Taking a real head to the Southern Regionals this year, just to see how I fair... As far as shrinkage goes...
question 1:
How long does it take the bill to shrink before I should try rebuilding? Is this something that is quick over the course of the first few days the bird is dead... or will the bill continue to shrink weeks after I have mounted it?
question 2:
I will rebuild the nostrils, the outer edges of the upper mandible, and fill in any unatural wrinkles that don't appear normal... What other areas should I be concerned with?
I know the bird has been in the freezer for a year now, but when I held it up to an artificial bill, I saw extremely small amounts of variance. Mainly just heavy wrinkling around the nostrils. Otherwise, the bill looked identical to the Savides Cast.
Shrinkage is a billet on the NTA scoresheet..and I know real heads will be judged accordingly...
Anyone out there with any advice?
Thanks,
Jon
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Go artificial ....
Cory Caruthers has an awesome line of duck and pheasant heads...
I've been using them for a few yrs now and won't go back.....
He also has a line of bird bodies out now and I used 1 for a pheasant today and WOW! what a difference ....didn't have a bit of trouble with it fitting.....I think it's the best pheasant I've ever mounted....look foreward to taking it to our state comp in Iowa this yr and see how it does....(last yr I scored a 95 on a pheasant)...
You can get a catalog of his stuff through Matuska ...800-488-3256
Good Luck to you .....Jeff
I've been using artificial now for years, Ferbee, Savides, Finazzo, Newmeyer, etc etc... I've used em all. I've even cast a few of my own (an I must say, I'm not that great at casting anything) I must admit, I do like the convienence of the artificial and in most cases, the quality of the cast cant be beat either.
I'm just looking to try something different and try and master a different technique along the way.
Thanks again!
Jon
I don't think the beak will continue to shrink for more than a week or 10 days. Probably less. It depends on how big the bird is and how much it might have already dried in the freezer.
Places to watch for shrinkage:
Overall width of the beak. Check the lower mandible too, just in case. Filling the mouth with clay will stop it if the mount is to be closed mouth.
The nostril area. If you place some bits of tissue in there while it's drying you can stop a lot of that shrinkage, but you will still need to rebuild it. Make sure the nasal posts are intact.
The soft ridge around the edge of the beak will need rebuilding. You can smooth out excess wrinkles and etc. like you said, but don't overdo it. That surface IS skin, afterall, and it's usually not pefectly slick. A larger-than-life closeup is a big help when it comes to fixing beaks.
I'm glad to see you try using the real thing. I have purchased quite a few artificial heads and I have NEVER received one that I was 100% happy with. Symmetry issues, clogged up lamellae, molded in FINGERPRINTS on the BEAK for cryin' out loud! (A Newmeyer head - I kid you not!) and, of course, the obligatory clogged up nostrils.
A rough marriage line (which I call the divorce line, BTW) will cost you just as much as shrinkage, points-wise.
A properly rebuilt real beak has a crispness of detail in the lamellae and inner nostril structure that is VERY hard to capture in a casting. Not quite impossible, but difficult.
Of course, I like using oil paints for competition beaks too, so all of my opinions are probably suspect!
now what the heck is a nasal post?
Jon
It's that pointy little projection inside the nostrils. Look at a fresh duck and you'll see it. On a cast beak you almost have to glue in a little bit of wire or a splinter of wood to recreate it. On an artificial beak, even if it's there in the original casting, it usually gets demolished by the time you get the nostrils opened up.
Of course, if I'm busy grinding out nostrils the phone will usually ring, and doesn't take much of a flinch to do a lot of damage with a Dremel tool!
Nancy, What type of bits or ends do you use on the Dremel? Do you use it flushing too?
John