This is the 2nd roadrunner. It's sitting on my porch right now, putting on a nice coating of surface rust. When totally covered, I will use a grinder to make markings to represent the birds feather pattern. The grinder will leave shiny marks on the rusted surface and will be like the lighter colored feathers on the roadrunner. Once I have it the way I like it I give it a clear matte finish coating of enamel. I sandblasted this piece before putting it outside. The sandblasting took off all of the oil and mill scale on the metal, allowing it to rust much more quickly. It is already more rusty than when I took this photo a couple of days ago.
After it is all finished it is going down to Texas where a friend of mine, Jerry, will set it into a beautiful hardwood base. Jerry makes amazing custom furniture from really nice hardwoods. I am very excited to work with such a talented guy and can't wait to see our work melded together.
