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Altering a Whitetail Deer Form

By
CJ Herring
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0
Altering a Whitetail Deer Form

There is a misconception amongst most people that the deer forms manufactured and shipped to taxidermists today are all one size fits all. That any pose so desired is available. This could be so far from the truth. Half of the work involved in mounting a deer head is sometimes put into altering the form or as some refer to it as altering the deer manikin. If you mount deer chances are you will be altering a whitetail deer form at some point of your taxidermy career.

When I use the term altering a whitetail deer form I am referring to the work and process that is done in changing, reconstructing the original physical appearance of the delivered deer manikin. There are many reasons on why a taxidermist must alter and change the appearance of a deer manikin that they are working on. The form may be too big or too small.  The turn in the head may not be as much or too much of a turn. The nose on the deer may be too long or not long enough. Perhaps the nose on the deer is too wide or too narrow. The list goes on and on.

Altering a whitetail deer form maybe intimidating to some and in some cases overwhelming. You may have to remove the entire head or actually cut off the whole neck of the form. Sanding and sculpting is a requirement for anyone who attempts to alter (modify) a whitetail deer manikin.

It is very important to test fit your capes to the deer form before mounting up. Chances are at some point you will have to alter the deer form to get the cape to fit properly. Sometimes we taxidermists goof and order the wrong form. Instead of sending the form back while wasting time and money, we will just fix the mistake by altering the deer manikin.

I personally have done dozens of whitetail deer form modifications over the years. Anything you can think of being done to a deer manikin to alter it probably has been done by me at some point. I have taken shoulder mounts and turned them into wall pedestals. I won’t even mention all the nose length modifications I have done. Changing the pose of the deer has been done more than once. The list goes on and on. I will also guarantee you many other deer taxidermist can relate to altering a deer form.

Altering a deer form is not rocket science. If you think you are going to just throw a cape on every single deer manikin delivered to your shop, and be done with it, I got news for you. You need to be handy with a saw and knife and have sculpting capabilities.

Just recently I completed a whitetail form alteration on a McKenzie 6900 series wall pedestal. The deer manikin had a hard right turn look and I made it into a full straight look. You can read all about it along with the step-by-step procedures I used by visiting Whitetail Form Alteration By CJ Herring

Securing Deer Antlers Using The Four Screw Rule

By
CJ Herring
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0
Securing Deer Antlers

Over this past summer the phone rang here at my taxidermy lab and on the other end was a worried voice.  The caller stated that their deer head fell off the wall and now they had a loose antler. They assured me that they believed the skull cap cracked under the cape but were lost for words on way it wobbled but yet still seemed to be attached. I replied by stating that their problem is probably due to how their taxidermist is securing deer antlers. Immediately their replay was “what do mean securing antlers?” At that moment I remembered that most people think we use the whole skull of the deer when mounting deer and not just the skull cap.

After explaining that their taxidermist could most likely fix the problem I was then informed their taxidermist, the one who mounted the deer was no longer in business. The caller couldn’t understand why they went of the business because their deer mounting price was the best in town. Once I learned about the taxidermist who went of business only charged their clients $350 to mount deer I didn’t need to hear any more on why someone with great taxidermy prices could possibly go out of business.

Once I informed the caller it would be a minimum of $100 to walk that deer head into my shop just for me to look at it and possibly do something to fix it, the phone call abruptly ended. Every taxidermist I know who has been in business for some time has received this type of phone call more than once.

I don’t have a clue what the taxidermy schools of today are teaching their students when it comes to securing deer antlers to the deer form. I really don’t and what they teach is their business. However I do have a sneaky suspicion that most taxidermists today secure their deer antlers using only 2 or 3 screws at most. Which is more than enough to hold the antlers in place, but I can tell you right now that it could be recipe for disaster down the road for your client. I can actually count on one hand who has told me over the years that they use and would also recommend the 4 screw rule when securing deer antlers.

