Pricing and advice on a Great Blue Heron

I opened an account with a local nature center awile back and they want a blue heron done for a display , I am looking for input on pricing this bird and any advice from some one who has done one before .
* Can I use the real scull and beek or should I cast a new one ?
* is there a commercial body out there or do I need to carve on from the carcas?
* What type of innjectable should I use in the legs?
* What are a good match for the eyes ?

Thanks

Doug

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Did one last year

Doug, Stefan Savides has a great line of heads and forms at Research. I THINK that's where I got mine, including the proper eyes. Now I used the real head, but I removed it as if it were being replaced, dried it, and then filled the shrinkages with Apoxie, set the eyes in Apoxie, built the eyerings and then let it set until it dried. For the neck I used 2 separate pieces of neck material and sewed them together so it wouldn't twist.
I also removed the legs completely, injected them with Preservz-It, attached them to the mannikin, posed them and then let them dry as well.

There's really not much to the bird itself as every one I've done has looked as if it were anorexic. I charged the refuge $400 for the most recent one.

Thanks

George other than the preserve it (and wire I presume) do i need to use any injectable epoxie ? To help out with thouse long legs and the weight.

My 2005 Research catalog does list heads and necks But I dont see a body !

Thanks again

Check this archived message

for a technique to make sure the proper bends occur in the neck.

http://www.taxidermy.net/forums/BirdTaxiArticles/01/d/01E98A13A7.html

Also, the likelihood you will find a match for your body size of the heron is not good. They have a very wide range in size depending on where the specimen is from and the age/sex of the specimen.

Make sure you fill the neck out and replace the trachea in the actual position it sets in life. The neck should not look that thin if it is partially bent up and everything put back where it belongs.

Great points PA

The neck can be a real pain because of what he described and it can make or break your mount. I THINK I used a sandhill crane body on my heron, but a year is a long time for an old mind. I didn't use any injectable epoxy on the one I did, but I did use expandable foam in the feet and ball of the foot area. The best move I made was removing those legs before I mounted them. Getting a wire past the knee joint would have been virtually impossible I think without having the leg and bone outside the skin and feathers.