How to fix bubble holes in bondo/resin mold?

[Ken's Fish Taxidermy]

Well here is my first mold. Can I use apoxie sculpt to fill the little holes? I am using 50/50 bondo/resin method. Where the holes caused by moisture. I probably should have tried to dry it better before pouring the bondo/resin. I will dry it better next time. Now how should I go about cleaning the face area out. Getting rid of some of the rough flashing?
Thanks for any help. Also a big thanks to Josh Knuth for the videos. So helpful.

Ken

[JE]

Usually holes are from air bubbles, but you are right, moisture also has its effects, as does fish slime !  I usually fix any noticeable holes in the mold with a two part epoxy, then any that are missed can easily be fixed on the cast. Any bad undercuts can be dremel'd out then repaired on the cast. If there are serious flaws I have made a cast, then repaired the cast and made another mold from that. Better still if the fish is still in good condition try another mold of the fish,I usually find the fins deteriorate after one mold on a long time frozen fish but last two molds on a fresh fish. It depends on the species also.
Good luck
John

[GBRUCH]

I would Fix the larger ones with apoxie and allow the smaller ones to be filled with the wax used for release.  Those bubbles look like they are from air.  Possibly the hardner was mixed to hot and there was not enough time for them to pop on their own or you trapped them while pouring out the mix or the mix was applied to thick and they couldn't remove themselves  Try pouring in one area and allowing the mix to push itself over the rest of the fish.  Lastly I pull out the air hose and with very low pressure blow on the visible bubbles to pop them and be sure there is no trapped air in the vulnerable areas like the belly and back at the flange.

[FishArt]

Lastly I pull out the air hose and with very low pressure blow on the visible bubbles to pop them and be sure there is no trapped air in the vulnerable areas like the belly and back at the flange.

Hey, that's a great tip Gary - thanks!

[Ken's Fish Taxidermy]

Ok thanks guys. I will try a little less catalyst and dry the fish better. I think I might have gone a little thick with the 50/50 blend so that also might  be the culprit. I also like the compressed air idea too. Going to try that.

Thanks for the advice.

Ken

[JE]

Try brushing a thin layer of the bondo mix on the fish first, wait a while for any bubbles to burst then pour on the main layer.
John

[Ken's Fish Taxidermy]

JE that is a great idea! I am going to do that. Thanks

[CrabCrazy]

what JE said...on Josh's video, he brushes out a thin first coat

[Ken's Fish Taxidermy]

Well here is a 10" LM bass I molded today. Did what you guys said and look. No bubbles! It worked, I put a little less catilyst in, Dried it better and made a thinner 50/50 layer. Can't wait for my gelcoat to get here! Its like Christmas when you open it for the first time! LoL.
Thanks for the help guys. I will post pics of the fish when I cast them. Here are some pics of the bass mold.

Ken

[CrabCrazy]

love the use of a old screen for a platform

[Ken's Fish Taxidermy]

I improvised! Couldn't find anything that would work. Then I saw that laying there. It was trash. So I used it. It actually worked really well. The Hfiber peeled right off. I didn't get stuck. So I was happy with it. I guess it was because of the holes in the screen.

[Cole]

No need to wait for gelcoat. I use bondo/resin to cast all of my fish.

Gary's tip works great. I've also used a blow dryer or my mouth (I'm full of hot air) to blow the resin around.

[Ken's Fish Taxidermy]

LoL Cole. That is what did. Blew on the little bubbles. Also I was able to see the big ones under the 50/50 mix and while it was still wet I popped them by touching them. I am going to wait for the gelcoat to get here because my PVA is with it. Yes there is other stuff to use for releasing the cast but I wan't to wait for the PVA to get here.

[GBRUCH]

I have blown on a few fish in my day too but I to often have to pick hardened bondo from my beard.

[Ken's Fish Taxidermy]

LOL!