How do you measure a skin?

I have measured whole animals, but I purchased some wet tanned capes.
How do I measure the neck and chest area to order the correct form?
The guy I purchased them from said he did not have the measurements.

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J.W. that takes a little explanation

its all in the archives but
ill try to give a little of my own experiance also
ive been doing taxidermy 22 years and i hear this and i hear that
ive also been in fabrication a while
the reason i said this is i make my real living with acad,decimals and a tape measure
im going to give you a purely mathematical answer
than im going to give you a taxidermy opinion
Gearge and some of the others could probably answer the taxi. opinion a little better
but here goes
i know a deer neck is not exactly round but for purposes of explanation it should work
pi(3.14159) is a transcendental math number
it expresses the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle
for instance if you take a measurement around the deers neck
and it measures 19 inches it would give a factor of 6.0479
6.0479(means)x3.14159=19.0000
now we have the basic formula
the thing if noticed over the years of fabrication
is when you take the measurement of a round circle
and try to duplicate the same with the same stretchout you will come out short
that is because no thickness of metal was taken into consideration
so if you were to add the thickness ,say .188 to the equation
the more correct stretchout would be 19.590703
now
ive noticed taxidermist saying some strange things if your not aware
of the pi facter and thickness
the thickness of the skin will change a 1/2 or evan a full inch
if thickness is not taken ino consideration
you will hear some say measure the meat and add a little to that
now that sounds strange but it is somewhat correct
now if you look at the first math example you will see that it should be indeed the meat measurement plus a little
now you can guess the thickness and make a adjustment if you like
or you can just look up all the othe answers in the archives
wow that a lot to write ive got to quit eating these sugar cookies

WOW

That's a hell of an equasion, but I did not have any meat to measure the circumference or thickness.These capes are tanned.
I'll try the archives again now that I have drainbamage.

lol

easy fix layout the cape bring together the inscision dont over strech it keep relaxed then measure the neck and double it.

Thanks Paul

That's easy enough.

YOU CAN DO IT OVER THE HAIR ALSO

ive still got a few sugar cookies left so hear i go again
if you like you can go from the hair side with the equation
just subtract the thickness and run it through pi
the basic is diam. - thickness x 3.14159
if i dont have skin i do like paul bunyan suggested
and i always have a few test forms for pc of mind
so im not supprised when i go to mount
just do your research and jump in