: I would NOT place anything under the glass again, except for paper

: Thanks for the feedback and photos. I think I will go to plan B and
: photograph the flowers and print them on rice paper or Vellum
: and put them on that way. It should give them more depth. As for
: the butterflies I guess I will have to trial them on some
: plywood or something and see what happens. The wings are very
: delicate/fragile but I like the iridescent qualities of them
: that would not result with a photograph. I'll let you know what
: happens.

For the butterfly, you might consider casting it into epoxy so that it is fully encapsulated, then sanding that block down to something that could fit into the hull as an inlay, similar to what was mentioned as "routing a depression" into the hull to accept the object.

If you are trying to avoid damaging the wings on a butterfly, I'd personally try to turn it into a piece of plastic before it was on the boat, and then find a way to apply that piece to the boat. Sort of like an insect trapped in tree sap...

Good luck!

StephenHJ