Ollin Magnetic Digiscoping System

How much would you pay for this mount?

Boy, that surprises me. I just can't imagine a replica of anything being as much as the original.
Not sure why that is but it definitely is. Maybe it's the fact they possibly last longer than a skin mount but I'm far from an expert.
 
Yeah, like this POS for $250. Wrong size repro head on a skin mount. Several tears in the skin glued together. Shit for a paint job.

Do a search and look at the crap taxis are trying to sell for hundreds of dollars. Ebay is no barometer.
What's the price on the fish in the op?
 
Not sure why that is but it definitely is. Maybe it's the fact they possibly last longer than a skin mount but I'm far from an expert.
Replica forms are pure art. Good ones anyway. They are not easily cast. Artists who design the forms get top dollar, and they should. Skin mount requires a simple crude foam form body. Sometimes the taxidermists will use fake fins and head on a skin mount. Note how poorly the eBay mount has fake tail fin welded to skin of body.
 
31” x $15-20/inch = $465-620 from the numbers thrown around. I find it steep but understand why. Just break down material cost and time for the guy, then hand him the bill. He signed up for it and thats a really good looking mount.
 
Does she do pike replicas?
She can. Skin mounts for pike and walleye are more manageable. Thicker skin. For those she still usually uses replica heads and fins. They look much better than original and hold up better. I taught her how to use the Dremel to feather the edges and make them a little ragged to simulate natural better. A replica of a very large pike or muskie will be quite expensive. The forms are big $$$ plus shipping. Lots of paint consumed (you have no idea) and some of those colors, tints, etc are special and expensive.

Five years ago she caught and released a huge tiger muskie. What a beautiful fish (as opposed to a true muskie which have about as much character as Walmart pavement). She saved up her pennies and had the local taxidermist do a replica. Looked like the guy subcontracted the painting to a couple of kids at the railyard. That thing had to have cost her over a grand. So she decided to fix it by going to taxidermy school. Unfortunately the program was a wash (especially for fish) but she has acquired a lot of knowledge on line and really doing well.
20220514_145120.jpg
Chinook salmon
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Walleye
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Brook trout
 
I paid $24/inch for a red horse sucker, smallmouth buffalo, common carp, channel catfish, flathead catfish, shovel nose sturgeon, sheepshead and a bullhead. The taxidermist(past world champion) was a very good taxidermist out of Minnesota and there were no for
S for him on some of those fish. It was all by hand skill. I gladly paid the amount. I’ll never do a skin mount, replicas look better, hold their color and last longer.
 
That would be a no.
She won't tell me. Yet. Only that the Dr is threatening to not pay her. $20-$22 per inch is not unusual. With shipping (he lives twenty hours away) and tax must be well over $700. She usually takes down payment to cover materials which would be close to $400. So she won't be losing anything but labor. His gripe seems to be it doesn't look like a dead half rotten fish. 🤷‍♂️
 
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