RECORD MARLIN MOUNT JOURNAL (page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) |
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The fish is a 181" 1228 lb blue marlin. largest ever caught in U.S. waters as well as a N.C. state record caught by Trey Irvine of Fort Lauderdale aboard his boat named MI MI. The fish was caught at the 25th annual pirates cove billfish tournament in August 15, 2008. The fish was transported 18 hours by truck by Joe Ribera of Atlantic Taxidermy to his facility in Pompano Beach Florida where it will be molded and reproduced.
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First things first. This frozen beast had to be fork lifted into a truck for an 18 hour drive from North Carolina to South Florida. |
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Gently loading the monster for the long drive |
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Once the fish arrived it had to sit and defrost before molding could begin. The first step in the mold process is to cut the bill and tail off. The reason for this is to ensure it doesn't break while trying to roll over the fish once the front side is done. These parts will be molded separately and added later. |
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Next the fish is laid in a bed of sand and posed. Once it has been posed and dried a coat of silver paint is sprayed on to seal the fish, a release agent is then applied to ensure separation once the mold is complete. |
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Next a coat of white gelcoat is applied to get every detail on the fish. |
RECORD MARLIN MOUNT JOURNAL (page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) |
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