getting wire into wings of duck. i have only mounted standinf birds this is my first flying. anyone have any helpful hints on inserting the wire into the wings?
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that all the meat is scraped from the ulna and radius and past the 1 digit. Sharpen the end of your wire and run it past the 1 digit and it should lock into place there. Wrap some wire or string around the bones and the wire to hold in in place and mount the rest like a standing mount.
After removing all the meat, drill a hole into the end of the ulna where it meets with the humerus. Use the same size of drill as the wire that you would use or one size bigger as long as smaller than the ulna. Insert a pipe cleaner to remove the marrow. Do this till its clear. This should be done before washing the bird.
When you're ready to wire the wing, sharpen the ends of your wire, but the end that you insert into the bone should be rounded just a little bit so it goes in. Curve the wire like how the ulna is curved, so it goes in easier. The wire length that goes into the bone should be at least the same length as the ulna, so you need to go all the way in, otherwise the ulna will break when you pose the wing. Wrap the wire and the humerus together with an electrical tape, so that when you pull the wire, it won't come out of its place. Now replace the muscle of the radius/ulna with critter clay (not oil based clay), make sure that you don't put too much otherwise it will be bulgy. Put caulking also, but make sure you sew all the holes. Now you can replace the muscle on the humerus. I use jeweler's tow or cotton from the Beauty supply. Now you're ready to attach the wing to the body.
Hope this will help you.
If you stripped your wings, adjust your wings before attaching them to the body.