ii4 How To Make Fish Mounts 



be placed over another immediately to obtain depth and ac- 

 curacy in color. Anyone having access to compressed air ( some 

 machines and tanks are small and portable ) should try it. 



Proceed in this manner: first, mix the paints. Small, instant 

 coffee jars with screw tops serve admirably as receptacles. 

 Pour 2 inches of lacquer thinner into the jar and squeeze in 2 

 or 3 inches of tube oil color into it. Mix well with a brush until 

 the oil color has dissolved and is held in suspension. Add an 

 equal amount (same as lacquer thinner) of clear lacquer; stir it. 

 The mixture is now ready for the spray gun. Some brands of 

 lacquer may be heavier than others. If the mixture is too 

 heavy to go through the air gun smoothly, add more thinner. 

 In other words, mix the color, thinner, and lacquer in propor- 

 tion to suit the situation, although 50-50 lacquer and thinner 

 usually works well. 



First, spray the basic color— flat white, silver, or chrome— over 

 the entire surface. Then, turn the mount on the support so that 

 the belly can be spraved easilv ( Fig. 106 ) . The great majority 

 of fishes have a flat white belly; therefore, a rather good load of 

 white oil color should be included in the lacquer-thinner mix. 

 On occasion, I may apply the white pigment from the tube with 

 a brush dipped in lacquer directly to the belly of the fish— if 

 results with the air gun are not "white" enough. 



Now turn the fish around to a position which will bring the 

 back or dorsal surface toward you (Fig. 107). Be careful not 

 to touch the sprayed surface too soon. If the paint was applied 

 a bit too heavily, it may still be wet. If your fingers have 

 touched the mount in this condition, the paint will adhere to 

 them. If this happens, it will be necessarv to remove all paint 

 and start over again! 



Most fishes have a blue-green back. Therefore, sprav the 

 green on lightly and then go over it with blue; usually emerald 

 green and Prussian blue are the best to use. A light spray of 

 raw umber or raw sienna may be required, and then another 

 touch of green over it. Now, attend to the side of the body with 

 light sprays of the required colors. Do not applv the lacquer 

 colors heavily or the basic silvery sheen will be lost. Up to this 



