First Quail Mount Ever

I'm doing my first stuffed quail mount. I have purchased the RMI video for "Mounting a standing valley quail" and already watched through it once. The process is pretty straight forward and I'm excited to dive in this weekend. I figure with this being my first mount I want to document it here but also use this forum as a Q&A through the process.

So question #1:

How long can I put a quail skin in the refrigerator after I have it skinned and cleaned? My plan is to skin and prep the hides this weekend, take measurements, and order the eyes and body. So I'm looking for a time window on how long they can sit before I put them on the body.

 

Alright I got one of them done but made some mistakes. That's why they call it learning. As you can see in the pic, I ended up accidently cutting the tail off and took the leg bones out because I wasn't paying attention. The plan is to rebuild the leg bone with yarn, hot glue, and wire. I'm going to see if some glue and sticking can work that tail issue.

A road block I ran into is that I can't find Excelsior anywhere to make bodies. I live in a small town and checked target, Walmart, Home depot, and Lowes with nothing to show. Going to Hobby Lobby at lunch to see if they have it. Where are some other spots I should check?

 

Thanks for the support. I was actually able to find a material and make a body to the dementions but unfortunately the skin dried out way too much for me and I scrapped the initial.

I ordered eyes and forms from RMI on 4 December but my order says it's still processing. Is this normal for people who haveordered from them before?

I started another project too and will probably order from another company this time just to guage turn-around time. Any recomendations?

This has been a very fulfilling hobby to decide to learn in the enw year. Thanks for the support and regular contribution of you all.