Installing Wood Duck Eyerings |
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by
Joe Ferebee
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I am often asked about the easiest way to use the ER1 and ER2 Wood Duck eyerings. This will detail the method that I use for the ER1's that is easy and makes for a very realistic mount. The duck is mounted in the usual manner up to the point where I attach the head to the body.
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I drill through the duck head at the appropriate angle for the pose. Before I attach the head, I will mix up some Apoxie-Sculpt in the color black. |
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The eye #123 or #124 10mm is set into the eye socket on the head with the Apoxie-Sculpt. The ER1's are then placed over the eye and pressed onto the black putty. The Apoxie-Sculpt is then modeled up the edge of the part of the eyering that will be exposed, and then feathered out into the head. |
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At this point I will take a tapered wooden dowel and insert it into the eye socket of the skin. This allows me to neatly trim off the eyering with an Exacto #11 knife. |
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Next, I attach my head by hot gluing it onto the neck and neck wire.
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With a knife I cut some relief cuts into the back of the neck to assure that the neck will not separate from the head when I later bend the neck into position. The neck skin is pulled over the head and laid in position on the head. |
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Starting at the lower V-notch, I glue the skin to the head with Zap-A-Gap applied with a needle tool. It's important to apply the glue with a needle tool so as not to make a mess. The skin is pulled into place with a pair of tweezers. I do the upper V-notch in the same manner. Carefully align the skin properly on the head. The sides of the head are glued in the same way. Once the head skin is glued to the head, I can tuck the eye skin around the eyering. |
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Using the same needle tool with which I glued the head skin, the lower lid is actually tucked into the black Apoxie-Sculpt while the upper lid is just brought up to the edge of the eyering. The Apoxie-Sculpt will hold the eye in the socket, the eyering to the eye, and the skin to the eyering. When positioning the skin to the eyering, any excess putty can be tooled away with the needle tool. I is critical that the Apoxie-Sculpt be mixed just before attaching the head so that it will still be tacky enough to hold the skin to the eyering. Also, the real eyering should not be trimmed off too early, as this tend to dry out the skin too quickly. |
| To finish the eye when it is dry, all that is needed is to darken the nictitating membrane with black paint on a small brush, and then clean the eye with a glass cleaner. |
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