Flag, Eagle and Lady Liberty

[rafairchild2]

A few months ago a French Officer I work with at NATO SACT HQ* asked if I could make a US Flag for him out of wood.  I thought I could come up with something better, and told him so, but I said it would be a while.  Well, I am slowly working on it getting done and the first piece was cut out this morning.  I using 1/4" and 1/2" Basswood for this piece as I will be painting it.

I am using a couple of patterns from Steve Good combining Lady Liberty from another of his patterns. Of course, since the French gave us Liberty as a gift, adding her to this piece is a bit more meaningful in my mind.

So here is where I am at today, and will post updates as this piece progresses.

*North American Treaty Organization Supreme Allied Command Transformation Head Quarters in Norfolk VA.

[Scrappile]

Anxious to see the finish product!

[preprius]

Me. Too

Me.

Mark Eason

[rjweb]

Just waiting too, RJ

[heppnerguy]

It should be an amazing project when you finish it. Holding my breath till you post the finally.

Dick

heppnerguy

[daveww1]

looking forward to seeing the finished project.

[JessL]

Oooo I love this so much! I am also anxious to see it finished!!

[rafairchild2]

Okay, here's day two.  The eagle has landed! 

As I was arranging the elements of this, I decided to put Lady Liberty on a riser, rather than having her at the same level as the eagle.  Aesthetically, I believe it looks better with three levels.

Oh and the score... 1 broken crown point broken and repaired.  1 broken eagle tail feather repaired.

Now I have a dilemma on how I will finish this.  I was going to do a rattle can finish, Of course, Red and blue for the flag, and if I add an accent backer that would be white.  The eagle was going to be gold, and for Lady Liberty, I was going to do a mix of 3 rattle colors and simulate copper, her original finish. 

I have included a photo of one of my multi-rattle can finishes.  As you can see it comes out well. The thing is, in order to get the desired effects, I have to lay multiple, THICK, coats of paint.  I am afraid that those will clog the small line veining in Liberty and the Eagle.  This would mean going in by hand and clearing them all out.  Because of how many and how fragile the pieces are, I am having second thoughts.  I do not want plain wood or stain.  I am thinking of bringing out my airbrush, as that is thin paint, but the effect will not be the same as I had planned.

Any thoughts on that for finishing?

Edited October 15, 2023 by rafairchild2

[rafairchild2]

Making a few adjustments to the base layer of this piece. I had resized the eagle, and need to account for the change. One I am satisfied with what I penciled in, I will red pen it for these old eyes