Lets get straight down to the “Bass” tacks… if your finish game is not in the game then neither is your fish! When I teach a workshop I break down a “Great fish” as a process of small steps leading to a big picture. Let me teach this process to you as if you were in a workshop with me… it goes forward as follows.

The Taxidermist with a “Plan” is a hard one to beat!

When you start off with a “Plan” you will have in hand at the very minimum an opportunity for reaching the measurable destination of accomplishment each and every time. If you have the following line items in your plan, then you just may end up with a pretty great fish! Here are a few of what I believe to be the first steps in an action plan for the beginnings of a great fish!

1. The Great fish; One that is fresh, not scarred, fins are in tack with out damage, lacking injury of deformity, not missing scales.
2. A Great template; An accurate template must consist of drawings that are precise and not interruptive, a “base of knowledge” (basic anatomy) that lends itself to anatomy so that one can distinguish “dead features” (these are features that occur due to the fish being dead, IE shapes that may change due to lack of muscle structure or blood pressure), the use and knowledge of reference points as it relates to the fish (IE inside and out side of pelvic fins, the beginning and end of the soft dorsal, base of the scull, etc), lots of notes as they relate to the fish as it were alive during the process of your template drawing!!!! Remember there will be a minimum of 2 templates A.) a side profile of the fish and B.) a topographical. The side profile must be reflective of the final story of your “big picture” of the fish mount. In other words if you want an open mouth for your fish then draw the fish with an open mouth. If your fish is descending then you will drop the caudle section slightly to depict this in your drawing. When drawing the topographical template take the time to learn how movement relates to the drawing. In other words a fish bends very specifically as it moves; try to accurately draw this into your drawing (once you study the how and why of movement!!!)!
3. Great skinning; this is sometimes an over looked aspect of good taxidermy that is often taken for granted and is an area of equal importance in the bigger picture. Learn to skin, not only accurately, but also methodically! Whether you are learning to or have been skinning for sometime, learn to work in an action plan as it relates to knowledge of anatomy (where stuff is when you’re working on it) not just removing the tissue. If you break down your skinning into regions as you work thus “learn” the anatomy of the area within the skin you’re working on you will be accurate and you will benefit from a faster and more efficient effort of removing the meat or tissue from a skin!
4. Great body carving; Cut the topographical out transferring it to the foam before you’re dealing with your side profile template, this will save a lot of trouble trying to make the templates work together! How I go about teaching this aspect of body carving as part of the Great fish is to start by roughing out a shape, next moving on to refining the shape, then lastly make accurate anatomical features. I don’t mean to simplify such an important step but this line item is an article in and of itself. I will say this; start with the head, get it to fit flawlessly with the body then move to the upper and low fin sections (IE a Bass you want to next detail and focus on the soft dorsal fin and ventral fin area at this point) once you have achieved “Flow” in this area you will tie in the mid section concluding with the caudle section! Special note for those who do not “yet” carve their own bodies. Regardless of whether you carve or do not, you must absolutely benefit your self by making the two templates. Your fish mannikin will never be exactly what you could buy from a reputable supplier no matter how the marketing measurements are advertised so you must have your templates to help adjust this process until you take the next step onto carving your own!
5. Great finish work; this aspect of the “great fish” is the heart of this article! Make each step and every area of epoxy work an informed decision based on reference before you tackle this aspect of rebuilding and fish work. It’s one thing to put epoxies over shrunken anatomical features but it is something completely different to rebuild accurately the features of a live fish! I make a willful point too teach folks to break this aspect or discipline down into “fun” regions of responsibilities! Break it down!!! Make the top of the head one area, the bone structures on the lover part of the head another, all the soft tissue areas around the front of the head yet another, etc… By working in small regions you will have a great opportunity to study and learn these areas well enough to accurately reproduce them with your epoxy of choice in a relatively short period of time!
6. Lastly a soft paint job; build your paintwork! Make painting a fish a system not a schedule!! Begin with a good canvas color then move on to pre-tinting your base colors, next enhance the scale’s, paint your “base” coloration then detail colors! (Yes… the paintwork should be Great too!) So in other words there are several factors that will be components of a “Great Fish”! All of the above aspects, steps or phases as you may call them are of equal importance!!! If you were to ask me my thoughts on the subject of a “great fish” I would start with these six areas of focus! I wish I could just write one article covering them all in this one issue of Taxidermy Today but Terry will run out of magazine paper!

Step #5. Finish with the best of them!

