I received a Gray Fox mount in today that's just about the uglyest thing on four legs. I was asked to repair the eyes which are bugged out with no eyebrows and the ears that are folded down at the top due to no ear liners. The mount is a year old and done by someone no longer in business, this is just two of many problems I have to fix. I know I can soften the skin with a wet rag and let it soak but don't know how it was tanned. Any repair recommendations on the eyes and ears will be appreciated.
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You are being asked to fix somthing that was marginal to begin with, so you are probably already on the losing end of the proposition.
The ears can be soaked up, carded and allowed to dry in the correct shape and may come out passable. The eyes, on the other hand, are your biggest hurdle. Not knowing your skill level, you may be able to soak up the head, pull the eyes, and re-set them through the eye holes. If not, you are going to have to untuck the lip skin, pull it over the top of the head and reset the eyes that way.
I hope your customer doesn't blame you for his fox looking like crap even after you do your best to fix some other bozo's work. Make sure he knows up front that the results are not guaranteed, as you have no way of knowing what will happen to the hide when you soak it up.
Good Luck!
Bob Mead
Bob, This is one job I would turn down. For sure it's a dry preservative mount and correcting a poorly done fox will result in good time spent to arrive at possibly poor results. BUT you have taken the job so turn it into a learning experience and see what you can do with it. Like Bob Mead said, be sure that your customer knows you can't do miracles and make no guarantee that the thing won't get worse. I would soak up the whole head and shift stuff around and rework it till it looks as good as you can do in say an hour or so. Longer than that it will probably start to fall apart. Good luck and enjoy, Aaron H.
I'm thinking the same and appreciate the help.