Here goes, On a wooduck I like to use a smaller form on standing mounts so I can tuck the wings and have the gold feathers stand out correctly. My question is can I do the same with a gadwall? The body demensions are 10x17 I would go to 9 1/2 x 15 3/4" form. Is that to much of a drop?
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I have only done a handfull of birds. BUt I did find after much work and mentally abusing myself that just like a mammal, a bird needs a smaller body. It will allow you to taxi. the skin and pack (pack not being the correct term) but still helps you get a smoother, flowing feather pattern.
i always go with a smaller form and once i start to sew it up i begin to fill any areas, that arent "filled out", with caulk. This will help hold your feathers in place once you set them and also give your bird a nice plump fluffy look. That is what works best for me. Good luck
Dont know where you got those measurements......but a snow goose is not even 17" long! I prefer not to go more than a half inch shorter or less in girth. The skin stretches alot while you flesh and wash.
You should recheck your measurements or reread your post. Your length is way off.
Why not wrap your own body?
A little smaller is better definatly on bodies...If you really have 17 inches on a Gadwell...You might have a world record!
10x17 is circumfercnce width by circumfernce length. Reinhart sells their manikans this way. Not sure how you could be accurate by measureing just the length of the body? Thanks for those that tried to answer the question!
Most manikins are presented in the catalogs as length (distance from the forward tip of the shoulder to the end of the tail bone - straight line) and circumfrence (distance around the widest part of the carcus) I believe that this is what Dan does as well, but I do not have a current catalog. A gadwall is a little longer than a widgeon and a about the same girth size and shape. So, using the above as a guide, a common gadwall size would be approximately 8 3/4" long with a circ of 10". If Dan proposes a lengthwise measurement of 17" and you are correct that this representation is a lengthwise circ, it is a little smaller that the one I presented above - the lengthwise girth of an 8 3/4" long manikin would be 17 1/2" without accounting for much in depth. Just keep in mind that in addition to general size, you also should consider the position the bird will be in and take a look at the many different manikin styles before you pick the one you feel best meets your needs - there are some real differences.
With regard to using a smaller body, I believe that you need to verify the amount of fat that you have removed from the skin. If the bird is really fat, the skin will grow significantly during the degreasing and wire wheeling process. Thus the manikin would need to be a little larger to account for the removal of the fat. Good luck.