i am mounting a raccoon right now, i dorsal skinned it, i only made a cut down it's back when i skinned it out, i skinned it down to the toe nails, fleshed it good, pickled it, degreased it, and tanned it. flesh side out so the tanning would take good. now that i am done i can't get the feet and toes turned right side out, my question is do i need to cut down the pads to be able to turn the feet right side out? i've read where some people don't cut the pads to avoid sewing. i did check the archives but found nothing pertaining to this problem, would appreciate some input thanks joe
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You don't say what kind of tan you used. However if it was a bath tan like Lutan-f you can leave the toes skin side out until right after you oil them. Once they are the least bit dry they are next to impossible to invert to fur out again. I actually do not leave the feet on any small critters skin side out. Return them to hair side out as soon as you have them skinned out. I tan with Lutan-f and never have had a problem with the toes not tanning.
Chris
Joe, Quit fighting it, and make a couple of short incisions. Often times, we'll (myself included) spend more time trying to avoid a few extra stiches, than it would take us to stich it up in the first place. When working with feet, try making your incision around the outside perimeter of the foot pad, right where the hairline meets the skin line. our goal is to open up the footpad like a little door. This will make it much easier to clean and flesh everything, and when you close up the incision, it will be much easier to blend away the stich line with a little pre-colored sculpting epoxy. Good luck.