Advantage Taxidermy's first life size Mt. Lion - Opinions?

[cberg]

This is our first attempt at a life size on a Mt. Lion. Just wanted some helpful advice if you have any constructive criticism. The rock is made from scratch and the limb he is hanging on to is real. This was a 150 lb male I shot in December of 2007. My partner and I have been weekend warriors since 2004 and mainly do deer, elk, ect...

[bowhunter/taxidermest]

dang that is great it looks good you have got me beat i have yet to do a cat

[Gobble Gobble]

I'm know crap about stuffing game but you wanted our 

I think the eye brows could be a bit larger giving it a more mean look.

[bucklucky]

Gona need better ppics for a descent dritique. Close up of the head and paws. Over all looks pretty nice for a first. I cant see any detail in the cat though, is there wrinkles in the nose where they are supposed to be? Something isnt right with the eyes, but I need a better picture to see what it is. Nose color looks wrong too. Cant see how well you did on the finish work around the mouth on that cast lip either. Tail looks a little to "lumpy" it sould have a smooth flow to it.

[whacker1]

I was wondering when we were going to see the finished product. 

[Ray]

It would be best to get that close up of the face. Something is different about it between it's left eye and the ear but it is hard to tell what it is.

[yelp]

Hey Chuck good to see you on here..about time. How business...busy as usual..See you soon.   Good looking cat too...Did you get it with a bow? EB

[robb92]

Looks good to me!

[huntnphool]

That looks great cberg. The only thing I would change, since you asked, is the paw on the branch, it doesnt look normal, I mean why would a cat be putting its paw on a branch in that position, almost like its pulling on it. Maybe with the arm extending with the paw like its swinging at something, and the rest of the form in the exact same position? I still thinks it looks very well done and will remember this one for when I finally get my cat.

[cberg]

Gobble Gobble... I agree.. needs a little more brow with more scowl look to it.

Buck Lucky.. Wrinkles stayed in the nose pretty well. Might have needed to make them deeper. Nose color is always a challenge on cats for me (only mounted bobcats so far) I use a mix of cad. red with white, thin it then mix in a little dk yellow to gain that peach tone. Then wash it with blk and spray acetone/thinner to blend. What do you do? I should have combed the tail before we snapped the pic. Opps.

Yelp... Where do I know you from? Cant tell by your post

Huntnphool... we started with the paw on top of the branch then changed it. I think I would have liked it better the other way. 

All in all it was a challenge mounting it and I cant wait to try another one to fix all the areas we need to.

[Black Ghost]

You are better than a weekend warrior! Looks real good!

[cberg]

Thanks Black Ghost.  Seems like it used to be weekends then it spilled over into some nights now we are getting more busy all the time. I guess its one of those "Be careful what you wish for" things.

[Michelle_Nelson]

HUH, I missed this thread.

cburg, I wouldn't worry to much about the nose color.  It looks pretty good to me.  Every cat is going to have a differnt color nose.  I have seen them all different shades.  Their really is no "standard" color for a Mt. Lions nose.  It's personal preferance over all.  I have a LOT of referance photos on my computer and none of the cats share the exact same nose color.  Go into google images and do a search.

 

http://wallpapers.dpics.org/15__Close_Snarl%2C_Cougar.htm

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If you scroll down on this link their is a cougar with no fleshy color to his nose at all.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://gryphonscry.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/mountain-lion-4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://gryphonscry.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/more-mountain-lions/&usg=__MO0S55hHqpSK407-mbumiBknRMQ=&h=432&w=455&sz=70&hl=en&start=15&um=1&tbnid=1DXqXC8nA_8TsM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMountain%2Blion%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1

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http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/h/hissing-mountain-lion-462917-sw.jpg&imgrefurl=http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/enlarge/hissing-mountain-lion_pod_image.html&usg=__hOtnBD_h_eML04docTTgvutG_84=&h=600&w=800&sz=97&hl=en&start=31&um=1&tbnid=I0XpV8lMFqoU9M:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMountain%2Blion%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20%26um%3D1

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http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://media.ksfy.com/images/generic%2520mountain%2520lion.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/39135102.html&usg=__ssjX7zCIVcC5X6vkzDwfJyTMm-0=&h=240&w=320&sz=46&hl=en&start=57&um=1&tbnid=HadP-4Bx5J03sM:&tbnh=89&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMountain%2Blion%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D40%26um%3D1

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Here is another pic of a really dark nosed cat.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.awrc.org/images/Mountain%2520Lion.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.awrc.org/2006_Christmas_Cards.htm&usg=__s2ERRFwVSHkmCprf1pmRfCSwjlM=&h=777&w=1180&sz=114&hl=en&start=71&um=1&tbnid=c7_8zr5I2drp4M:&tbnh=99&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMountain%2Blion%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D60%26um%3D1

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http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/02/lion.jpg&imgrefurl=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/mountain_lions/index.html&usg=__BCvLVmsgMBsN_FOHnEnSjOnHwVo=&h=459&w=640&sz=21&hl=en&start=185&um=1&tbnid=_vDUup8i9AVAbM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMountain%2Blion%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D180%26um%3D1

[bucklucky]

But a pink look to the nose ? Its almost the same shade as the toungue. My white cat has a pink nose , I guess that is natural. Most Lions will have some sort of "rusty" color to the nose. As stated can be very dark or light but pink?? AT least it looks pink to me by your Picture Cberg? Im no expert though, thats for dang sure!

[cberg]

Thanks Charlie and Michelle,

  I will get some better pics of the nose with a better camera. I don't think it came out as a  pink color, more of a peach/orange/tan/pink (that narrows it down doesn't it....lol ). I was able to see Phil Saucy's cat at the SCI show this year and it is truly amazing. Here is a picture of it. I think Phil has probably forgotten more about cats than I will ever know... I called him to see if he was doing any seminars that we could go to and he is not. I would guess he is to busy. He told me he has around 100 cats in his business at any given time. No wonder he is so good at them.