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my first palm tiki |
TheBigT
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1245
From: Fabulous Houston
|  Posted: 2007-09-04 8:08 pm Permalink
This was my first tiki, started last year in August and finished in December 2006. I did the sanding and staining over the 2007 New Year holidays. I used a set of old Speedball carving chisels I found at a resale shop; mostly just the small gouge. I believe the wood is Ash, probably Arizona Ash, and was riddled with insect damage (beetles, bees, etc.) and a little bit of rot here and there.
This tiki was meant to be a larger replica of the tiki featured in the Gilligan's Island episode, "Waiting for Watubi". Looks sorta like a gumby head at this point before it was squared off...
8/6/06
8/8/06
8/15. Stripped off some more of the bark...
8/22 - the beginnings of arms and legs.
8/26:
Finished in January 2007...whew!
He's now decorating my daughter's room. 
All of the holes are insect damage to the log before it was carved. The one exception is the round one on the stomach, which I'm pretty sure is from a woodpecker - probably one of the big pileated woodpeckers. Finished with a coat of Restore-A-Finish brand wax. Eyes painted with a Gold paint pen.
[ This Message was edited by: thebigt 2012-02-20 15:49 ]
[ This Message was edited by: TheBigT 2013-07-18 19:56 ]
[ This Message was edited by: TheBigT 2013-07-18 20:08 ]
[ This Message was edited by: TheBigT 2014-06-08 11:22 ]
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Paipo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 22, 2006
Posts: 1886
From: Aotearoa / NZ
| Posted: 2007-09-04 10:39 pm Permalink
That's a very nice first piece - looks like the source tiki may have been a Milan Guanko? It's a credit to your work that the style is so recognisable. He has a great vintage looking patina and the various holes and cavities contribute to the old-school vibe. Bring on #2!
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closettiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 23, 2007
Posts: 304 | Posted: 2007-09-04 10:56 pm Permalink
very cool.......i really like the old school look also.......it looks as if its been hangin around the island for awhile....great detail on the head piece....being a beginner also its cool to see other poeples first works.....great style......keep on chippin away....theres tikis in them there logs....go let em out....
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TheBigT
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1245
From: Fabulous Houston
| Posted: 2007-09-05 1:29 pm Permalink
Paipo: yep, it probably is a Guanko design. I've seen the photo here of a Milan Guanko that looks like this. I don't know the originals of the Gilligan's Island tiki though. It looks different than the one found here in TC. Does anyone know the origins of the GI tiki?
closettiki: I've seen your thread - great work!
Thanks both for the kind words.
Yes, once I started I realized that if I didn't over finish it, all my screw ups might help give it an old look and feel (and help hide some of my screw ups that couldn't be fixed). So that's what I did, just left if pretty rough - no final sanding on the headdress part at all and just enough sanding on the rest to still leave a sorta rustic appearance.
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TheBigT
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1245
From: Fabulous Houston
| Posted: 2007-09-05 7:27 pm Permalink
Started tiki #2 last month. This one is a smaller version of the Gilligan's Island/Milan Guanko tiki. This one is pecan and 21" tall.
These pics, taken about a week after I started, came out pretty hazy. Must have been *really* humid that night! lol But, hey, it's Houston.
Here's the pics from last weekend:
I'm doing something a little different this time - adding sort of a stone wall pattern that I didn't do the first time. Can't really tell exactly what it looks like in the original on the photos I have.
Thanks for looking! All comments welcome.
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TheBigT
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1245
From: Fabulous Houston
| Posted: 2007-09-17 7:32 pm Permalink
Updates from the past weekend. Some of the details are hard to see. Just about finished with this one.
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Paipo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 22, 2006
Posts: 1886
From: Aotearoa / NZ
| Posted: 2007-09-17 7:39 pm Permalink
I love that base - very cool idea, simple but original. It'll look great burnt and sanded (or something similar) for contrast. The tiki is looking very smooth once again too. Nice work T!
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Benzart
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 09, 2004
Posts: 10364
From: Port Saint Lucie, Florida
| Posted: 2007-09-18 06:02 am Permalink
You are really Getting the Detail down nice and clean. Nice definition. Keep up the Excellent work.
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TheBigT
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1245
From: Fabulous Houston
| Posted: 2007-10-02 07:39 am Permalink
Paipo: thanks - can't take credit for the idea tho, as the original seems to have something similar on the base. This is just my interpretation of it.
Benz: thanks for the words of encouragement!!
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TheBigT
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1245
From: Fabulous Houston
| Posted: 2007-10-02 07:49 am Permalink
The latest updates - tried to finish it last weekend but I think I rushed it. The stain didn't come out like I wanted, so now I have to figure out what to do from here... re-sand and re-stain??
The stain came out really blotchy. Although this piece of wood had lots of swirls, knots, and thin ribbons of bark in it. Don't know if I should have sanded more or less...
I think I didn't mix the stain well enough and when I got to the headdress, it originally came out very red, so then stained over it with mahogony stain. I think the rest of the body needs to be darker too. The original dark highlights didn't come out as dark as I wanted them either. 
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seeksurf
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 27, 2007
Posts: 2144
From: Buckley, WA
| Posted: 2007-10-05 10:44 pm Permalink
BigT looking good that wood looks like marble before the stain.
I really like the gold color going on On 1# Keep the chips flying.
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TheBigT
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1245
From: Fabulous Houston
| Posted: 2007-10-07 09:55 am Permalink
seeksurf: thanks for the comps! Sorry to say the gold color is going to get covered up...lol. After talking with my dau, the wants me to paint/stain it black and carve a bowl in the top and she's going to put it on her kitchen counter. So that looks like the direction this one's going to take.
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Bowana
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Nov 10, 2006
Posts: 1160
From: La Mesa, CA
| Posted: 2007-10-07 10:21 am Permalink
Hey Big T! That's a good idea to carve a bowl on top of the head. It will be a functional piece of art now, and not just a pretty face.
I have sanded off undesirable stain and refinished some of my pieces in the past. It's unpleasant, but if ya gotta, ya just gotta!
Ceramics stores carry that type of band clamp I used. Get a few, they are very handy!
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TheBigT
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1245
From: Fabulous Houston
| Posted: 2007-12-08 9:29 pm Permalink
Hey all! Took me a while, but finally finished #2. Here's the results. Hope everyone likes it. Boy, I noticed the paint really exposes every little blimish doesn't it?
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benella
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 27, 2006
Posts: 1423
From: Meudon, France
| Posted: 2007-12-09 2:15 pm Permalink
Hey man, very good looking piece.
Bravo,
Benjamin.
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