An outstanding free instructional video has recently been completed by Brian Hendricks. It shows all of the steps for mounting a lifesize red fox, and can be viewed at the end of this article.
In May of 2015, Brian Hendricks of Scottville, Michigan joined an elite group of taxidermy artists who can truly be considered to exist in rarefied air. Only the best of the best have achieved the honor of winning the Master of Masters Invitational at the World Taxidermy Championships®. This unique competition is open only to former World Champion taxidermists, previous Master Division First Place winners, and World Show judges. It is judged by a secret vote of the Master Division competitors, arguably the largest and most knowledgeable group of diverse taxidermy experts ever assembled in one place. When the votes were tabulated, Brian’s beautiful and amazingly soft grey fox was the big winner and earned Brian his second gold Akeley medallion. (He previously won a Best in World title in 1999 with Jamie Flewelling and Randy Wolfe for the Collective Artists Division).
Brian’s grey fox reclining on a limb impressed the Master Division competitors enough to bestow the Master of Masters Award.
Brian joined an impressive list of winners of this award, which read like taxidermy royalty:
Previous Master of Masters Winners
1984 Frank Newmyer
1985 Wendy Christensen
1986 Vic Heincker
1987 Robert Holshouser
1988 Kenny Asproth
1992 Ed Thompson
1995 Kent Reedy
1997 Randy DeSormeau
1999 Stefan Savides
2001 Mike Orthober
2003 Uwe Bauch
2005 Don Stevens
2007 Mike Orthober
2008 Uwe Bauch
2009 Ken Walker
2011 Dawayne Dewey
2012 Robert Stein
2013 Clark Schreibeis
2015 Brian Hendricks
World Show Master of Ceremonies Russell Knight of Alaska presented Brian Hendricks with his Master of Masters Award.
Receiving the Master of Masters Award for a fox mount was peer validation of Brian’s stature as a top innovator in mammal taxidermy. His groundbreaking mounting techniques developed into a new system for assembling lifesize mammals, with ingeniously designed mannikins, face mounting systems, head attachments and earliners. He sculpted an extensive line of bobcat, gray fox and red fox forms, in both conventional and Easy-Set® versions, which have been positively received in the industry. These innovative mannikins are available in a wide variety of sizes and poses, along with pre-made custom habitat bases to match each display.
Many of Brian’s newer mannikins feature a unique head attachment which allows for different poses from the same mannikin. In the short video above, Brian demonstrates this benefit on one of his bobcat forms.
In the following 3 hour video series, Brian Hendricks demonstrates every detail of mounting a beautiful lifesize red fox.
Recently, Brian filmed a series of 25 short videos in his studio showing every step in the mounting process. These in-depth presentations are shot from Brian’s point-of-view and show each close-up detail of every step in high-definition. When viewed in their entirety, the series is over three hours long, but they are broken into easy-to-watch chapters which can also be viewed individually. Listed below are links for the individual chapters, if you want to jump to a particular video in the series:
Step 1 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Assembling a Form in Minutes – 3:39
Step 2 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Tail Attachment – 3:28
Step 3 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Two Heads … One System – 3:12
Step 4 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Form to Base – 4:53
Step 5 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Measuring Skin for Ordering Form – 3:52
Step 6 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Preparing Skin for Mounting – 4:43
Step 7 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Patching Skins, Small Hole Repair – 9:47
Step 8 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Putting the Skin On – 7:57
Step 9 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Creating Realistic Toes – 7:54
Step 10 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Re-Creating Male Genitalia – 2:32
Step 11 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Easy Tail Sewing – 7:53
Step 12 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Securing Mount to Base – 2:54
Step 13 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Using Hide Paste to Secure Leg Skins – 9:24
Step 14 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Adding Some Life Under the Skin – 2:56
Step 15 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Alive – Taxiing the Skin Is Key – 2:33
Step 16 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Toe and Foot Expressions – 10:04
Step 17 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Test and Prep Head Form – 5:57
Step 18 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Predator Eye Set and Eyelids – 6:15
Step 19 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Conventional or Easy Set® – 4:19
Step 20 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Prepping Ear Cartilage – 2:42
Step 21 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Painting Ear Cartilage – 2:24
Step 22 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Ears – Working Hair Patterns – 10:43
Step 23 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: How to Create a Look … The Head – 37:39
Step 24 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: The Fun Part – Nail That Expression – 12:41
Step 25 ~ Brian Hendricks Red Fox: Down to the Last Whisker – 13:19
To watch the full series of this outstanding procedural seminar, click on the video player below. Brian has packed so much information into these excellent demonstrations that you are sure to come away with new knowledge and fresh ideas that you can incorporate into your next fox mount.
To learn more about Brian’s new red fox mannikins, visit the McKenzie website at http://www.mckenziesp.com/Red-Fox-C3399.aspx.