3 Amigos

[tbox61]

I am a bank manager here in Central Kansas, and I carve gifts for my employees each Christmas. Well, a bout with COVID right after Thanksgiving got me behind, but I finished the carvings over the New Year's weekend.

Now, they are ready for the paint table! They are Mike Shipley's pattern for a 'Snowman in a top hat'. I am working on reworking this pattern to give our happy snowmen a 'snow-woman' for a partner next year. I think it will be an 85 or 90% scale to this one. These guys are 6 1/2" tall.

Hope you enjoy!

[uvawyo]

Great gift, they will be happy even if the snow fellas are a little late

[sappy]

Fine looking carrot noses!

[woodburner807]

Glad your Covid is over and tough timing. The snowmen will be appreciated and great gifts.

[Soggy]

Nice Snowmen!.... I'm sure a wee bit late will be forgiven . Any of Mike's patterns are fun to carve and you've done a great job on those.
Wayne

[Rodster]

Love those guys. Be sure to post a picture when they're painted.

[yolli]

Oh, those snowmen are cute.

[Claude]

They look great!

Claude

[tbox61]

Love those guys. Be sure to post a picture when they're painted.

Rod and all:
Here is the finished product! Gave them at our employee meeting this morning and they loved them!

They are painted with thinned acrylics using Matte Acrylic Medium instead of water. I then put on a coat of BLO, and then a coat of Watco Liquid Satin Finishing wax. It really 'deepens' the color and gives a great finish. The coat colors were a custom mix per snowman, and if you are interested, I can give you the 'recipe' on each one! My credit assistant here is a seamstress, and she is getting swatches of cloth to make 'scarves' for each one!

Hope you enjoy!

[yolli]

I like them better with their clothes on...and not that naked

[Rodster]

Hi TBox,

Your finished 'snowmen in top hats' are first rate. I love the pleats and buttons on the back. Just a great job. Thanks for featuring me in your reply. And just because I forgot: where is that town in Kansas where you grew up and Bob Dale lived?

[tbox61]

Hi TBox,

Your finished 'snowmen in top hats' are first rate. I love the pleats and buttons on the back. Just a great job. Thanks for featuring me in your reply. And just because I forgot: where is that town in Kansas where you grew up and Bob Dale lived?

Rod...I currently live in Great Bend, Kansas which has the distinction of being the place on the Arkansas River where the wagon trains coming from the east headed southwest on the Sante Fe Trail. We are about 20 miles from Ft. Larned which is where the detachment of cavalry soldiers were garrisoned that guarded that part of the trail.

I grew up in Russell, Kansas, just 40 miles north of where I live now. We had the distinction of having not one, but 2 Senators that grew up there...Bob Dole and Arlyn Specter. Bob just passed away within the last year or so at the age of 98.

For history buffs, Russell is only 25 miles away from Ft. Hays which is where Gen. George Custer started his ill-fated expedition that ended up with his demise at Little Big Horn. His wife Libbie, received the news of the Little Big Horn massacre while at Ft. Hays.

Lots of history in this area!!! Thanks for asking!