If the skull cap under the clay and cape would to ever split down the center (weakest part of the cap) and you used four screws, chances of it wobbling or becoming loose will be very slim to none. Don’t ever take for granted that the hardened clay and dried cape over the skull cap will be enough to keep everything in place by getting away with using 2 or 3 screws. One good bang and it can all come apart.

Turkey Reference Pictures For The Taxidermist

By
CJ Herring
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0
Turkey Reference Pictures

If you’re going to mount turkeys as a taxidermist, then you better get yourself some good turkey reference pictures. Turkey taxidermy can be intimidating for most upcoming and aspiring taxidermists. This does not have to be the case at all, as good reference pictures will guide you the way. If you have any concept of bird anatomy and have mounted other upland game birds you’ll have no problem when it comes to mounting turkey as long as you study turkey reference pictures.  Always have turkey reference pictures on hand ready to go when mounting turkeys, no matter how many turkeys you may under your belt.

While viewing and studying reference pictures you should make notes on the tail fan, breast feathers, the head position and color of the head, the pan feathers which are located directly behind the head, the rear hackles and most importantly the scaulps which fill in the space between the wing and back hackle feathers.

Take notice on the angle and tilt of the tail fan when observing turkey reference pictures. Notice in most strutting birds the tail fan is not straight up and flat as you will see in most turkey mounts being produced by amateur taxidermists. Study the wings and the wing tips and the position of the secondary feathers on the wings. Take notice on the legs. Do any of the drumsticks show on a strutting turkey? When a turkey walks how far apart is the left leg to the right leg? When turkey gobbles, is the head up or down or at what angle? All of these questions can and will be answered by studying turkey reference pictures.

A great source for live turkey reference pictures would be Google Image Search.

Sealing Fish Fins 101

By
CJ Herring
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0
sealing fish fins

True story, many years ago before I knew better I bought some fin backing cream from a reputable taxidermy supplier for sealing fish fins. It arrived in a caulking tube and had its own label with the suppliers name on it. One day by accident I dropped the tube in a bucket of water and the label peeled right off. Underneath the real manufactures name and product was revealed. It was then I learned, all I had bought was a relabeled tube of acrylic caulk that was sold in any Home Depot or Lowes for 3X the amount I could have gotten it for locally.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that there are a million ways to skin a cat. Whoever came up with that quote and why is beyond me, or why a cat was used in that analogy. Nonetheless that quote applies day in, day and day out in the world of taxidermy. Pun intended I guess if you think about it.

Taxidermy and skinning is like bread and butter, but you wouldn’t think sealing fish fins and caulk would fall into the same adage. But like the old legendary quote goes, there are a million ways to skin a cat so let’s get going here.

If you’re an old school fish taxidermist you’re most likely still using the real fins on your fish. Modern day methods have pushed towards artificial reproduction fins which are usually molded and cast from the original fish.  When this method is used there is no need for sealing fish fins for protection.

When our fish fins dry out after mounting, they become very brittle and fragile. They will break, bend and tear with little force. The edges of our fins are most vulnerable to damage. Sealing fish fins prevents this and adds life back into our fins.

For this article I need you to forget all you have learned or read over the years on sealing fish fins. My approach to sealing fish fins is not what they taught you in taxidermy school. I never played well with the thought, that you must use a taxidermy grade fin sealer bought from a taxidermy supplier. And here is something else I’m still trying to wrap my head around and that is those backing their fins with material like silk span. I guess you can claim its done for fin repair, but I have done hundreds of fin repairs without ever using a backing. If your spiny dorsal fin was missing some of its soft rays, I’ll give you the backing to rebuild, but for other holes and tears you just don’t need it.

All of my fish fins done over the years which would number thousands of fins, whether fresh water or salt water, have been sealed using Ace’s brand of their clear acrylic caulk. It comes in a tube and comes out white, so make sure you pick up a caulking gun. When dried it is as clear as any fish fin cream I have seen sold. This caulk has very good adhesive properties and builds up the fins very nicely. Giving your fish fins that meaty look when dried.

When completely dried the fins are strong and durable with flexibility. I have also never had a problem with any water color or lacquer airbrush paint adhering to the fins during the painting process.  In 20 years I have never had one customer ever complain or call back because they had fin issues with their mount.

