It's trophy time......

[Fishtails]

I've been at work on the new tournament trophies for about a month now.  Last years went over very well at The Sodus Pro Am, so we decided to do it once more. This year I wanted to put some design time in a new base. Something unique and cool that hasn't been done before.

 

Here's what I came up with:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[magic7777]

Nice  

[Fishtails]

With The new trophy base design complete, I started on the fish this past week.

 

Here they are after casting out of fiberglass, sanding and detailing:

 

 

 

Then it's into paint for primer and a clear coat

 

 

Next step is airbrushing, hand painting and 6 coats of lacquer.  Once dry and assembled n the base, we have a finished trophy

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2014 by Fishtails

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Beautiful, Rod. I didn't think it was possible to improve on last years trophies you created. True art. 

[Fishtails]

Hope you guys like them. I though it would be fun to sow just a little of what goes into making these buggers. It's a load of work, but it's fun.  For the two teams that ordered 6 extras at Sodus last year, thanks for your patience in waiting until I did this years trophies. I really need to do these in large numbers because of all the steps involved.  They should ship late this week -) 

 

This years trophy has a built in acrylic frame. I came up with this idea with the thought that the tournament committee can use the frame to promote sponsors or just put their logo in the frame, and the winners can put their team picture in it for a personal touch.

 

Here's an example. Below is the new trophy with a picture of last years Sodus Pro Am pro division 1st place winner Team Sure Strike.

 

 

Cheers all !!

Edited March 11, 2014 by Fishtails

[Fishtails]

Beautiful, Rod. I didn't think it was possible to improve on last years trophies you created. True art. 

 

Thanks Vince , I appreciate that.  Tell your team their trophies are ready to ship as soon as the nameplates arrive. The should be here any day.  The are getting this years base with the picture frame but not the columned base section (that's for 2014).  For their wait, I had your team photo from last year printed and I'll include it in the frame.  I'm doing the same for the Sure Strike team.

[Sk8man]

They are wonderful and the good old "American Pride" is very evident in your creations WTG!

[Hookedup]

Sweet! The fish looks great.

[magic7777]

Very nice Rod

[motoman]

Super cool.

[Chas0218]

Those look great! 

[JakeyBaby]

Absolutely Awesome!!

[traveling man]

very nice rod. total different than anything on the market. how many hours do you have in them.

[Fishtails]

Thanks Guys!!  It's risky devoting so much effort into doing something so different, so believe me,  positive feedback really is appreciated   

 

 

very nice rod. total different than anything on the market. how many hours do you have in them.

 

Thank you Chris.  Can you believe I still don't know the answer to that question yet ?   You know how when you do something for the first time, it takes soooo much longer.  I'm still on first times in some phases.

 

Last year we carved the original salmon out of wood because I couldn't find any smaller salmon in the market place I liked.  Then we made a mold of it.  Then I had to figure out how to paint it with very limited time before the tournament, because I never painted a fish.

 

This year I came up with a new base, but putting the picture frame slot in the base at the angle I wanted proved to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated. I had to make jig for the slot and the column holes, and that took time, but now it's pretty quick to do.  Then I made the base that the fish sits on and molded it - and (hopefully) lastly I came up with a new paint schedule for the fish.

 

I think I'm done with molds, jigs and firsts and I can just follow the steps and make them from here out. As long as I do 10 or 20 at a time, hopefully it shouldn't be to bad and I'll finally know how long one actually takes to complete    One thing I do know is that each one takes about 28 ounces of fiberglass between the base and the fish.

[Silver Fox]

Wow! Very impressive.

[daker1979]

Best tournament trophy ....ever............WTG Rod.

[vogel451]

I don't fish the tourney but thoughs trophies are super nice!  Keep up the good work

[Fishtails]

Thanks men, much much appreciated !!

Besides the trophies already promised to the Sodus Pro Am and now The Atommic challange, I would be willing to donate a few more to tournaments for this season. I dont have many left, so contact me for details. I woulld probably prefer to see them go to the west end of the lake, to spread them out.

Cheers all!!

Edited March 14, 2014 by Fishtails

[King and I IV]

Very impressive work. PM sent.