Hey guys
Do you guys use the real skull for you waterfowl? does it really matter? Is it easyer to paint using a real skull or an artificial?
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I am a beginner, and have only mounted 2 ducks. I have tried using the real head and artificial heads. The real heads are hard to clean, you have to get evrything out of them and then refill them with bondo. As far as shrinkage, it hasn't been long enough to tell yet. The arificial heads are so easy to use I will never use the real head again. They are worth the extra cost and can cut your time alot.
Being new myself I have never used a realhead but it doesn't take much to clean out the original head and make a "peanut" with excelsoir(SP) and then put clay over it filling the eyes .That was the way I was taught and it seems pretty easy to me....like I said I am new though lol
I've been doing this for 36 years and always use the real head . Just cut the real skull off at the bill and make a styrofoam form to fit the head . It saves time cleaning .
Artificial is the way to go...Waterfowl bills shrink...You'll have to rebuild it if you go with the real bill. That takes alot of time & time is money...
For commercial work-the real head is the way to go. If you do a lot of birds like do, 10.00 for a cast head does not make sense. And there is really not any time saved-I can clean a pheasant head in 10 minutes-toss it in a bottle of lacquer thinner for a few minutes and hit it with the air compressor and its ready to mount! VERY few customers will ever notice any "shrinkage". Conan
Do as newbirdman said ,but use epoxy and glue the foam skull to the beak,that way it won't move out of alignment,you can also cover the inside of the mouth with epoxy it will prevent a lot of shrinkage.
Use the real head. Reasons behind this is Atrificail heads Are not as detailed as most say especially shovelers, gadwalls. The only heads I would use are "positive repro" they have hardley any defects, real heads are not hard to clean and not hard to fix, simply sanding with a light grit sandpaper will make them look good. Also for a beginner you can save a few bucks,
It is just my opinion, but I have not been impressed with ANY of the commercially available heads that I have seen. The nostrils are always plugged solid and the lamellae (teeth) are usually messed up. Often, the whole head is distorted slightly. Even worse, I have seen artificial heads that were obviously cast from already shrunken beaks.
What's the advantage there?
Duck heads are not all the same size either, so unless you get lucky there is a good chance that the artificial won't fit properly.
What's so hard about cleaning a bird's head for mounting? I'm baffled. I snip away the excess bone and meat after removing the eyes and brain, and then give them a good once over on the wire wheel while I'm de-fatting the skin. Presto! The total time elapsed is less than what it takes to glue the skin around the plastic beak.
When using the real head, the nostril area should be packed (inside) with tiny bits of cotton or etc. to keep it from sinking in while it dries. The cotton can later be removed easily with a straightened-out barbed fish hook or a small bent wire.
'Guess I'm just old-fashioned. A little shrinkage doesn't bother me NEARLY as much as plugged nostrils do. And if you are drilling out the nostrils and detailing them properly you are certainly not saving any time by using plastic heads.
Nancy M.
RG,
To save time and srinkage, I use artificial on all my waterfowl birds. You might want to try and start casting your own heads once removed from the skin. But I would do what you are most easiest for you
Later Jeff
There are obviously pros & cons either way, and I do tend to prefer working with artificial heads to cleaning a skull (though I am still a green horn having only done about 15 ducks). However, one other major problem that I have found to go along with Nancy's remarks above about accuracy is that you cannot take for granted that the eye sockets are correct. I have only bought heads from one manufacturer, and am still experimenting with different species, but I have found major problems with the eye sockets: 1) either being too small to fit the recommended eye size so carving was required, 2) not being symmetrical in height or distance from the bill (noticeable when looking at the bill with eyes installed from the top) and 3) not being deep enough to seat the eyes properly, providing my last Woodie with a nice bug-eyed effect. Also problems with the skull sculpting not being symmetrical. But as I said, these are all from a common source, and some species seem better than others. I still want to experiment with other manufacturers to see if the quality is any better, but keep in mind that there is still work required to prep an artificial head such as removing the parting line, sanding down the sprue from the injection location, filling the tiny air bubbles on the surface, drilling the nostrils (and filling in the hole when you go too far through on the other side), etc.
My reasons for preferring them, assuming the problems above will be overcome with experience, is the ability to paint, and re-paint as many times as I like to practice without having to mask the bird. Much easier to turn the head in your hand by itself than when it's attached to the rest of the duck. Also the ability to set the eyes ahead of time (with non-hardeing clay). Just need to find a woodie head with deeper eye sockets to accept acrylic eyes!
Hope my 2 cents helped, as with about anything else there is no right or wrong way - just your own preferred method.