Stag Skull

[roebuck220]

I found a dead stag with a decent head, it had been dead a few weeks and was crawling with maggots. I cut the head and gave it a boil and some peroxide but the skull is still very black/brown. Think the only option would be to paint it with some off white paint.

Has anyone done anything similar or could suggest what to paint it with, i've seen some bright white efforts and that's not the look I want.

 

[deerstalker.308]

I found a dead stag with a decent head, it had been dead a few weeks and was crawling with maggots. I cut the head and gave it a boil and some peroxide but the skull is still very black/brown. Think the only option would be to paint it with some off white paint.

Has anyone done anything similar or could suggest what to paint it with, i've seen some bright white efforts and that's not the look I want.

If it was fresh but rotting it should still come up good. I would leave it soaking in peroxide a bit longer personally, painting is a last resort and never looks natural.

 

[VSS]

Don't paint it.
The natural brown tint would be preferable to that.

 

[lochty]

If you can get hold of some Sorgene, try that. Or leave it in some bleach. You may never get rid of the smell though.

 

[Sol]

Leave it in a dish soap bath out in the garden for 2-3 weeks, a lot of discolouration will be down to the oils.
After that buy a 5l 12% bottle of peroxide off eBay and let it sit a good week in a strong concentration of it (at least 25% peroxide to water, ideally a bit more)

It wont come out bright white, maggot poop stains and Its an iron based stain not to mention the time of year you've found it it probably will have leaf tannins trapped in the porous bone, but it should come up a nice creme colour what seems to be what your after?

Whatever you do dont paint it like VSS said, a nature rotten skull that was boiled after will have so much oil and grease trapped inside any paint will flake off after a few years it will look horrid, let me track an image down.