Been working on a European mount, and I wondered if anyone here seals the skull with anything like polyurethane, etc. Any tricks you would like to share?
Make a mixture of 50/50 Elmer's glue and water and paint it on. Polyurethane will discolor eventually so stay away from that. I still prefer to leave them unsealed though...
You can use a mix of elmers in water and spray it on. Poly works great but can have a light tint(bluish) Krylon works well. Make sure you degrease that skull well before finishing it off.
Thanks, guys. I'll post a pic when I get it done. It's been pretty tedious getting all of the tissue out of the crevices, but it's cool knowing that I don't have to spend 500 bucks for a mount. Still working on the whitening process, but it's getting close to being finished.
Boil it out with some bicarbonate of soda in the water for 15 to 20 minutes max or it will fall apart the easy way to get the bits out use a jet washer carefully!
I simmered it for a long time.......didn't really boil it. I would take it out occasionally and clean what I could off of it. I took it to a power washer after it had simmered for about 4 hours and then simmered it again to clean out the small areas, occasionally taking a brush and the garden hose to the skull to remove pieces. Then I let it soak in a solution of "Salon Care 40" and some basic white powder. I need to do another peroxide treatment, but it is looking pretty good, so far.
I have done about 12 or so skulls and have found that the best stuff to use for tissue removal is Sal Soda, its sold by WASCO taxidermy supply, get all the big stuff off in the boiling water, pick the rest off with a scalple or knife. Whitening can be done two ways, soak in hydrogen peroxside and set in the sun for about a week, or use hair bleach, just a stronger hydrogen peroxide, brush it on leave for about an hour and wash it off. Now , back to your first question, I always clearcote my skulls with an acrylic based spray, they will never yellow and look great. You can get the stuff at Wallmart or any hardware store, it should say right on the can "non-yellowing", just remember acrylic, not poly. Good luck.
I use a spray on sealant from Ace hardware. Can't remember the name of it offhand but it works great. Puts a small amount of shine on it and does not discolor at all. I also spray the antlers with a fine coat so they shine a tad. Makes em look nice. Learned this trick from a taxidermist that my grandpa knew real well.
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