01-14-2016, 06:41 PM
Beautiful work! I can see why you'd be so happy. Those are memories and mounts that will last a life time.
Many guys get hung up on skin mount versus replica, as if a skin mount is better or more accurate in some way. That's just not the case anymore. There are so many high quality replicas available on the market now for nearly every size and shape.
Replicas are more durable than skin by far, they paint up better than skin, there is no biological material to ever worry about breaking down. The detail of replicas early on was sometimes variable, but that's not a problem anymore.
In fact, on today's skin mounts, the only thing used in many cases is just the skin for scale texture. Heads are always replicas on skin mounts, fins are too in many cases. For commercial mounts, the skin is still stretched on bodies that are sized close enough, but not exact castings of your fish, so still not a precisely accurate representation. Beyond that, its all paint, fillers.
Truly what matters most on fish is the taxidermist's command of painting technique and artistry.
For me, I'll pick replica every time.
[signature]
Many guys get hung up on skin mount versus replica, as if a skin mount is better or more accurate in some way. That's just not the case anymore. There are so many high quality replicas available on the market now for nearly every size and shape.
Replicas are more durable than skin by far, they paint up better than skin, there is no biological material to ever worry about breaking down. The detail of replicas early on was sometimes variable, but that's not a problem anymore.
In fact, on today's skin mounts, the only thing used in many cases is just the skin for scale texture. Heads are always replicas on skin mounts, fins are too in many cases. For commercial mounts, the skin is still stretched on bodies that are sized close enough, but not exact castings of your fish, so still not a precisely accurate representation. Beyond that, its all paint, fillers.
Truly what matters most on fish is the taxidermist's command of painting technique and artistry.
For me, I'll pick replica every time.
[signature]