Hey all, I've been doing taxidermy for about 7 years now. Each year at our competitions it seems I get the check mark in the "fleshy" box for eyelids and tear ducts. These areas look really good to me while I am mounting the deer. Then when they dry out, they look........ dried out. I use my reference and make my best attempt at bringing it all back to life. Is there some trick I am missing, or some other suggestion you might have for me?
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Then the skin more, almost paper thin. Then do your modeling, adding a bit of extra citter clay doing all the detail without pressing on your clay. Maybe even lighten the area with a flesh basecoat before painting.
I attended a seminar where the person giving it said he misted the eyes daily with water, to slow down the drying & distortion.
Also you might want to cover the head loosely with a plastic bag overnight. Don't tie it off. Let some moisture escape. Then when you are around take it off. It will let you control the drying process better. Another thing you can do is, brush some liquid tan on the eye and, nose area after you are finished mounting it. When it is fully dry clean it off with lacquer thinner. One more thing. What works well for me is to spray a very fine mist of mars red around the fleshy areas. I mean super fine! You don't want to see the area turning red. Hold your airbrush back away from what you are painting and give it a quick shot of paint that is thinned. You will be amazed at the difference that will make. Good Luck!
But you;ll find also alot of guys will use skin so soft lotion on the eye lids to help with shrinkage and keeping the natural fleshy look. check in the archives about it. Joe coombs, is a world renowned taxidermsit that uses it on the eyelids.Ray