tributesinwood

Progress on “Hobo” the Dog and His Railroad

The carving is finished on Hobo and short of a few touch ups on the paint, he should be just about ready to join Ned on his high speed rail pump-car.  Hobo’s eyes are squinted and his ears are pinned back nicely from the wind in his face.

I did my best to give Hobo that Basset-Hound-look of having a little more skin than necessary for his frame.  It was interesting carving the folds around his eyes and jowels, and a few extra folds at his ankles.  I added in the red “neckerchief” to give him a little extra character…although, he’s quite a character even without it.

I’m going to go back and just touch up his toe-nails a bit more as well as the area around his mouth just to accentuate his smile.  Other than that, he should be ready for the rail.

The base is turning out pretty nicely, as well.  I ended up using some oak to make the rails while the ties and base are basswood.  The crushed stone is a polymer that I had in the garage left over from some patio block work that I did earlier this year.  I just put a white glue base down and sprinkled the polymer over it.  The polymer is also activated/glued with water…so, I sprayed a coat of water over it after everything dried and it ended up rock hard.  Hope you like it so far.