tine repair

i've searched and read tons on this but still don't quite get it. you make the tines out of apoxie sculpt,then stain. now i bought antler stain from Van Dykes and stuff never seems to dry . can you airbrush on color(laquer based then seal?just can't seem to get anything to cover apoxie sculpt.any other tips. thanks

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Woodstain

we use woodstain which works great. Make sure you get the right color stain to blend in with the natural rack. Wipe the stain on the antler and then work it over gently with steelwool. To remove the stain from the tine use lacquer thinner.

air brush

iv rebuilt lots of antlers,tines,beams,ect. my customers have trouble finding the rebuilt parts at time's . I use a air brush ,mixing colors to get it to blend in,

laquer paint or water works

I just use a combination of yellow ochre,dark red and dark brown.
add a little dark red in with dark brown, spray on the sculpted tine then wipe off with you choice of thinner, or steel wool. This is just to darken any low spots, then spray with yellow orche. You will have to remove some of the yellow in the same way.
You don't need antler stain kits.

thanks

thanks for the input. the tips i'm building are a whitish grey almost, just use lighter colors right? any one have pictures as they are building these up?thanks again.

Here is a slightly different technique to try.

I use the natural apoxie sculpt. I 1st build the tine using wire to give some support. Then when tine is hard I drill into broken antler and insert replacement, then apoxie the transition, let dry and sand to blend. I use 36 grit 1st then 80. If you look at real antlers they have lots of little scratches in different directions but tips are somewhat smooth. I use several different methods for matching colors. I use lead and colored pencils, crayons, and laquer paints. Different browns on the paints and yellow and white on the pencils and crayons. You can practice this, just make a few tines and try all the different methods you have read about this subject and see whats easier for you. Hope this helps. P.S. The scratches will hold the darker colors to give a realistic look.