I had a guy contact me several days ago he said that he had seen some of my work and was wondering how much I had to do.I told him not much he was wondering if I would be interested in coming to help him put together some whitetails, I told him I would be interested, conversation goes on I find out he does alot of birds and fish. I been wanting to watch somone mount birds and fish, so we work out a deal I help him w/ the whitetails he'll teach me birds and fish. So I go to his shop today we start talking about his whitetails, he shows me what he is doing (I dont know if this is waranted or not but I got a bad feeling) he is using reinhart forms w/ the eyes installed so he isnt tucking his eyes ( I never saw this before can you do this)? Thing that I didnt think was right he isnt using any glue on his form, only his ear liner. I have not been in too many other shops so I dont know if this is somehow acceptable. I am trying to build a good reputation for my self in this area where there are only a couple of taxidermists. I didnt see any of his birds or fish while i was there, but i am wondering if anybody could give me a pointer or two on what to look for on them. I dont know anything past the basics for these and want to learn the right way to do it w/ no shortcuts at the cost of quality. Thank You
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I use some rhineharts forms, You can mount them without tucking the lids,I beleive its called Laying, But You'd better be using a good glue or 2 part epoxy. I cant see anyone mounting a deer without some type of adhesive to hold the skin in place.Did you ask him why he does not use an adhesive? I'm sure he lacks detail in his work and the end results will be a upset customer and a junk mount.I would not follow in his foot steps for sure.
If he mounts gameheads this way I sure as hell would'nt want to him teaching me how to mount fish or birds. Just My 2 cents!
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Droptine,
You said he saw your work and liked it. You never said that you liked his work. You indicated that he took short cuts in mounting his deer heads, would it be safe to say that he will be taking short cuts on his other work?
I've been in alot of shops and there is alot of short cuts going on. I know the short cuts and the problems they bring on. I price my work to reflect the knowledge of quality craftmanship. I have customer that contact me because their tired of wasting their money on junk mounts. Short cut taxidermist will always have work because there's always someone willing to payless.
If you want to learn how to do birds and fish without learning bad habits or short cuts. Contact your state or national association for information on who can teach you the proven methods. It's kind of like hunting, to hunt in a nice spot you have to pay, the poor hunting spots are cheep.
Good Luck.
Marshell
The rinehart school ACTUALLY TAUGHT students that adhehisive was not needed on the form at one time. The claim was that hide paste doesnt really stick to anything. WELL< Rinehart hide paste doesnt stick to anything! two part epoxies are the way to go.
If you go with the pre set eyes, you need to trim the eye lid portion off. Then use the epoxy glue to glue the lids where they "lay."
I would see if this fella will allow you to at least glue your facial features with a hide paste as a compromise
RUN do not walk to the nearest exit! Eyelids can be done in that matter but the no glue method is unacceptable. You do not want to be associated with this hacksadermist.
Thanks everybody I was sorta thinking the same way but I wanted to make sure. The only method that I know is my own, I just thaught i would see what everybodyelse thaught too. I need to be proud of my work when im finished and when i see it 5-10-15 years later
Integrity i guess.
Thank You