Ptychodus04’s Fossil Fish Prepapalooza

[Ptychodus04]

Wrapped up a couple more fish.

 

 

[MarcoSr]

I have a very short attention span.  I don't think I could prep one fish, never mind the hundreds that you have prepped.  Your quality of prepping fish seems to stay at a very high level.  Do you ever say to yourself, not another fish to prep?  When you are prepping large numbers of fish, do you ever switch to a different type of prep to give yourself a mental change?

 

Marco Sr.

[Ptychodus04]

4 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

I have a very short attention span.  I don't think I could prep one fish, never mind the hundreds that you have prepped.  Your quality of prepping fish seems to stay at a very high level.  Do you ever say to yourself, not another fish to prep?  When you are prepping large numbers of fish, do you ever switch to a different type of prep to give yourself a mental change?

 

Marco Sr.

 

Thanks Marco. Since I'm prepping for clients, I always prep my queue in the order received. Sometimes, that means I'm prepping fish for months at a time without change. I get different stuff scattered here and there. One regular client sends me a lot of trilobites to prep. Those are fun. I really get sick of Diplomystus and Cockerelites because they are so common but there's enough variety in preservation and other fish to keep it interesting. I listen to a podcast while I'm working to occupy my mind while my eyes and hands are busy.

 

I have one slab waiting in queue with 3 large fish that will be fun. It has a giant Priscacara, a nice Phareodus, and a big Diplo on top of part of the Phareodus! That's going to be cool.

[Ptychodus04]

Sometimes, you just have to cut bait on a project when the outcome isn’t going to be worth the time spent on it. This Cockerelites started out promising but went south fast.

[Randyw]

LOL! That would look awfully good on my to be prepped pile…….

[SPrice]

14 hours ago, Randyw said:

LOL! That would look awfully good on my to be prepped pile…….

Waaah! That looks like my already prepped pile. 😆🤣

[Ptychodus04]

Just wrapped up this amazing Diplomystus and started on what looks to be a promising Notogoneus.

 

[Jaybot]

20 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

and started on what looks to be a promising Notogoneus.

Didn't know what a Notogoneus looked like, just did a quick google search... pretty neat looking fossils.  Looking forward to see how yours turns out

[Ptychodus04]

The Notogoneus is done! Man, this was a tough prep. These fish have very thin scales. Add to that, a patchy dense micro-layer on top of them, and a soft layer below. Recipe for disaster. I was adjusting the pressure on the abrasive every couple of minutes to remove the tough matrix where it cropped up and keep from blowing through the fish when it disappeared. The only part I’m unhappy with is the bit of matrix in the fork of the caudal fin. It broke weirdly and I had to even it out. I much prefer the matrix to follow the outline of the specimen.

 

[Jaybot]

If you wouldn't have told us of the mistakes you made, I would have thought it perfect.

 

I still can't see your 'mistakes'

[Randyw]

LOL! Don’t let him fool you! His “mistakes” are other people’s perfect preps!

[daves64]

1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said:

The only part I’m unhappy with is the bit of matrix in the fork of the caudal fin. It broke weirdly and I had to even it out. I much prefer the matrix to follow the outline of the specimen.

 

So since it's ruined, send it to me. I'll display it with gentle care even if it's all messed up. 

[trilobites_are_awesome]

I can't even see the mistake!

[Randyw]

See @Ptychodus04? I keep telling you you’re too picky! I can see it but nobody but you would downgrade the fish for it!

[Ptychodus04]

I’d argue that it’s better for a preparator to be too hard on himself than not hard enough. 

 

I’m always trying for the perfect prep. I know it’s impossible but a boy can hope.

[Ptychodus04]

This is about as close to a perfect Diplomystus as one can get. The fins got a little flaky at the tips but that’s about all. There was a nice soft layer of matrix right on top of the specimen and a beautiful separation between it and the harder layer on top.

 

[FossilDAWG]

 

Don

[Jeffrey P]

That is an exceptionally beautiful Diplomystus. This thread is full of exquisite eye candy. Congratulations Kris on these gorgeous specimens, the products of your hard and

lovely work and thanks for sharing it. 

[Ptychodus04]

This weekend, I wrapped up the prep on this monster Priscicara. It is 13.75” long! Interestingly, most of the 8th and all of the 9th dorsal spines are missing. The 10th spine is in its correct position against the fin.

 

[Randyw]

Wow! That's huge!

Somehow when I look at it though I get the feeling that I'm seeing an old fighter covered in his battle scars that finally sank down for his final rest...

[daves64]

48 minutes ago, Randyw said:

Wow! That's huge!

Somehow when I look at it though I get the feeling that I'm seeing an old fighter covered in his battle scars that finally sank down for his final rest...

Or the morning after a great party...

[Ptychodus04]

It’s a beast for sure. This is pretty close to max size known for the species.

[Ptychodus04]

There's also a small diplo, a phareodus, and a large diplo on this slab. It's going to be awesome.

[Ludwigia]

1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said:

There's also a small diplo, a phareodus, and a large diplo on this slab. It's going to be awesome.

[Ptychodus04]

Current progress on the fish mentioned above. The small diplo mentioned is off to the right of these fish but it’s pretty boring.

 

There’s another small diplo sotting on the head of the larger fish. I’m currently trying to decide whether or not to prep it or remove it. Its preservation is a bit sketchy and it detracts from the larger fish.

 

This big Diplo went on a feeding frenzy before it died. The stomach is jammed full of smaller, mostly articulated fish.