Mounting a Seahorse

[DCS]

Probably the weirdest thing we have had through the door to date.

Customer wants the seahorse in a shadow box frame but not sure on the best way to attach it, any help appreciated.

[easypopsgcf]

Is it a real one?
Are these things not tiny?

[guzzijim]

If it's really tiny, you could maybe use a magnifier mounted in a box frame.

[prospero]

Without seeing it it's hard to say. Depends how well it's been preserved. It will probably have been dried by some method which can make specimens very brittle. You could try stainless steel pins and pin it to a board. Cork (covered with whatever) will hold the best.

The ideal way is to encapsulate it in resin. There are firms that do this or you can get kits. Not easy to do though and you only have one shot.

[StevenG]

when I seen the title I was going to suggest a special saddle or something, after reading the posts maybe that suggestion wasn't really suitable.

It's warm

[Roboframer]

Narrow melinex straps, of course!

[DCS]

Yes it's a real one, is about two inches high, has been dried and looks extremely brittle and to be honest frightens me to death to hold.

I thought wrapping cotton around it's neck and fixing it to the mount board might be the best way and have just ordered some nylon clear invisible sewing thread from the usual auction site and will probably do it this way unless someone knows a better way

[Roboframer]

That's not a bad method but how are you going to tie the thread at the back of the board? It's a lot of fiddling and applied pressure with the thing face down.

I'd seriously use melinex straps, tiny thin ones, they're flat, can be made as wide/narrow as you like and you don't need to tie knots at the back. You can mark and make your holes/slits for them to pass through and apply double-sided tape each side of those at the back with the sea horse nowhere near, then position it, pass the straps over it and through the holes/slits and pull them tight, just as tight as needs be, and then press on to the double-sided tape. This can be done with the board vertical or maybe face down but on a piece of quilt wadding or something.

Then put another piece of double-sided tape over the fixed straps, fold the excess back over that and then finish with a piece of self adhesive tape like FP 90 or Ph7-70 over the lot. Hope that makes sense.

[Not your average framer]

While it is common to fix insects in place by pinning, I don't think it is wise to make any assumptions any think that fixing by pinning will be a safe thing to do. The simple fact is that we don't know if this is appropriate for a seahorse, so why take chances. Also encapsulation in resin has it's own risks too! In particular if you get it wrong, it won't be fully reversible. It's accepted that insects are often encapsulated in resin, but it's usually conducted with the aid of a vacuum chamber to ensure that there are no air bubbles in the resin.

Mylar may be the most appropriate solution to this problem, but as we don't know if the dried seahorse is dimensionally stable, I'm thinking of a strap with two slits permitting the middle section of the strap to pass in front of the seahouse and the two outer sections of the strap to pass behind the seahourse. The natural tendance of the mylar to be self flattening may be all that is needed to retain the seahourse in position and should compensate for any climatic variations in the dimensions of the seahorse, but first can you post a picture so we can get a better idea of what it looks like and give us some idea of it weight as well?

Another thought...How are you intending to safely handle the seahorse?

[DCS]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I will post a picture tomorrow when I get into work.
It only weighs a few grams and to make matters worse there is a kink between the body and the tail which looks very, very delicate.

On the plus side the client works in a restaurant across the road from me and is very understanding and knows that before (if at all) I attempt the job I would seek advice first so there is no pressure as such.

[DCS]

Sorry, didn't get chance to post any pics but said seahorse is now on the wall of a very happy owner.

In the end I used invisible thread lassoed around the neck and another bit around the girth, this was threaded through the mount board and taped at the back as I didn't want to risk tightening the cotton too much just in case. I then made up a shadow box frame, installed it with a 1" border mount at the front, 3/4" foam core spacer then the sea horse.