Having started in taxidermy with my grandfather in 1954, I still enjoy looking at the old mounts. I love redoing old fish mounts to allow them to once again hang proudly on the wall rather than find their way to a Dumpster. A few products that I use are Zip-Strip for stripping, 3006 White Lightening Caulk for hide glue, Zinsser Clear Spray Shellac for sealing, and Ultra Soft for relaxing.
When relaxing old fish skins, you can get them pliable again, but you won’t get the stretch back. The skins have a lot of memory and want to stay as they were mounted. Clear spray shellac is great, as lacquer will not cut it. You can go over the other colors with spray shellac, then detail with white and not have bleeding.
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