I have a mt. lion almost ready to mount. The skin was tanned commercially. While I love the way they clean and tan the hide, I have had problems in the past, with other species, with the skin wrinkling in lumps that don't smooth out nicely like with a home tan. I would not consider home tan for things like mt. lions, full mount coyotes, etc. But how do I make the skin on this lay nice on the form? I have fit the skin to the form, legs and head fit great, but the neck and one side of the torso(it is turned a bit, so the inside) have the lumpy wrinkles that I can't seem to figure out how to smooth. Do I just need a whole lot more soaking time? Thanks.
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Animals have wrinkles. But they have to be put in the right spots and done correctly to look natural. Look at a house cat and you can will get an idea where they go. Breakthrough has some past issues with good reference photos and articles about big cats. Check it out it will show you a lot. When any animal turns the skin will push together if compressed enough it will wrinkle. Cats mt. lion leopards etc. have a lot of loose skin. The skin on the body is loose because the belly and rib area tightens and expands as a cat eats itself full. The skin would get pretty tight if it didn't have loose skin. When the stomach is empty the skin will actually sag and hang on the belly.The loose skin can carry up into the chest and neck. You can work some of the loose skin down to there. You said it had a turn to the head and body. Soft even wrinkles will be added to the side that the animal is turned toward. Also if the front legs are back (standing up hill)or rear legs forward on the body( going down hill) it will cause wrinkles on the side of the body also. Van Dykes has a good hide pase I use for adding wrinkles on cats and African animals. It helps give it a nice even soft look. It's not easy to make it look natural. Remember it isn't a couple big wrinkles, it's usually many smaller ones. Good luck
Not meant to offend, curious if you have mounted any lifesize before?
Anytime the form is turned or twisted left or right there is excess skin on the inside of the turn. Take your hand, bend it towards you and look at your wrist. The outside stretches and the inside wrinkles. Same principal.The excess hide will be no problem with a good hide paste and some "taxiing" of the skin. Create wrinkles in the skin in the appropriate areas. (neck and along the side) Using a blunt flat tool and the hide paste underneath the hide, gradually smooth them out. The fur on the cat should hide most if not all of the wrinkles. You willl see some wrinkles in the neck. Look at a shorter haired domestic cat. Of course you will have cut slots in the "pits" to tuck the skin as well. Get some (a lot) of reference pictures. Cats are one of the most difficult creatures to get to look right. If not done well it will look awful. Good luck with your project!
You must type faster than me.
I mentioned the bend on purpose because I was trying to show that I feel the skin does fit the form, smooth on the off side, wrinkled on the inside. It's just the wrinkles are so STIFF and hard to put where they belong and tuck. I just got a second in ameteur bobcat and my fox pup got highest scoring mammal ameteur with an 87, so that's where I am at with lifesize. I've never done anything bigger than a coyote lifesize, though I have done two 1/2 bear and I had the same large, hard to maneuver WRINKLES! there's that word again. Thanks for the advice, I do cut every pic I see for reference, I'm deffinately trying to learn.
on the competion scores. Make sure you have a liberal amount of paste where the wrinkles should be. Start by making large wrinkles. "Cut" them in half than continue "cutting" until they are the right size. Once your wet hide is on and gets "sucked" to the form the hide should slide around pretty easy and the wrinkles should be a snap.
When you get ready to mount your cat,apply hide paste to the skin in the areas that you already know will wrinkle up,plus on the entire form.This paste will lubricate those wrinkles so they slide better as you manipulate them later on.After the mount is sewn,work the wrinkles,distributing them evenly.Work them two to three times a day until they won't move anymore.You want to end up then with a few,believable wrinkles in the appropriate places,such as behind the front leg.If you can get a fiberglass roller,these work great for rolling out wrinkles.You will be amazed at how much you can get rid of,just by rolling over the wrinkles lengthwise.Someone recently mentioned Ken walker's tip of using a wallpaper roller-same principle.Try it-you won't believe how well it works.Good luck.