Big Old Crab

[Baccus]

Hello everyone,

I have the chance to work on a very old crab and wanted to see what your opinions and approaches would be. 

My instinct is to stabilize, sculpt and paint the hell out of this thing.  Apparently it is over 100 and was a gift from Japan. 

Please let me know if this is a money pit or simply a long week worth of work.   The biggest issue I see is removing the ancient layer of varnish that is crumbling off of it without reducing the crab itself to dust.

Thanks

The wood piece is one square foot. 

[7-Point]

Don't know if its fixable, but why not give it a try? Either way, that thing is huge! I wouldn't want to be at the beach if they were in the water.

[CrabCrazy]

hey 7-point, we do have some big spider crabs at OC ...a friend of mine caught a spider crab that was almost 4' across...small bodies and long legs

[7-Point]

hey 7-point, we do have some big spider crabs at OC ...a friend of mine caught a spider crab that was almost 4' across...small bodies and long legs

Thanks. You just made me never want to go back. haha. just kidding. That 4' is a big crab! I caught one two years ago but he was only like 1' across. Do they have pinchers?

[Baccus]

They have claws.  This guy still has one at least. 

Any tips on stabilizing the shell and removing the old coats of paint? 

[CrabCrazy]

as i said the shell will be very brittle...only thing i know is to pour resin inside everything first, then try soaking it in some kind of paint remover,something that old has to be varnish base...i would just try to re-enforce the shell first then clean it, then paint over the exsisting paint....legs you can copy and use somewhat on the other side....claw part is a different story, they wouldn't match right...you would have to sculp another one.I know thats a lot of work, but if that crab is that important to you, then go for it