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Plumping up fish

Discussion in 'Fish Taxidermy' started by JE, Feb 6, 2012.

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  1. Feb 6, 2012 #1
    JE

    JE Well-Known Member

    2,265
    184
    Northumberland UK
    I have had limited success in "plumping" up fish just by simply injecting under the skin with water, but was wondering what anyone else does ? I should make it clear that I am NOT talking about the stomach area, that is an easy fix with calk, I am talking about muscle "shrinkage" after prolonged freezer life. I have just taken a small Rainbow out of the freezer and it has quite a few skin wrinkles on its sides, plus a rather big "dent" on its back ! (not frozen by myself I should add)
    any ideas welcome !
    thanks
    John

    On a side note, its great to see so many new and not so "new" people in the fish section
     
  3. Feb 6, 2012 #2
    Randy Miller

    Randy Miller Active Member

    3,736
    0
    Elkhart, IN
    why are you plumping it?
     

  5. Feb 6, 2012 #3
    hodx

    hodx Herman Darr

    1,408
    0
    Edgewood,Maryland
    he probably wants the dents and dings removed to mold it
     
  6. Feb 6, 2012 #4
    den007

    den007 Active Member

    3,467
    12
    Dents and dings removed......let's hope that is all he wants to plump up. LOL
     
  7. Feb 6, 2012 #5
    hodx

    hodx Herman Darr

    1,408
    0
    Edgewood,Maryland
    sorry Dennis, sounds like i was talking about a car...how about depressions in soft bodied fish
     
  8. Feb 7, 2012 #6
    JE

    JE Well-Known Member

    2,265
    184
    Northumberland UK
    Yep, forgot to mention the important molding part !
    any suggestions welcome. I have a "crinkly" trout on hold. LOL
    John
     
  9. Feb 7, 2012 #7
    rp

    rp Member

    552
    0
    South Africa
    would also like to know as I also struggle with trout
     
  10. Feb 7, 2012 #8
    Monty Artrip

    Monty Artrip Active Member

    1,665
    0
    This tip should help you. Bill Leach of Caribou Taxidermy shared this with me for restoring the fullness as you are describing for heads prior to molding. It works equally will on the whole fish. Make an icewater bath in a foam cooler and submerge the fish in it. If you have an old fridge put the cooler in it and leave it for about 36-48 hours. Hope this is what you are after.
     
  11. Feb 7, 2012 #9
    JE

    JE Well-Known Member

    2,265
    184
    Northumberland UK
    Thanks Monty, I shall certainly try it.
    John
     
  12. Feb 7, 2012 #10
    GBRUCH

    GBRUCH "I am nothing without christ".....John 15:5

    1,574
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    Duncannon,PA
    good luck.
    An ice bath helps somewhat but as soon as you manipulate the skin your back to ...now what. I have never had success with Trout with excessive wrinkles. Sure you can do a reverse bend that stretches the skin and get a one sided cast but the other side is a real problem.

    Just had one of those and informed the client that a skin mount would be the optimal way to go.
     
  13. Feb 7, 2012 #11
    JE

    JE Well-Known Member

    2,265
    184
    Northumberland UK
    That is exactly what my trout is like Gary, as you say I can do a reverse curve, but the other side looks like s*&t ! I like doing pedestal mounts sooo, I had thought of removing the dorsal fin, then part the skin from the flesh down the sides and inject caulk or ???ing to try and stretch the skin back to its former glory. any thoughts on this idea ?
    This is not a clients fish,so experimenting is OK.
    John
     
  14. Feb 7, 2012 #12
    Old Fart

    Old Fart Active Member

    4,947
    5
    Minnesota
    I don't know if this will help or not. Years ago when Vik Birontas was prepping fish for freeze dry, he would inject Elmer's glue into the shrunken areas on fish to "plump" them up.
     
  15. Feb 7, 2012 #13
    Riverland

    Riverland New Member

    1,038
    0
    Wisconsin
    If you are going to use Victor's technique you need to be cussing wihile doing it for it to work . He did it on fishh that were to be freezedryed . All his fish blanks were molded off of mounted freezedryed fish.
     
  16. Feb 7, 2012 #14
    Cecil

    Cecil Well-Known Member

    13,743
    623
    Ligonier, Indiana
    You could contact a mortician in your area. I was told they have something they inject to build up tissue and hold it there for the viewing of badly damaged corpses. I seem to remember someone was using it in molding.
     
  17. Feb 7, 2012 #15
    AnglingArtisan

    AnglingArtisan Well-Known Member

    930
    590
    Western NY
    Try some BOTOX! ;D
    Seriously though I am interested in a solution to this problem as well :-\
     
  18. Feb 7, 2012 #16
    Cecil

    Cecil Well-Known Member

    13,743
    623
    Ligonier, Indiana
    Whatever this stuff is they can puff up tissue as much as they want depending on how much they use.
     
  19. Feb 7, 2012 #17
    classic tails

    classic tails Member

    903
    0
    Connecticut
    I know this sounds "CRAZY" But Mount the fish as a skin mount two "sided pedistal"... Then cast it. I know for a fact some of the bigger retail suppliers do this all the time...
     
  20. Feb 7, 2012 #18
    hodx

    hodx Herman Darr

    1,408
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    Edgewood,Maryland
    nothing is that crazy on taxinet
     
  21. Feb 7, 2012 #19
    JE

    JE Well-Known Member

    2,265
    184
    Northumberland UK
    I knew that some of the "big boys" did this, and had this been a rare specimen it might have been a good option, but I could just as easily bought a blank for a small rainbow, I want to find a way around this problem for future fish.
    I have ordered some hypodermic needles in different sizes to try injecting the fish with goodness knows what just now, so I have returned the fish to the freezer until they arrive, this will give me a few days to think of what to inject !
    John.
     
  22. Feb 7, 2012 #20
    hodx

    hodx Herman Darr

    1,408
    0
    Edgewood,Maryland
    Good Luck John...let us know what happends
     
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