just started working part time in taxidermist shop preparing shoulder mount mannikins for owner all mannikins are completly filed with a rasp then sand the detail areas it does a nice job but its time consuming is this common practice? what about spray preps.
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Try Ben Mears spray tan. It's fast, but remember when ever you use a quick tan method you are going to have more shrinkage then a fully taned skin. To take care of this I use scalp all to scalp the eyes and epo grip on the face to hold the detail. I have had good luck with this combination.
I wipe the form off with acetone then spray on super 77 spray adhesive on works great and drumming is not a problem. Alot of taxidermists don't like to use spray adhesive but it works great for me and is a big time saver.
IF your working for someone, just do it the way they want, chance are that they hired you to help out and not run the business for them. listen to your boss and do it the way he wants. I've never been one for speedy products. If you want a good tool, buy a xxxxxx from McKenzie, you look it up they are good for manikin prep.
carry the STOUT RUFFER or a similar tool. it works faster than a rasp and does a great job taking the outer layer of "skin" off the mannikin.
you can "suggest" some of the spray on form preps to the boss but do not use them unless he says it is okay.
learn all you can, this is a great field to get into, but you will have to work hard to make money at it...
go to your local hardware store and buy a wire brush for about $3. I have two sizes one is 2" x 4" & the othere is 1" x 3" (for detail areas). The wires are about 1" long and they are set in little clusters that are about 10 wires per cluster and spaces 1/4 " apart.
SUGGEST to your boss that you need not rough the whole form, because the convex portions such as the back of the neck, the bulges on the shoulders, and any other parts that arent concave (sunken in) are not subject to drumming. i save time by only roughing the "cuts" in the muscle groups.
rough up the entire form. Careful around the details of the facial areas.
I paid for those details and want them there. I sand the entire form because
I coat the entire form with a thin layer of hide paste. I let it dry overnight and mount using another layer of paste.
Call it "priming the form" if you want, but you'll get top notch adhesion.