Rough cut-outs of wings and body

    I made some progress today on the carving.  I unclamped the wings, which had dried since Wednesday, and separated the two wings from each other.  I had clamped them together, to save a little time.  I was a little worried about glue seeping out of the plane between each of the two wing halves, and getting into the plane separating the two wings from each other.  A little of this did happen, and I had to use a broad-bladed screwdriver and a mallet to pop the two wings apart.  No harm done, no splintering or breakage.  Phew.

    I took the wing blanks and the two body halves out back to the picnic table, where I could clamp them securely for sawing out the patterns drawn on each.  I used my saber saw with a brand-new blade, and it worked like a charm, making smooth cuts through the various pieces, each 1.5" thick.  I cut generously on the outside of the pattern lines, giving me room to carve back down to the proper profiles.

    As planned, I did some power carving on the two body halves, narrowing the body toward the head and beak, as well as along the rump to the base of the tail.  I stayed away from the area where the wings will be attached to the body, wanting to leave these areas flat and orthogonal so the wing bases would fit nicely.  I separated the legs on each half, and then glued the two body halves together.

    Below are some photos of the process, starting with the two wings being glued together.

    The next few photos show the wing cut-outs placed near the two body halves clamped together while the glue dries.  This is my first glimpse at the general shape and size of the carving.  It looks, of course, very clunky at the moment, but I am happy that from here on, most of the work will be carving and not planning, measuring, test fitting pieces, etc.

    I should probably work on the wings before they are attached to the body, but part of me says that the carving will be better if all the parts are glued in place.  I can carve the transitions more smoothly so that the locations of the numerous joints will be less apparent or not apparent at all.  The wing shape when viewed from the front is gull-like, with several curves and the osprey-specific gull-like wing, and the best way to get this right might be to carve the wings after they have been attached.  That is why I doubled up the pine boards for the wings, to give me enough thickness to carve in these curves. The carving weighs a few pounds, so handling it might be somewhat difficult, but on the other hand the weight will add stability while carving.

    Mounting the wings will probably require the temporary use of screws, because clamping will be hard to do.  After the glue is dry, I can remove the screws, fill the screw hole with a dowel, and carve away.  Any remaining signs of seams can be addressed with wood putty, although I wanted to avoid using that at all.  Nothing wrong with it, it is just the principle of the thing.  

    Tomorrow may be more carving, or gluing, depending on what I decide to do.