Mood: pissed, sad, down
The night we went to drop off my painting to Cabela's, I had a really bad nightmare. I dreamed that I didn't place at all in the contest. But I found out recently that dream became reality.
Yeah, I didn't place at all, I lost! I don't want to be a sore loser but I'm just so upset since I worked so hard on that painting, Oh well, I can try and see how it does at this summer's Fair, where I always score.
Well I've already done some taxidermy on mammals. A deer, fox and a few squirrels. Now I want to learn how to do birds. We were going to the store and on the road right down a few minutes from my house there was a dead bird of some sort lying there. I asked my Pap Pap of we could stop on the way back to check it out. Well, when we did, it turned out to be a male ringneck pheasant in decent condition, except for some missing feathers on the neck. If I can't find a good pose to mount it in to hide that flaw, then at least I can use it for skinning practice. Anyways, I think I am just going to mount it for the first time experience. It's in the freezer now. I might order the Van Dyke's Pheasant Mounting kit with video.
I completed my climbing fox squirrel mount just yesterday. It has to dry now. But sorry, no pics until it is fully finished and attached to its base! That way it will be more of a surprise.
We have a new message board for CWE. Click Here If you want to join you're welcome to come on in and post a little. We have several topic discussions including hunting and art stuff.
My Cabela's entry is included in the finals now. There are three others too. There were a lot of entries to begin with when we took the trip to Cabela's on Saturday. Now I have to sit tight and wait for the real final judging to be finished on the 23rd!
My dad bought me this new hunting bow at Cabela's. It has a minimum draw weight of 40 pounds, which is plenty enough to make a pass-thru on a deer, and which is also the minimum draw weight limit here in Pennsylvania. This bow is a Browning Micro Adrenaline, and it has it all! Fiber-optic sights, arrow rest, quiver, Limbsavers, Liquid Filled Stabilizer, to name a few of the features.
I just got done mounting a squirrel I got in the last few days of squirrel season. Here's a pic. Also, I acquired a few craft antlers and a huge skull plate with 9 point antlers. In the picture they look big, but you have to see them in person and hold them in your hands to feel the mass and up close they really are huge! I will be doing a shoulder mount with this buck. Thanks again, Brittany!
You will also see in the picture, a little squirrel head mount. It is done but I still need to attach it to the base so I can mount it on the wall.
Mood: tired
I'm entering a competition that Cabela's is sponsoring, and the theme is to create art of any North American or African species of animals. It is judged on effort, creativity, composition, and anatomical accuracy. The prizes consist of Cabela's Gift Certificates.
I've been working on this nearly all night last night and devoted my whole day to it, and it came out beautifully. I've called it "The Crossing". I think I have a strong chance of placing high. what do you all think?
These pics don't do it justice at all. You'd have to see it up close in person to really see all the detail, right down to every pine needle.
I'll also be entering this in our Fair this year, probably under Acrylic, and as for the fox slate, that will have to go under a different class.
I'll give everyone a sneak peek of what I'll be entering in the Fair this year. In only a few months it will be spring, then summer, then at the end of August, the fair!
This is a red fox painting I did on slate, which will be entered in the Acrylic painting class.
My pencil entry.
Mood: tired
A sneak peek at one of my next taxidermy mounts. It's only a test fit, right now I'm working on tanning the cape. It is a shoulder mount, as with the fox.
Tonight I bought a Dremel tool, was thinking of doing some crafting with some deer antlers I traded for, which will be shipped in soon along with a nice 9 point set of antlers, thanks to Brittany from HR forums.
Mood: tired
Okay, today I mounted my very first small mammal! I think it turned out really nice. I used lots of reference material this time. Well, here's a little bit of about how I did it.
First I had to insert the plastic earliners to replace the cartilage, and move them into place. (they are held down with a thin layer of hide paste)
Next, since I am using an artificial nose, I had to slice the real nose out with a scalpel. Then I added hide paste to the form.
Now my cape was prepared to be slid over the form, and taxied into place. As I go, I use pins to hold skin down.
The eyes had to be tucked with a small detailed tool.
The mouth also had to be tucked and kept in place with the pins.
Anywhere there's an area of skin which is likely to "drum" as it dries, you stick the pins into that area. This keeps the skin down and brings out the muscle tone in your mount.
After mounting is done you have to cut off any extra skin from the back and pull some hide over the back of the form to staple it into place with a staple gun. Then of course you would attach the wall mount hardware.
And there's my first fox mount. After it dries in a few weeks I'll take out the pins and do some finishing work.
The fox's already out of the pickle bath. I have it degreased (washed it with dish soap to take out the extra grease), neutralized (rinsed in a mixture of 5 gallons of water and 5 ounces of sodium bicarbonate), and rinsed again in clean water, ready for the next step which was tanning. I heated the solution (Van Dyke's Syn-Oil Tan) and then brushed it on the cape and it is now in the refrigerator to complete the tanning process. It will have to come out of the fridge tomorrow after I get home from school and then it will be fully prepared and ready to mount!
Preparing the Form
I had already set the eyes with some regular epoxy, eye set and Apoxie Sculpt so they would stay on there strong enough.
Now it was time to install the artificial nose. Artificial noses aren't a mandatory thing, but in the end, since the natural nose has a tendency of slight shrinkage, you will find out that the artificial nose looks very realistic once painted and finished.
First, I had to measure, mark and cut the nose part off the manikin. Then I mixed up a mixture of Bondo and smeared it over the cut-off surface. With a little adjustment, I moved the nose into place until it looked like it was in the right spot.
After the Bondo dried I was left with a rough looking shape that needed to be smoothed over. I fixed this by adding some Apoxie Sculpt around the mouth/nose area where the artificial nose had been set, to cover up the line between the nose and the form. Now the form is pretty much ready for mounting, aside from some extra rasping, sanding and prepping work so the skin gets a good grip with that hide glue. I might mount this gray tomorrow, and when I do, I will get pics for you all.
Before
After
Here is the little wooden panel that Amy Ritchie sent me along with the taxi supplies she gave me. I think this will look great when I mount the gray fox on it.
