*This might belong in the Habitat section, but I really want the bird taxidermists to read this!*
I am so happy that I must share my new habitat experiment! It is so simple---sand bases! I had to mount a standing, sleeping Canada Goose, and I decided that I wanted to do a sand base. I simply cut out an oval piece of junk plywood, then attached the goose to it. Then, I covered the whole thing with Liquid Nails, and poured a thin layer of playground sand overtop. (A whole 50lb. bag of sand is less than $3!) Next, shaped the sand, and I sprayed some Elmer's spray glue over the sand, let it dry, then did it again. The glue locked the sand in place like a charm! I can add more sand wherever I want, and even make a goose footprint in the sand while the Liquid Nails is still wet. Just spray it all over with spray glue, and the sand will stay put! This is the cheapest, neatest new habitat idea you can add to your list:o)
Becky
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Good job, Becky! Thanks for the tip!
That sounds good, I'm going to try it on my next project. Thanks for the info Becky.
I've used sand and Elmers many times. Its a great way to make habitat. Another good tip I have found is that when you do those standing mounts that for one reason or another you can see the wire under the foot. I have used a brush with elmers and applied a coat and then dusted sand around it. It works great for hiding the wire. You can get multy colors of sand at craft stores and no one ever seems to mind that you added a little habitat for free to a plain chunk of drift wood.
I work at a plastics injection molding shop during the day. We get these large puddles of plastic that are oval, round and all other shapes when the purge the barrels on the presses. Usually this stuff gets thrown in the trash. I have taken these and used a brush to apply the Elmers and then dusted with sand. You cant mount the bird directly to them standing, or add drift wood. After finished you can add some felt to the bottom and you have a very profesional looking base that costs almost nothing. Once I even pulled a wad of plastic out of the burn pile because I thought it looked cool. It was melted down ice cream pales. The bottom was flat and the top was like a pile of snow. I Elmered it, flocked it white, put a standing piece of wood on it and used it for a pedistal fox head mount. It was really neat.
Always keep your mind open for new simple ideas.
I meant to say that you can mount the bird directly to them standing,
Try digging a shallow hole in a container of sand or dry dirt, small gravel, etc. and then pouring pre-colored expanding foam into it. Have a scrap of light plywood already cut a little bit smaller than the size of the hole so you can press it over the foam as it expands. (For heavier mounts, hot glue a wood block to the plywood in advance.) That will give you a nice flat bottom surface.
When you pop the foam out of its "mold" it will be almost ready to use "as is" after (usually) some minor trimming around the plywood. You can make it even better by adding additional accents like plants, larger rocks or driftwood, etc. Use your imagination.
Just make sure the sand or whatever is dry.
All of your ideas are so great! I am definately going to use the "sand over wire" trick, for my flying mounts. I've also heard a technique like Nancy suggested, except they used bondo instead of foam. Creating a nice habitat is so much fun, and it always makes your mounts look better!
...the foam allows you to "plant" things in it afterwards. Small artificial plants, greenery or dried plant mateial can be stuck anywhere you'd like.
I have used sand pits to make fiberglass resin rock bases. The top is naturally flat because of gravity. The sand sticks to the resin so when its hard, its done. Just add mount and if you want it to look more profesional you can put some felt on the bottom. Fiberglass resin isnt cheap and it takes at least a gallon to make a desent sized rock so I dont used this method unless I cant find a ready made rock that fits my purpose.
Another material that works great is Stay Smooth sheet rock filler. Stay Smooth gets as hard as a rock, and will actually set-up under water, so dont wash tools or hands in the sink unless you want to replace the trap. Stay smooth can be mixed so you can pour it. Its great stuff for habitat ans is cheap.
how do you go about making the foot impression in the sand? sorry, but I am a novice, I have done a few ducks and thought it would be nice to be able to make some "tracks" around the base. Do you just use a fair amount of sand , so that you can push a foot down to make an imprint before the mixture dries? If so, how much "or deep" does it need to be to hold the imprint? Thanks in advance, I always like reading posts about more practical habitat.
Have you ever thought of using the fiber sheet strips in your idea and make them hollow use a paint brush up;; up the resin lays you lay your sheet in and let it dry then add another coat?