#archiveintermission

[archiveofthemundane]

Remember kids, for every few “Look at my thrift haul.” posts, there should also be a “I donated stuff to the thrift store today.”

Thrifting does not mean you’re not over consuming. Complaining there’s never anything good at the thrift store, but you also never put stuff in the system either doesn’t help.

Share is care!

[archiveofthemundane]

My colleague who knows I do a bunch of taxidermy called me up the other day and was real excited about something he found the other day. "Could you fix this anteater for me?" I was a lil worried about the legality of that animal, but turns out he just didn't know his animals that well and turns out he got a Nine-Banded Armadillo mount for free instead. The mount is a long way from home, considering he somehow made his way into Europe. But this lil lad is pretty vintage, likely mounted somewhere between the 50s and 70s, but he's in quite a rough state. Let's see his bill of health and what we can do for the bugger. (Details and more pics below the cut)

The ugliest part is probably the tail, but also probably the easiest fix. The tail has shrunk in a bit after mounting and put a lot of pressure on the tail, as the iron wire was stronger than the leather. I should probably be able to clip it off and reattach it with some new wire.

The tip of the tail is kinda ugly, was probably snapped off and fixed before, and while I think I could theoretically fix it, I might damage too much of the tip of the tail in the process, and I don't really have any 'donor' mounts lying around. I'm gonna leave this part as is.

The backleft ankle is at an odd angle, but this likely set in after mounting, as I don't think whomever mounted it supported it properly. Most of the mount's weight is also centered on this point. I wouldn't be able to correct in without damaging a bunch of stuff, and maybe even destabilise it beyond repair. Leaving as is. (Also all the feet have holes in them, cause I'm pretty sure it was mounted on like a piece of wood before and fastened on to it through the holes, very standar practice, not gonna touch it.)

Front left food is missing a claw, all the way on the right. I don't have anything convincing for it yet. It's not too obvious, but I'll see if I can find something convincing enough.

There's weird staining on his butt and around his face. I've researched a bit, and it doesn't seem like natural coloration. My hunch is that it's grease stains, or something along those lines. I won't be able to fix it. If my colleague would really want to fix that up, he should probably make friends with a Warhammer 40K nerd, or any person that could airbrush convincingly.

Both forearms are torn. This is mainly due to the fact that the piece has been moved inadequately a few times, the joints are fragile and support a lot of weight. This is going to be a bitch to fix. I doubt I'll be able to make it invisible, but I might be able to cook up a decent fix.

I hate the eyes, they're these solid brown marbles with nothing going on. I might need to paint them over to match an actual Armadillo's. It's also a shame that the eyelids are basically non-existent, but that's on the person that mounted it, and nothing I can fix.

And finally, he's missing like two scales on his nose. It's not immediately noticable, but if I found a convincing substitute, I will fix it. Phew, that was the entire list of issues. Let's at least fix the worst tears.

[archiveofthemundane]

FOUR

[archiveofthemundane]

I've been working at my job for almost a year now, and only today I noticed this incredibly funny magnet someone put on one of the girders.

[archiveofthemundane]

Me when your mom

[archiveofthemundane]

Always love myself some good old Engrish on a t-shirt.

[archiveofthemundane]

I am alive, I just didn't notice my queue ran out. I should get around queueing op some stuff soon™.

[archiveofthemundane]

Girly had a rough day.