Over the years I have had conversations with other fish taxidermists who show concern over using clear acrylic caulk. Mostly other brand types have been the topic and the most complaint heard is that it doesn’t dry totally clear. I have yet to meet or talk to anyone who is using Ace’s line of clear acrylic caulk and I’m telling you now it dries clear as anything I have seen come out of the taxidermy supply houses.

The fins pictured in this article show the process and results. I normally give my fins at least 2 coats sometimes three. The warmer it is in your studio the quicker it dries. For best results wet your paint brush prior to spreading out the caulk. This will make cleanup of the brush much easier when done. A wet brush will also spread out the caulk evenly and smoother then a dry brush. Wipe your brush off in-between fins so you don’t get excessive build up between the bristles. Both sides of the fins get hit with the caulk and any holes or tears will be filled in easily. Do not apply too heavy on the fins edge and I recommend not trimming the fins edge. Natural looking fins are best left alone. There is just something about trimmed fins that irk me.

Painting a Largemouth Bass Fish Eye

By
CJ Herring
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0
Painting a Largemouth Bass Fish Eye

The advantage of painting a largemouth bass fish eye is that you can look at reference and paint accordingly to what your reference is telling you. However commercial fish eyes are just fine for taxidermy and are the industry standard for taxidermy studios across the country. But when painting a largemouth bass fish eye you are able to change pupil sizes along with color variations depending on your fish you are mounting. Having the flexibility and total control of how your fish eye looks is what sets you apart from the rest of the fish taxidermists of the world. Before you can even start you will need to buy Jeff Lumsden’s Still Life Eyes from McKenzie Taxidermy. When buying lenses, buy multiple sizes so you will be stocked up and ready to go no matter what fish is delivered to your taxidermy shop for fish taxidermy. You will never ever have to wait for a fish eye order to come in again, because you will be stocked up on fish eye blanks.

Before we start painting a largemouth bass fish eye go to Google Image search and search for largemouth bass pictures. Look for pictures that focus in on the head and eye. You may have to play around with the search query to find exactly what you’re looking for. When you click on a good reference pic as I have described, Google will show you similar pictures to the one you just clicked on. Click on the view more link below the file name. A new page of Google Images will be shown and most if not all will resemble your original reference picture of choice. Pick out four of the best pictures that give you a good reference of a largemouth bass eye. Download them to your tablet, phone, PC or whatever you are using in the shop to aid you in taxidermy reference pictures. If you have a Wi-Fi printer in the shop or home, print them out and then laminate them. This way you will be set for life, and be able to pull those pics out anytime you paint a largemouth bass eye. Another way to get good reference pictures is to go out and go fishing. Take close up pics of the bass you catch and transfer the pictures to your iPad or tablet.

Largemouth Bas Reference

With all that out of the way and our reference pictures in hand let’s get to painting a largemouth bass eye.

Step 1: Draw a crosshair on the outside of the eye with a thin Sharpie black marker. The crosshairs should cross each other dead center of the eye, which will be the center of our pupil. Next by looking at our reference, draw a pupil shape on the same side of the eye. Pupils in a fish eye are not round. Some are a soft almond shape forward with a soft round curve in the rear. Some are more defined forward. If you’re unhappy with your pupil shape wipe off the marker with some rubbing alcohol and repeat this step until you get it right.  Never use any harsh chemicals on the lenses. Alcohol or Windex will be enough. An important step here is not to oversize the pupil. The pupil should be no more then 1/3 in size to relation to the iris.

Step 1 Painting a Largemouth Bass Fish Eye

Step 2: We will now take a paint marker and trace the pupil on the inside of the eye. In other words trace over the Sharpie you drew on the outside of the eye, but do this on the inside of the eye. If all looks good then remove the marker from the outside of the eye. Do this by using a paper towel and rubbing alcohol.

