To finish a whitetails nose, how many of your guys/gals use only mod podge vs. spraying the finished nose with a gloss or satin topcoat. It seams to me the gloss mod podge looks good enough to me. Thanks
STEVE
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Doing the nose is more than just putting a gloss or using modge podge. In order for me to get a good nose there are a sequence of applications that must be done first in order to achieve that good nose.
Usually the application of modge podge or ultra seal is to shape the nodules on the nose. After the nose receives it's base colors then I apply the ultra seal to create the nodules. Then I paint each individual nodule after they have dried or crystal clear. Then after that dries I apply another coat of ultra seal to bring up the valleys half way to the top of the nodules. Then I paint again to bring out that darkness of the nose. This process is the most critical because you can make it to dark or black. Then if I am satisfied with that stage I will apply gloss.
A good nose takes a lot of practice and the application of modge podge and gloss is a necessity in my nose making. Good Luck because it isn't easy to do.
John Griffith
www.griffithtaxidermy.com
Just wandering, seems like alot of work if its commercial mount. Most customers would'nt know the difference. I'm not trying to upset anyone, just thought i'd ask.
I have to give it to you! You do produce a good looking nose. What do you use for your base colors?
Eddie Johnson
www.backcreektaxidermy.com
I checked out your site, awesome noses! John, do you do that procedure on every mount or just competition pieces?
I had to take a deer I had mounted by some hack
here in Austin to another taxidermist to redo because
the first guy didn't figure anyone, specifically myself,
would notice his crummy work.
The other taxidermist is redoing the eyes and ears to.
Thanks for those nice comments about my noses. Usually it takes me about 15-20 minutes to do a nose. That's because I have to force heat onto the Ultra Seal to dry it so that I can continue to the next step. Some comments I noted were; Was it worth that time? Oh, yes indeed. It's like anything else and that is and my motto is that "Anything worth doing is worth doing Well". Once you learn to do a nose well you will grow in confidence and they become much easier to do. Remember if youto get that top dollar you got to do things right. When I say right I mean having those ear-butts placed just right; having those eyes sculpted to the expression and lastly having that Nose stand out and bite you. When you can do this you have a top notch game head and you should be able to get that $500.00 to $650.00 deer head. That's due to the fact that you have done everything just about perfect. Believe me there is a market out there for top of the line work. People will seek you out or hunt you down when yourworkis what I call top of the line. The only trick is you Must be able to produce it. My thing is you can watch all the video's in the world; but, when it comes time for you to apply your hands at doing this it's a whole different ball game. Remember Taxidermy is a hands on skill and it's 100 per cent "APPLICATION".
My nose schedule is fairly simple. When you take a close look at a deer's nose you will notice primarily three distinctive colors. Ofcourse, the black but underneath that black you will notice especially in between the nodules and the lower half of the nose that it's pinkish in color. Now, on the upper half when you look closely you will notice that in between those nodules that it takes on a different color in what I call grayish. All these colors must be applied in order to achieve that realism that's so necessay in making that high quality nose.
First of all I paint the lower half of the nose pink. My schedule for pink is using natural flesh about 1 inch in a regular spray bottle with 10 drops of gill red. This in my opinion is a true pink. Then I paint the upper half with netural gray. The next step is creating those nodules. In my opinion about 99% of the taxidermist cannot do this step properly. When I look at that deer's nose pad and the shape of those nodules I see what I call flat pancakes. You must be able to create these nodules just as you see them. I use an applicator that I bought from Wal-Mart for $2.97. This applicator is the best thing that I have found for this use. It doesn't run out all over the place and it's very easy to clean up. There are all kinds of gimmicks out there but this is by far the easiest for me to use. All I do is just squeeze out enough to create that flat pancake and just keep on truckin... The nodules are smaller in size toward the lower part of the nose. They can be fairly large on the upper half of that nose. If you have a question about size get you a good photo and take a real good look at it.
After I have created the nodules I then use a hair dryer so that I can dry them out quickly. That usually takes about 5-10 minutes. After the drying I then paint each nodule with a lightly black. Then I take a worn out tooth brush and go all over the nose pad to create all nodules the same tone of color (light black). After doing that I then take a small firm brush and fill up that valley that is surrouding the nodules with Ultra Seal. I only want to fill up that valley approximately 1/2 full. Then we get that hair drying and put the heat to it until it dries crystal clear.
Now step back and look at what you have. You have a nose pad that you can see that has all the necessary colors to it. But, you are no where near that high quality nose. Because now all you can see is actually a lot of pink, gray and those lightly painted black nodules.
This next step is what will make your nose or ruin it. It's all in the application of how much black should I apply. I start with my air brush with this black paint at the top rear and lightly apply it. I start from left to right and I can see the paint hit that nose and I am very cautious about how much is enough and how much is to much. This is the most critical stage and it must be done spraying very lightly and in gradual amounts. Oh, yes I have had to redo several noses in the past. But, once you get the hand of it they become fairly easy to do.
The last step is using that glass. Everyone should know that when you use any type of gloss you must use approx 7 per cent retarder in it. If you don't it will not come out of your brush properly. Usually it appears all cloudy etc when you don't use retarder.
Now go ahead and apply that gloss with the assistance of that hair dryer. Heat causes colors to be more bright when applied. So, now you should have what I call a high quality deer nose that's really not that difficult to replicate. Good Luck
That's my Schedule and I am stick to it.
John Griffith
www.griffithtaxidermy.com
That was one of the best posts I've seen here in a while. Thanks for sharing your nose painting method with everyone.
Copy and paste, print and going to the shop!
Your awesome! I printed this page and will try this method on my next mount. Thanks for setting me straight on this topic. The more I look at my method now the more I see a need for improvement. Maybe get paid more for my mounts. Thanks again, Todd