Yesterday,"Dave", poted a question,asking about hand built bodies.I'm amazed that the very first response by Kim, was "Why?".After a few posts as to why, George asked " Why would i ever want to go backwards?",then aparently took offence to my reference to "cookie cutter forms",Then, proceeded to spout off about my " better than you mentality",and my refuseing to accept that "90% of all taxidermy work in America is done by people who dont use my methods.Then challenged me to explain the advantage of hand wraping bodies over him altering a factory form.So, George, here goes it.First,I never said my method was better,but rather that it simply opens up more options as far as original poses.Secondly, I dont look down my nose @ others for useing factory forms! I use them my self as well.Thirdly,as far as anyone hand carveing a form,I consider that prosses in the same light as a hand wrapped bodie,or, any other method for that matter.It's KNOWLEDGE! So my question to you is this.Why dis-regaurd a prosses,or denie some one that knowledge ,simply because there may be newer methods?Ever heard of the anticatherum mechanism?Where might the world be today ,had it not been lost @ sea for nearly 2000 yrs? We even today, don't understand it's complete function.I don't consider understanding the origin of any prosses "going backwards" ,But rather ,allows for an apreciation of where the whole prosses started.
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Ed, there's nothing wrong with learning why or how a process was started-just don't let all the negativity get to ya,most folks mean well but process is spelled P R O C E S S ,L.O.L. The info.on anticatherum mechanism made me think you were a professor or somthing until I seen prosses....just kidd'in,you have a beautiful day-John W.
Why did Dave's question about FILLING a skin with material and wire become a contest about who uses customizing? Hes talking the old (and NOT accurate) fill method, and somewhere in between someone assumed he meant hand wrapping on an armature. Thats quite an assumption, and it went downhill from there. My other question, and I ask this alot...why do we need a second post for this? Whats wrong with continuing to post on the same thread, so everyone can follow?
Now, back to the ORIGINAL point, shall we? Filling a skin with material often produced bean bag-like mounts, Dave. Some methods even allowed for the fill to be removed later for a more permanent (spelling) material later. The mammals just dodnt look good. Later most of us guys came along learning to make a wrapped body from a wire armature or even a cleaned skeleton. either using the skull or carving a head from foam. Ahhh yes, foam! Then we started carving it all out of foam, and finally, using the more obvious and most accurate choice, foam bodies from molds. Most of the commercial foam bodies are ready to go from the box, and simple alterations are still commercial friendly. Some guys use a combination of foam bodies with fill, wrap or carved alterations along with them. Most successful studios alter almost all the forms they use nowadays. Sometimes we get lucky and a commercial form is "ready to go" as far as pose, but not too often.
Finally, No Dave, I sure dont know of any instruction that way. May I suggest some very outdated taxidermy books at the library? That would be about it, for the filler method. I know it would be good reading, as well as enlightening!
Bill I see your point about keeping all answers about a post all together in THAT post so that it easily followed. Another point, alot of us on here rarely go back a day or two days to reread an argument like was going on. I believe in some instances a fresh post for the current day is good.
Good point!