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Critiques Please

Discussion in 'Beginners' started by J4D3H2, Jun 8, 2023.

  1. J4D3H2

    J4D3H2 New Member

    13
    10
    Indiana
    Posted in the deer and gamehead thread but figured I’d post here too due to lack of comments. This is my first shoulder mount. I had the rack from my 2017ish buck I think. Was able to get a cape and form and took my first shot at a shoulder mount. I stained antlers due to them being bleached by accident years ago. That’s beside the point. Was looking for any newbie to season taxidermist critiques. Only real issue I had was cape was from a 100inch whitetail with much smaller bases than the rack I used. Made sewing at the bases a pain. Other than that I enjoyed mounting it and hope to improve with some constructive criticism. This is a pre finish work picture of course. Appreciate any help.
     

    Attached Files:

    Deadduck likes this.
  2. Frank E. Kotula

    Frank E. Kotula master, judge, instructor

    I’ve used red in these areas that need work
    The eye shape is one, to much clay and skin not tucked in.
    What’s called the tear tuck is open and skin is showing along with the form
    Nose has a dip in it and nostril shape is off and skin not tucked properly.
    Ear, looks like clay work is all shaped work and to low as it’s hard to tell with the pic.
    It’s best to get close up of these areas to assist more in helping you.
     

    Attached Files:

    Mike Powell, Deadduck and msestak like this.

  3. Jean M

    Jean M Well-Known Member

    I do not have near the taxidermy experience that experts like Frank or others here may have , but here are some things to watch.

    The eye shape and depth, I think Frank is right that there was maybe too much clay, making the eye look set in really deep. This is also maybe why you were not able to properly tuck the eyelid skin.
    If you had gotten that skin tucked deeper , then the eyelashes would have been at the right place and position. Right now they are up too high, and angling upward.

    Watch the hair patterns on the ears, especially the right ear. Closer to the base, all the long white hairs flaring up and out is not correct. The left is not perfect bit, but much closer. I have used epoxy glue on several and have struggled when the glue starts to set before getting the skin properly positioned. So a slow setting epoxy glue or hide paste is better for me. It also seems that the right ear is a touch higher, but that might just be because of the hair position.
    That dent in the nose might be a ripple of extra skin, maybe the hide fit loose on the nose pad and you couldn't tuck anymore in to the nostril? If that was the case you could have tried to taxi the skin of the muzzle back towards the eye to tighten up the fit on the nose, which would have given you some slack at the eye(tear duct area) that could have been tucked better.

    If the skin is drum tight in the eye region when wet, It will shrink back a lot more than if it has slack.

    Again, I am not an expert here. But I know how challenging it is starting out.

    Don't take the critiques to heart. I know how hard you worked on this. It can be easy for some pros to forget how hard it is to carry out the basics when starting out.

    You will often see advice on here telling you to buy some dvds.

    I first bought the Ben Mears set. It was very good, then got Joe Meder, and finally bought Rick Carter's whitetail a-z set. It is very detailed.

    I think the Mears video only showed Bondo ears, but Rick carter's shows a couple methods if I recall.
    YouTube has a million videos, but you have to wade through a lot, compared to getting a full start to finish with those other dvds.
    I would highly recommend the Mears or Carter videos, either ones are well worth the money for a beginner.