I mounted a W.T. deer head about two months ago. It had a broken nose and the customer insisted that I recreate the humped-up nose. I rebuilt it on the manikin with many field notes and apoxy. I groomed the deer for a couple of weeks after mounting. I bag the entire mount so as to let it dry slowly. After a couple of weeks I hung it on the wall until I could mount a couple more before doing the finish work. I noticed today that the lips have pulled apart enough to show the manikin on one side. I would like to know if anyone knows of a way to get the lips soft again? This time I will nail the skin to keep it from moving. Thank you for your help
Hello James,
Sounds like your problem may be more due to overly-large cutting of the lip-slot on the mannikin, and not so much the recreation of the bump above the nasal ridge. My suggestion is - and this will only really work well if you're dealing with a properly tanned or "leatherized" cape - wrap the entire muzzle area with a clean, white terry-clothe towel, that has been wetted with a mild brine solution.
Even better would be a solution of Rittel's "Ultra-Soft" hide relaxer. It was originally designed for relaxing salt-dried and air-dried scalps and skins, but it will work great for this project.
Let the entire muzzle area soften-up to where you can undo all of the lip skin. Completely fill the lip slot with Critter Clay or something similar, and re-scribe the lip slot with a thin modeling tool only. Using a blunt wooden modeling tool, CAREFULLY "stretch" the skin from the underside, by gently scraping the tool on the flesh-side of the muzzle skin - starting at the nasal ridge and working down toward the lip edges.
Once the skin has relaxed and "let-out" enough, re-tuck the lips, starting with the upper lips. After they are tucked, run a bead of gel-type Super Glue along and into the lip slot, where the uppers are secured. Then tuck the lower lips. Use 00-insect pins to secure the lip skins - and let dry. Keep a daily "eye" on their progress. This should do it. Good Luck. John.