First Articulation: Red-Tailed Hawk

this is an awesome thread. I don't know the names of all of the bones and it seems you have to be a surgeon to know them but I am taking interest in articulation and will be referring back to this and those of you who are the masters of articulation. I have a swan currently being mailed to me for articulation, I'm a bit nervous about it.

 

Sounds like an awesome project, Native! Be sure to post lots of pics when you begin and update everyone as you work on it. I'm sure plenty of people here would be glad to give advice and tips as you go along, and we'd all love to see it.

 

Ben,

This post is wonderful! Thank you for sharing! May I ask how you connected the skeleton together? What kind of wire did you use and what gage? Did you use glue or wire for all the joints. Did you drill holes? I'd also love to know what your process for preparing the bones was. Maceration? Beattles? Degreasing, etc!

- Emz

 

Poor Ben was last on here November 22, 2012. No email address listed so not sure how you would contact him.

 

Welcome back Ben and congrats on all the life changes.

 

Hah .. I figured a baby was in the works because of the pictures I found on your site when I back tracked from the hawk pictures. Welcome back. Saw baby pics and went, "Yep .. someone has his hands full."

 

Thanks Ben! Glad I dragged you back! Hopefully life will settle down for you here soon!

 

Hi ..I just registered here, & this is my first comment post.
I'm wondering if anyone from this conversation is still active to discuss
this subject.
Thanks, Jen

 

Hi Jen,

Most of us are still around.

 

Thanks for replying, that's great to know! I will certainly be having questions & I'm so glad to have found this forum.
I have no experience other than I've always collected dead things & sometimes I clean them up ...but this bird is special and I want to honor it by putting it back together, & finally get my feet wet with something I've always wanted to learn how to do.
My first & main concern is screwing it up & then becoming discouraged.
I don't know where to begin & don't want to just wing it alone with Internet, because I have a bad habit of diving into projects & hoping for the best, then having to work backwards if I make mistakes; but I know with this one the risk of losing irreplaceable parts is to high for me to do that, so I want to be very careful here.
Can you recommend a beginners book &/or a comprehensive website to at least get me started?
And please feel free to offer any & all advice you have for me, especially on the "Don'ts"
Thanks, Jen

 

Thanks for the book lead!
Is there a mechanism for receiving notifications on here? Or do ya just have to keep checking back in? I'm finding navigating around this site a bit challenging

 

Navigating isn't too hard once you get used to it. Best thing to use is the "Advanced Search". Not the regular one at the top of this page. The Advanced Search allows you to select only certain forum areas and is a lot better at using your search terms. There is a wealth of information on here. As for books, The Bone Building books are great. http://www.theboneman.com/. I have several of them and they are very good.

Don't hesitate to ask questions on here. You can even try searching for something like "bird skeleton articulation" or something similar. There are several avian skeletons done on here and more than one has a start to finish set of pictures. There are several bird artists on here that do incredible work.

Depending on how "special" your bird is (hint if it is a raptor or native bird) it is probably wise not to say what you are working on. Raptors especially and most any other native bird are all illegal to work with.

For your message settings, click on the "messages" link to the right of your name. You will see a box marked "Preferences" and you can set it to send email notifications from there.

 

@ Sea Wolf
Thanks for the info I'm excited & nervous to get this going once everything is finished cleaning. One initial question I have before I go to far, is that during my first degreasing some of the claw sheaths were softened so much that they came off either completely or partially; some are still in tact though & even with subsequent soakings are still hanging tough- -is there something stronger I can use to remove the rest with, or is patience the more simple solution? I would've preferred them to have remained, so I'm a little disappointed.

 

As Ben said. Once the claws are softened you should be able to slide them off. During maceration this is usually on the second or third day. I hope you kept the pieces as you might be able to get them mostly back together. Degreasing will continue to soften them and they might disintegrate further.