a strange phenom with fish that occurs

[roonie]

I am back at some fish taxidermy after years of not doing any. I have a giant rainbow(30lbs.) that i have just gotten ready for mounting last night. I measured the fish with calipers prior to mounting in many locations and recorded them. I carved the body to exactly the same measurements. When i test fit the skin, it seems there is a gap of about 1  1/2 inches along the seam. I now remember this happening years ago also.It seems the form still does not fit near the fins etc. I used to just fill with auto body filler before...but...now I want to know why this happens and how I can prevent this before this mount. Did the skin shrink that bad. I have used dawn , salt soak with borax etc. as read on this forum. Do i just need to relax the skin to gain this amount back. In anticipation....

[Pescado]

You may not be taking the thickness of the skin into the equation when your doing your initial measurements. True measurements would be of the carcass with the skin off.

 PB

[FishArt]

Also, just because you're hitting your caliper measurements doesn't necessarily mean your radiuses are correct. Incorrect radiuses throughout your fish can easily throw off your fit by quite a bit. And yes, the skin will shrink/tighten up a bit especially if using DA to preserve. But, it will relax once placed in water and the skin should have some stretch in it as well. As Paul mentioned, the thickness of the skin can also contribute. Especially in a thicker skinned Fall salmon and trout. And with a fish that large - with a LOT of skin the amount could be considerable...

[roonie]

I thought about radius measurements too. I will also need to take into account , the thickness of the flooring glue. How thick should i apply this flooring glue?I guess i will soak in water first and try the fit again. yes this fish has a thick skin along the back especially! Is there anything else that will help relax the skin prior to mounting? It just seems the manikin looks soo much smaller than when i remember netting the fish. I managed to land another giant rainbow today so i have another chance at doing a better job. This time i managed to collect some great reference shots. I will post and share them.  I have made another leap toward greater taxidermy allready. Your help is very much appreciated.

[FishArt]

Marty in your statement  ''DA''  do you mean denatured alcohol or Dawn ?

Denatured alcohol. Denatured alcohol will tighten the skin up quite a bit. Relax it in cold water for about a half hour soak before mounting and it'll come back to normal...