Handmade Swan Quill Waggler. Step 2

The first coat of paint is for sealing the body of the float and for hardening the imperfect surfaces in readiness for sanding. I found that a coat of really stretched out paint was best, it being very thin and drying off to the touch in an hour or so
, and hard enough to sand smooth after a day, thicker coats sufficient for covering the float in one go would take upwards of a week to dry hard and would turn out to be quite unattractive in any case...


Enamel green from a bootsale


first coat of green


All the imperfections, dust and fluffy stuff are raised by the paint


Set out to dry hard


The whole batch of ten - doing one at once is not really efficient! A light sanding and a second coat of paint is of course required before moving along to the next step


White houshold paint, white spirit and a cheap IKEA glass


Thinning the white paint with spirit till it runs smoothly


Paint dip ready


Dipping the float tip


The thin paint flows well...


Drips...


A cocktail stick is inserted in the thin end of the body where the stem is solid for hanging the floats off the window sill - the small hole fills with paint easily on the second coat and these floats are made for losing, not works of art! I was hanging them out in the backyard from lengths of line, but the breeze today would have made a mess of them


Hung up to dry...


The work complete

Next, the final coats and the float finishing