Step 3: Go ahead and fill in the rest of the pupil using your paint marker. Again we are painting the inside of the eye. If you go outside of the traced pupil edge with the paint, don’t freak out just yet. Yes our pupil should exhibit a clean and crisp edge all the way around. When the paint is dry you can use a tooth pick to clean up the edge. Or if you prefer you can use a Q-Tip with some alcohol. Either way works. We must have a clean sharp edged pupil before we can go forward. So let’s be sure we are there before going forward.

Step 2&3 Painting a Largemouth Bass Fish Eye

Step 4:  Before we move forward, we need to secure our eye so we don’t handle it as we proceed. To do this you can buy some double sided tape, or just use a plain piece of duct tape rolled into a loop.  Get a piece of cardboard and stick the tape to it. Now stick your eye to the tape so the inside of the eye is facing up. Next take some sealer, in our case lacquer sealer, and seal down the pupil. We will then dry the sealer with a hair dryer.

Painting a Largemouth Bass Fish Eye

Step 5: If we look at our largemouth bass reference pictures we will see that the pupil has a gold ring around it. We will recreate this gold ring by using a gold metallic fine tipped paint pen. Again we are looking for a crisp clean ring around the pupil. The key here is that we want our gold ring to be thin as in our reference pictures. If you have to clean the edge you can do so with a sharp tooth pick, like we did with our pupil. Once complete go ahead and seal it with your lacquer sealer followed with drying.

Now we are at the part where we start to add all of the rest of our color variants and depths. If you look at your references you will know that most largemouth bass eyes vary in color. It may depend on the region where the fish was caught, the water temperature and time of year caught. Every bass eye will have variations and depths of browns, including metallic browns and gold’s. So with that in mind there really is no universal way of painting a largemouth bass eye. The bottom line is, go with your reference that you downloaded. Better yet, ask the angler that caught the fish if they have any close up pics of the fish, particularly the head. This way you are sure to get it right when painting the eye.

From here forward we will be using dry powders to complete our largemouth bass eye. Pearl Ex and Neuberg Ebel powders are what we use here in our taxidermy lab to get the job done. The following procedure that’s about to be offered is not set in stone. It is just a guideline on how we achieve the results we are after in painting a largemouth bass eye. Some taxidermists will actually airbrush a good portion on the eye and do well at accomplishing the same effects.

Step 6: Going by our largemouth bass eye reference we have chosen Pearl Ex Antique Bronze #660 as our base color. This is applied dry, straight from the jar with a small artist brush. We will put this color over the pupil and completely inside the base (flat part) of the eye known as the iris. We will once again seal the eye with our lacquer before heading to the next step.

Step 7:  By going over the Antique Bronze blotch in some Pearl Ex Super Bronze #664. Don’t overdo this step. We just want to add some depth and charter to the Antique Bronze. To get the full effect of your work remove the eye from the tape, flip the eye over and lay on a white background. If you hold the eye up to a light, it will be transparent and probably not very attractive. But give it a drop back and the eye comes to life. How does it look so far?

The next step will most likely be the last step for most of us. However if your bass eye reference exhibits any of the gold’s or silver that can at times be found in a bass eye don’t hesitate to add them in.  For example we have seen some bass eyes show a hint of silver in the lower 1/3 front. However we would have added this color first before the antique bronze. Any gold can be added after the bronze. Just be sure to seal in-between colors.

Step 8: We will now shadow the rim of the iris to the edge of the lens by brushing in some Neuberg Ebel Statutory Bronze #47. If your eye is still secure to the tape hold it sideways and rotate while powdering the rim. Seal it down with your lacquer.  When done remove the eye from the tape, and place the eye onto a white background. Now watch as your custom painted bass eye comes to life.

Congratulations you have just painted your first bass eye. The featured image at the the top of this page shows our completed bass eye.

The all new 8800 Series Pedestals from Reasearch Mannikins !

By
Aaron Stehling
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0

The all new 8800 Series Pedestal Whitetail from Bill Lancaster are now
available from Research Mannikins, Jim Allred, and Trufitt. The 8800
Pedestal has the same alert and forward look as the 8500 Series
Semi-Sneaks, 8600 Uprights, and 8700 Wall Pedestals. All of these are
shipped from Illinois, North Carolina, and Utah at an affordable cost.                         Featured pedestals range in cost from $52.70 – $60.45. Priced significantly
lower than other Pedestals.

