Carving skills of miniture ship decorations.
While surfing the webb on Facebook, I came across Zoltan's presentation of Savo Vranac's carving skills on the site of Navy Board Models.
The following examples of the carver's art for model ship decorations.
Aggressive lion that was common on 18th century British warships.
The British 90 gun ROYAL WILLIAM had a figure head similar to this example, except on the real vessel, the king rode on horseback trampling on the bodies of his enemies.
Another example of horse and rider figures.
Might be a good subject for a Dutch admiralty yacht.
The lion figurehead was always the common motif on European warships.
The French often favored winged females on their naval ships.
A horn blowing cherub the size of a person fingernail. With my eyesight being what it is, I would be hard pressed to make a carving this size, even if my life depended on it.
Perhaps, some of you wood carvers could inform me what is the best wood for carving minature figures, as you have seen. I have been told it is limewood, because limewood is soft, clear, has no annual rings, or knots like pine. I have seen limewood blocks in hobby stores, but I would like a second opinion from Forum viewers.
Happy modeling Crackers 
