It is not going to well. I ordered the mannikin a little to big, so I had to carve it down a little. My biggest problem was getting the head to fit. How far into the head must you remove the bone. Also, I was wondering if it would be better to use stencils to paint the fish, or is it done often without. Please excuse me if any of this sounds foolish, for I am a very beginner. Should the mannikin slide all the way to the very front of the head?
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You have to remove the spine at the back of the skull to remove the contents (brain). You will know when you get to the brain it will be greenish yellow fluid coming out. Use your tools to dig all of this out. It is very important to open all of this up to get inside the skull to remove. It will be a hole the size of a nickle maybe depending on the size of fish. When you go to mount I pack all of this with clay and insert my form as far as I can into the back of the skull. The clay can be molded to make a good transition from the head to form. I do this after the fish is stapled up. You then push a couple of long pins through the top of the head into the form for support till dried. As far as painting I do not use stencils I free hand all of my bass. It is not that bad until you get down to the spots below the lateral line. This is just the way I do it. Hope this helps.
push it through the roof of the mouth, just above the small raker in the roof of the mouth, through the eye cavities, and into the form. This will stabilize the head and allow you to position it however you wish with very little trouble. A little clay or filler can be used between the brain cavity and the form, as Todd said. When the fish is dry, remove the wire. I bend the ends of mine so I can hang the fish up until I am ready to do the finish work. If your fish is properly cleaned in the skull area, you should be able to push your finger into the skull area and see it throught the eye cavities.