i'm gonna try the caulk method on the back and was wondering do you have to do anything for the front of the bird to keep the feather's puffed out around the beard and will the feather tracts pretty much take there own place other than preening some? man am i nervous on this one. this is for the pa. exam. after last year i think those boozoo's would fail a live bird. lol
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i am using a cally morris tk44 form
A form that fits tight to the skin is the biggest problem I think you can have, so make sure you have plenty of loose skin to work with.
You can use caulk for the chest feather also. A 12 to 18 inch flexable tube attached to your tube of caulk will make thing alot easier.
Try bringing your exam pieces to the PTA convention next month in Altoona. Get them critiqued by a judge who will be far more picky than the examiners and then you will have a full month to make any needed corrections. You might even pick up some more tips from the many seminars. www.pataxidermy.com
Oh, and one last little bit of advice: Referring to people who give THEIR time to help YOU improve YOUR work as "boozoos" is probably not your best career move.
Good luck!
One more idea on your strutting turkey. Try mounting his feet on a plywood board 8" wide and 48" long. Lean the board against a wall at about a 45 degree angle. Be sure your skin is positioned properly. Pin and card as you normally would. Rough preen the feathers and leave it over night. Next morning, adjust the angle of your board (even up to vertical) to get the amount of "puff" you want. Then do the final preening. Leave it for 2 weeks, then move it to your final base.
You mean to tell me they don't pay the examiners in PA.? Now that's funny!
Seems to me everyone on here keeps hammering everyone else that everything they do should warrant a monetary charge. Examiners should be no different, especially when performing a mandatory function concerning state licensing revenue.
Why would a state organization promote taxidermy certification by this strongarm means anyway? Guess I'm just one that's for less government intrusion in the live's of fellow Americans, especially if it has nothing to do with health and/or safety issues.
Craig, the examiners are paid a daily rate plus expenses for administering the exam. We ARE NOT PAID for giving out free advice and tips on here, at the Exam Seminar at the PTA convention, and at the exam itself. That is something we do as a COURTESY to others to HELP them improve their work just like George, Bill, Jon, Cecil, and others do on here everyday. Occasionally, we take exception to being called names.
the thing that really cranked me up is the first question you asked is, Where did you go to school? well when i heard that i knew i lost about 50 points there because i didn't pay 15,000 to go to the pa school of taxidermy! so let's fail this person because he learned on his own and we can at least 150.00 out of him, till he passes all 5 of his mounts. So Paul you work for the school or do you work for the game commission?
The only reason I would EVER ask that question is if nothing was written on the application about how you learned to do taxidermy.
For what its worth, NOT going to a school and being able to produce passable taxidermy carries more weight than going to a school and doing 2 deer, 2 birds, 2 fish..etc because of the sheer amount of specimens that must be worked on to achieve that level of competency all by yourself. Had you called me instead of dragging this all over the internet I could have told you that, as well as given any other advice you may have needed. Also, had you called, I would have told you that ALL of the examiners learned "on their own" taking 25 years EACH to get where they are today.
And, since you asked, I do not work for ANY school (I believe there are 5 in PA alone). I am a subcontractor for the Game Commission and get paid by the Game Commission to judge taxidermy mounts. As I said before, the advice, tips and hints the examiners give to people taking the exam are FREE--what you do with it is up to you.
One last little bit of advice Goose: get the chip off your shoulder, drop the conspiracy theories and come to the PTA convention in two weeks in Altoona. You'll learn more in three days, by entering the competition and attending the seminars, than you will in three years working "on your own".
www.pataxidermy.com