Those who have mounted a King Eider

[byrdman]

same thing......lol

[Paul C]

Show me yours and I'll show you mine. 

[Shawn73]

hey aleutain is the the your mount your un happy with

[Glass eye]

hey aleutain is the the your mount your un happy with

Beautiful piece. JMO but those bronze pieces take away from mount. Sometimes taxidermist "overthink" and this is one of them.

[webKAR]

the king mount was done in 1992 by Frank Newmyer

[mvernelson]

hey aleutain is the the your mount your un happy with

Beautiful piece. JMO but those bronze pieces take away from mount. Sometimes taxidermist "overthink" and this is one of them.

Never seen the bottom of that mount before. Frank has always WAY overthought his peices. Holy compositional nightmare! lol.

[trophybirds.com]

but mike, it has to be right,he is an 84 time world champeen..   

[mvernelson]

but mike, it has to be right,he is an 84 time world champeen..   

Yes, but thats the NTA and if you know how to play ball in the right circles you'll win a gazzilion of'em lol, and that was quoted from one of the forefathers of Taxidermy. Frank has no doubt created some AMAZING works, his execution was just never my cup of tea.

[DManning]

I don't really know what it is on the front of that oak box. I do know that a nice King mount can stand on it's own without a bunch of waves, snow , ice and habitat. Amazing birds, I have had the pleasure to hunt and mount many.

[Harry Whitehead]

Shawn73, No, that is not the mount.

[Rick RR GBirds]

Wow, tough crowd!  Seems like a lot of people rag on Frank N., but the one time he judged a show I was at...He seemed like a decent guy.  I love his work and its obvious many of us have tried to duplicate many of his habitat pieces over the years.   

[Harry Whitehead]

Frank is a decent guy.  Intense yes, but good guy...!

[mvernelson]

Didnt intend to seem like I was raggin on him. What I did mean is Frank is one of those guys that doesnt know when to stop and call it done. Its a style, his style. Just meant the crowded overthought style was never my cup of tea. The Eiders and habitat alone gives the veiwer plenty to look at and still keeps their eye focused on the mount. The bronze sculpture he adds to his mounts are peices of art in themselves, but slamming all that together is just too much. At that point, it aint gonna hurt to hang a few liscence plates on it while your at it. The guy is soaked in talent just saying his execution is just not for me, and all that is is just an oppinion.

[Terry Bennett]

I am sure I'm not the first to notice it, but is seems to me that a healthy ego goes hand in hand with the definition of good/great taxidermist. I think that's good. I'm pretty sure no one ever heard Cassius Clay doubt his ability. Just ask any great athlete who is the best and chances are they will name themselves among others as the best that ever lived. The same is true for those at the top of their game in the taxidermy industry. It takes a competitive spirit to excel in any endeavor and taxidermy is not immune to that process. Many of those that have posted in this thread have made the walk of fame up to the podium at awards banquets at many shows. All of them deservedly so. When it comes to the bottom line they are all great people that are confident in their ability, and they are not afraid to pat themselves on the back. If you don't toot your own horn, no one will do it for you. 


The eider piece of Frank's that is posted earlier is a spectacular example of how the medium of taxidermy has progressed in the past decades. Although we may not agree on the artistic merit of his work there is no doubt that Frank has raised the bar when it comes to the art of taxidermy. I would admit that the base of the piece seems to be an add on, and the wave above the drake distracts from the overall view of the birds themselves, but overall no one can say that this is not great taxidermy. 

Lets all continue to produce work like this that can be juried by our peers and therefor elevate the overall quality of the taxidermy industry as a a whole.

[DManning]

Well put Terry. It is always nice to have someone come back and ground us all. This thread started as a request from King Eider wanting some input from those that have some experience in mounting King eiders. As with many threads it fell off track.

 King Eiders are difficult birds to mount. Probably because the expectation is so high, and should be. Pay special attention to head shape and body shape.