Hunting Trophies

Making hunting trophies from plastic toys.

Animal Skin Rugs

How to make animal skin rugs. 

Carry Pole

One way to make use of the headless body.  

Animal Bench

Making a bench using the legs from a plastic toy. 

Joints of Meat

How to make joints of meat from the legs of a plastic toy.

Displacer Beast

Making a displacer beast from a plastic toy. 

Animal Cage

How to make a cage to hold or transport an animal.

Hunting Trophies (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Tools:

Plastic animal figures

Plant labels or craft sticks

Superglue

Razor saw

Craft knife

Primer

Paint and brushes

Stage 1

Carefully cut the head from the animal model using the razor saw. Clean the cut edge with the craft knife, if necessary.

Stage 2

Select a plant label which is a little wider than the neck of the animal. Place the severed head on the plant label and mark where it needs to be cut. You can use a craft stick if you prefer.

Stage 3

Cut the plant label or craft stick with the razor saw to create a plaque. Clean the cut edge if necessary. If you don't want to repaint the head, then make a wooden plaque, and stain it.

Stage 4

Superglue the head into position on the plaque. If you used a craft-stick for the plaque, and pre-stained it, then you can leave the model at this stage.

Example 1

Unpainted animal head mounted to a stained wood plaque.

Stage 5

Spray the piece with primer and allow to dry

Stage 6

Paint the model in your choice of colours - use an online image search if you want to find reference pictures.

Example 2

More trophy heads after painting. I varied the size and shape of the plaques a little by using different plant labels, trimming the top corners of some, and rounding the edges of others.

Animal Skin Rugs (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Tools:

Plastic animal figure

Paper and card (cereal pack)

Razor saw

Craft knife

Hot glue gun

Primer, paint and brushes

Stage 1

Carefully remove the head from the plastic animal figure with the razor saw.

Stage 2

Fold the paper in half and lay the figure with its back along the fold. Trace around the figure.

Stage 3

Remove the feet from the model. I used a craft knife since the plastic was relatively soft, but use the razor saw if you feel safer.

Stage 4

Amending the drawing - imagine the tail is straight and that the legs and tail are about twice as wide as on the model.

Stage 5

Cut out the folded paper template, then unfold it. Here I placed the plastic pieces in position to check everything looked about right.

Stage 6

Transfer the template onto some stiff card.

Stage 7

Cut out the shape using a craft knife or sharp scissors.

Stage 8

Using the hot glue gun, attach the head and feet into position, then apply a thin, fairly smooth layer of glue all over the card.

Stage 9

Prime the model and leave it to dry.

Stage 10

Paint the model in your choice of colours - use an online image search if you want to find reference pictures.

Carry Pole (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Tools:

Plastic animal figure

Cocktail stick

Razor saw, Craft knife

Tweezers, clothes peg, clamp

Cotton thread

Hot glue gun

Primer, paint and brushes

Stage 1

Carefully cut the head from the animal model using the razor saw. Clean the cut edge with the craft knife, if necessary.

If you made a set of Trophy Heads, you will already have some headless animal models.

Stage 2

Drill a hole towards the back of the neck to accept a piece of the cocktail stick.

Stage 3

Scribe a groove around the cocktail stick using a craft knife to represent a joint in the spine.

Stage 4

Test the fit and trim the stick to length.

Now remove the stick again.

Stage 5

To hide the smooth cut, smear a layer of hot glue over the neck, then carefully insert the stick back into the hole before the glue sets hard. Use a pair of tweezers for accuracy and safety reasons.

Stage 6

Clip the tail onto a clothes peg, and immerse the figure in a cup of boiling water to soften the plastic material. Leave for a couple of minutes.

Stage 7

Remove the figure and carefully clamp the legs together. Dip the figure into cold water to set the legs into the new position.

Please be careful not to burn yourself.

Stage 8

Insert a cocktail stick between the animal's legs and tie the feet together with cotton thread.

Stage 9

Prime the model and leave it to dry.

Stage 10

Paint the model in your choice of colours - use an online image search if you want to find reference pictures.

A close-up of the neck.

Animal Bench (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Tools:

Plastic animal figure

Basswood or craft stick

Razor saw

Craft knife

Dental tool

Hot glue gun

Primer, paint and brushes

Stage 1

Mark out a series of planks on the basswood.

Stage 2

Scribe the lines between the planks with a dental tool.

Stage 3

Cut the wood to size with the razor saw to create a seat, then indent both ends where the scribed lines finish.

Stage 4

Carefully remove the legs from the plastic animal figure with the razor saw.

