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When I was at the Tucson fossil show I picked up several slabs of unprepared Green River fish from the 18-inch layer. I've been working on this Knightia and have a few questions. I only have hand tools so I have been carefully removing matrix using some pin vises with various needle tools I picked up from PaleoTools. Here's how it looks so far: First question: If you look in the areas of the anal fin and the dorsal fin, there appear to be random swatches of organic material not associated with the body. Perhaps these are regions that "blew up" as the fish was decomposing. Should I be removing these and trying to restore the original outline of the fish or should I leave them alone? For example, here's a closeup of the dorsal area: Next question. It's been difficult to remove all the last bits of matrix with needle tools. The photo below shows the bits of matrix remaining in areas around the backbone. I don't think I can do much more on it with needles. Would it help if I were to invest in something like a Paasche AECR air abrasive tool or should I stop here. I would need a compressor, blast cabinet, and all the paraphernalia if I were to do this, but if it would help I might consider it.