Injecting duck feet with fiberglass resin?

I would say sure you can. There are many things you could inject feet with. However, the two most used are Masters Blend and a mix of Formaldehyde and Glycerin. Masters Blend seems to do the best for plumping, but has no preservation properties. It takes some practice. Formaldehyde and Glycerin has preservatives, but does show shrinkage. I have heard some use a combination of both.

I know a very good bird guy that uses Smooth Cast. Another option is Fantastic Cast. There's probably endless things that you can inject, but will they produce results that you are happy with.

I just had a conversation with another Taxidermist yesterday as to why no one has invented something that is user friendly and produces better results. Something that plumps, is easy to use, and has preservative properties.

If you do try resin, please post the results.

 

The obstacle to using that type of resin would be the viscosity and the size of the needle to draw it into the syringe.

 

What spencer said, I've tried just about everything. Masters blend is the best that I've used

 

i use resin on feet that are shot to hell. it cures fast and fills ok on small area's. then i inject with fantastic cast. master blend is a mess.

 

if you are taking feet off and mounting separate there is no better way than to freeze dry them.....if you have access to a freeze dry tech........a little d.n. soak and they can be fit to driftwood and will dry without shrinkage.....otherwise white glue or fin backing glue "fin flex" can be thinned and injected with good results...

 

Another option that will get you feet that you don't have to worry about preserving or plumping with injection, is to mold them and cast them. Actually, now that I think about it, you still have to inject them with something to plump them up for casting, so maybe not the best idea, but something that can be done.

 

Wild zone, your post reminds me of an old Rod Stewart song, "Hot Legs."

 

The " perfect foot " is a cast reproduction of the fresh one you have on the bird. While it is not practical ( cost effective) for commercial mounts I do use 2nds for replacements on commercial stuff. And I wouldn't even consider a comp waterfowl mount without cast feet..... and many of my upland have cast feet.

While on the subject... has anyone tried Bird foot injection fluid or Formalin .... Then Masters Blend a couple days later ? Best of both worlds? Preservation and shrinkage control.

 

idbatman, I have had this suggested to me before. It seems like sound wisdom.

 

I use smooth cast 300 I mix I/3 part A with 1/3 part B and 1/3 acetone in a syringe , The acetone thins the mixture down enough to easily push it through any size needle. I inject in the bottom of the heel of the foot .

 

You have a lot of time to work with it. I take the legs off my birds wire them but don't push the wire out the bottom of the foot. I tie them off at the knee with really strong thread and inject my mixture into the bottom of the heal and put a tee pin in the needle hole . After about 10 min. I take the pin out and push the wire out the heel with no leakage. You still have a lot of time to set your legs upon the base that your going to use . You have to take your time so you don't get any blisters when your doing the ejection. If you do it right you can see the mixture go right into the veins of the webs. This works for me, hope it helps you.

 

Let me know how it works out for you. I've tried all the products out there to inject feet with and they all set up to fast. If you mix the smooth cast with acetone you can put it through an insulin syringe.

 

Fantastic Cast injection grade takes hours to set up. once in the feet you have to leave a pin in the injection hole for 12 to 14 hours or it will seep out.

 

Master's Blend

 

If you put Masters blend in the frig or freezer you should get plenty of work time with it. I inject both feet , go back and wipe off any excess, and pose. It doesn't set up super solid for awhile so you have plenty of time to pose as wanted. My main worry with fiberglass resin is getting it off the feathers if you had an oops or it leaked thru the leg juncture. I know laquer thinner will clean MB but not sure about the resin. If you can thin with it you should be able to clean with it but I would definitely do a test before finding out the hard way.