

The art show was great. For the same opening time period they would usually expect 200 people through the doors, and 300 would be a huge success. Well we got 750 people through the doors! They were pretty surprised at it all. The show had a good mix with airbrush art, pinstriping, comics, a chopper bike, a hot rod, and of course some tikis! The live carving went well, I reckon I had 15 people watching me at one stage. Lots of people took business cards, but I don't know if any sales will come out of it. Its good advertising and making contacts. Best thing is I will probably be getting some tikis into the Sydney Custom Auto Expo and doing some live tiki carving there as well.

Pics to come when I can upload em at work...

Hewey: Was hoping you'd have a good show. Can't wait for the pictures

That log you got a couple weeks back looks promising. As does your plan:

On 2007-04-02 00:01, hewey wrote:

Very ambitious! Can't wait to see it develop.

Is it winter over there yet?

Buzzy Out!

A plasma-brain & dry-ice 'smoke' from his mouth? Outrageous idea! I bet the end result will be fantastic. :D

Do I spy a leather Maori tiki stool on your table? I nearly bought one of those a few weeks ago. Is it comfortable?

Tama :)

Buzzy – ambitious or just plain crazy? So far it is progressing nicely, but it’s going to take a while. Not winter yet, still getting around in shirts and shorts :D

Tama – Thanks Tama. Check out page 12 for detailed shots of the stool, bought on ebay a few weeks ago (could have been the same one you were looking at?). Was comfy until the leg broke under me.

Here’s a mates pic of me carving in the gallery. I’ll get my pics sorted one day…

The coolest tiki art is not bought on ebay, it comes personally from my fellow artists on TC

[ Edited by: hewey 2007-04-16 17:01 ]

Great project Hewey. It is Always best to reach High with your goals and carvings. If you always do stuff you are comfortable with, then you are not challenged and you don't learn much. Just take lots of pictures of this guy as he looks like he will Really be Excellent!

Right on Hewey!
congrats on the HUGE turnout!
Plasma Brains Rock!

looking good dude like that idea..... looking foward to the pics

Very nice project.