I am looking for input on how to make the whiskers on my mounts stand out away from the muzzle (so when the mount is dry the whiskers are not laying tight to the muzzle). Is it necessary to flesh around each individual whisker root? I am assuming you make a thin layer of clay in the whisker areas and then try to set the whiskers into that "bed of clay". Is that correct?
Thanks for all the input.
Chris
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hi chris, i usually remove all the heavy wiskers and put them back in after the mount has dried. just an idea though. good luck
Chris,
There are several advantages to removing the whiskers. (1) it allows you to thoroughly and evenly flesh out the muzzle area (2) it allows you to have complete control over whisker placement once the mount is dry (3) it allows you to completely groom the muzzle area prior to placing the whiskers. The one disadvantage is the time factor involved when placing the whiskers during the finishing. Remember to have your reference available when placing the whiskers. I use a small pin or probe tool to punch a small hole, dip the whisker root in 5-minute epoxy and insert it, hold until it sets up. It's time consuming but the end results are great. Good luck.
HH
Flesh as usual, take a wire wheel to the whisker area, imbed them in clay, and now, most importantly, two or three times a day, back brush them so they stand erect. continue until the clay base and hide is dry.
The whiskers are just a device to let the critter know how close something is to it's nose. To that end, each folicle at the base is equipped with several ganglia and other cellular matter that is more complex than that of normal hair folicles. Like George said, lose the fatty tissue and other complex growths at the bases when scraping and cleaning the skin. Use a small tool made by grinding the point off of a mat knife and clean up the area, leaving just the connective tissue between the whisker's root and the folicle. Glue the skin in that area down with a good hide cement applied thinly. Use a hair drier to completely dry the skin in that area after mounting, all the while back-combing and adjusting the whiskers to display them as you desire. Tweak them daily to make sure they remain as you placed them.
what you are doing. If you're doing commercial game heads, do it like george said. If you're doing a nice cat- particularly a larger one and want to spend the extra time to do a better job go with HH but make sure you're getting paid for it.