Making Frankenscoters

 

Above sit a pair of Frankenscoters. I can't remember where I came up with the name Frankenscoter, but I liked it so I keep using it. These birds are made from fishfloats and have a white cedar head roughly shaped and attached. They are next to indestructible, being made of high density polystyrene lobster floats. Quick and cheap to build and an easy way to build or expand a sea duck (or any duck for that matter) rig.

At the request of a few people on the DHBP forum wanting to learn how to make these creatures. Words quite often do do the job that a picture will. So with that in mind I built a photo essay of the construction of a Frankenscoter

 

This information is provided free to all who may wish to use it. All I ask if that if you do make some Frankenscoter's or other birds and someone asks about them please direct them to this site and indicate their origin.

 

The Frankenscoter Philosophy

Frankenscoters are the creation of scrounge. For those that are not familiar with scrounge it is simply the gathering of materials for whatever source fits the bill. The key element to scrounge, and indeed the Frankenscoter philosophy is the cheaper or the freer the better. My floats are beach combed, the plywood is scrap or recycled, the cedar was bought from the mill, the keels are from the "good" part of slabs and so on.

Frankenscoters are designed not to be the best rig on the water, but to be a rig. They are there to allow those that want to make there own rig, but don't either have the money, time or expertise to get "what they want" on the water. Frankenscoters and there brethren allow you to get a rig on the water and get shooting over it, after all that is the goal.

Frankenscoters can be considered as training wheels, allowing a new carver some crutches to get the start towards a more traditional rig of wood, cork or carved foam.


Materials you will need, include...


 
 One fish float becomes two bodies. Cut in from each side along the seam and then cut the "rough zone" next to the wire last.

 Two Frankenscoters waiting to come to life with the wire core. The bottoms are top rough still
 
 
 Make the bottoms flat however you wish. My favorite is the sanding station. A rasp and sandpaper glued to a board will work fine.

 Mark your tail slot and cut out slightly undersized. A slightly downward angle is fine. Use a hacksaw or something with fine teeth or you wont be happy with the results.
 
 
 Insert you "tail" and mark out the outline of the body and draw a tail to your liking. Cut out and glue in place.

Finished tail, with rounded bottom.


           

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