194 How To Make Fish Mounts 



where the fish are to be molded. Pick a spot which harbors 

 clean sand, with no excess of pebbles and shells. I always 

 correspond with a contact man in advance concerning this type 

 or problem, because a receptacle of this sort may be difficult to 

 produce at short notice in a primitive area. Then I hire two 

 or three natives and form a bucket brigade to fill the drums 

 with fresh water. Or I may make arrangements to have the 

 water trucked to the beach. Use this water to mix plaster, 

 but have your native helpers run to salt water, which should be 

 only a short distance away, and clean the plaster out of the 

 pans in the surf. A scrub brush or a handful of sisal will 

 facilitate removal of the plaster that is beginning to set. With 

 a bit of joshing and an approving word now and then, I find that 

 natives develop easily and quickly into valuable assistants. 



Mold Reinforcement. In the field I always reinforce the 

 mold. After the first or "splash" coat covers the fish, I apply 

 another layer of plaster which has been strengthened with 

 sisal. The sisal is torn or pulled away from the bale in con- 

 venient handfuls, dipped in the plaster so that it is thoroughly 

 saturated, and carefully placed along the mold until the entire 

 fish and the built-up shelf around it are covered. Sisal or tow 

 is a strong hemp or fiber obtained from plants. I always have 

 the sisal ready, that is, torn from the bale in small chunks, be- 

 fore mixing the plaster. 



A two-piece mold is made of fishes up to about the size of a 

 75-pound specimen, or up to the point where fish and mold can 

 be turned over to work the other side. However, fishes such as 

 bluefin tuna, marlin, or sailfish have to be produced with a one- 

 side or one-piece mold. Usually, it is possible to apply the 

 plaster beyond the mid-line of the belly and head because the 

 body of the soft fish can be removed, with some manipulation, 

 from the mold. In the laboratory, a mold that continues beyond 

 the mid-line of the back and belly can be chipped away to 

 facilitate removal of the cast from it. When such a cast is ex- 

 hibited, it will appear as a whole fish. 



The mold is further reinforced with pipe. Conduit pipe is 



