Evolution Of The Red Fish Taxidermy

[gizmo]

ok so I had to paint two fish here at school so.....the first up is a Red Fish. I chose this for my first (first ever painted fish btw) fish as my son caught a 29" Red when he was about 9 or so while we were on vacation. It was the first "big" fish he'd ever caught at the time. I'm having to go off of memory for the paint scheme ( in my defense I drink a lot so when I get home it may not be exact but hey)
First I started with a blank, installed and tape eyes and fins.

from here it was a matter of layering paints and detail work.

Tomorrow after it cures I'll inspect and pull the tape off of the eyes. For my first Fish I'm pretty happy.

 

[gizmo]

I'll post a final pic and the next Fish up is a largemouth bass. If y'all enjoy this thread then I'll do the same with it.

 

[Bullthrower338]

Here is a comparison, much smaller but you did great Erik! Some folks might not know what a red looks like.

 

[billc]

Very nice I would only say I think you have to much white yet on the belly and it needs to be blended in better. Please keep showing the stuff you do As I myself like seeing it all.

 

[gizmo]

Pulled the tape off of the eyes.

 

[gizmo]

Very nice I would only say I think you have to much white yet on the belly and it needs to be blended in better. Please keep showing the stuff you do As I myself like seeing it all.

Thanks Bill. Coloration on fish depends on where and when the fish was caught. Some are almost all red at certain times and places and inversely I've caught several that had almost no red on them. This was done freehand from a reference photo and memory of what the actual fish looked like. The lateral line on the form was 3/4 of the way up. The paint schedule called for color from the lateral line up. I went a touch below it as that's what I seem to remember of Seth's fish.

 

[gizmo]

Largemouth are a great example of that. In real market water bass will have very little greens. In clear water with vegetation that can get really green. Fish tend to adapt to their environments.

 

[billc]

well there you go that all make sense to me. I like it just need to go catch a redfish one of these day s

 

[Royal27]

I'll post a final pic and the next Fish up is a largemouth bass. If y'all enjoy this thread then I'll do the same with it.

Put up the bass too!

I'm just glad I reminded you to put a red dot on the tail.

 

[Ridgewalker]

Interesting, but I'll bet yours is a little chewyer than the ones I've caught in the gulf from my kayak.
I think you need to do a tigerfish and I need to catch it!

 

[cpr0312]

Nice, look forward to the bass!

 

[gillettehunter]

Bit of a process and need some artist in you to make it work. Fun to see the steps. Bruce

 

[buck wild]

Spot might be a little large and most are higher then the center line on the tail. I agree all fish are different but unless you are painting a specific fish, then you'll want to come with the best "average" color so it can be replicated as you get better. Probably not something they teach you at school,but when painting a fiberglass fish it helps to prime white followed by a silver metallic base coat over the white. It will given the fish a better base coat and prevent light from pentrating through the backside of the fish blank. The silver will give the fish metallic color of saltwater fish. I use 7-9 different colors and gloss between layers. This will give your paint depth. The back edge of the tail will have a iridescent blue at the end and the head actually has almost a complete different color scheme than the side. It almost has a green/aqua opaque color. There are several iridescent colors that will soften the paint scheme. Great good thing about repo fish- easy to strip and keep practicing !
Wait until you do a speckeled trout

If you want I could give you a few of my saltwater paint schemes. Living in Corpus Christi on the water I have studied the main Texas coastal fish

 

[Aaron N]

It's a dream of mine to tail some Texas reds!

 

[gizmo]

Spot might be a little large and most are higher then the center line on the tail. I agree all fish are different but unless you are painting a specific fish, then you'll want to come with the best "average" color so it can be replicated as you get better. Probably not something they teach you at school,but when painting a fiberglass fish it helps to prime white followed by a silver metallic base coat over the white. It will given the fish a better base coat and prevent light from pentrating through the backside of the fish blank. The silver will give the fish metallic color of saltwater fish. I use 7-9 different colors and gloss between layers. This will give your paint depth. The back edge of the tail will have a iridescent blue at the end and the head actually has almost a complete different color scheme than the side. It almost has a green/aqua opaque color. There are several iridescent colors that will soften the paint scheme. Great good thing about repo fish- easy to strip and keep practicing !
Wait until you do a speckeled trout

If you want I could give you a few of my saltwater paint schemes. Living in Corpus Christi on the water I have studied the main Texas coastal fish

Man thank you so much and yes please I'd love to have copies of your paint schedules. I knew the spot wasn't right but I was trying to go by memory on that particular fish. I need to look at the picture when I get home but I remembered the spot being unusual. I am going to print your critique and put it in my fish book for reference in the future. Thank you.

 

[buck wild]

Give me a few days as I'm not with my reference stuff at the moment. I'll email you a few things. Keep after it

 

[rinehart0050]

Very cool Gizmo. I really enjoyed seeing how the painting progressed.

Keep this stuff coming- fascinating

 

[gizmo]

Give me a few days as I'm not with my reference stuff at the moment. I'll email you a few things. Keep after it

Thank you very much.

 

[ArmyGrunt]

I'm surprised by the fact that fish mounts are zero part fish. I guess I expected you'd keep the skin like on mammals, but it doesn't seem to make sense now. I know I've never been able to salvage skin when I've cleaned them. But I've never intended to either.
Until my trip to SA I'd never tried to cape a rabbit. The property manager's kid wanted it as a rug for the kitchen table, and I wanted R8 eat it, so win-win!

 

[gizmo]

I'm surprised by the fact that fish mounts are zero part fish. I guess I expected you'd keep the skin like on mammals, but it doesn't seem to make sense now. I know I've never been able to salvage skin when I've cleaned them. But I've never intended to either.
Until my trip to SA I'd never tried to cape a rabbit. The property manager's kid wanted it as a rug for the kitchen table, and I wanted R8 eat it, so win-win!

You can absolutely skin mount a fish. Reproduction mounts have become very popular as the last longer and look better than a fish skin mount plus you can release the fish.