I'm about to order my first reproduction fish.Do you guys prefer any brand over another.Which brands require less finish work.
Thanks for you advise. Kevin M.
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The better ones less, but still it will need work. I'm no good as a "body man" and my work never looks as good as I expect my customer would want it. When ordering repro's, I order them "customer ready" from a reputable dealer, add a hundred bucks and give it to the customer when it comes in. Now if I were Rick Krane, I'd probably make my own to begin with. That's just ME, however.
I think you've got a challenge on your hands to make the paint job look natural.
I prefer to do it myself and order my blanks mostly from Fibertech productions out of Nisswa,MN. They have a vast selection of blanks for any species that swims. You can order like me right out of the mold with flashing and all but Mike also does ready to paint and finished ready for the customer. His turnaround time exceeds all others in the buisness. I'm not posting an ad for a particular as there are others that have excellent fish but stating what I use. Fibertech phone number is 218-963-8002 ask for Mike Thelen and he will accomodate you. Their website is www.fibertechproductions.com,Mark
The Ron Reynolds forms available through McKenzie look real good. Cecil is right; my first repro was also a lake trout. It took me 4 tries to make it look the way I wanted. The spot pattern is tough to make realistic-- practice on paper or cardboard or whatever and expect to strip the form at least once or twice. Reference is a must.
We have many Lake trout or other repros (about 8,000) and will sell raw blanks (plugs) right out of the mold, ready to paint or customer ready. Your choice.