Has anyone tried using clay for ears, instead of plastic earliners or bondo method. Just curious as to the pros and cons. Thanks.
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I have seen some foxes, roedeer and the like with ears filled with clay, these were old and ugly mounts, and the ears were indeed very much to thick and unnatural looking. I think it is impossible to get a smooth, thin, yet strong enough ear on a deer or fox sized animal using critter clay. On small critters like squirrel, mink and similar, I use epoxy clay.
My advice to you is to use quality earliners with a good epoxy adhesive.
B S
I use clay in the ears of my squirrels,mink,and otters but that is about it.I wouldnt try it in anything with ears bigger than that.
....Based product, like Sculpal or Apoxy Sculpt. It will have more strength and "some" adhesive property, clay has neither of these.
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l see no point in using clay as an earliner substitute or cartilage support. Like the above, l have see the results of lumpy clay filled ears , and apart from its bad anatomy it had no adhesive support.
With earliners and epoxies available , there should never be a need to consider the use of clay as an earliner substitute.
On most game animals l use earliners,,, small marsupials and micro bats l use 5 minute epoxie glue resin with fine chop mat, and only last week, l got beautuful transparent ears on a white domestic cat using the same material, and removing the ear cartilage completely from half way up the ear down to the ear base.
Not a good idea-for one thing-it is not cost effective (compared to bondo).
It will break easily if it is bumped or hit accidently-critter clay is brittle. Don't get me wrong. Critter clay is a great product and I use it a lot-but not for ear liners. In my opinion, if done right, bondo is the way to go (for commercial work). It takes a bit of practice-but it is the fastest, most cost effective way to go. Hakim
Great info ! Thanks. -- Curt