I finished by third deer a couple of months ago. Overall I'm very happy with how it turned out except for the front of the lower lip. When the mount dried, part of the front lower lip pulled out a little. I tried rehydrating that small area and tucking it back in but it didn't work real well. In order to fix it I think I would need to rehydrate most of the lower jaw area so I could taxi the skin of the lower jaw forward to give me a little more skin to tuck in the lip slot. I tanned the hide myself with LiquaTan and looking back I may not have shaved it thin enough prior to applying the LiquaTan and that's why the lower lip pulled out a little or I pulled the skin onto the mannikin too far in the area of the lower jaw. I used McKenzie's powder hide paste that you mix with water. Will I be able to rehydrate the lower jaw and readjust the lower lip without ruining the mount? I know some guys might tell me to leave it the way it is and learn from it but I really want to fix the problem because it's a nice symmetrical 8-pointer with an 18-inch spread and decent mass (scored 113) and it's hanging in my family room where I look at it all the time. Thank you in advance for your responses.
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Without seeing it.....if it's actually the "black" part of the
lip itself...could'nt you cut it out and rebuild the tissue?
Hello Bryan,
SUre you can rehydrate the area in need.Wet a dish towel and wrap it around the lower lip and muzzle area and slide a plastic bag over it to prevent it from drying out.I would do it just before you leave the shop. When you return to it the following day, you can pull the lips back out. I would run a bead of clay into your lip slot cut. When you tuck the lips back into place, the clay will halp grab ahold of the lip skin and help lock it in.
Have a great day
Dave
Everyone has this happens sometimes are worse than others MAny times a little epoxy will do the trick, without resoaking the rest.
I suggest that you rebuild it with a little epoxy then paint it.After that only you will know it ever happened.
John C up there showed me how to do a lower lip the right way, and frankly, I've never seen a natural lip dry the way I like it anyway. So, in every case, I just tuck it tight to keep it from being too wide and full, then when he's dry, build it up and scuplt the appropriate texture with epoxy and voila. There you got it, and it looks better than some shriveled up lip any old way.