Fossil Fish Prep

RonB

Blue Ring
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Nov 2, 2007
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Ok, the first photo is how a piece of rock looks when I find it. Its hard to see, but there are some bumbs in this slab of rock that tells me its a complete Phareodus. I use two different airscribes to get down close to the bone and then clean it up using an air abrasive system. I start working on the head of the fish and work down the back bone and stop once I get to where the tail starts. I always to the fins last. Some very very tiny bones make up the fins! Once I have the head and backbone mostly done, I then start taking off the rock from the dorsal side of the fish and then move underneath to the ventral side. Thats what you see in these 4 photos. I have three more to post. enjoy
 
And here are the last three photos showing the fish ready for clean up, I do that with some air and then apply a very water coat of Glyptal. (a type of glue) then one with the glue applied and the last one is the teeth on this monster!!! This fish must have been one scary fish for all the other smaller fishes swimming around at that time. This fish comes from the Green River formation in the state of Wyoming and is Eocene in age. Enjoy

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You are amazing! I cannot see that fish or any clue that there could be a fish in your first picture. And now it's illustrated clear as day!

When I was a child, my mother would take us for picnics in local cemetaries, which sounds ghoulish but was really all about my mom taking rubbings of the tombstones in the boneyard. You are able to see the rubbing potential in things that are not so clearly labeled as in the boneyard. Neat!
 
I have to second Melissa on this. Truly impressive! If I manage to make my fortune, I'm taking a detour and joining Phil and Kevin out looking for ancient dead things. Your work is beautiful. I NEVER would have spotted anything in that rock based upon the first photo. Really amazing fish.
 
You folks are too kind. But calling me amazing is almost too much, but I do thank you for that Melissa. Really folks, if you could be there in the daylight digging for this stuff you would see it too. Go back to the first picture and look just under the pencil, you will see a strait line. Thats the backbone. Then look just about 3 inches to the left of the pointed part of the pencil and you will see a 'V-shape' that is the snout of the fish. But also, the fish in that picture is upside down. Just try and you will see it. and who is Phil and kevin? But thanks again for all the compliments. I will show some more of my fossils in the near future. I have some really wonderful fossil crabs and lobsters to show off!
 
Another fossil fish

Ok, I thought I would show you folks a fish that you can easily see in the rock before its prepped. This one is called 'Priscacara serata' and is also from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. In the second photo you can see some missing scales where it looks kinda whitesh, but in the 3rd photo it looks good! I had to add a bit of acrylic coloring to make it look complete. Enjoy
Oh, this fish measures in at a whopping 24 centimeters!!! Wow!!

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Phil and Kevin are your staff hosts for the "fossils and history" section of TONMO, and two cooler and nicer guys you could never find-- see

http://www.tonmo.com/meet.php

and, more importantly, under the Articles tab at the top they have both contributed wonderful articles about the long and varied history of Cephalopods, which you should check out if you haven't already!
 
Is this Montana collection found in a very soft rock like limestone? You mentioned using an abrasive air brush, does it use a fine sand to create the abrasion? Definitely a cool hobby! I have seen only a limited number of finished out fossils and none of them have the color you expose. If you could make an even base, what a terrific addition they would make to a tiled floor or swimming pool! Or better yet a rock wall around a fireplace.
 
Hey dwhatley. The fish from the Green River formation come in all kinds of layers. The famous one being the "18 inch" later. But there are layers soooo soft that the fish just crumble, and layers as hard as concrete and everything inbetween. I happen to like the fish in a harder more stable rock, but lots of good fish have come out of all the other layers. And I have seen them make tables out of the fish, ive heard of them bding put into showers and yes, as you mentioned, even fireoplaces too. Quite cool!

And yes Architeuth, We did that last summer for the first time. We saw little fishies all over the place and some big ones too. That made for quite an intertaining evening. The only bad part was that we had to wiith until 11 pm for it to be dark enough! That was getting a bit late for me. But what fun we had.
 

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