How To Break In A Deer Hide

By
CJ Herring
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0
How To Break In A Deer Hide

There are many ways one could break in a deer hide for softness. You will find a ton of information on the net on just how to do it. There is no secret on how to break in a deer hide. The bottom line is that work is involved and some elbow grease goes a long way.

In this video I show you one method that can be done without having to bend over on a beam while you break in a deer hide. If you have a large enough table you won’t even have to handle the hide by trying to hold it off the ground.

The deer hide in this video is completely tanned and has been oiled. It is in the drying stages. You will always want to break in a deer hide while it is in the drying stages, and not when it is fully dried. You will repeat the steps shown in the video several times over several times, until your deer hide is fully dried. The mission here is to soften and break the fiber structure to keep the skin flexible and pliable. The more you work it the better it will come out.

 

 

 

 

Turkey Taxidermy Is Coming- Are You Ready?

By
CJ Herring
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0
Turkey Taxidermy

Get ready because the 2017 spring turkey season is a coming, but if you’re a southern boy or girl, it’s already here. Turkey taxidermy is here so as a taxidermist what are your duties right about now? What should you be thinking about? Planning on? The answer is simple, advertise and more advertise, and then advertise some more. Let your local community know you’re in business to mount their gobbler of a lifetime.

In today’s day and age the best way to advertise your turkey taxidermy services is digitally across the World Wide Web. The days of newspaper print ads our fathers and grand dads use to do are over folks.  Facebook is by far the best ways to advertise (promoted post) because they target your audience in a unique kind of way..  By what I mean, is that if your turkey taxidermy shop operates in Smith Town USA, Facebook will expose your ad to any and all turkey hunters living in the Smith Town zip code.  Trust me when I say that Facebooks algorithm program already knows who hunts and don’t hunt within a geographical area. So don’t worry, the actual percentage of non-targeted audience reach is minimal. If you want to spend more money, target the next town over too. You can also just target people who already LIKE your page and their friends too that don’t LIKE your page just yet. Your opportunities are endless when it comes to advertising on social media.

In order for your advertising on Facebook to work you will need to have a Facebook Page set up for your taxidermy business. Not a group but a page which is not the same as a Facebook profile, as neither of those Facebook options allow for targeted advertising.

Be sure to add pictures of your work in your turkey taxidermy ad as well as a great description of exactly what you’re offering. Include prices if you’d like, business hours, contact info, etc. Run the ad for at least seven days and if you can swing it, for the entire turkey season would be better. You will reach thousands upon thousands of potential clients, but the truth is only 50% will actually read your promoted advertisement. That is just the nature of the beast, but if you add an eye catching slogan or perhaps picture/video to your promoted post could go higher in the view department, not to mention engage with your ad.

Your goal in advertising with a Facebook promoted post is to get people to engage either by reacting to the turkey taxidermy promoted post and or commenting on the post. The more reaction to the promoted post the higher the views, the farther the reach. When people react and engage to your promoted post, people on their friends list will see it via their news feed, people who Facebook may have not initially targeted for one reason or another. That right there is free advertising and could land you a new client.

If your one of the few taxidermists who do not provide turkey taxidermy because you just don’t have the confidence in mounting birds, or your too busy with deer and fish, there’s an answer. It’s called wholesale turkey taxidermy. Believe it or not there are qualified and experienced taxidermists out there that provide turkey taxidermy to other taxidermists at a wholesale price. Meaning you still get to offer your customers high quality turkey taxidermy, without the headaches and frustrations of mounting a turkey at a profitable price. It is more common than you think and year in year out thousands of turkey’s are shipped across the country from taxidermy shop to shop, from taxidermy shop to client.

