Thanks for your reply...I personally like the artificial heads better myself...when they are done right and the feathers are replaced....I think the only reason this guy wants a freeze dried head is because this is a once in a life time bird for him....HUGE gobbler and I think he's afraid of the mount being good and the head looking fake if it was artificial(which it wont b/c painting it my fave part of taxidermy)...but I think it would be even worse if the mount was good and the freeze dried head fell apart for some reason later on...I heard the mascara works well for commercial birds...thanks for the tips!....I'll post a pic when it gets all finished ....cheers-Lee