Thin Skin

[NewSal]

I usually use scud back material for wing cases and scud/larva patterns, but I purchased some thin skin in mottled oak for tying wing cases on my sulpher patterns.
Much to my dismay about every other time I tied the material in, and then pulled the material up and over to form the wing case, the outer layer of the thin skin peeled/cracked off at the hinge point, leaving a small bit of clear material with none of the mottled pattern. Considering most of the material was still in tact and I tied a dozen of these I just used a black permanent marker to color in the clear spot that peeled off.
So what gives? Are you supposed to soak this stuff before tie in so it doesnt crack and peel when working with it? Or did I just get a junk piece of material? Anyone else have this happen? I really like the pattern and was going to buy other patterns but I'm not going to if this is a common thing.. anyone?

 

[MKern]

I have never had that happen and I use stuff that is 10 years old.

 

[NewSal]

I contacted wapsi, even though I made it clear that I didnt want anything free or a refund they are sending me a replacement skin. Said they are looking into it, and what may have caused it.

 

[CLSports]

I have not used that stuff in a while, but do not remember having any issues with it. Maybe it was left in direct sunlight in your tying area or at the shop you bought it from and it degraded somewhat? Just a guess.

 

[NewSal]

CLSports wrote:
I have not used that stuff in a while, but do not remember having any issues with it. Maybe it was left in direct sunlight in your tying area or at the shop you bought it from and it degraded somewhat? Just a guess.

I bought it directly from a shop with no windows other than the entrance and went directly home and tied with it and had this problem. Obviously there could have been issues when shipping, I'm not worried about it, I got the answers I was looking for, this isn't a constant issue with the product apparently and they are making it right and looking into it, this thread can be deleted

 

[PennKev]

NewSal wrote:
Much to my dismay about every other time I tied the material in, and then pulled the material up and over to form the wing case, the outer layer of the thin skin peeled/cracked off at the hinge point,

Cracking and separation in the pattern/color of TS is pretty common. You can see it on a lot of close-up pictures of flies online. I've never personally had such a problem that I considered the material unusable, but I can understand how it could happen and how you would be dismayed by even a "normal" amount of cracking of the pattern.

As far as I can tell, the pattern/color is just printed on and does not flex or stretch like the Thin Skin material. I was not surprised by it.

But yeah, it sucks that it happens. With all that in mind, I still refer tying with it over scud back. It is easier to handle IMO and you can cut it as narrow or as wide as you need.

 

[nymphingmaniac]

I think Pennkev is correct. I found that if I am aggressive stretching it, the pattern cracks and the material breaks at the tie in point after fishing. Reduced the breaking by using UTC tied flat and doubling over the tie in point.

 

[NewSal]

Gotcha, thats kinda disappointing, I wouldnt say I was being over aggressive with it either, just pulling it tight to tie in correctly and it would crack and peel at the bend.

 

[fly_flinger]

I used that stuff when I first started tying. I never really had any problems with it but I was shown the ziplock baggie and sharpie trick, which is all I use now. Cut as thin of a strip you are looking for from an old, or new, ziplock bag. Since the bags are folded over, you get a 6-10 inch long strip that can be used for a few flies. Then color with the sharpie to get the desired mottling.

 

[NewSal]

fly_flinger wrote:
I used that stuff when I first started tying. I never really had any problems with it but I was shown the ziplock baggie and sharpie trick, which is all I use now. Cut as thin of a strip you are looking for from an old, or new, ziplock bag. Since the bags are folded over, you get a 6-10 inch long strip that can be used for a few flies. Then color with the sharpie to get the desired mottling.

That's not a bad idea, thanks for the tip

Ill have to try that tonight, especially for small nymphs like baetis that are in the 18's and 20's I would think the thinner of the zip lock style bags would be perfect for those small wing cases

 

[fly_flinger]

I think the freezer bags are usually a little thicker so they might be a little more durable as well. Good luck with it.

 

[NewSal]

fly_flinger wrote:
I think the freezer bags are usually a little thicker so they might be a little more durable as well. Good luck with it.

Yup, right on, thanks

 

[mike_richardson]

If it was kind of whitish, you can sometimes just scrape that off with your fingernail on the under side of it.

 

[NewSal]

mike_richardson wrote:
If it was kind of whitish, you can sometimes just scrape that off with your fingernail on the under side of it.

The ink itself pealed off the clear material