#taxidermy restoration

[answrs]

IT'S FINISHED

and since I finally found the drill now I can say THE B.UNNY IS ALSO FINISHED!

(I'm super, super happy with how he turned out as my very first actual taxidermy! done during a flare-up in the middle of a crowded convention no less!)

[vanadiumwolf]

I hope I'll have a bit more success posting this here than on other sites.

Remount and restoration of a gray fox mount from 1996.

This was my very first taxidermy remount/restoration, and my first time working on taxidermy in general in 2020.

Not perfect, but definitely a lot better off than he was.

[lovebizarreoddities]

4 foot vintage gator in poor condition. Face was rebuilt with clay, air-dry rubber coating, paint and marble eyes. 🐊

[taxidermyhell]

Amazing restoration of a vintage taxidermy wolf. I got a giggle out of seeing the it stuffed with cotton soaked in water and anti fungle solution.

[answrs]

unfortunately the tail is permanently at that angle sticking down off the edge but in terms of balance I'm thinking bark at the head side. :v?

it's been insisted I "at least try" staining it with the stuff I used on the bunny pedestals (which also. holy SHIT the difference a single coat makes on crappy craft wood?????)

↑ the original color for comparison

ngl I'm gonna just stain the side I don't care for because it was like 45 bucks a slab and I'm not buying another one lol.

[answrs]

got like a third of the way through scraping this mess off and getting pissed I was gonna have to completely re-alcohol-wash this gal with all the exploding debris getting evwhere. then FINALLY had the thought of

'oh yeah. I wonder how this is stuck to the base. it would make it a LOT easier to get the plaster/dirt off that way'

and uh.

y'all. y'all it had two screws just shoved up through the board. TWO. SCREWS. NOT EVEN ATTACHED TO ANYTHING JUST STABBED INTO THE FORM.

anyway I decided fuck this disaster of a base entirely and I'm gonna just make a new one. found a lovely natural wood slice at Michaels with the bark around the edges and I'm gonna use that. probably skip the moss and just have it on a clean wood base.

anyway looking at the lil kid and seeing the underside of the body..... whoever mounted this guy either really cheesed the process doing it *or* performed an actual dang miracle on what would've been a non-mountable pelt lmao.

besides some major rips and tears (not very visible in photos) among other things it's missing an entire hind leg (I suspect the remaining one likely was cut off and swapped sides too) and either a chunk of belly skin didn't make it or the form was too big and they didn't wanna shave it down. it's held together with tacks and giant globs of hot glue. I wish I was joking. though considering the sad attempt at sewing the leg to the haunch I probably shouldn't be surprised? (if anything the hidden tacks look *better* than the very visible sewing attempts which is... oof.)

getting the rest of this moss where it's been cemented into the fur is going to be the biggest fucking pain in the ass though... rip my sanity these next few days. at least I can return that moss and get my 30 bucks (ha! pun!) back.

also! don't have to stick my elbows into a gross textural nightmare when finishing painting up the ear now, *or* work around the massive board (even a clean one which that thing sure ain't), which is a win any day of the week.

[answrs]

considering options for new base. the yellow-brown (with very small amount of yellow-green) would blend with whatever I can't scrape off, the green-brown might be nice though, and has more of a mix of textures.

still gonna cost like 50 bucks regardless which I go for but like. opinions?

↑ the mount in question

.

edit: went with green. we'll see how it turns out ^^

[answrs]

doing my best trying to fix this lil guy's ear.

I carved the ear liner into size and am gluing the back of the ear to it now (holding it there with paperclips). the inner ear is only barely attached to the rest, so I'll do that next as I maneuver it back into place. might need to slap together a clamp to hold it up to the head, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

taxidermy fawn under the cut (mostly just the ear tho)

edit: further progress pictures here:

https://answrs.tumblr.com/post/717146516195868673/fuck-it-going-to-dinner-at-grandparents-stick-a

[answrs]

put the horns on the mount to see how far they'd fit just to gauge how far on the bone I'll need to shave the core down from and the answer is 'at the very moment the horn sheath touches the bone' lmao

(i wasn't expecting otherwise tbf, considering the sheer size difference from the skull cap to the mount, but still frustrating, ya feel?)