My focus of this article is about the important steps in the process of taking a fish from the bench to the finishing process with the emphasis on the head section of the fish. When it comes to finish work there is no reason you can’t learn in a short period of time how to master this aspect of discipline of fish taxidermy! A little study, more study, and even more study, coupled with a little discipline to attention – to the attention of detail of reference and you’ll have it no time! Sure that sounds simple…LOL! Seriously it really isn’t all that bad of an assignment to become skilled at!

I have broken down the learning aspect of “finishing” into three important areas that we will focus on during this magazine workshops and other that will follow.

1. Area 1, The head area; the top of the head, the bottom soft tissue areas, the eyes, the mandibles, the maxillary network, all of the bone plate structures of the face. This will also include the interior of the mouth area as well as the esophagus if applicable to your fish mount!
2. Area 2, The body unions; this will include but not limited to the cleithrum network, the transitions of fin to body unions, replacement or repair of missing scales, the seam area and the incision. This is an area that I see often when I judging as a particular area that is often lover looked in many regards! Hint Hint!
3. Area 3, Fin junctures; the placement and rebuilding of the fin unions. Remember to accurately work the soft tissue are around the fins as well as place the fins in a natural position (Learn the functionality of how and what they do in relationship to movement this will greatly benefit you)!

The In-depth Study of the head of a largemouth Bass

In this article we will explore the top of head and what can be done with a few reference photos and some practical practices of epoxy work! I will cover in this article what I see as import aspects of the head rebuilding work for both the client’s fish work and the area’s of competitions. In my personal and professional opinion they should be one and the same after all!

Real Heads vs Cast Heads

Here is the case study and the on going question of do I or don’t I? I am often asked “Hey Rick I make molds and casts of the heads so I don’t have to deal with real ones and all the shrinkage that goes along with real head so I don’t have to rebuild any thing, or do I?” More and more commonly today this statement is what I hear from today’s taxidermists. In some cases it is a reason to not learning how to work on “real heads” as a part of the taxidermy process of fishing and rebuilding! Time to time and year after year I have had the opportunity as a fish Judge at the shows or in the classroom to be able to share with fellow fish artist that simple little fact that we must never forget…. My Fellow fishheads we are “taxidermists”! Thus from the water to the workbench be it mold and cast skin it and dry it, the need to learn anatomy is always current in technology as well as the traditional skill sets we must possess! The knowledge and ability to reproduce what is an accurate and realistic depiction of the true fish is necessary more so today then ever! My good friends be on notice that either way you MUST understand your anatomy and learn how to deal with “dead features” by being a great finisher! You can do it!!!

Dead fish Features

Lets talk fish…When the fish dies in this case of our subject fish the Bass, as it is no longer is in the water the natural occurrence of decomposition begins to take place in all organic creatures who swim. So a problem of altered states is in progress working against your vision of a perfect fish. If you get the fish home and want to cast a fresh specimen but how long is a fresh fish still fresh enough? How fresh are we talking?

Unless you’re molding right at the source of the water you will experience a loss of tissue fullness and anatomical definition by the time you get it home. Some would say it is better to leave it on a bench then place it in the freezer, as the freezer will do more harm. Good question but is it correct? Yes and no?

Take a fish head that is already been out of the water for 1 hour. You will have one hour of decomposition and loss of the fullness and tissue anatomy. So you make a mold of this fish head minus 1-hour decomposition time. The decomposition doesn’t magically correct it self nor does the fish some how look less dead prior to molding!

Scenario #2 now you put it in the freezer after being dead for 1 hour! The head is made up of tissue cartilage bone and of yes h2o or water! What does water do at or below 32 degrees of temperature? You guessed it water freezes!

As water freezes what is in actuality taking place is that the water is forced to submit to expansion due to the freezing. This state of expansion causes problems for us the taxidermist who wants to make a mold at some point? Consequently this presence of expansion is not the problem it is only when the taxidermist making the mold thaws the fish thus creating a new distorted anatomy due to the expansion and now thawing resulting in additional and excessive shrinkage which is inherent due to the previously expanded frozen areas of soft tissue now going through this thawing leaving excessive shrinkage!

Once thawed the now expanded tissue has the new altered anatomical state of tissue as result of being relieved of the expansion. Like a balloon that is full once you let the air out there is a sagging or shrinking effect that takes place. Subsequently when you mold the head you will not only have the decomposition to deal with you will have the result of the additional expansion and shrinkage loss to now contend with! “Dead features!”

Be the Ball!!! I mean Taxidermist!!!

