I have never used them before, how does the finished bird look when that form is used?
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I have found that Frank's forms are no better than any others on the market. In the words of Harry Whitehead, "if you have ability, you can mount a bird on a football." The eyes on his heads are not accurate...at least not the ones I've used. I took a beating in competition for my eye set this past weekend. From now on, I will set my own eyes and I will not use a head with preset eyes.
She noted that a "flying form" implies that the actual physical shape of the bird under the feathers changes as it flies. How can the wing roots move away from their position on the skeleton?
this is why I asked the question. The forms are real flat is the chest. The circumfrance can be the same as the carcass but I took a measurement of the thickness of the breast bone to the spine (which I know does not change on a bird in flight) and the form thickness is way off.
The skelton of any living creature will not change with action(bones don't get longer or shorter) but muscle structure does change with action and in the case of waterfowl, it will change the look of the feathers. I agree, not the location but the look.
what it all comes down to is, to me, the forms are inacurate and I am going to send them back.
(I'm M-less at last. Whew!)
Anyway, as much as I admire Mr. Newmyer's taxidermy, I don't think much at all of his forms or his heads.
The sleletal structure of a bird doesn't change in flight. A rigid torso is one of their main adaptations to flight. Granted, they will either tuck or extend their legs, depending on the species and whether or not they are steering, balancing, landing, taking off or etc. The pectoral muscle shape changes SOME, but in order to accomodate that there would have to be special flying forms made for every wing position. Argh ... I would hate to see that happen.
Just pay attention to the muscle structure as you skin the bird. Note that the pectoral insertion is a good distance out on the humerus. When the pectorals are in use they shorten and thicken like any other muscle, so the breast might appear wider and flatter from certain angles. This is mainly because they become noticeable all the way out to where they attach on the humerus. Since that area is never included on the forms anyway, you might as well just add it in with epoxy if you are striving for total accuracy.
That's what I get for typing before I've had coffee ...
*rolls eyes*
looking at different photos, it is real hard to tell the chages in anotomy. The only instance is when a bird is in a radical landing posistion.
what do you do to make a nice trasistion from the form to the humorus bone?
BTW, there is a great website of flying duck and geese.
WWW.flyfishingphotography.com
Does "M-less" mean congratulations are in order?
Went to the website you listed and didn't see any flying ducks. Where am I missing them?
Kirk