If you already made a set of Hunting Trophies, you will already have some headless animal models.

Stage 5

Trim each leg with the craft knife to make them the same length. Spray the legs with primer and allow to dry. Meanwhile, stain the wooden seat.

Stage 6

Using the hot glue gun, apply a small blob to the top of each leg and attach them to the corners of the wooden seat.

Stage 7

Paint the legs in your choice of colours.

Example

A finished bench, with a figure to show the scale.

Joints of Meat (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Equipment

Plastic animal toy
Razor saw

Craft knife

Pin vice and drill bit

Cocktail stick

Hot glue gun and glue

Paint and brushes

Stage 1

Cut a leg from the toy animal using the razor saw.

Stage 2

Clean up any moulding lines with the craft knife. I also cut a groove between the hoof-pads on the bottom of the foot. As a slightly different option, you could remove the foot at the ankle.

Stage 3

Drill a hole in the top of the leg to accept a length of cocktail stick. 

Stage 4

Cut a length of cocktail stick and insert it into the hole. Leave about 1 cm of the stick protruding

Stage 5

Using the hot glue gun, cover the end of the leg with glue, and add a blob at the end of the cocktail stick too. Whilst doing this I ended up with a thread of glue each side of the stick, which look a little like tendons.

Stage 6

Once the glue has cooled, trim off any excess threads of glue, then prime the model.

Stage 7

Paint the model to resemble a leg of venison. I used a mix of burnt umber and red for the meat colour, and added some streaks of light pink.

Stage 8

Add a little pure white and highlight the streaks. If you want the meat to look freshly butchered, add a coat of gloss varnish to give the model a wet appearance.

Displacer Beast (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Equipment

Plastic toy big cat

Florists wire

Epoxy putty

Craft Knife

Map Pin or pin vice & drill bit

Superglue, Pliers

Paint & brushes

Stage 1

Using the craft knife, remove any mould lines on the plastic toy.

Stage 2

Push a map pin into the toy at into the shoulder muscle. Make a second hole in the opposite side of the model. If the plastic is too hard for this, use a pin vice and drill bit to make the hole.

Stage 3

. 

Stage 4

Add a small drop of superglue to one end of the wire, then push it into the hole. 

Stage 5

Repeat the process on the other side. Allow the glue to dry. 

Stage 6

Bend the wires to form a suitable shape for the tentacles.

Stage 7

Thoroughly mix some epoxy putty, and roll out a "sausage" about 2mm in diameter, and cut off a piece around 37mm / 1.5" in length, to match the wire.

Stage 8

Flatten out the roll to create a thin strip of putty.

Stage 9

Fold the putty strip around the wire and smooth out the joint. Try to be sure to make a nice joint with the body of the cat.

Stage 10

Add a small blob of putty to the end of the tentacle, flatten it out into a rough teardrop shape. Repeat stages 7 - 10 on the other wire and allow the putty to set hard.

Stage 11

Glue the model to a base, prime and paint.

Animal Cage (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Equipment

Plastic animal toy

Basswood, Cocktail sticks

Craft Knife

Pin vice or rotary tool & drill bit

PVA, styrofoam

Paint, ink & brushes, black Sharpie

Stage 1

Lay the toy animal on a piece of basswood and mark a rectangle about 12mm (1/2") larger at each side. Cut two rectangles of basswood to this size, which will form the top and bottom of the cage.

Stage 2

Mark a second rectangle 3mm (1/8") inside the first and then mark the position of the holes about 6mm (1/4") apart.

Stage 3

Tape the two pieces of basswood together to keep the holes perfectly aligned, then drill through both pieces where you marked each of the holes. I used a rotary tool for speed, but a pin vice will suffice if you don't have one.

Stage 4

Remove the adhesive tape and stain the two pieces of wood. I used a mix of black and brown ink washes for these.

Stage 5

The bars are formed from lengths of cocktail stick. Since the tiger model is not very tall, I was able to get two bars from each stick. Trim the points off each end and cut them in half with a craft knife.

Stage 6

It is much faster to paint the bars before assembly. Insert the tip of each into a piece of foam as shown, then spray with black primer. You can touch up the parts you missed with a black marker. (The foam is from food packaging)

Stage 7

Insert the bars into the basswood sheets. Glue them in place with a drop of PVA if they are a loose fit. Leave enough space at one end to insert the plastic toy before inserting the last few bars. Glue the toy in position if desired.

Stage 8

The finished cage. If you want more detail, you could drybrush the bars with a metallic colour and paint the animal toy beforehand.