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Posts: 5
| Working on a project and wanted to see if anyone had any input or experience they could share.
Came to find out that my great grandfather had a real skin mount from the early 1930’s (not sure on exact date but know it was before WWII). This was a fish that he caught on one of his yearly trips where his group would spend a month straight fishing the French River in Ontario.
Given the age of the mount (85+ years) it’s in relatively decent condition, a few of the fins could be in better shape. I am planning on cleaning it up the best I can and wanted to know if anyone had any advice on what to/ what not to use while working on a real fish this old? Fish is about 42” give or take. The wooden plaque supporting the mount is pretty secure, was most likely reconditioned at some point years ago.
Attachments ---------------- 45942CBD-5796-48A3-8B00-76FDA1CB233B.jpeg (160KB - 117 downloads) AA4BE71F-E3B7-46E5-A4E1-5EF52D7D93D1.jpeg (124KB - 85 downloads)
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Posts: 536
| Other than having it repaired at a taxidermist, fins ect. You can take a damp wash cloth with a liight amount of dawn dish soap in it and clean the fish off. Wiping it down following the grain of the fish. One thing that will really help it last longer and will make it shine and look better to is another good clear coat over it. Something that is cheap and would be easy for you too find is the rust oleum brand. You want to use the gloss finish. Lightly hit it as that stuff will run if oversprayed. Lightly hit a few times and that will really help you. It definitely has been restored in the past at least one point or more. Thats a couple things you can do on your own. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | With a family treasure like that, I take it to a competent fish taxidermist for a good look before I did much with it myself. Two I'd start with would be Lax and Fittante.
www.fittantereplicas.com
https://www.laxreproductions.com
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Posts: 1407
Location: Brighton CO. | Go to a taxidermist and one who worked with skin mounts. |
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