Green River Fish Prep Kit

[jualhadun87]

Hello! I wanted to share and get advice on my preparation of a Green River fish fossil purchased in a kit. I have never done anything like this prep job before and I am hoping to learn on this piece so I can work on some nicer pieces. Here is the kit as it came in the mail:

And here is the contents of the box. Most of it is fluff (a book mark, window sticker, some random fossils in a bag etc) and the tools are obviously the most basic available. The "multitool" is an acid brush with a nail hammered into the end and some material stuff in the handle to hold it in place. It also has a "limestone eraser" labeled "blick" and a small plastic magnifying glass. There is also a basic guide on how to prep the fish and a guide to the different fish fossils found in the Green River formation. Here is a view of the contents:

And here is the actual fossil slab:

The head is obviously on the left and the tail on the right. Some of the black markings look to actually be a marking put on the limestone to show the rough outline of the fish, although some of the black marks are the actual fossil peaking through. The slab is decent size, about 3 or 4 times the size of the typical cheapo gift shop green river fish.

I am going to start on this a little today, probably work on the back third of the fossil first, working out from the backbone. I will post more pictures as I go. Wish me luck!

[Bev]

Good luck on your prepping! I just put up two posts on prepping on my blog. One with an electric engraver (my personal favorite) and one with acid prep.

[snolly50]

That's great, Green River fish prep with basic tools can be a lot of fun. I have most often employed an Electro-stylus (a pencil shaped engraver), but have also had good results with a dental pick, which is functionally the same as your tool. The eraser will be useful in gently cleaning up the exposed fish. Your concept of working out from the obvious spine is a sound one that will enable you to encounter the margins of the critter and its fins without unneeded removal of matrix, thus ending with a neater looking project. My guess is it's Knightia, although a Diplomystus is pictured on the box. Have fun.

[sseth]

That's great, Green River fish prep with basic tools can be a lot of fun. I have most often employed an Electro-stylus (a pencil shaped engraver), but have also had good results with a dental pick, which is functionally the same as your tool. The eraser will be useful in gently cleaning up the exposed fish. Your concept of working out from the obvious spine is a sound one that will enable you to encounter the margins of the critter and its fins without unneeded removal of matrix, thus ending with a neater looking project. My guess is it's Knightia, although a Diplomystus is pictured on the box. Have fun.

Starting with the spine is a great piece of advice, having prepped quite a few of these little guys. Then proceed to the skull, then ribs and save chasing the fins for last as they are the most delicate and you don't want the prep them out only to damage them while prepping other parts of the fish.

Seth

[Xiphactinus]

An Xacto knife works well too.

[jualhadun87]

I like the exacto knife option. I made some decent progress yesterday, exposed a large portion of the body and the tail fins. Main issue I have had is when digging into the material its hard to control the tool depth and it pushes through into the fossil itself. I blew more than a couple holes in it from that. The sharpness of the tool is very important and it dulls quickly, hence why I think I will give the exacto knife a try. Here are some more pictures:

[Xiphactinus]

Looking good! I keep a knife whetstone handy when working on something like this with an Xacto knife or even a dental scraper. When the tool starts to dull, you can quickly add an edge to it.

[jualhadun87]

And some more pictures after a couple more hours of work. Done with most of the body and started working a little bit on the head. Trying a scraping technique, more digging/scraping instead of using pressure to break small pieces off. Main issue with the skull is the contours are so close together that even after sharpening, the tool tip is wider than some of the spaces I am trying to get into. Needle time maybe?

[snolly50]

And some more pictures after a couple more hours of work. Done with most of the body and started working a little bit on the head. Trying a scraping technique, more digging/scraping instead of using pressure to break small pieces off. Main issue with the skull is the contours are so close together that even after sharpening, the tool tip is wider than some of the spaces I am trying to get into. Needle time maybe?

I have often employed a common sewing needle, pushed through an improvised masking tape grip. You can be really precise with such a tool, grasped with thumb and pointer finger.

Your fish looks great!

Edited November 27, 2013 by snolly50

[drhemlock]

were did you get the kit from?

doc

[jualhadun87]

I picked it up off of ebay for about $30 including shipping. I am going to give the needle technique a try this weekend.

