skin mount question

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....................NO!

 

A long, long time ago, I was taught to mount bass by first making a half-cast mold of the show side, then after the pickle, applying a 1/2" layer of paper mache to the show side with the skin lying in the mold. Next we would add 2 layers of glue soaked red rosin paper strips over the whole skin. Then we would make "birds nests" with excelsior and stuff the fish as it was sewn up, adding a wood block for anchoring in the back. By the time you could get all of that done, the mache would have set up. This made for a very heavy mount (almost the same as the live weight). As soon as I mounted my first bass on a foam body, I never went back. It was an instant improvement in time, difficulty, and quality. I do not recommend it. Using this method, it is very easy to end up with a bass that looks like a baseball bat with fins.

 

Why?

 

When I first began experimenting and learning Taxidermy almost 30 years ago (didn't have a p.c. or access to an excellent source of info like Taxidermy.net) I mounted fish using the sand filled 'sock' method, fish filler method, and excelsior wrapped method (but covered in mache afterwords). I now carve almost all of my own bodies from foam.
Same question as 'wings' WHY?? would you want to try this with the techniques available today...if you go for it though, please post a pic.