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 Here are the much delayed and often promised pictures of the finish work on the lamb. As you might remember, I had to make significant changes to the taxidermy form. Once that was finished, I began covering the lamb with lambskin. I looked for a good fake fur version, but could only find them in black. Even from a distance, the fur is frequently the thing that gives the animal away, so I often wind up using real furn. This isn’t a pelt, mind you, so it isn’t shaped like a lamb. This means that I have to piece it together on the taxidermy form. Here I’m working on the leg and pinning the fur in place with thumbtacks while the glue dries.
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 As I work my way around the head, you can see both the foam taxidermy form and the way I’m piecing the skin together.
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 Once it is in place, I have to press the skin into the seam of the mouth. To orient you, the two divets above my fingers are the lamb’s nose. I widened the mouth area in the foam to allow space for the thickness of the skin. I’m using small nail to force the skin into place.
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 Here’s the lamb’s face with the fur in place, but untrimmed.
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 I’ve trimmed the fur, but not yet installed the eyes or finished painting it.
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 And here it is, completed and in the position that the director wanted it to be in for the show.
Ironically, during previews, the lamb was cut from the show. This happens sometimes with new plays, but it always amuses me when it does, because it is inevitably the most expensive prop.
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It’s beautiful! Is it still in the possession of the theater?
Thank you, and yes, they own it.
very, very cool. amazing, in fact.
you do know, of course, that the name of the pub the boys visit just before the werewolf attack in “an american werewolf in london” is called the slaughtered lamb? 🙂 sorry. couldn’t resist as it was the first thing i thought of when i read the title.
Ha! I knew that there was a pub named that, but I didn’t realize it was in American Werewolf.
Maybe they’ll put it back in the show. You never know.
“Even from a distance, the fur is frequently the thing that gives the animal away.” Yep, that’s how I feel too. Sometimes if the texture is right, people don’t need the form and shape that much to recognize an animal or puppet.