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This Just Got A Lot Harder...

Discussion in 'Skulls and Skeletons' started by Travis Bowman, Mar 23, 2023.

  1. I decided to do a euro mount of my brothers kill when his wife hunted with him for the first time..
    Just so happened to be a yearling doe.. and after my cleaning process the skull is barely holding together. Sections are already coming apart.

    I'd like to say I'm decent at puzzles but only if I have a picture to look at lol
    Is there anything I can do now? I'm still cleaning the skull and still need to whiten so I don't think I can superglue it just yet.. it's still in one piece for the most part right now ..but once I started taking pieces off I handled it like a live grenade and set it back down until I had a plan lol
    20230323_025053.jpg 20230323_025106.jpg
     
  2. Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

    Macerated only? Not simmered? ... I would say that had to have been a really young animal. On the young ones, the joints are not fully fused together. So far, an easy fix. Get some non colored rubber bands and put those on it to hold it together until you are done. You can also wrap it good with white string to hold it together. Degrease and whiten and then start gluing that loose parts together with Elmer's glue. Just a small bit is needed and use rubber bands to hold the parts together until dry. Use a toothbrush and straight detergent to do any scrubbing and just be gentle. That back piece you have and the front nose bones coming off are common. Fit the pieces back on while still damp, glue and secure/clamp in place. As the bone dries, the joints will also close and tighten.
     
    msestak likes this.

  3. PretiJewel

    PretiJewel New Member

    Can you put the string through the peroxide, or will it react?
     
  4. Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

    Cotton should work as well as nylon or other man made fiber. Just make sure it is white and no dye. Cotton will probably, eventually deteriorate but not in the time you will have it in the peroxide. Cotton will stretch some when it gets wet so the man made fiber would probably be better as it will stay tight. I have used uncolored rubber bands or even zip ties with success. The rubber bands I found were white and probably not natural rubber.
     
  5. Here's how it turned out.
    After this photo It dried overnight.. and I did another round of whitening.
    20230404_030418.jpg
     
    arrow30 likes this.
  6. Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

    It looks pretty good. You might want to wrap it with white cotton string all around to hold the joints together tightly until it all dries.
     
  7. Final product. Now I have to mount it to the plaque and hope it stays together 20230408_235026.jpg
     
  8. Sea Wolf

    Sea Wolf Well-Known Member

    It should stay together. If you can get any parts to move, take a toothpick and work Elmer's down into the joints and let it dry. Not sure if doing this after sealing it with Mop and Glow will work as the glue will be on the surface of the sealer and not the bone.
    It looks pretty good and they are going to be happy with it. When you go to attach it to the plaque, just remember that there are parts that are glued and don't use a lot of force on it.
     
  9. 20230410_010454.jpg
     
  10. 20230410_010719.jpg
     
  11. So the only thing that didn't hold after gluing was one eye . The thin bone around the outside of the eye left side.
    I will still call it a success and won't worry about it.
     
  12. Thank you btw. I don't reply after reading your replies but .. they help.