Turkey mount- behind the scenes

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

I'd like to share a photo of a behind the scenes turkey mount. This may be the difference between a cheap mount and a not so cheap mount...

 

Many mounts are not "preened"

 

They are quickly sewn up, feathers land where they land, and they are returned to customers for a "commercial" quality mount that most hunters love.

 

The step above would be to spend a few hours preening the feathers. By taking tweezers and adjusting each individual feather into their proper location will make all the difference in a bird mount.

 

The goal is to go from this.... to this:

 

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[06roadking]

Jeez Jay...a few extra hours at $3.25 an hour only makes a good mount like $10 more than the commercial. Can't believe most wouldn't go for it.

[Lunatic]

How do you make the individual feathers to stay where you move them to? 

[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

How do you make the individual feathers to stay where you move them to?

The inside of the skin has been fleshed to the point there is no membrane holding the quills together. They are free to move anywhere and usually stay from friction of the feather above and below .

the tip of the back where the feathers stand up straight has a whole tube of liquid nail adhesive smeared under the skin to grab all the quills and hold them up.

 

Pins, tape, string, cardboard, screen, cotton, wires...or any other means of holding feathers in place are common in bird mounting.. do whatever it takes to make them stay where they need to be to look real.

 

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[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

Not sure if you all. Otice the difference between the 2 photos. ..

I was showing the wing feathers... 1st pic has them all messed up, 2nd photo shows them all lined up correctly, and stacked like shingles on a roof to help shed water off them in the rain.

 

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[JerseyJaysTaxidermy]

See.... these feathers are done and lined up.. 1st photo they are not...

 

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[Lunatic]

The inside of the skin has been fleshed to the point there is no membrane holding the quills together. They are free to move anywhere and usually stay from friction of the feather above and below .

the tip of the back where the feathers stand up straight has a whole tube of liquid nail adhesive smeared under the skin to grab all the quills and hold them up.

 

Pins, tape, string, cardboard, screen, cotton, wires...or any other means of holding feathers in place are common in bird mounting.. do whatever it takes to make them stay where they need to be to look real.

 

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Thanks

[MightyOak]

Dam thats alot of feathers to move into the right position looks time consuming. I guess you need to do this with all birds.make a big difference in final look of the mount

Awsome work as usual jay.

 

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