Making a Mold for Your Mount

Saw off the top of the skull, from the top of the eyeholes back to the upper part of the hole in the occipital bone; clean it well, and it is ready to fasten to the cast.

In order to have a perfect cast, take a mold of plaster from the skull of the animal to be mounted. (An easier method is to purchase a good form from any one of the taxidermy supply houses.) The mold should be split into four quarters when dry.

When making the cast, the molds should be well greased, tied tightly together, and run full of thinly mixed plaster. A piece of board, with a wire put through it to run down into the snout should be thrust into the plaster, until it bears against the front, and rests on the top of the mold.

Some heavy weight should be laid on the wood, in order to keep it from rising until the plaster is �set�. In five or ten minutes time, the cast should be hard, and can be readily removes. It is better, however, to let the mold remain about an hour before removing the cast, which should be well heated and dried.

The cast should have the top sawed off just above the eyes, in order to make space for, and to fit the portion of the skull holding the antlers. The eyeholes should be scooped out so that the glass eyes can be set in clay or cement. All imperfections on the cast should be corrected, and it may then be used like a natural skull, thereby obviating the necessity of sawing and excavating the eyeholes, should a number of casts be made.

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