Hellbilly1932's small body of work * big moai finished - 03/04/2011

I know its not much after one year but I wanted to go ahead and start a post.

So about a year ago last Feb I decided I wanted to try my hand at tiki carving. I emailed my friend Billy the Crud and asked him how I should go about it. He told me I was in luck as there was a chop planned for that very weekend.

Here I am cleaning that first log with a draw knife while Billy uses a planner

After that first day I had this

And after a few more days at home it looked like this

then some stain and varnish

I was pleased with how #1 came out so I started a second and tried for a full body

I finished him out like this

Then came #3

Now all done just needs a little more sanding and stain

Just got some 5' logs from Billy so now its time to dive in and get to work on another. Not a lot of work in the course of a year but I have a lot going on at times so time is scarce. I'm hooked so expect to see more from me shortly.

[ Edited by: hellbilly1932 2010-06-20 20:34 ]

[ Edited by: hellbilly1932 2011-02-14 00:18 ]

[ Edited by: hellbilly1932 2011-02-19 15:06 ]

[ Edited by: hellbilly1932 2011-03-04 15:49 ]

Great start! Keep it up.

Great stuff, really dig #1. Great job for a first carve.

Excellent tikis hellbilly, you ever carved Anything before, it looks like it. Great detail and great finishes. More, we need More.

WOW! What a great start. Great depth and nice style. Keep'um coming.

Thanks to all for the kind words and encouragement.

and as far as previous carving goes...

I did this back in '99

With a stanley utility knife. That's about it.

Ahh Haa, I Knew you had previous Experience!! :P :o
So lets see now, that was 1999 and we just finished 2009 so you have been carving for 10 years? :o :D :lol:

Juli sculpture, tres kustom, attractive coffee(café) to racer!!!!! lol

Must be the Sailor Jerry's :)

finally man! welcome to TC. bitchin' tikis so far dood, now make more!!

just finishing up the varnish on number three, then I will start on one of the 5' logs I just got.

Thanks for the kind words Thomas I totally dig your stuff so it means a lot. How about a update on your thread?

Here's #3 all done

And #4 is ready for varnish, My first attempt at a Moai

And this is the start of #5

Starting with #3 the new guys are for sale. #1 and #2 I will keep but the other guys have to start finding new homes so I have room to carve more. I hope to be able to setup and carve at Oasis this year but I not sure who to contact about that just yet.

You took to this like a duck to water, Randy. Always impressed with your start and progression.
Thanks again for the supplies and things. We'll see you and the woman when I get back from AZ. Once again, Aloha from hell!

thanks Billy, Glad I could help.

It was watching you carve that got me interested in all this so thank you for everything.

[ Edited by: hellbilly1932 2010-08-03 13:03 ]

#4 all done.

#2 looks surprised to see him there

Mista Numba Foe is sleek and clean!

Thanks Mike!

I finally got around to doing some more carving on #5 this weekend at the Tiki Oasis group chop.

He's not done yet but getting close now.

Was a great time carving at Oasis and meeting everyone.

NICE. I just saw your number 4 - that rocks. Very clean.

that ones lookin killer, man! fun choppin this weekend. hopefully there will be another chop sometime soon!

dude, that ku is coming out really good.

very nice.

Looking good for sure . This thread actually inspired me to drag out a stump and start carving a little and sanding more . I like the shiny gloss clear coat .

I need to I also noticed were on 3 of the same internet message boards . . . great minds and all that .

Haha, yeah Mike I heard you carved, I think Fredo mentioned it. Lets see some of your work man.

Thanks for the kind words.

Hurry up & finish already! The suspense is killing us! Is he biting his tongue or his lip? See, we can't tell till your finished! Arrgghhh! :lol:

That stump KU is great!! I need to carve a couple of those and make tables out of them for the Spa and Resort!! Nice work!

This # % looks Great Hellbilly, Love the sharp, deep details.

Thanks everyone the stump Ku table is really taking shape now. This place is really an inspiration.

So we had a yard sale today at the house and I decided last night that I would knock out a quick little tiki to sell cheap at the sale. So I took an hour and carved my first mask.

Real simple and kind of cheesy but it sold for $20 real quick to some really appreciative tiki fans.

Also sold #4 at the yard sale!

Not a lot of progress since last I posted. #5 is still unfinished. But I did take the time to try my hand at a serious attempt at a mask ( I know that last one was seriously lacking ).

this was my warm up to get back into this, now to finish the stump Ku.

Well done. The #5 tiki looks like Elvis to me :)

Thanks, I took some time today to start final work on details of #5 hope to finish him to the point of varnish by tomorrow.

Got some good work in today

Got 1 coat of varnish on and then disaster happened

Yep a huge chunk of the bark ripped off while I was adjusting him on the sawhorse.

So now I have to wait till tomorrow when the varnish is dried to shave down more of the bark and try to salvage him, the look is totally different now.

Well Mr. #5 got a shave and a haircut yesterday

So from this

to this

Not bad but not what I was going for, I'll use a dark stain on the part where the bark was to restore a bit of the look I was after.

Also started a big moai yesterday

just roughed in so far.

I think even without the bark he still looks great, dude. Seriously. Your stuff kicks some serious butt. Keep it up!

Thank you very much. Still real new to this but loving it for sure.

I agree he still looks good but I just loved that big tapered look you know, was a perfect little short patio table, now he's more like an end table, haha.

Alright enough internet, time to get carving.

Today's progress

This guys coming along good now. Chopped off his ears and thinned his head down a bit and now I'm halfway through carving out his new ears. More pics tomorrow.

Hell ya! looking good.

Pretty much done carving, now time to start sanding

Awesome!

damn thats some precision cutting there. straight clean lines in that baby.......looks sanded already and done.great job bro.

Love that moai!

#5 and #6 all done

Diggin both of those...lookin awesome!! And that was one big ole pile of saw dust heh?!?! lol

Yeah quite a bit of saw dust for sure!

Thanks!

Looks good, I like it.

Sweet moai! I love that.