The hitch with making a wrapped or carved body is you need a head to go on it. There are a few small mammal changeout heads available but not too many. That would be the easiest way. Another way is to clean and use the original skull. That's the hardest way. A third way is to carve one out of foam or balsa wood. That doesn't take too long if you are a good carver.
I have to confess, I haven't wrapped a body in years. I've been carving many of my small bodies from flexible foam and that gives me a body with as much flex as a wrapped body and is a joy to mount on. That's for another time.
I sculpt a few small mammal heads and mold them-ones I mount a lot of or special mounts of my own. I hope this one picture will explain the process.
I make an alginate mold of the animals face and cast this in bondo/resin or plaster. That is my death mask-face reference. You can also just use another animal of the same size and look at his head. I skin the animal and make a quick mold of the skinned head, in alginate. This is just pouring alginate in a small plastic cup and dunking the head in and allowing it to set up.
I cast that carcass head in bondo. Plaster would work.
Now your head model is 75% done. You have to sculpt back in lips, nose, whisker beds and grind out eye sockets. It's not a big deal. You have your death mask to give you dimensions and details. Remember to deduct the thickness of hair which is on your death mask. You can sculpt these small details with modelling clay or epoxy putty. It takes me about an hour to make one of these small heads.
After it's molded, I can make as many as I need.
I make a silicone mold of the head, again, by just pouring the silicone in a small plastic cup and dunking the head in. Some silicones don't like oil based clay. In that case, spray your model with Krylon paint or laquer before going into the silicone.
GREAT idea! It's a good idea to brush a coat of silcone on the model before dunking it. I use the silicone with a catalyst.
My model has a little bit of neck on it and I staple a tongue depressor across the back of that to hold it from sinking to the bottom of the cup.
GREAT idea! Let the silicone fully cure and, and remove the model. Now you have a mold to pour foam heads.
The large neck diameter opening allows the foam to flow out so the flexible mold is not distorted. If you want to make larger heads like bobcat etc., you may have to make a more substantial mold like a 2 piece fiberglass one.
This is a fast, simple mold for small heads. You don't need a release agent with the silicone- just pour it in.
If you want to do a wrapped body, you can make a loop on the end of you body wire and stick it down in the mold when you pour the foam and the head comes out with the body wire attached.
GREAT idea!When using foam to alter forms or make bases, just keep you small molds handy and pour the leftover foam in as you go.
GREAT idea!This may sound complicated but it is not. It takes almost longer to explain than do.
After my work day is over, I sit down and take a relaxing 1/2 hour to hour and sculpt one of the little heads. It takes very little time to dunk one in a cup of silicone. In the top of the picture is a cast of a skinned marten head. Under that is a marten face cast (death mask). Below that is a finished marten head form, then spotted skunk and large weasel head forms. The blue stuff in the cup is my mold. Mark on the outside of the cup what it is and how much foam it takes to fill it.
GREAT idea! The mold should make many, many heads. This is fun stuff guys.
It sounds like it!! Thank you Jim!!
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