Thread: Taxidermy forms

Hey team,

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole watching taxidermy videos on YouTube the other day which gave me the idea of giving a shoulder mount a try. Is anywhere retailers in nz that sells forms? My research shows eyes, ears and a lot of other accessories for sale but no forms. I’m thinking of giving a goat or maybe a scrubby stag a go for my first try.

Cheers

I could be wrong but I think most taxidermists design there own moulds and special foam formulas. I got the impression talking to one that the mould can be quite important in the way it looks in the end.
Maybe give your local one a call and see if they might sell you one to have a go at it’s always worth asking

There is a meat eater podcast where they interview a good taxidermist from Montana.
The guy has his supply catalogue with him and talk about it.
Apparently you can order and African elephant form for something around $60000 if my memory serve me well.
They talk about the name of the catalog in that pod cast.

Ive been down that rabbithole myself, but figured premade forms would be really expensive (it is a niche skill to make them) to get here so didnt dig into it too much. The united states have such a huge variety to choose from from Mckenzie taxidermy supply. I think that company supplies most premade forms.

Some people online also make original foam forms and sell them. e.g. https://www.etsy.com/nz/listing/1141713330

When i gave taxidermy a go I ended up building the base on my own by carving foam, which is quite difficult without sculping or carving experience.

One of my friends used to make costumes, and a head would be sculpted from clay, which would then serve as a base for making a fibreglass or resin shell. This shell can then be used to mold many foam forms.

I found a video on youtube of a New Zealand taxidermist doing a Tahr, not sure if they made the foam base themselves or purchased it from elsewhere. Maybe it is an industry secret! Could ask them. I know some other taxidermists make their own foam molds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pu_mvFlZpQ

New Zealand Taxidermy supply facebook page shows some premade forms for birds, not sure if they have larger ones for bigger game. Could ask them too.
https://www.facebook.com/New-Zealand...91315485599926

Originally Posted by Liam258

Hey team,

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole watching taxidermy videos on YouTube the other day which gave me the idea of giving a shoulder mount a try. Is anywhere retailers in nz that sells forms? My research shows eyes, ears and a lot of other accessories for sale but no forms. I’m thinking of giving a goat or maybe a scrubby stag a go for my first try.

Cheers

Good evening Liam, send me a PM and I will give you some contacts for buying forms and supplies in NZ

Originally Posted by Mr300WSM

I could be wrong but I think most taxidermists design there own moulds and special foam formulas. I got the impression talking to one that the mould can be quite important in the way it looks in the end.
Maybe give your local one a call and see if they might sell you one to have a go at it’s always worth asking

Thanks @Mr300WSM I was under the impression a lot of taxidermists design there own forms. I have seen videos of people using standard forms and resizing them, using modelling clay etc to get the desired result as not every animal isn’t the same. I will give my local a call and see if he has anything available.

Originally Posted by Friwi

There is a meat eater podcast where they interview a good taxidermist from Montana.
The guy has his supply catalogue with him and talk about it.
Apparently you can order and African elephant form for something around $60000 if my memory serve me well.
They talk about the name of the catalog in that pod cast.

That sounds like an interesting podcast, I’ll track it down and have a listen. That’s an expensive form! Depending on the price I might have a go at carving my own form but I think that might be outside my skill level at the moment.

Originally Posted by JessicaChen

Ive been down that rabbithole myself, but figured premade forms would be really expensive (it is a niche skill to make them) to get here so didnt dig into it too much. The united states have such a huge variety to choose from from Mckenzie taxidermy supply. I think that company supplies most premade forms.

Some people online also make original foam forms and sell them. e.g. https://www.etsy.com/nz/listing/1141713330

When i gave taxidermy a go I ended up building the base on my own by carving foam, which is quite difficult without sculping or carving experience.

One of my friends used to make costumes, and a head would be sculpted from clay, which would then serve as a base for making a fibreglass or resin shell. This shell can then be used to mold many foam forms.

I found a video on youtube of a New Zealand taxidermist doing a Tahr, not sure if they made the foam base themselves or purchased it from elsewhere. Maybe it is an industry secret! Could ask them. I know some other taxidermists make their own foam molds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pu_mvFlZpQ

New Zealand Taxidermy supply facebook page shows some premade forms for birds, not sure if they have larger ones for bigger game. Could ask them too.
https://www.facebook.com/New-Zealand...91315485599926

Thanks @JessicaChen! I have also looked at forms from overseas, but due to the size, shipping will be a killer. I think carving might be outside my skill level, however practice makes perfect. Maybe I’ll buy a block of foam and get practicing. Making a mould once the form has been perfected is a great idea!

The video of the Thar is great thanks! I had not seen this video. I’ll flick them a message as well as New Zealand Taxidermy Supply.

Originally Posted by Billbob

Good evening Liam, send me a PM and I will give you some contacts for buying forms and supplies in NZ

Thanks @Billbob, I’ll send you a message. Cheers

Originally Posted by Friwi

There is a meat eater podcast where they interview a good taxidermist from Montana.
The guy has his supply catalogue with him and talk about it.
Apparently you can order and African elephant form for something around $60000 if my memory serve me well.
They talk about the name of the catalog in that pod cast.

Look up McKenzie taxidermy supplies in USA - you can buy Elephant replicas from there. Head only is about $10K USD for a finished one - https://www.mckenziesp.com/Elephant-...ads-C5209.aspx

Originally Posted by Billbob

Look up McKenzie taxidermy supplies in USA - you can buy Elephant replicas from there. Head only is about $10K USD for a finished one - https://www.mckenziesp.com/Elephant-...ads-C5209.aspx

McKenzie are good forms I reckon. Used them for my taxidermy and look great. Guess the freight costs would be expensive these days.

Originally Posted by cb14

McKenzie are good forms I reckon. Used them for my taxidermy and look great. Guess the freight costs would be expensive these days.

@cb14 Did you do taxidermy commercially or just your own work?

I haven't brought from McKenzie or Van Dykes (I think one or the other brought the other out) I was told that getting them to ship outside the states was getting harder due to shortages. Freight has gone up too.

I had mine done commercially. There is no way I would attempt it myself haha

Originally Posted by cb14

I had mine done commercially. There is no way I would attempt it myself haha

oh