let me know what you think

Honestly, it looks like crap. The fan is a mess, it's all frayed on the ends, it looks like you didn't groom it at all . If you would have plucked the quills out of the a$$ of that thing and lined everything up perfectly, spent 25 cents in bondo or hot glue putting it back together, it would have looked allot nicer then what you have now. Honestly, pluck the feathers out of the a$$ and rebuild it, lay it all out even and put a dab of bondo or hot glue on the quill bases. It will look much better.

 

Different but cool.....
As far as pulling all the tall feathers out.....lol.....Yeah then charge the guy $350.-

 

thats the only way he knows how to talk, he got into this in another post once before, i remember the avatar. as for your mount, its different, and to pull the tail feathers together better, use steam, boil some water and hold your fan over the steam, using your fingers close the gaps in each feather at the tip, it will give it a cleaner look. good luck, Russ

 

I like the idea of your wood work. It is differant. Although a little bulky to me i like the way your thinking. As for the fan just take it out and redo it. Take your feathers completely free from the skin, Pin them to a board or cardboard in the correct position. Then either use some bondo or hot glue to replace the skin that held the tail feathers. Like wildlife taxid said use steam to fix the ends of the feathes. You can do that when you have the feathers apart.

 

looks pretty nice to me.. definitly different.. but i like different.. same old crap gets boring.. as far as the feathers.. thats why im afraid to mount a birdy:-/

 

still deciding if I like it or not... I like the wood work, do not get me wrong... just still on the fence with the combo.

I personally perfer a little more contrast (lighter wood tone) to try to make the colors of the feathers stand out a little more.. it might be the pic, but it looks kinda dark... cannot tell.

as for the grooming tips given - they will give you a cleaner appearance on the mount... just take your time...

 

I am tracking with you Bama.. and have done several items (euro mounts and such) where I was told to feel free to do whatever as I was doing them for practice... they got a freebie (except for cost of materials) and i got practice.. win/win...

 

forgot to add one thing , the only thing i dont care for is the different color of woods, if you could have made the sheild portion look aged like the long backboard peice i feel it would have looked better or vice versa, i hate to mix and match wood colors like that, other than steaming the feathers like i told you earlier, i think he would be very happy with it, as it is different and that is what he wanted, Russ

 

do you have an extra toothbrush lying around? Brush your feathers with that, it works great!
I'm also on the fence with the wood, I do like the wood, but I think it takes away a bit, especially from the beard which is almost lost in the wood.

 

My reply did help, I told you how to improve. Did I call you a name? Who do you care where your advice comes from? Be it a preacher or me, good medicin sometimes doesn't taste good. I did not bash you, just the tail, don't be so thin skinned. Some of us don't have "flippen people skills".
I found that if I pluck the quills and clean them, and rebuild the tail, it can be made next to perfect. And you won't have that big thick hunk of fat filled tail to cure and dry out with borax.

 

Honestly bamaboy, I'm digging this idea. The piece of wood you chose for the front...the lines in it match the lines in the feathers. Yes your technique needs work, but the idea, I like! I don't like the larger piece of wood in back though...it throws the balance off somehow. I too am sick of the "standard" mount with a shiny piece of wood in the front. Right now I do the hot glue/bondo method & put leather on it, some times some bead work or burning. I really like your idea though and it's one I'll keep in mind, especially with the new turkey season coming up. Thank you for sharing.

 

Your imagination is your limitaion You r thinking taxidermy is a way to show some of your artistic qualities I am sure you will refine this as long as your customer likes it that is the key. Do not take the plucking comment too rash I pluck every one of mine and use a little of the other feathers cleanened up (skin cleaned up ) and put in front of them. it takes no time and once you set your fan and tweek the feathers they are set no dry time.