Finally finishing my Nyala Mount
Equipment
Contributors to this thread:
It's taken a while, but my Nyala is coming together in a custom side mount. Still need to finish some touch-up painting and maybe some other additions: vegetation below leg? Still it was a wonder at all considering all of the epidermal slipage I had on this cape. The form is entirely unique and took a couple of days to create with my friend an ex-taxidermist. Start on my Red Hartebeest tomorrow.
Very nice!....on my "wish" list for my next trip! Look forward to seeing the rest!
Here is a mount I really like. The base work and colors really make this very appealing. I've started building my own habitat and doing my own wood work after researching a bit.
I'd never tamper with the actual taxidermy myself though.
Nice job! I should be getting my nyala soon!!! I had it skinned and tanned for a full body mount but just do not know what the finished piece will be??? The is my bushbuck from a few years ago and it may be something like this. Like your form, it took me many more hours to modify this once full size form than it did the mount.
AZ-Rich,
Awesome mount! Heck, all the mounts look great!
that room is about to get much more crowded. Right now only the Nyala, Waterbuck and Blesbok are up along with my mulie, Desert Sheep, Javelina and Pronghorn plus numerous ducks. Soon to join them will be my Red Hartebeest, Blue Wildebeest and Gemsbok. The Kudu is just too big and will need to go in 20 ft high stairwell. My (too cute) warthog will need to go in my office where he belongs anyway.
Waterbuck mount
Rich
Do you have a photo of the entire Nyala . I like to see how it looks with the entire leg showing. I am looking at different option for my mount . Personally don't care to much for half body mounts that come straight out of the wall but yours at the angle is pretty nice.
Wow, is the ass end outside?!
No... the ass end is not outside. Slightly more than 1/3 of the body is displayed. If you were to look at the standing animal from above you would see the interface with the wall is a vertical cut which starts approximately from the left shoulder joint to about midway on the right flank.
Also, the entire leg is not included on this mount, instead only down to the first joint. This is one area we are working out... probably with the leg being shortened a little, plus some sort of arrangement of vegetation beneath to create some balancing cover for what is missing. On other side mounts I have, the front leg (stump) was angled back into the wall and it looks fine, but this one has too thick of a brisket to make that work as well. Besides, I wanted to show some of that neat coloration change on the leg.
Painting is now completed, only some hair transplanting on the mane is left to do. Shortened the leg stump to (just out of the picture). My wife calls these my amputee mounts. I like the greater amount of body that can be shown with them...(You'd never see the white vertical strips with just a shoulder mount). Painting details on my Blesbok and Waterbuck were finished today, plus the Hartebeest was completed and painted today as well.
Hartebeest is done. Just needs to dry out another day.
AZ-Rich - can i ask what type of Nyala mount you used? Would possibly like to purchase one