I was setting my antlers on the mannikin and I pulled the hide over it and I am 5" to 6" inches short on the back side of the neck. I dont know what to do. I tried stretching the hide with my hands and that did nothing. When I measured the cape I measured 7" nose to eye and 18 around the neck and thats what form I ordered. Did it shrink that bad or what. Its really bad halfway down the neck and at the bottom. Should I try sanding a ton off of the mannikin with a dremel. Help what can I do. I took the cape out of the freezer this morning and wanted to mount it tomorrow. I tanned it using McKenzie tan if that matter.
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There are too many factors involved for me to answer in depth, but 5-6" seems like a dramatic difference. Are you pulling the skin too far back on the mannikin?
As Sandy said, a common mistake is to pull the hide too far down on the mannikin. Your cape might be too tight. If you didn't shave it thin enough, it might not have neutralized properly. You might want to soak the cape in some water with baking soda for 20 minutes. That should help it relax.
But I've been waiting for someone else to have this show up. I, TOO, have had problems using the McKenzie tan just as Matt's describing. I followed the instructions implicitly and MY OPINION is that the pickle reacts with the tan.
I've had dozens of people tell me how they love the stretch they get with this product, but I did 4 deer and had one helluva time getting them on the mannikins. My worst was a 20 inch deer (green) that ended up being mounted on a 17 inch form AND IT WAS STILL TICK TIGHT. I used it WITHOUT the pickle and the stretch problems all went away.
So, I went back to their "other tan", John Rinehart Tanning Solution. I have over a half gallon of the McKenzie and nearly a full gallon of acid waiting for someone to come by and prove me wrong.
I have had nothing but problems with the stretch on McKenzie tanned capes. I even went as far as buying the Mike Gillis video before calling McKenzie about it. I have followed their instructions to the letter and have a shop full of forms that were measured off the neck meat that will not allow the cape to even be pulled onto them, much less mounting them. I have shaved some of the capes so thin I was worried about losing hair and that has not helped. I have even put the capes on a pneumatic stretcher and got ZERO increase in size! I'm pretty new on this tanning and was starting to get a complex about my problems. BTW, I have nearly 3 gallons of McKenzie tan sitting in the shop.
Isn't that strange? One of my local taxidermists pickles and tans with it and he loves it...has no problems or complaints....Interesting to hear though.
what do you mean by pulling the skin to far down the mannikin? It seems that like the cape was almost streched alot but vertically not horizontally. towards the bottom of the mannikin i have like 8 inches that the hide will not cover.
I had a deer once when I was starting out that had an incision all the way down the back. I tossed it on the mannikin and freaked out because I had 3 or 4 inches of mannikin showing. I called up George and he told me I most likely had the skin too far down. If you push the skin upward towards the back of the skull the skin should come close together.
Sorry, I am a horrible person for directions....
Anyhow, I moved the skin up and as I sewed, it came together great...but sa you can see there are other factors that may explain why your skin isn't fitting.
Sorry to here about all the problems. I have been using McTan now for some time and have had pretty good luck, some shrinkage but all in all no real complaints here. I salt twice, pickle, shave, pickle again, neutralize, slop on some tan and I have been leaving it on overnight, rinse briefly and mount.
I was going to suggest to the original post that possibly he was mixing the first measurement with the second, and getting the wrong form ordered perhaps. But, this business about the tan and pickle reacting, and no stretch, wow. I just dont see it. The funny thing is, when I test something I play devils advocate, meaning I wont go tight to the directions sometimes. I purposely stray a bit, and am careless, just to make the product fail, so as to see WHERE it fails. Im telling you guys honestly I cant see where this is happening for you, and what the difference between yours and my finished product could vary. After Im all done shaving and measuring, I go aheead and up the measurements an inch when ordering, as I know Ill have plenty of stretch and let-out. I dont wanna offend anyone, but I still say its procedural, even though I cant see how, bacause it cant be the tan if it works so well for so many. I wish I had the time, Id say to send a pre-measured green cape and let me do the "usual" to it and see what you thought then. Im baffled.
When all else fails, I guess it is best to call on your friends. This is what I did today. I called Jason Snowberger and asked what he is using for tanning. He said he and Marcus Zimmerman are using McKenzie tan and not having problems with stretch. In fact, he said he also ups his measurements on gameheads by an inch as mentioned above by Bill. As I described my problems and my technique, Jason said it could only be me not shaving the cape thin enough. I got out one of the capes I had earlier had no stretch in and shaved it on my Dakota V as thin as I dared go. After thinning, I had all the stretch I needed to have a loose fit in the cape on a form I previously could not even get it on. I guess it was me after all! You learn something every day.