[Triops808]

Jualhadun87, I've learned a lot from looking at your pictures. Being a timid sort I was afraid of removing too much matrix for fear the delicate bones would come loose. But I see from your work that with patience and meticulous work, these fish can really be cleaned to an extraordinary degree! Your fish, like mine, has a gorgeous blackish brown bone color, and the way you've prepped yours, it won't need any stain/paint:) Mine still had a little matrix in the nooks and crannies so I stained it. I could use advice on how to stain these fish if the bones are black rather than a light brown like many other Green River Fish are. Staining makes the ink pool in the depressions so a lighter boned fishes details will stand out more. But a black fish with a dark stain is just...blah, as you can see from my results. Please everyone, while you're helping Jualhadun87, please also give me advice about 'enhancing' Green River fish with stains and paints;)

Edited January 4, 2014 by Knightia

[Ludwigia]

Juan, thanks for showing this. The work is progressing well and you're doing a good job. Also the aquisition itself was a good deal I think. Looking forward to the end result.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

when i touch up painted my fish, i had 3 shades of cheap brown acrylic paint on hand and a very narrow brush used to enhance individual ribs and fin rays. i mixed paints for color match and thinned them with water enough to spread thin but not bleed. in some areas, dry brushing closely spaced bones and ribs gave the "light touch" effect i was after, leaving contrast with underlying matrix.

[Triops808]

Hi DanWoehr:) Thanks for the advice about painting/'enhancing' Green River fish fossils. Though I have painted wargaming miniatures, it never occurred to be to try some of those techniques on fossils, dry brushing and paint mixing instead of just mechanically using one color straight out of the bottle is very good advice, thank you:) Ah, so there is a bit of art in fossil prep:)

[Uncle Siphuncle]

i used more paint on my earlier fish as i too aggressively air abraded them and blew away some detail. the "dipped in chocolate" look was not what i was after with paint, so "less is more" in my opinion. on that note ii tried too embellish just enough to cover my errors. your previous

painting experience will serve you well. fin tips tend to benefit most from enhancement, so a very thin brush and steady hand will serve you well.

[Triops808]

Though I don't wish to hijack this thread really, it seemed my post most belonged here.

Today I started an unprepped Priscacara that I bought awhile ago from 'Brent's Fossil Store' on Ebay (great Ebayer by the way). It is from the 18" layer, and he recommends using a microblaster and air scribe I think. Naturally I am taking this on with only my trusty X-acto knife, since I don't own better gear.

Picture 1 is the pristine slab as I got it.

Picture 2 is the spinal ridge visible on the untouched slab

Picture 3, Found the spine! First contact:)

Picture 4 At the end of the day I have this progress to show.

So, what I would share to complete novices who want to prep a Green River Fish is, yes you can work with 18" layer fish, you just need to be patient and cautious. It's great fun, I recommend this as a project to anyone who's considering it. You can find cheaper kits with Knightia and Diplomystus on Amazon.com, Extinctions.com and Ebay. Ulrich's Fossil Gallery carries a complete line of highest quality kits with a variety of fish types available.

More progress tomorrow, if nobody minds:)

Gerry

(EDIT)

Picture 5 is my slow progress today, part of the skull showing

Picture 6 is my humble work area:)

Edited January 6, 2014 by Knightia

[Uncle Siphuncle]

if you go to the brazosport museum website bmns.org, you can access my july 2013 fossil report in which i showed step by step prep of 2 priskies... a reference point can be helpful at times. sorry i can't get that to link from my phone.

[Triops808]

Hello DanWoerhr,

Wow, your report is both wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated! I am going to enjoy reading them very much! Thank you for the information on prepping Priscacara (and other fossils), you've been a huge help!

[Uncle Siphuncle]

it brings me pleasure to help others find success in their prepping endeavors. feel free to learn from my mistakes and enjoy.

[siteseer]

Some preparators like to use scalpels - super sharp which is good for light scraping. The disposable blades come in a variety of shapes which can be handy when working in between specimens on a piece of matrix. I like the one with the smallest blade. Make sure you wear eye protection because a blade tip can snap and go flying if you use to much pressure. At least twice in the past 10 years, a blade tip snapped and bounced off my safety glasses.

You can get the handles and blades through suppliers like Kent's Tools.

An Xacto knife works well too.

[siteseer]

Snolly50,

Yes, a customized pin vise is a great tool. Some people mold a piece of putty to shape a grip perfectly for their fingers which is great if you're prepping all day.

Jess

I have often employed a common sewing needle, pushed through an improvised masking tape grip. You can be really precise with such a tool, grasped with thumb and pointer finger.

Your fish looks great!

[markmott]

Great thread. It got me so jazzed that I had to buy my own. A person on Ebay has the for 27 but I offered 15 and ended up buying for 20. Not to shabby in my opinion and a good way to give it a try without blowing a lot of money. Thank you for the suggestion jualhadun. I love the step by step. Keep em coming so I have something to follow when mine shows up.

Mark