I tried the search button but did not find what I was looking for. On test fitting the Waterbuck cape, we came up with a lot of extra skin on each side of the neck just behind the jaw. Also, have a lot of skin were the lower jaw meets the throat. I did cut some relief cuts just right behind the jaw. This is a tanned cape and they shaved it real nice. Everything else fits fine.
Thanks
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Bill, you should never cut any relief cuts in a shoulder mount of any kind. If you have extra skin "and everything else fits" leave it alone. You and make wrinkles in the skin if need be, but I'd bet that if you place your anatomical markers correctly and use a GOOD hide paste, you won't have any extra skin to speak of. This often happens after tanning and stretching. The natural tendency for the skin to "shrink" will make it fit the form anyway. If it's more than than, just form a series of wrinkles. Get some good reference material to work from.
I just completed a shoulder mount waterbuck and am preparing to do a waterbuck pedistal mount this weekend. African game has extra skin, if you look at your reference photos you will really see it. Especially on Eland(god I just did two of the dang things) but waterbuck have it as well although its difficult to see on photos due to the amount of hair. You should put a layer of clay under the chin to about midneck. Also put a layer on the top of the neck where it meets the shoulder. the layer should be about 1/4-1/8" thick tapering down to a smooth edge. The clay can be molded into wrinkles to eat up the extra skin. I saw Ron Shafer do this with a Kudu at the Worlds a few years ago and bought a copy of his video through Breakthrough Magazine. Its a great teaching tool that really helped me.
Hugh