lips are pulling on elk mount used epo grip for the glue, but also used a roll of clay to replace tissue around lips. mainly bottom lips are pulling. need some one to explain the process so I don't have this problem any more. also using fan to dry because customer is impatient and doesn't want to wait for it to ambeint air dry. any suggestions would be appreciated. thankyou. some more info tanned it with liqua-tan pickled with formic acid, thinned lips I thought enough, also stapled around mouth.
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Without seeing it it's hard to tell, but more than likely you didn't thin this area enough. Needs to be thin... see through thin.
tell costumer he needs to wait cant hurry a good thing. all my mounts are dried slow. it has help keep things where they were put. after one day air drying i drape a plastic bag over the head. dont tie it shut or any thing but slow down the drying prosses. dont slow it down to the point you need to worry about mold. thin skin, use a good hide paste and take your time, cant lose that way. hope this helps.
That the clay would be the "weakest link". Being the clay was applied to the form and the glue was applied to the clay and hide, the clay most likely let loose. next time if you have to build the lips up , try sculpting epoxy. Make sure you let it dry first though. And tell the impatient customer to RELAX!
PB
The above answers are all correct, Get the lips very thin,don't dry with a fan, and also dont cut a very wide lip slot. I just use my skinning knife to cut the slot then open the the back corners up a little bit because there is a little more skin to tuck there.
thankyou, very much for the info. what would be a good way to thin the lips that thin?
A sife tool is the way to go. With very lttle practice, you can thin the tanned hide with very little worry abot holes. I always use it to thin the nose, lip, eye areas when they come back from the tannery. good luck