by Second 2 Nature Taxidermy Supply with Ben Haden 1¾ Hrs
Ben starts with painting latex on the belly of the fish to copy the scale pattern. Once the latex is set, he removes it. Then he removes the eyes from the fish, cleans the cheeks and makes a belly incision. He skins the fish, removes the gills, scrapes the skin clean and cleans the head. Then he soaks the skin in a solution of water and Dry Preservative. Ben explains how he altered the fish form. Fills cheeks and other areas, stitches throat latch back together, inserts urethane form, closes belly incision with brads and pins gills closed. He pins the mouth closed and staples each side, cards and positions fins. Then he works on getting the base ready, adding sand, driftwood and lily pads. Once the fish has dried – he removes the fin cards and applies masking tape to one side, then paints Epo-Grip Clear Paste to the other side. After the fins dry, he removes the tape and trims them immediately. Now he applies apoxie to the belly seam and presses the latex mold of the belly scales he made at the beginning. He then uses apoxie to smooth the throat latch and any pin holes. He sets the eyes and rebuilds the head between the eyes with apoxie. Ben finishes this mount by painting it with Lifetone paint and Liquid Crystal.
