I have been reading about using caulking as hide paste on game heads. Has anyone used this method and what was the out come? Was there any drumming? Please leave any feedback on this topic. Thanks!
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I have used latex calk before and it will work. Give long working time, but will get drumming if not watched. The epoxy glues work better, and are more reliable !
go to Wall-Mart for $1.69 you get a tube of DAP latex caulking, comes out white dries clear ( on the tube it is clear ) do not use the white the white will stay white. If you change the lable on it you can call it ( FIN BACKING CREAM ) latex caulking. I use it for hide paste never a problem, to each their own.
.....As hide paste. At best the caulk will hold a hide in a situation where the skin is not stressed, that is not pulled tight. Caulking is a FILLER, that is what it is designed for, it does have "some" adhesive properties. If it's "siliconized" it has even less adhesinon that regular caulk. Silicone is in it for durability, not adhesion. The "best" caulk for adhesive qualities is the most expensive, NOT the cheap stuff. Personally I would never use it for anything but fish. If you must use something from the hardware store, get the best flooring adhesive you can find, in a can, not in a tube. And DON"T use it with DP, only with tanned skins.
Why cant you use floor adhisive with DP just courious thanks jerry
Latex caulk is great for shape enhancement on small stuff and as a filler for large stuff but there is no holding strength for the high stress areas like a deer's head or the jawline of a mammals head.
I do use a lot of caulk to get stomach contours and certain bird feathers to set . I have some big whitetails that I pumped the neck sides up with caulk and they are just fine after about 12 years now.
.....It's the raw skin! The surface of the raw skin, unlike tanned skin, doesn't have the surface adhesion with the glue. That's why you should use epoxy with raw skins.
The use of caulk as a hide paste on gameheads has come up on this site many times. Always some strong opinions on it and I have one too. I tore down several of my old display mounts this year. They were mounted about 7 years ago using CHEAP latex caulk. Capes were tanned and the manikins were roughed up well. Taking these mounts apart proved one thing to me for sure. Caulk can be a very effective adhesive. Capes were very difficult to remove and the caulk even caused the skin to tear in some places before releasing. The old manikins which I will use for carving smaller things from have lots of caulk bonded to them. Plain old latex caulk may not have been developed as an adhesive but when applied (with good coverage) to a well roughed form it can indeed do a good job. Now, I still use some caulk on bears, coyotes and similar lifesize but for deer I like the Epo-Grip and Buckeye. One thing to note is that while caulk may seem inexpensive a gallon of caulk in tubes is not a lot different than a gallon of Buckeye in cost. Just my thoughts, Aaron H.
Have being using All purpose caulking for years and as Aaron says that stuff can really grip, I get no drumming whatsoever, but if a suspect an area of the maniking is too deep, After taxiing the skin where I want it ,I use a strip of dry wall paper folded over twise and staple a long strip along the muscles on the nech and areas where I want the skin to stick real good, after overnight, the caulking will hold the skin in place, samething on the face area I cut small strips of a dry wall paper role and use a thin staples and pin the muscles of the face and veins in mammals, they sure show all muscles the next day when you remove the staples and then you can comb the hair so it doesn't show the staple holes.