Hi everyone,

Well every time i walk into the shed now
i just pay homage to this fish .
Its come such a long way and now with the tail and body fins fitted its all starting to really come nicely together.
And  like any project that I take on I can see the  finished project in front of me everytime that I look at  it now.

It is magnificent  
Such a creature and its estimated weight at length
Is at 600 lb .
So around the 300kg

It just makes my imagination run wild and i can see this
Black  Marlin is just ,
simply a weapon and a total muscular torpedo,
capable of running at speeds of over 80 mph or 120 kmph .
at bursts chasing its prey,
Its noted that Bluefin Tuna and the swordfish are also the only other fish that are capable of such enormous aquatic speeds.

So every time that i look  in the shed for anything now I get excited,

Ive also looked at lots of pictures of them to see how I can paint it most magnificently and into something thats showing it in all its glory .

Its been an interesting journey dealing with the mess that it was when I so happily got it off Shelly a few years ago.
Now as it developes I fall more in love with it ag every stage.

Lots of work and lots of trial and error to rectify the fish to this stage.
I had no idea just what I was in for asI jusf saw it as too good for landfill .

I wondered all along through the job just what was I going to do about the eyes ,
as one was maybe quite good and maybe saveable and the other one was just miles too far gone.
I looked into painting them on at the finish of the job with an air brush,
But then i had a brain wave and checked out some taxidermy eyes on line and  I actually found a set of replica
Black Marlin eyes for sale .

The hue in the iris looked that it matched the old good fish eye  perfectly.
Other marlins have other coloured eye hues .

Sold  weeks ago
and I just received my package in the mail today and they look absolutely fantastic .

A mate a while ago commented that my fins weren’t set at an identical height ,
I laughed and I said its starting to slightly turn as this is a copy of a live fish,
Things just arn’t simetrical  as its moving in real life, and this fish is a reflection of a still life.
.
You can see the  muscles rippling with the swift movements that it was making with all its power.
One gill is half open the other one closing in an instant as its head was turning.
With another thump of that monster tail,
All the while
as it chased after its dinner

They are so special a fish that they can change to whatever colour in their range that they choose just like a chameleon squid they can change and do change colours just for the moment.

So I guess the proof of the pudding im the end will being the paint job,
Its done already in my head and I think it looks a treat .
Hopefully you will all possibly agree with me in the end.

But what a special creature I have cometo admire and appreciate and its been a pleasure to rebuild this amazing speed demon and avid hunter of the high seas ,
that the fact is that the big
Black Marlin is one of the ultimate throphy fish and they continue to inspire and challenge anglers all over the world to come and hook up a personal battle with one of the most expensive forms of recreational angling that we have ,
and now with the modern introduction of tag and reslease ,
these magnificent creatures on a lot of occasions get to live and fight again someone else on another day .

So I guess now me im lucky to have a model like this one,
I just have  to like fishing 

Too bad that i didnt catch it .
Are they off Killcunda yet ?

So dream on ,
A bit more bog dust and a few more hours sanding left to go and its then suddenly at the undercoat stage,
Im going to use a product from Norglass, to prime the pod.

Shipshape primer it will be as its made for fibreglass and to be submerged for long periods in  the water ,
I brought the primer kit for the Dylby Roo project a while ago and I believe I have enough to do both projects in it ,
so that’s a bonus,

So when i prime it ,
I’ll pick up any imperfections i find left in the body and rectify them pre paint stage.

And then let the fun begin.

The first coats of colour  will be in Norglass solid two pack in their deep darkest blue imaginable and the complete pod will then get a coat of that Norglass paint product as its the closest thing to fibreglass gelcoat that i have come across ,
I used the product on
Tiger Ben’s white
bits a few seasons ago and its always out in the weather and it still looks like i applied it yesterday.
so it will protect the Marlin well out in the wet weather hopefully for a long time.

Then the whole thing gets another rub down and then out come the recycled automative paints in base coat to be applied and to allow me lots and lots of working time with a small spray  gun and accompanying air brush.

Then probably three coats  of top quality clear and then its time to stick on the new eyes ,

Instructions

When fish is dry hang two eyebolts bolts from my lounge room ceiling and then carefully add my new fish model to  my lounge room
Unless someone has a better idea .

Cheers xxx
Curlyg