Hey Fellas,
here is some pics of the start and some to explain some of the criteria. First when carving birds I allways use a single block of wood for the body from top of the head to either the tip of the tail feathers or the tip of the under tail coverts if I'm going to insert the tail feathers and or the wings. So for a life size Bald eagle the block is really big. This required me to completely re-build my band saw so it will cut 13" deep under the top guide.
The whole project is going to be a bald eagle perched on a fish it has just caught, and is strating to feed upon. Since everything in my carvings is made by me (includes fish, rocks, any sand and or stones, anything. The only exceptions are the eyes and any metal required to form a support structure.
Here are pics of the stump that is going to be a pile of rocks, and the 26" pike start, and the block layout for the eagle. I included a bluegill I'm making for my wife so you can see it semi-finished and that it's all wood. The head needs to be finished, scales carved in, eyes installed etc. but you can also see that the open mouth fish are open all the way through the gills ( still from a solid block of wood).
The next pics will be how to cut out a serpentine fish body and still keep it square to the center lines.
rich
