Fox skeleton articulation (attempt!)

[MrEd]

Havent updated this in a while as I have been busy moving house Abs renovating the new house. It’s still a building site but I am just stuck waiting on other people now. So back to some hobbies!

I prepped, drilled, rodded and glued the left hand ribs to the vertebrae. Took a surprisingly large amount of time….

They aren’t in final locations yet as I need to attach the right, the fashion the sternum (half of which is missing) and then get it all aligned and final glued….

Laid out in the right order. Drilled and rodded.


Vertebrae drilled


And insitu

 

[Jay131]

Amazing! Am loving this.

 

[FerlasDave]

Wow. Those ribs are a lot shorter than I expected them to be!

 

[swyn]

Great to see the progress! Thank you.
S

 

[MrEd]

Yeah and

Wow. Those ribs are a lot shorter than I expected them to be!

they angle back far more than I was expecting, there is a surprisingly large range of movement where they join to the spine so there is a lot of expansion in the rib cage. Will be interesting to see it all as one object

 

[FerlasDave]

Yeah and

they angle back far more than I was expecting, there is a surprisingly large range of movement where they join to the spine so there is a lot of expansion in the rib cage. Will be interesting to see it all as one object

Yes. Definitely! Right now that pelvis looks way to huge. But it does go to show how small the vital organs must be compared to the stomach, which imo is the more important part lol

 

[MrEd]

Yes. Definitely! Right now that pelvis looks way to huge. But it does go to show how small the vital organs must be compared to the stomach, which imo is the more important part lol

i should have weighed the bones, but guesstimating the whole pelvis is second largest after the skull in term of volume, but it doesnt feel hugely 'dense' - the leg bones feel a bit more solid if that makes sense so may weigh more?

 

[FerlasDave]

That’s really interesting.. although when you think about it it totally makes sense. I’m sure I read somewhere that canidae bones are 40 times stronger than ours, so how that relates to density (which you’d expect density = strength) Id be curious about. Don’t suppose there are any biologists here? :-D

 

[MrEd]

Haven’t done much with my pet fox recently due to various family pressures, but now I am off my feet recuperating from an operation I have had some time to pick it back up again!

So I got the ribs mounted. I thought this would be fairly straight forward but god no it wasn’t. Much harder than the feet bones tbh. Really hard to get them aligned and symmetrical and look *natural* - especially as the rib cage is not that big….

I used a hot melt glue gun and had to melt it all and take all the ribs off a total of 3 times before I was happy. I mean I am not 100% happy but it’s as good as I can do to be honest…. This is my first time after all….

Photos below. You want any more info or specific photos just let me know!

1.
Ribs pinned and in place. I later clipped off the wire on the ends of most of them as it wasn’t really needed (the rib age is to small to wire the entire sternum up - a Wolf or large dog would need them but a fox ribs are light enough to be supported with wire from the top only.




2.
I supported the skeleton from the ceiling with string and then hung weights at 3 points the get the vertebra into an anatomically correct orientation so I can do my best to get the ribs spaced and aligned…. (They are pre-alignment here!)


I have left it like this to set up properly overnight and will tidy up the glue tomorrow.
I have found cutting the end off a metal clay shaping tool and putting it in my soldering iron works well to smooth out and remove excess glue gun glue to try and make it neat and look like cartilage (sort of)

I am off work for a month so hoping to get this finished this summer

Ed

 

[gg012]

I only just found this thread but it is amazing. Great work there, well done!

Sent from underground

 

[MrEd]

I only just found this thread but it is amazing. Great work there, well done!

Sent from underground

Haha thanks!

A house renovation, a new baby and various other things have got in the way, so it’s only 2/3rds done! I will finish it one day!

 

[Stew]

I'm about to move a dead badger from a field.

I knew it was there last week. We have kites here - I was hoping they would dispose of it.

I had reports on Tuesday of it stinking. I popped over - quite inflated and maggot covered. I wasn't going to touch it for fear of bursting.

By yesterday it was deflating and not smelling. Almost fully de-furred which is quite interesting in itself.

