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Help with crumbling skull

Discussion in 'Skulls and Skeletons' started by nuclearjunky, Nov 13, 2014.

  1. Nov 13, 2014 #1
    nuclearjunky

    nuclearjunky Member

    56
    1
    Hey Guys,

    I got a bleached bear skull that appearantly has been cooked to long. The bone material is very spongy and easily breaks and crumbles. Especially, bone material around the canines completly broke away. Do you know what material I could use to repair this damage and to make it invisible to casual onlookers? I am looking for a material that is inconspicious when dried, having a color similar to the bones. It should be possible to apply it easily to the damaged areas and to plastically form it in a way that it imitates missing bone parts.

    In addition to this, do you know how to prevent further crumbling of the skull?
     
  3. Nov 13, 2014 #2
    joelamping360

    joelamping360 Member

    108
    0
    White apoxie sculpt or fixit sculpt
     

  5. Nov 13, 2014 #3
    Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

    13,609
    1,774
    Taxachusetts
    The only thing that will work on a skull damaged this badly is a soak in paraloid. You have to do this first before you attempt to restore any missing parts. The more you handle it right now, the more you are destroying it. Set it aside and don't handle it further until you have done this. You will also need a gallon of acetone to mix the paraloid crystals in once you have gotten it. Look in the archives on here for paraloid. There are a lot of threads on it.
     
  6. Nov 15, 2014 #4
    nuclearjunky

    nuclearjunky Member

    56
    1
    Thank you for the answer. I thought about using stuff like paraloid to protect it. Unfortunately, it is not allowed to buy paraloid in Germany for private puposes. Laws on chemicals are very tough.

    I got to fix the inner nasal bones that have been lose, but nearly complete. Then, I used some kind of gypsum to replace missing skull parts. It doesn't look perfect, but it worked. Hope it will get white when dried.
     
  7. Nov 15, 2014 #5
    Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

    13,609
    1,774
    Taxachusetts
    Not allowed? How silly. I would not consider paraloid a chemical even. It is clear, small crystal beads of the resin. Check and see on buying it in the crystal form. It is also sold already in solution which I can see being illegal to ship.

    Try contacting these people www.museumservicescorporation.com/scat/co.html Scroll down to paraloidB-72. The part you want is F4022-001. The others are solutions with solvents and would not be legal to ship. You will have to use either acetone or alcohol to make your own solution once you got it.