If i sawed the antlers off right under the burr,(to clean the head) will i be able to reattach them really securely, and also if i use one of the fake skulls, does it look super fake or does it look almost real, and can you attach the antlers on to the fake skulls really securley?
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Sure you can attach them securely.... Drill a hole up inside and epoxy some steel into it, then epoxy the steel into the reproduction skull. I had a customer install a huge set of Alaskan moose antlers into a repro moose skull I made for him.
As for the completed look of how real it is? Depends on the work of the artists involved. My reproduction skulls look entirely real - that's my job - if they dont look REAL.. they don't pass - period. I colour match mine to customer specs to look like old weathered skulls just dug outta the ground, or cleaned bone, or cleaned and whitened bone. The skill of the person mounting them then comes into play. There will be some seam work to finish between burr and pedicle. This means filling with putty (generally) and painting to perfection.
Of course the type of skull purcashed is another deciding factor. I've seen a LOT of hack job reproduction skulls that look fake. People email me pix all the time of projects they are doing asking for my opinion. Most often all I can really say is.. good start, but keep practicing. Then I see them on some website or ebay selling 'professionally made antler mounting kits' and I just have to shake my head at them. Orbits filled in, no openings to indicate where veins and arteries pass etc... really awful looking stuff. Mine do not have those glaring 'errors'. It's funny when I get an email later from a person who bought one of these hack job kits and it totally backfires on them and they want me to tell them how to fix it so it will work - LOL! I've only seen a couple of others who offer true high quality reproduction skulls.
So to sum up for you without really clarifying much of anything (sorry for that) - yes they can look completely real and be secure... but they can also look horrendously fake and be incredibly weak. This is like any area of taxidermy or related field.. this is where experience counts.
Good luck =)
Before cutting the antler off, drill a hole up into the antler from the under side of the skull for proper alignment.
I just did a european mount of a small 6 point on a reproduction skull. i use some 8th inch all thread and cut it off in 2 lengths of 3 inches. drill out a hole in each antler appoxy the all thread into the horn butt and let it set up. then did the same thing on the skull. threaded it down in and i was done with mounting the antlers. i left it set till completely dry. and proceeded to mount my skull afte some simple painting. . just an idea. that might help you. Ray