What is the best way to size a foam neck for length and diameter. Do you try to use the same as the original one or do you go slightley larger then that for the foam?
Do you measure the neck from the breast to the base of the head or do you cut it slightley shorter?
Have you ever used cotton balls inserted through the bill into the neck to give the neck a larger diameter then what the foam was able to?
My necks look pretty good but in my opinion they could be better. What are the rules to follow when doing necks.
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I am a firm believer that if I take it out, I need to put it back. When you skin out your bird, cut the neck from the body the same place that you are going to attach the neck on the body you are going to use. Then when the neck is skinned, get a piece of foam the diameter and length of the neck, build up the esophagus and you are ready to go.
I have a cabinet that I walk by alot in my shop. On the large surface, I have marked the neck length of all birds I have mounted in the last twenty years. If I have a spoony skin and no neck I can go to my board and it is probably there. Males and females. The measurements came from fresh birds and save a few species they don't vary more than a quarter inch or so. Enough to make sure I'm in the ballpark
Tony
Why didn't I think of a neck size chart?