Lyons O'hare Blank

I quit ordering their JUNK years ago.


Kerby...

 

I can attest to the quality of the L O'haver blanks. I have repaired and repainted quite a few over the years. The typical pose is a very realistic representation of the said species. No jacked out and terrible positioning that can ruin a perfect paint job. Detail is excellent and molded and cast with traditional resin and cloth and not of bondo. Their finish and paint is first class and they are in demand as a west coast fish specialist that has a long history for California anglers

 

You have seen bass swimming around with a up turned tail?

 

Did you buy that rtp? That the first issue if ya did. That inner mouth detail is stunning!
As for the fins just heat them up and move them however ya want to. Haven’t ordered from lcr in years because thier stuff is junk. They don’t care what they turn out.

 

Remember, it's a Lake Country blank...an O'Haver mold.

What's going on with the belly, yikes.

 

I see them held that way often. With top notch paintwork, it's no big deal. Many clients appreciate the pose, actually.

The jaw line is the bigger offender here, at least to me, if we're being critical. I just don't care much for it.

 

At very few points when a fish is doing anything will it have its mouth and gills opened wide at the same time. Most mounts are set up skin and replicas with that set up in accurately in my opinion. That blank is also not closed gill. Ever get a blank from new wave? You have to grind out the opening fill and build gills. It’s a blast! But that is not a closed gill blank. They just didn’t open them up and build anything.
A lot of bass replicas and skin mounts are posed mouth open wide and gills flared. That works if they are jumping out of the water or sucking in a huge bait but most the time it’s wrong.
My guess is that mold never came with a plug. Sculpting mouths is a pain and you would have paid a whole lot more for it to be done nicely.

 

LCR advertises that the mouths must be formed for this series. (clearly this is a rtp order and we see what LCR considers formed). Also says LO'H replicas are non-returnable.

I don't know how this will work out for you.

Maybe they caught it on a big old jig and you can do something with that to avoid a bunch of mouth work.

 

Mudbat, as I stated in my previous post, I have repaired and repainted many L&O fish over my 50 years as a taxidermist and stand by my opinions of their mounts. I have not ever had one of their fresh water fish or bass. They have always been saltwater, and I also stated they used traditional methods molding and casting in resin and cloth, and not your preferred choice of bondo. I have also never had to purchase more than a handful of pre made blanks as well, so can not comment on the quality of the many suppliers you buy from since my mold collection has been built on molding and casting my customers fish. My customers allow me to choose the pose and if they want something that makes the fish look unnatural and unrealistic, I will turn down the job since that mold becomes unusable to me for future casts. Maybe the customer wanted a bass mount with an upturned tail, who knows. What I can say, as I already stated, every fish made by L&O I have worked on is the traditional method of molding and casting, not a junk bondo blank, and their natural positioning sets them apart from the majority of blank pictures I have seen.

 

" Ever get a blank from new wave? You have to grind out the opening fill and build gills. It’s a blast! But that is not a closed gill blank. They just didn’t open them up and build anything."

Mudbat, your reply is typical of the new generation of taxidermists these days. The majority expect everything to be done for them and if it isn't the complaining starts. Any fish taxidermist that has been around before the application of many new materials and modern techniques will know that very few if any replica maker offered finished mouth detail as well as the inner bridging required for proper gill detailing since it is done before the mold parts are bonded. This applies mainly to salt water species since very few are skin mounted. It is still common that skin mounts are the choice for many fresh water fish, that eliminates the need for interior mouth inserts and the issue with gill replacement. A properly made resin, cloth mold can produce many casts and last for years, but could have been made prior to the advent of inner mouth detail, and are now being upgraded to meet the demand. The mouth photo above shows this. New wave is upgrading this issue with vacuum formed mouth inserts as well as gills. Highly detailed mouth inserts can be purchased made from laytex, and is reflected in the price. Those that complain about blank supplier's issues should learn how to make their own, thus eliminating any issue's that cause to much work for them. The term "snap together taxidermy" fit's so well in the term's of this profession today

 

I think it's a bit bullish to throw around the "snap together taxidermy" stereotype.

It's not that the problem can't be solved. The issue I have is it's billed as rtp. Just don't offer rtp if that's what you're going to send out the door. I don't see any example photos of LCR's "formed mouth" and would have been underwhelmed by what they did there. If they show what you're going to receive, and maybe they do and I've overlooked it, then no complaint.

The fish could still turn out sharp, imo. Mike Kroessig did great work with foam core open mouth fish without, to my knowledge, super detailing.

Needs killer paint though.

 

I see you have a hard on for me Bruce. Snap together type? I compete with skinmounts, have done far more skins then replicas, mold and cast all my own parts and custom mold fish for customers. Most blanks I from a major supplier will get fins of my own molds.
We get it. Your way is the best and only way. You have pointed that out many, many times. You should worry less about going after me and more about removing the photo shopped pics of other peoples work from your web page like Marks coho. All you did was change the lighting and edit in a couple spots below the lateral line and on the adipose.

 

Says he has the mold. Has other pics credited to other taxidermists. More to the story?

 

Im sure the is a story. One of high seas and piracy!
Here’s a tyler Erickson perch that he changed the lighting on and edited some fin splits in. Oh I mean custom molded and hand painted.