Simon Graham's
Tube Raccoon Bunnies feature Finn Raccoon zonker tails and zonker-collared bodies for the foundation and go on from there. I'm really impressed with them and chose to try that style with my new raccoon zonkers. I thought "saltwater squid" and since his work was my inspiration, decided on "Simon's Squid". [Update: check out
Simon's own squid versions on
Striper SurfTalk, or his blog for
version 1,
version 2, as well as a neat way to
thin raccoon collars without sacrificing fullness. Simon also drew my attention to this
video about tying collars without the hide in a dubbing loop].
Starting with a
Eumer large orange tube over a small clear tube insert, I tied on a length of Eumer's orange raccoon zonker for the tail. Over that went a dozen or so long slender purple saddles (Ken Abrames' RLS saddles). Then 2 more slender saddles- off-white and mottled to hint at the squid's "grabbers". Over that went a small bunch of Christmas tinsel, pearl and holo silver. OK, tail section completed.
For the body, I started with small pieces of orange, purple, and red raccoon tied around the shank and covering the tail tie-ins. Then came the palmered orange raccoon collar, followed by purple arctic fox as a contrasting head. The nose is finished off with a Eumer large orange cone.
Thank you, Simon. Thank you, Eumer.
Stunning fly Peter and I'm chuffed mate.I have a fly named after me....my own 15 min of fame to savor.
ReplyDeleteOn a serious note I do like the colour combination you've used. Top tip if you find the raccoon fur to thick take a pair of sharp tying scissors and cut small sections along the raccoon zonker.It will halve the weight of the fly plus will leave you with some fantastic dubbing materials.Will show you tomorrow on my blog what I mean.
Thanks again Peter