Creative Woodworks & crafts 1999-10, страница 56

Airbmfk Wizardry!

There's more than one way to finish a cat! This colorful cougar alternative is easy to make and it looks great!

Instructions

Cut the pieces

Transfer the cougar pattern to the 1/8" Baltic birch plywood and saw out the cougar and branch, following the dashed lines at each end of the branch. Cut twelve 1/2" square pieces from scrap plywood. Stack these pieces into three spacers, each four pieces thick, and glue them together. Cut the backer board to size and sand all pieces.

Paint the cougar and backer

The cougar shown here was painted using an Aztek No. 470 airbrush, but it could just as easily be done with the Visions AirPainter. One of the advantages of the Aztek airbrush is that you have more control over the amount of paint applied than with the AirPainter, making it a bit more economical. However, because it mixes air and paint internally, you do have to be extra careful about keeping the airbrush clean. It's a good practice to flush it out with clean water before changing colors. When finished painting, follow the instructions included with the airbrush to thoroughly clean it.

With the airbrush, apply an even coat of Black to the front of the cougar. When the paint has dried, glue the three spacer stacks to the back.

Start painting the backer by spraying a horizontal band of Lemon Yellow across the upper edge. Next, apply a band of Holiday Red across the middle of the backer (see Fig. 1), blending the Holiday Red into the Lemon Yellow. Finally, add True Blue (see Fig. 2) and spray it across the bottom of the backer (see Fig. 3),

Glue the cougar to the backer, frame, and enjoy—and don't forget to clean your airbrush! ■j

SUPPLIES

Wood: Baltic birch plywood'—one piece 1/8" x 7-1/2" x 11" (for the pattern piece), one piece 1/8" x 10" x 12" (for the backer) Tools: scroll saw with Steebar No. PTT-1 Precision

Tiger Teeth blades** Testors Aztek No. 470 airbrush or Visions AirPainter with paints***: opaques—Lemon Yellow, Holiday Red, Black; tints—True Blue Tempory-bond spray adhesive Aleene's tacky glue Frame of choice

*Available from D&D Woodcrafts, RR #3 Box 3066, Saylorsburg, PA 18353; 1-888-751-1400, fax (610) 381-5155.

**Available from Steebar Corp.. P.O. Box 980, WC-25, Andover, NJ 07821-0980; (973) 383-1026, fax (973) 383-8910.

***AII of the painting supplies needed for this project are available from Alpine Imports, 7106 N Alpine Road, Rockford, IL 61111; 1-800-654-6114 ext. 321.

fig, 3. Finish

paicti'.g the bac'- . r

with True Blue-

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Creative Woodworks & Crafts