Duck Taxidermy

Step 8: Boraxination

Now we get dirty. Get out your Borax and start pouring it in the duck skin. Rub it around and apply tons of it. Make sure it gets everything fleshy, meaning the tail part, the legs, and the wing part. Make sure you get it in the neck, brain cavity, and eyeholes.

Before i forget, if your ducks head was smashed when you shot it or got the brains out, fill it with clay or stuffing. When the skin dries it will shrink. It would look really bad if the head was sunken in.
Try to make it look natural too.

Dont worry if you get borax on the feathers and cant get it out. You can blow it off when it dries.

Comments

[krelnius]

Hi I was reading this and saw the Borax. I cant seem to find any on E-bay, can you tell me where you got yours and if there is a special type specifically for taxidermy? I am looking to make some necklaces from bird feet with a stone held in the claws.

You look like the guy to ask about it for sure. Also do you have any tips for me at all? Oh, and do you have any idea on how to get the feet to hold a stone or how to attach the necklace cord/chain to the top of the leg?

[MerganserMan]

I'm glad you asked! Borax should be available in pretty much any store, and is usually sold as a laundry aid for drying and sanitizing clothes, and works surprisingly well for taxidermy. There is no special kind made for taxidermy, so I would suggest checking Kmart, Walmart, or Target. Just check where they sell detergent. 

I like the project you are working on and would be glad to help. Depending on what feet you are using and what type of bird, posing them will vary. The first thing would be to make a slit in the middle of the underside of the foot and use a pair of pliers to pull out the tendons, I think I have that in one of the steps. Taking those out allows you more freedom to pose them. You could probably put wires in the feet if they are somewhat large, but if you can't just set them up and pose them with pins until they dry. If you have polyurotheyn (I just murdered the spelling of that word) you should probably spray that on the dried feet to make them even more sturdy and give them a nice shine too.

If you need anything else or have any other questions, please ask. Oh, and when you finish the product could you please send me a picture of it? It sounds like it would be pretty cool looking.

Merganserman

[krelnius]

actually I have a picture of them right here http://img297.yfrog.com/i/picture002bw.jpg/ but as you can see I havnt done anything yet.

Theyre between 4 and 5 inches long I think. As for the polyurethane (had to look up spelling) does it just come in a spray can? Also does it hurt the feathers at all? Like should I just spray some in a cup and paint it into the bare leg parts with a brush to keep it off the feathers?

I'm also having trouble coming up with a way to attach a cord/chain without having to just drill a hole through the top of the leg which I'd live to avoid if possible. You seem resourceful, any ideas?

[MerganserMan]

 Polyurethane (thanks for the correction :) does come in spray cans and sometimes in buckets, but for your situation I would just get a can of it. You can either only spray the feet or cover the feathers and only spray the feet (The spray won't ruin the feathers completely, but it may make them stick together and harden) If you just want to brush it on I would test it on something else first, because you will want to use a very fine brush so it goes on smooth and without grains.

As far as attaching the feet to a cord if you are handy with wood you could cut a small piece, drill 2 holes to put the ends of the feet in it, glue it, and then drill a third hole to string the cord through it. If you can't use wood you could shape a piece of clay and then bake it (possibly paint it too), you could also wrap colored wire (or any wire) and secure it with glue.

I hope these ideas help, and those are some cool feet, very long talons too.

Merganserman

[krelnius]

OK, I am finally about to start on these and I read about how I'm supposed to take out the tendons but what about the leg bones above the feet, do I need to do anything with those at all or can they stay? Also do you think I need to strip anything else off the 2 I have or did I get them cut far enough below the meat so that theyre OK as is?

[MerganserMan]

 The only things you must remove are the tendons and the meat. You can leave the bones if you would like (I recommend using those to help set a structure for the filling where the meat was) or you can replace them with wire, which can be difficult to do.

[krelnius]

Also how do you hide the cut where you pull out the tendons and how large do you think the incision needs to be? Sorry if I'm asking too many questions I just dont want to botch it.

[MerganserMan]

 If you make only a small cut you can pin the skin back together so it dries without a hole and then paint over the feet (which you'll probably have to do anyways) but if the holes are very large you can use some strong glue and put it between the skin and the bone. you'll need to put pins in it to get it to hold until it dries though.

[krelnius]

I managed to get a long tendon out of each foot, it looked kinda like stiff floss. I didnt know I'd need to paint them, what kind of pain do I use and how do you keep them from looking fake after being painted?

[MerganserMan]

 If you have an airbrush handy that would probably work the best.  Since I myself didn't have one at the time I just used acrylic paints, they can also be found at craft stores like Michael's or maybe even Jo-ann fabrics (If you're lucky)  You'll need to blend colors to get a right match, and you'll need to use a fine bristle brush or even a sponge brush so there are no textured lines from brushing.  Once you have actually given them the right color they may look very bland and dry depending on the paint, so a coat of Polyurethane should make them look much better.  Before you start to paint the feet test out the paint on a sheet of paper or cardboard, and also give the test a little poly spray so that you know what it will look like.  If you don't want to paint them you can test your luck and see if they retain their natural color, but if they don't you'll either have to  take it apart to paint it or of course, just leave it as it is.

[krelnius]

Another question, I cant quite tell exactly where you cut the legs to take out the tendons, did you do it on the inside of the foot or the outter back saide of the leg or where?

[MerganserMan]

 The cut should be on the bottom of the foot underneath the leg bone right where all the toes meet. You should be able to expose all the tendons from there. (I'll try to add a caption to the step where I show that, so after you read this just check that)
 
If you have any more questions I would be more than happy to answer them.

Merganserman

[krelnius]

Ok ya another question

At walmart in spray cans they have 3 Polyurethane cans, 1 is Clear Gloss, the next is Clear Semi-Gloss then Clear Satin. Which one do you think I should use?