I am a begginer and have done several mounts, 2 being bobcats. Each time i have had to much excess hide left over. However i think a little excess hide is a good thing. Last year i killed my first bobcat, and this cat is very special to me because it was a bow/arrow kill. But here is my problem, i cant seem to find a form for it. My measurments are before skinning,
E-N---2in
length N-T--33in
Neck cir.--10in
belly cir.--16in
measurments after salted, tanned(auth.one hour tan)and stretched are
E-N--2in
N-T--37in
Neck--11in
Belly--17in
I need to know what size of form i need to order and where i can get it? So far i have looked in McKenzie,van dykes,research,[a supply company],Jonas,Noonkester,and several other smaller companies and have had no luck finding a form. The problem is the cat was long, tall and skinny and weighed 28lbs. I have never altered a form in ANY way, but i feel i may have to on this one.But i need help and some sort of advice on what i need to do.
Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance,William
First off if you measured the hide correctly I would stay with the original measurements. It's real easy to over stetch a hide as in the manner you did. On a live animal it has excess skin to twist and turn. You could go one size smaller.
WASCO has a couple of forms that come close to your first measurements. I would rather get on of these and just alter the length somewhat only. Keep the skin in a lose fashion as these will even help you get the fur to fluff up better. When you over stretch it kinda wants to lay flat.
If you alter it all that is needed is to cut the middle and add one inch of foam to the manikin. Work the skin closely and you will be on how the fur will lay better and fluff up nice.
When measuring a lifesize hide lay it out flat on a table and measure for grith first. Dont overly stretch, when you do youll notice the length getting shorter. The same happens with the length, the more you pull for a length measurement the grith becomes less. Dont overstretch. I take carcass measurements. A dead animals muscles, lungs and organs are not pumped up due to being dead; that sounded stuip LOL,but the slightly smaller measurment you get makes up for the slight shrinkage you get on the hide after the tanning process. Its a lot easier to taxi a hide on a smaller form than trying to stretch a hide on a over sized one. As Frank said it makes for a better looking mount. Cats espically seem to overstretch after fleshing and tanning. Stick with your original measurements since thats what it was alive..... Paul