part 3 mounting a bird (putting it all back together

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">sorry for the delay on this been working to much. so here we are at putting this duck back together again.as you can see in the photo here are some of&nbsp; the items i use.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">thread</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">needle</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">scissors</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">zipties</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">caulking</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">borax</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">clay</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">hammer</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">wire</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">snipes</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">tweesers</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">paint brushes</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P>

 

<P>okay get you reference pieces out of the freezer, here you can see the head next to the artificial one. sometimes you will need to take some off or add some to the head.</P>

 

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">okay in this set of pictures you see how the neck is attached to the body. push wire in from front angling it down , pull through bend over and place back into body , this will lock the neck into place.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">now use your reference and check the length of the neck, as you see in the one photo i measure the length then cut off the rest.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">be careful when inserting any wires into the body, i have had wire stuck in my hand many times, only got myself twice on this bird and they were only nicks.</P>

 

<P>okay turn skin inside out and sew up your holes, work especially on the head and neck ones and any large holes bigger than shot on the back area, head and neck need all holes sewed up. it takes time but do it right. if the skin seems to be drying out because you are takeing so long sewing it up. squirt it with you water bottle to keep the skin moist but not drenched.</P>

 

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">okay everything all sewed up, next we will wire the wings, on flying birds i want a larger wire say a 10 gauge wire , cut two pieces about 24 inches or longer. </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">okay stick wire from inside the skin up through the hole near the joint then you will run the wire up into the finger area of the wing, if you poke through the skin pull it out and try using a different angle.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">next ziptie the wire to the wing bones like in the photo, i then add borax into the wing cavity , then add clay. i like using clay because it mold to the bone and is a little more stable than just shooting chaulking into the cavity.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">sew here up!</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">then take the drum stick and attach the wire the same way with zipties. i then rap the the wire and bone with tape to biuld up the area were the meat was removed.( replace anything removed.)</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">remember that the other wing was busted all up, well take a small gauge wire and cut your self two small pieces, run these into the remaining boneso that the wire is holding both piece together then follow the same steps as before.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">well there you go wired wings!</P>

 

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">next is the feet and legs, here i will use a smaller wire because the feet are just floating ( if the bird is standing i would use the bigger wire in the feet and smaller in the wings)</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">as you can see i push the sharpend wire into the feet by going down the back side of the leg bone and i push it till it reaches the ball area of the foot, do not push it through. do this on both feet then attach with zipties and biuld up with tape.</P>

 

<P>okay pour some borax into the cavity and grab by the feet and tail and give it a shake, you want the borax to cover the entire inside of the skin, get it so that the borax comes out of the mouth&nbsp; on the head .&nbsp; if you get clumps stuck in the neck turn it over and make sure it is clear.</P>

 

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">okay&nbsp; next i use a piece of wire and run it through the body were i want the wing and feet wire to go, i find this helps cut down on the impailing my hands take.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">run the wing wires through first as you can see i twist the ends together and fold back into the body .</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">i do the same for the feet.</P>

 

<P>okay then i take a small piece of wire and bend it and place it in the tail area of the body, i will place a small section of clay under the wire then place the tail feathers on top of the wire with another piece of clay ontop of that and smashed together. </P>

 

<P>akay time to sew him up. as you can see i place two small strips of green painter tape on the feathers to keep them out of the way of sewing( regular masking tape will work but place the sections of tape on you pant legs first so that it is not so sticky) i sew a section then chaulk it then sew a section then chaulk it. the fist section i make sure i place chaulk aroung the area were the wing bone meets the body. sew and chaulk. i sew head to tail , except for a small section . i sew tail up about three inches that way when i finish i have two pieces of thread one comeing down and one up which is how i tie it off.</P>

 

<P>well you see what it look like, a headless duck.</P>

 

<P>setting the eyes is next, place a small piece of clay into the eye socket. then place the eye into the socket , this is kind of hard to explain. a duck is not a predator so his eyes are not in the front of his head they are on the side of his head but he still needs to be able to look forward. kind of get it.make sure that they are even. work the eye around till you get what you want.</P>

 

<P>stick head on wire from neck, i drill a hole in the head before painting that way the head sits on my drywall screw to paint, then when i attach the head to the neck i will grind a spot back along the head to bend the wire backinto the foam, then i place a small amount of clay onto the head and wire. sorry i thought i took a picture of this but i guess i didn't!</P>

 

<P>okay i use zap a gap glue(super glue) i place a small amount of glue on the head right were you made your incision when removing it from the reall head. i then use my dental tools and place the skin back into place. i usually start on top and place the "v" first then work down one side then the other , then i will chaulk under the bill back into the neck area then glue down the skin under the bill.</P>

 

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">i now chaulk around the eyes into the back of the head and neck through the eye hole. did you get all those holes sewed up( even the ear holes) if not you will know it!!!!<IMG src="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/nono.gif" align=absMiddle border=0></P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">now i will smooth out section and move the chaulk around with my hand and dental tools. </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">moveing the skin! okay this is taxidermy you must taxi the skin into place, do you have pictures of the type of duck you are mounting, if not go get some before you even skin one out. </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">neck skin on this mallards goes towards the bill</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">shoulder skin goes back and up.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">i will make a small cut and place three cotton balls under the shoulder area and then chaulk it.</P>

 

<P>okay heres your duck, does it look done!<IMG src="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/frown.gif" align=absMiddle border=0></P>

 

<P>his guys daughter bought him this mount with one of my gift certificates and he was truely happy, so when he shot this banded mallards he wanted to be able to see the band. well i thought about cupped with the feet down like the last one i did( also banded) well i decided to go different as you can see. can you see the band!!!<IMG src="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/crazy.gif" align=absMiddle border=0></P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>well you see i went with wings in a up right position , you can also see the carding on the wings, i place the card board on the back of the wings and run a couple "t pins" into the feathers behing the quill not through it to hold the feathers in place.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>next stepp is to place the feahters in there tracs, can you say tweezers and paint brush!!!!<IMG src="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" align=absMiddle border=0>&nbsp;YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND!!!</P>

 

<P>injecting the feet is next, i use feet injection in the toes and ball of the feet . then a card those with a small piece of card board and two large paper clips.i am going to try a product called master blend for my feet next but will keep using this till i run out.</P>

 

<P>okay didn't show you how to finish the eyes, yep that is one of my secrets, you can tuck the eye lids up into the eye area and you will have a fine bird, dryed eyelids what a sight, but not finished! sorry i would have to kill you if i told you!!!!!!!<IMG src="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/rofl.gif" align=absMiddle border=0></P>

 

<P style="MARGIN: 0px">okay here you go, i will adjust feathers over the next couple days and i placed some card board under the tail to raise the tail up. but that is about it, besides painting the feet and removeing the card board you have a finished bird.</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">sounds easy right<IMG src="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/rofl.gif" align=absMiddle border=0><IMG src="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/rofl.gif" align=absMiddle border=0><IMG src="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/rofl.gif" align=absMiddle border=0><IMG src="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/rofl.gif" align=absMiddle border=0><IMG src="http://www.websitetoolbox.com/images/boards/smilies/rofl.gif" align=absMiddle border=0></P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">hope this gave some of you guys out there the info you neede to try this, if you do one send me a picture of it love to see different mounts.good luck and remember needle thread and tweezers and brushes!!!!!!</P>