I'm currently contemplating relocating in to try save the entire skeleton....

 

[Pattree]

Well done with the fox.

I’ve foraged a few road kill fox pelts and I thought of doing something with a skeleton but chickened out.

Is there any useful truth in the idea that an ants nest will clean a skeleton?

 

[FerlasDave]

I’ve foraged a few road kill fox pelts

Have had that thought a few times but never sure how well it would go with bruised/rotten flesh. Any tips??

 

[Pattree]

Bruising doesn’t affect anything.
Rot does. Check that the pelt is still gripping the fur.

Treating the pelt is easy enough if you don’t want the claws or head. I’m going (one day) to make a hat.
I normally remove it with a wooden spatula. One old dog fox needed a knife across his chest, between his armpits but that’s all.

Then if you can’t get to it straight away, wrap it well and stick it in the freezer. LABEL IT WELL!!!!

When you’re ready, wash it well and let it dry well between rinses so you don’t lose the fur.

Scrape the skin side over and over again till you can see the hair follicle pattern through the hide everywhere. (All the fat tissue gone.). I finish with a rounded piece of sandstone.

I use acetic acid (white vinegar) to cure. It takes about twenty minutes as opposed to days using the stinking brain tissue.

Then I stretch and break down the fibres by pulling the pelt (skin side down) over a piece of stretched galvanised cable. I work it over and over in all directions and along the edges. Much much simpler (and easier) than working on a frame.

I haven’t worked mine much as a stiff pelt will eventually make a good hat. If you are making something like a waist coat then you’ll need to work it hard and long to get soft pelts. You’ll need at least five for a waist coat.

I’ve got three ready and I’m waiting for a fourth just for my hat. No I haven’t kept a tail!!!!!

I need:
A fox road kill.
Relatively undamaged.
Somewhere where I can stop and pick it up.
One a journey where any passengers don’t mind riding with a dead fox.
When I’m not going to be away for the night.

It takes a while to collect them

 

[John Fenna]

I love this thread!
I know if I brought home a fox skeleton I should soon be homeless and single again... but my interest is more in the human skeleton ... and the exotic...
Airfix
Father and son
Dino

All plastic I assure you .... realy!

 

[Pattree]

Marriage is always a negotiation but I do admit: Three fox pelts in the freezer was pushing it. They are scraped, dry and stored now awaiting their fourth mate.

 

[MrEd]

I'm about to move a dead badger from a field.

I knew it was there last week. We have kites here - I was hoping they would dispose of it.

I had reports on Tuesday of it stinking. I popped over - quite inflated and maggot covered. I wasn't going to touch it for fear of bursting.

By yesterday it was deflating and not smelling. Almost fully de-furred which is quite interesting in itself.

I'm currently contemplating relocating in to try save the entire skeleton....

I wouldn’t tbh, I would just put something over it if you can that won’t be pulled off by scavengers. If not then pick it up and submerge it in a container of water big enough to hold it, and then leave it for 6months, will stink to high heaven but will leave you with just a skeleton that you can then bleach with hydrogen peroxide. Being in a bucket of water means you can wash it out and then catch all the bones - I used a kitchen sieve (bought for the purpose!)

 

[MrEd]

Well done with the fox.

I’ve foraged a few road kill fox pelts and I thought of doing something with a skeleton but chickened out.

Is there any useful truth in the idea that an ants nest will clean a skeleton?

They will literally strip it bare

 

[MrEd]

I love this thread!
I know if I brought home a fox skeleton I should soon be homeless and single again... but my interest is more in the human skeleton ... and the exotic...
Airfix
Father and son
Dino
View attachment 105287View attachment 105288View attachment 105289
All plastic I assure you .... realy!

I had a nice collection of skulls I had picked up (mainly birds and rodents) but they got misplaced when we moved house and I have not been able to find them.
I still have the fox skeleton, I only have the skull on display. The rest of it is 85% assembled. I shall get it out and finish the final bit (assembling the legs onto the body and finishing the tail)

The bit I have found most fiddly is drilling the bones and using brass rods to hold it all together