I just did a couple European deer mounts using artificial skulls. They came out so nicely with just a fraction of the time it would have taken to process a natural skull. It took me about 10 minutes to saw off the antler bases, clean them up and apply dry preservatives. Once dry it took me another 15 minutes to attach the antlers to the artificial skull and fill it in with Apoxie Clay. It took another 15 minutes to paint it and attach it to a panel. Even if I factor in the paper work for the specimen, I was still done in less than an hours labor. I'm so impressed by the way they turned out and the savings in time that I am considering doing all my European mounts using artificial skulls. I bought them from McKenzie and they cost about $36. I currently charge $125 for a European deer mount. The cost of the panel is extra, which I pass along to the customer. The extra cost of just under $40 for materials would leave me with around $85 for under one hours labor. That's a lot better than I do on my deer heads at $420.
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how well they turn out (especially the detail).
If anyone has any close-up pics, please send.
I believe a post like that requires some photos.
I had a customer bring in a pair of antlers that had been sawed off at the pedicles. He wanted to know if I could attach them to a skull for a European mount. I ordered the reproduction skull. And I will say with the exception of a lack of depth in the nasal channel (which I plan to eliminate with a dremel) they do look really good.
Just finishing up an Alaskan moose using one of their skulls. It was a challenge to attach them to say the least but but it was my first..
The skull did lack detail (nasal cavities,filled in eye sockets) but for starting off with the split skullcap antlers that were shipped back it looks pretty darned good.
It is a bit more difficult with a 50" moose however..and I used the skull for "cut off" at the pedicles.
I agree that the detail is good, but the nasal cavity is filled in, which in my opinion is not necessarily a real bad thing. The eyes on the deer skulls that I have were not filled in though. Also, with the reproductions, they will probably be more durable than the real thing and there will never be any bad odor. They are also easier to mount to a pannel or pedistal. I'll post some photos in a couple days.
I toyed with the idea of using an repro skull for a whitetail that i shot this past november. He has a strange rack in that the left side is tilted forward about an inch. I was just wondering if using a repro skull is going to work with this one. Although i've never seen one up close, i would think that the spots where you screw in the antlers are symetrical on the skull. My original is off by some. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Regards,
Angelo G.
Without seeing your antlers, I would guess that just about any antlers will fit on one of the artificial skulls. There are two options with them: The ones I have used have a slot where the antler plate goes similar to what are on head mount maniquins. The material that the skulls are made from seem like the same stuff reproduction antlers are made of, so they can be cut to fit and then the gaps are filled in with Apoxie Clay. The other option is a skull that comes with pedicals maily for shed mounting. You could cut off your antlers at the bases and mount them straight with one of those.