If you operate anywhere in the mid-west or the northeast of the United States and are in need of turkey taxidermy, two names come to mind. For you mid westerns and west coasters, Stehling’s Taxidermy provides some of the best turkey taxidermy found anywhere in North America. For those who operate in the northeast or east coast Cliffords Taxidermy would be worth looking at for your turkey taxidermy needs. Both of these outfits receive and ship turkeys for taxidermy purposes.

Good luck and may your freezer be full of feathers this spring turkey season.

Keeping Your Magic Sculpt Soft

By
CJ Herring
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0
Magic Sculpt

Magic Sculpt is pretty much a god send for the taxidermist. It has many different uses in the industry and is used every day in taxidermy shops around the world. No matter what you specialize in, whether it is fish, birds are deer you will most likely have a kit of Magic Sculpt on the shelf somewhere in the shop.

The biggest complaint I hear from fellow constituents involved in taxidermy is that the hardener goes bad and is unusable. It happens to all of us and the older the Magic Sculpt is the worse it gets.  What is happening is that the Hardener is drying out and is almost impossible to get out of the container to mix with the resin. It can get to a point that the hardener crystallizes to the point that it is useless. Well never fear again of opening a container of Magic Sculpt to only find out that it has dried out. This video will explain the secret to keeping your Magic Sculpt soft and usable 24/7.

https://youtu.be/jkIIMEdl-6k

 

 

 

Removing Horns from Cores

By
Tim Patton
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0

Hello everyone, this is my first article contribution to the site.  As the title suggests I will be explaining how to remove animal horns from the bone cores and why this is important.  The following are some items that you will need for this task.

  • A large pot
  • Propane Burner and Propane
  • Drill with no larger than a ¼” drill bit
  • Water
  • Arm and Hammer Liquid Laundry detergent
  • Rubber Mallet
  • Knife or Scalpel
  • Something to mix the water and detergent with ( a paint stir stick works well)
  • Metal Tongs
  • Good Quality Gloves that are waterproof and chemical resistant
  • Eye protection
  • Waterproof Apron

This first thing you will have to do is to fill the pot about ¾ of the way full with water. Next you will get the propane and burner set up.  Once the pot is on the burner and the burner is going add about half of a cap full of the detergent to the water and stir it up.  Depending on how large your pot is you may need less than a half of a cap full of detergent or you may need more. I wouldn’t put more than one (1) full cap in though.  Let the water start to boil and submerge half of the set of horns in the pot.  Leave the horn in there for about 15-20 minutes. Then carefully remove horns and try to wiggle them.  When doing this grab the horn about 4 inches up from the base.  If it doesn’t start to move or wiggle take you knife or scalpel and carefully work it around the base of the horn.  You want to make sure not to cut the actual horn because it will become very soft during this process.  You will work the knife between the horn and the meat/tissue that holds the horn to the core. Then place the same horn back into the pot of boiling water.  Repeat this process until the horn comes off of the core.  If after several tries the core still isn’t starting to loosen try to hit the base of the horn with a rubber mallet. You can hit it fairly firm but be careful not to crack the horn because that will just create more work for you later.  If the horn still is not loosening you can drill three (3) or four (4) small holes in the back of the horn.  Start slightly above the bottom of the horn and drill a hole. Then move directly up from that and drill another hole and continue this until you get no more than four (4) holes.  Put the horn and core back into the boiling water and it should come off fairly easy.  This is the process that I use to remove all of my horns.

Another option is to bag the horns up (preferably in a black garbage bag) after you have caped and capped the animal.  Poke a decent amount of holes in the bag and hang it up in a tree or off the side of a building where it gets sunlight for a large portion of the day.  After hanging there for 3-4 weeks if it’s during the summer and maybe 6-8 weeks if it’s during the winter take the horns out of the bag and pull the horns off the cores.  A note about this is that you want it to be outside because as the tissue starts to break down it will start to smell pretty bad.  This process is less labor intensive but it doesn’t seem to work as well; at least not in my experience. Sometimes though after using this process you still need to do the first process that I outlined to get the horns off.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me or message me on here.  In next month’s article I will cover how to re-attach the horns for mounting them.

 

Tim Patton

President

Patton’s Taxidermy Shop LLC

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