The ear skin up near the tip of the ear of a whitetail I am working on is very thin and while turning the ears I have torn a hole about the size of a quarter. I was trying to turn the ears by hand. I now have a pair of ear openers. I don't think I would have had the problem if I had gotten them sooner, but anyway, the skin was so thin it just disintegrated as I tried to seperate it from the cartilage. Is there anyway to repare the damage? I have some old capes I can get ear skin from if I need to. I have checked the archieves but nothing I could find seems to fit this situation. Thank you.
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Jim,
I find it hard to believe that you didn't find extensive information about ear repairs in the archives. There's tons of it. Personally, I incise the cartilage out with a scalpel, and turn the ear. I insert the opposite earliner, shave a sliver of skin from the cape and superglue it over the tear. I then remove the liner, reinvert, install the liner with Epo-Grip Liquid Fast Set, and later airbrush the area to match the color. You can also glue hair clippings over the area if you want the extra detail. There are many other methods similar in the archives.
Thanks George! I'm new to this so a lot of what I read in the archives I don't fully understand. Your answer was great. I understand what you are describing. Thanks again. Jim
Use the handle end of a cheap kitchen butter knife to run the edge over, by doing this you can open it to the very edge and with a little practice you can do rabbites ears. You may want to place the knife blade end in a vise, as you turn the ear inside out work the edge where the cartlidge and skin meet.