I have a very nice male otter that I would like to do for competition. I have skinned him with a ventral incision and plan on a standing or swimming pose. This will be the first otter that I have ever mounted. This will be my first competition mammal piece. Was hoping that someone out there with more otter/competition experience than I would share a some advice/tips/secrets to a good otter mount. I have mounted a fair amount of bobcats and squirrels.....this being my third year in business....taking in about 75 pieces last year. So i am not a total rookie, just when it comes to the otter. Also, would I tube out that otter tail or split? Thanks for any advice.
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I'm no competitor, but you should've asked this one before you skinned your otter. For the mount you propose, IMO, a tube cut is a necessity so as not to expose your seamwork to a judges critique. As for the tail, it's going to have to be split. Otter tails don't peel out like squirrels and it will ahve to be done all the way to the very tip.
I would recomend that you case skin it, but you must split the tail and flesh it well...fat, oily...#$%#$@$^ things. Anyway, once tanned you just cut your forms front legs off and insert them into the skin. When you cut them use an angled cut/notch that can be glued back together with some strength. Epoxie or bondo to re-attach the rest of the form. Use clay or Apoxie sculpt for the toes before you insert the legs and use good hide paste all over. On my last otter I used hide paste for the dorsal side and most of the rest of tail, except for the tail seam where I used Tech Bond and it worked great...just do a small section at a time and make sure you get it back tight together. I dried my mount slow and this prevented any pulling apart.