A Black Crappie Painting Essay

[Doug A]

what kind of foam did he carve the body from
Thanks

[rgkittle]

Doug , the foam was purchased from Foam Products in Minnesota. They run an ad in Breakthrough Magazine. You can also purchase the same foam from Matuska Taxidermy Supply . Randy Kittle

[Doug A]

Thanks, does it have a brand name or something I can try to find it by? It seems like a dense type of polystyerene from the pics. I liked how easy it looked to get a finished piece vs balsa. That was an excellent job on that crappie and it seems to allow more artistic freedom than ordering a body. The s-curve was perfect.
Thanks for the reply

[rgkittle]

I believe Rick said it was construction foam . I just ordered a UPS box, which was roughly $115.00,shipping included . The foam I ordered, was the gray foam . Rick said they change colors every now and then  . Anyway I carved 3 fish bodies and only used about 1/2 of one block . Naturally ,the larger the fish, the more foam you will use.The box comes with 2 blocks . I also ordered the 8 inch size . It`s good stuff and like you said, you have all the freedom of pose that you want . Look at the ad in Breakthrough for Foam Products  and you will see the sizes they offer. The only problem is, you have to mail them a check . They don`t take credit or debit cards. Matuska, on the other hand does accept credit cards, and their foam is the same quality . So if time is an issue, it will be faster , ordering from Matuska .

[Doug A]

Thanks, for the help. I'll get some as soon as I have time.
Doug

[tomdes]

Rick,

Great step-by-step procedures. Thanks for taking the time and sharing them with us..

[Doug A]

I thought of something else today. Did the foam have to be primed or sealed so the mounting adhesive wouldn't soak in it? If so what did you prime it with. Great step by step BTW. I really enjoyed following it.
Doug.

[rgkittle]

Doug , the foam did not need any sealer. I used Shur-Stik 111 wallpaper adhesive available from Ace Hardware . It works great and you use very little per fish. I bought a case of it ( 4 gallons ) for around $38.00 . I have a friend who owns an Ace Hardware . He did not have it in stock but ordered it for me and I had it in about a week. Thanks, Randy

[classic tails]

ty-great job. thanks for info.

[racksandriverstaxidermy]

awesome looks good

[buzzbait]

I have the how to videos on LMB,and now I have geart direction on doing a crappie THANK YOU rgkittle.......very nice job.

[natureslink]

beauty of a crappie. Why cast a head instead of using the original though?  Those fins look great too

[tjaxtax]

Nice!