Painting an elk skull

[Southern Elk]

I have a European elk mount that I did myself a few years ago. It was never very white and after being in storage it seems to be even worse. I would like to hang it in our new house. Has anyone ever painted a skull and, if so, what kind of paint did you use?

 

[midwesthunter]

Have you tried or did you use peroxide when you first did it? For paint I would use kilz. Or you could try to do your own paint dip. I haven't done that yet but looks super easy, lots of vids showing how to.

 

[Southern Elk]

I used peroxide (hair bleach) after I boiled the head. I don't know if that would work again after several years?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

What color is it now? If you bleached it and it’s yellowing that is one issue if you just never got it particularly white and just did a boil I would recommend buying 40vol developer from amazon and using that to whiten it up before you try painting.

 

[whiskeydog]

There are a ton of you tube videos about dipping them in paint. Never tried it, but looks kinda cool. I think they use oil based paints for this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCRcfgjidIY

 

[Crumb]

Just plain white spray paint on one of these, heck I don’t even remember which one. If I was at home I could tell you. The others were done with the whitening kit from cabelas. If I remember correctly I used semi-gloss.

 

[bigsky2]

Wrap paper towels or newspaper around the lower half of the antler and cover the bases with masking tape, then use flat white spray paint. If you want a more natural bone look you can use an off white color like ivory.

 

[Redman]

I have been doing my own for years and have tweaked the process a bit.
I use an drill with a wire coat hanger that I cut and made a hook on the end. I shove this into the brain cavity and liquefy the brains. I use a pressure washer to remove as much tissue as possible. I cook the skull in water with Borax (do not boil it) make sure to change the water at least once, and pressure wash it again. I use small wire to get in all the little holes and make sure all of the gunk is out. I use light pressured air to blow everything out. Then I use a mixture of Volume 40 and Basic White and make a paste to brush over the skull and drizzle down in the holes and crevasses. DO NOT get this mixture on you or anything you don't want "bleached" it burns and smells very much bad! Set the skull out in direct sunlight if possible. Let it set 12-24 hrs and then wash the dry film off with water. After it is dry apply a clear satin coat of spray paint to it. If this is too long of a process, then boil the skull, clean, dry, and use flat white spray paint. Also make sure you tape the antlers from the base to about 6 in up to keep them from getting discolored. The Basic White and Volume 40 are salon products that you can find at any ladies hair salon. Just don't go in covered in blood, or muddy hunting boots they might not be willing to help out, better yet send your wife or your friend that has a "man bun" they will know what you are talking about. I know this is a bit long winded and not exactly what you were asking but it got me thinking about the yellowing. Boiling, and not changing your water at least once can cause the yellowing issue.