Hi all,I was talking to a salesman at a bronzeing booth at a home and garden show last week. They have a process now that can apply 4 or 5 different metals to basically anything. I asked him about doing a havalina skull in polished bronze. He said he had never heard of that being done but it sounded really great. Have any of you ever seen this done.Do you know of any special preparation to the skull.It is cleaned and dried. I see the longest teeth are split lengthwise.Is there any filler that is recommended to patch these before bronzeing? Any reply would really be appreciated.Thanks.

Ted,

I can't speak directly to your question but have seen something similar done to European mounts. Sheet foil in bronze, pewter, etc. can be molded over the top of the skull and pressed tightly into position. It produces an interesting effect on the mount. One of the best things about it, as far as I am concerned, is that it is easily undone and changed without harm to the skull if your desires or preferences change over time. The foil would be found at a craft or art supply vendor and is relatively inexpensive.

Marv

Hi Ted,

OK, it's "tellin' secrets time".

I owned a taxidermy shop for several years and did a process of faux bronzing on skulls that looked unbelievably real and was so easy that I almost felt bad charging for it. (almost!)

If you think about it, how are they going to apply metal to the skull? If it is molten metal it would be hot enough to burn the bone. My guess is that they are using a resin with metal dust in it to coat the bone (similar to the "cold cast" bronzes such as Dick Idol sells in his miniature deer head sculptures). It looks similar to bronze (or pewter or whatever metal look you're trying to achieve).

The technique I used sounds so easy that you're not going to believe that it will work. I first tried it on some junk skulls I had in my shop and was amazed. When they were set next to actual bronze sculptures you couldn't tell the difference.

The only special equipment needed is an airbrush and air compressor. Here's the process . . .

1. Make sure the skull is cleaned and, if necessary, degreased. If you see spots of yellow that look like they are wet, the skull needs to be degreased. Let me know if you need to do this and I'll provide that information in another posting.

2. Using acrylic paint, spray the entire skull flat black. I use the hobby paint that I buy at Hobby Lobby or Michaels craft stores and thin it with water so that it will go through an airbrush. Once painted black, let the skull dry (only takes a few minutes).

3. I get the Metallic Bronze paint from Hobby Lobby. Again, it's acrylic and comes in the little plastic bottles. Thin it down for an airbrush. LIGHTLY(!) dust the black paint with the bronze color. Crevices and low places should be darker and higher areas should be more bronze. Corners should be mostly bronze. (If the skull were actually bronze, think of how you would polish it. All higher areas would be a lighter color than recessed areas.) With an airbrush you can easily control the amount of color put on and you can blend it well. The thing to remember here is that you may not see the bronze color in some areas but the next step will bring the color out. Once you achieve the effect you're looking for, let the skull dry.

4. Spray the entire skull with a semi-gloss acrylic sealer. The local lumber yard sells this as Krylon Acrylic Sealer.

That's it . . . you're done! I would suggest that you practice the technique before tackling your prized skulls. you can practice on any irregular shaped object . . . bent beer cans are good practice material.

Again, I know this sounds too easy but it works! I hate to say this but I would get $50.00 above the cost of cleaning a skull to give it the bronze effect and I could do a skull in about 15 minutes!

Good luck!

JDS