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Looks good! This is very cool! Thanks for sharing the process with us.
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Here goes bass #2 (9.87 lbs)........pic after catching it in March
Skinned out this morning........
Will stuff tomorrow after curing the skin overnight.
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Stuffed her this morning. Definitely a bigger belly than the first one. Now wait around 2 weeks to dry.
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While waiting on the 9 lb bass to dry out, I've started on a 28" striper that I caught in May.
All skinned out this morning and now soaking in cure overnight.
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This morning I sewed up the gullet and tail.
Then filled the fish with fish filler mache and finished sewing up. Carded all the fins and gills, shaped into position and is now drying.
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Great stuff!
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The 9.8 is now dry. Sealed the back, trimmed the fins, and set the rear eye this morning.
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Set the show-side eye this morning and fixed the shrinkage area at the gullet and spaces in the tail fin. Will be ready for the airbrush soon.
I'll finish this fish up first before going back to the striper.
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Your wall of fame is filling up quickly
Nice work
Thx again for sharing
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Airbrush painted bass #2 this morning. Took pics of each color step, but don't know how well the colors will show up in this post from step-to-step.
Sealed the entire fish with fungicidal sealer. This fills in all the pores to allow a better coat with the paints, besides inhibiting fungus growth.
The entire fish was painted with a light coat of silver pearl and then gold flake.
Medium bass green is next from the top of the fish and feathered down a little past the lateral line. The fins and head areas are also blended with medium green.
The belly, lower part of head, and inside of mouth is painted white.
Light yellow is blended between the medium green and white.
Gills are painted red.
The black reticulation lines, patches, and spots are painted next.
Finally, a good coat of gloss is put on. This brings the colors out very well.
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Here is the first (bottom) and second (top) bass I have done.
I'm thinking the top one looks more realistic in position (head-to-tail) and in the painting.
All comments are welcomed on what does and does not look good or realistic, so that LMB #3 looks even better......got to catch it first.
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They both look different and both look good!
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Both look pretty good. One thing I think would help is to go less heavy on the black. Not that I could do anything close to what you have. Lots of work and good job!
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drxfish wrote:
Both look pretty good. One thing I think would help is to go less heavy on the black. Not that I could do anything close to what you have. Lots of work and good job!
Agree on the black. Will see if I can thin it out a little next time!
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Nice work Curly. The eye on the top one looks more natural than the one on the bottom, maybe it's just the angle of the pic though.
If I get a 35" snakehead, I'll procure your services.
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Junger wrote:
The eye on the top one looks more natural than the one on the bottom, maybe it's just the angle of the pic though.
No, I pushed it in too much on the bottom fish......rookie mistake
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Striper is dry. Put fin flex on the fins this morning.
When that dries, I'll seal the back and set the eyes.
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Jumbo white perch next?
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Ernie wrote:
Jumbo white perch next?
12" minimum. Small fish are hard to skin out.
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Fins have been trimmed and eyes have been set. Should be able to paint in the next day or two!
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Striper is painted.
Not too bad, but I need to o a better job on the lateral spots next time.
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Nice looking fish!
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After a long break I have started on the first Northern Snakehead. It's about a 4 pounder.
It was so slimy that I had to soak it in alum to remove the slime.
After removing the slime it took about 2 hours to skin out.
Placed it in a borax solution to cure the skin overnight.
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I'm excited to see how this one turns out!
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I am expecting the snakehead in the tub to move at any second..LOL
Tried to make boots from the skin and it was not good. All brown on no pattern at all.
Watching with anticipation.
Thanks
Capt Mike
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