Whether the cup is half full or half empty it is still a cup and you will have to deal with it accordingly! It is my personal belief that we taxidermists want to do the very best job we can when it comes to the skills of performing the steps of responsibilities we do to make something look life like, however it is not always the case that we do what needs to be done for this to happen. Whether you are an experienced taxidermist with a background in fisheries biology, or just starting off down the long journey in taxidermy, I will assure you that each and every fish you have or will encounter has anatomical shrinkage as result of tissue loss due to the end result of natural casualty of the fish being dead. Lets review in this reporting of the hows and whys of the benefits of molding and casting a head or to use the real one. The fundamental fact is that you will need to know how to rebuild and fix the “dead features” of the Bass Head regardless of your choice of head methodology!

Get Your Head Together!

The goals of this article is to share with you a few fundamental skills and techniques to create a better look to the head of a Largemouth Bass validated by reference! Lets get started getting your largemouth bass head together!

Ok you got your largemouth bass together, the head is nice and dry and ready for the process of rebuilding! So what do we do first? (Pic1) Set your eyes!!! What is more important for me as a teacher is to say here ‘where ever you start with your work, at start with the same point each and every time’ This will do a few things for you and your development… first this consistency approach will let you become familiar with the beginning as well as the measurement of development of your skills! I’m a big fan of perfect practice as I believe whole-heartedly that this is the one true key to success!

I chose in this article to use a new product to me as a teacher and as a taxidermist it is called “Stay Put Epoxy Putty”, which is carried by Pete Ocello of Preservation Specialties taxidermy in Charlotte, Michigan. This product is used as any other two part mix epoxy sculpting material the only one huge difference is it will set in less then 60 minutes! This time advantage is a big deal as far as productivity and time management. I would recommend this product if you are familiar with your process and how long it might take you to complete the process. It may just be too fast for you at first and a conventional two-part mix epoxy sculpting material might work better.

Step 1.

I start with a single ball of side “A” of the epoxy the size of the approximant center of the head. Once I think I have enough material to cover this area I now mix in the equal part of the epoxy “B” to begin this first step. (Pic 2).

Step 2.

I like to work in one single application as I feel that the “ piecing” method of epoxy never looks great. First push and cut into place the very edge of the headline to the body. Make sure you follow the anatomical shape of the head to the body. Bring your material forward until you reach the end of the head. (pic 3)

Step 3.

Start to work the epoxy forward, blending in a back to front of head direction. Blend in a manner that allows you to move the epoxy with out it being milky or too dry as it cracks when being moved. (Note) you must find the correct blend of moisture and pressure to make this happen correctly. Practice on a piece of Plexiglas blending in a straight line until you are comfortable! (pic 4)

Step 4.

The big question comes down to how much or how little? Epoxy that is… Well my rule is just enough as where you can see the very shadow of the bone structure. Blend your material forward covering over the yes and blending out onto the upper mandible. (pic 5 , pic 6)

Step 5.

In this step you will begin to make the epoxy work look like tissue. You will need to cut in the hood shapes around the eyes. (pic 7) lets look at some reference to see what we are working on re-creating! (ref 1, 2) In this step you can create the head shapes as well as put in the beginning of the top of the head details! (ref 3)

Step 6.

In this next step you will be going to now apply epoxy to the lower mandible creating the ball shape at the end of the mandible! (pic 8)

Step 7.

In this next step we can turn the fish upside down and begin the work on the all the soft tissue and bone hinge joints of the lower head (pic 9)! I like to use a product called Epo-Grip Mache Magic for this soft tissue work. (pic 10, pic 11)

Step 8.

One of the very last steps is to give back the tissue look to the inside of the mouth. This is an area you can spend a great deal of time on to make perfect! Make it look great for your clients! (pic 12)

Step 9.

You are in the home stretch of the fish work on the head! You will make sure you transition the maxillary as well as add scaling in where needed at the line where you reattached the head! In no time you can be creating a great head and having fun doing so! Here are a few pictures of a head ready for some paintwork! (pic 13, 14)

Follow the above steps and break it down in to small steps. If you follow the 6 areas of focus or at the very least consider working them in to how you approach doing your taxidermy work then you find new skills or put an edge on your old ones!! (painted head .pic)

Whether you’re working on a real head as we did for this article, or your re-working a reproduction head, be patient and let the reference materials flow into your head and then commit them into your minds passion! Look within the reference picture to find the depth within the reference and you too will be soon rebuilding and finishing with the very best of them for your valued clients or for your own self-satisfaction! (Final.pic)

Be a student of the art of taxidermy and you will always be in the world of taxidermy! Be a taxidermist who wants to learn from each and every project and every time you hit the bench you will always improve and be satisfied with your own great efforts!!! We have a several instructional fish painting videos out and if you’re interested, shop online here.

I wish you my very best! Work hard and never settle for anything but the best you have in you!

Rick Krane
Anglers Artistry