I picked these up at Monkbar Models in York a couple of months ago, mainly as an opportunity to get some more terrain modelling experience. Very simple kits as you would expect - each creature had just a few parts to assemble which I did at the last play day.
While DCOS was away at scout camp, I had time to start on the bases - or "dinoramas" 😂. Each one is carved out of high density foam and this was a chance to use my hot wire cutter I bought for a few quid locally.
They're in various stages of completion as you can see and I had hoped to have at least one ready for the next club meeting but as ever, work and wife (those two ever present four letter words) have conspired against me. Nonetheless I may bring them as WIP.
The foliage will be completely 100% accurate for the time 🤔🤭 leaves are made by laying bits of wire lengths on baking parchment and brushing five or six coats of latex solution in leaf shapes which then peel off easily once dry and can be painted to suit and cut any size or shape needed. The weird orange flowers are just blobs of latex, again five or six coats, with the wire stem fed through a hole in the middle and a drop of superglue to hold it in place.
As ever I'm just making it up as I go along. Hopefully I'll not keep you waiting too long for an update.IMG_6741.jpegIMG_6741.jpeg
Great work so far.
Looking good Dave.
Dinosaurs by a Dinosaur......?
A least you've had a few millenia to hone your skills. :)
Great work along with an interesting tip, well done.
I just realised I can do this on my phone which makes it easier to upload photos as well as keep up with the rest of your projects ;D
I'm determined to get something new for Lincoln so found a few hours this weekend to continue a couple of these.
The Oviraptor eats eggs apparently (or at least it used to) and the pose looked like it was climbing up something to get to them hence the rock ledges. I started the nest by pressing a bowl of putty into a shallow bowl and sprinkling 7mm & 2mm static hay on it for twigs but it was too out of scale so I used the bowl as the base and built the rest up stick by stick with dead wood from my thyme bush. The eggs are also putty. Initially it was just going to be eggs in a nest at the top but I decided to try and add a bit of movement by showing the nest being pulled apart.
The crocodile was my first proper (scary) attempt at pouring a resin water feature. I mixed a couple of drops of khaki in to tint the water and tomorrow, hopefully, it'll be cured and ready for some surface texture. I was rather hoping it would be a bit more submerged but I'd made the lake shore a bit too shallow. Better planning needed next time - epecially looking at the amount of resin I had left over!!
Very Prehistoric, nice modelling.
Really nice Dave. Keep going.
Will they be at the meeting tomorrow and or at Lincoln?
Ask Neil if you have the correct colour for dinosaurs and background - that is if his memory goes back that far ::) ::) ::)
Quote from: MSea on October 07, 2025, 06:41:27 PMAsk Neil if you have the correct colour for dinosaurs and background - that is if his memory goes back that far ::) ::) ::)
Probably easier to ask most of the members rather than just one..........!
Quote from: zak on October 07, 2025, 03:10:48 PMWill they be at the meeting tomorrow and or at Lincoln?
I'm full of cold so they won't be at the meeting tonight but providing I'm fit and well the crocodile will definitely be at Lincoln - and hopefully the other one.
Anyway as part of my recovery plan, I'm having a go at putting some texture on the water. Another journey into the unknown for me
Hope you get well. Hopefully see you and your prehistoric friends there too.
Oh, just to note, I meant the models not the club members. Hahaha
Looking good Dave.
Although my cold didn't retreat far enough for me to get to Lincoln model show (which I'm not best pleased about missing again!!), I did manage to get the first two of these finished. They will be coming to the November meeting.
Excellent.
I think we can safely say that you are the go to man for dinosaur modelling in the club.
Can you do anything with some of the members?
Fantastic work, well done.
Making a little progress on the next one now. The Hypsilophodon is reaching up for some foliage n the tree. It's had a rough coat of yellow to act as a primer undercoat as a little filler was needed around the legs. I used Vallejo plastic putty and when set, a cotton bud dipped in surgical spirit (which softens in) to rub away the excess, then a cocktail stick to mould it into the gaps and get a smooth finish.
The base had held me back so far as I could get the finish I wanted. I'd sprinkled some 7mm static straw on the slope to try and represent trampled long grass but was struggling with airbrushing, even after following some tutorials, as the colour was far too even, so I went back to the brush and flooded the area with various washes and the picked out the stalks in bright green. The previous brown washes toned this down nicely and when doing this I noticed part of the ground looked like it could be a bit of a log part buried in the soft earth so I'm working on trying to bring that to life.
The short grass at the top (neatly mown by Captain Caveman) needs a little work to make the surface more unkempt but I'm happy with the colour now.
The tree is wire twists covered in blue roll soaked in PVA and may not be the design of the finished article. I may have to rethink this but I'll see how it takes shape.
Looking good Dave.
As suspected, the tree was re-thunked - or should that be re-trunked??
I fell back on some offcuts of my trusty thyme bush with a dod of superglue in strategic places then dipped in a tub of coarse green foliage.
I hope to finish painting the dinosaur tomorrow then decide if the base needs any more detail or if not fix the dinosaur in place and call it finished.
Nice work on the base.
Hi Wizz, looking 'treemendous'.
Nice work and something I must try in my efforts.
Another one done - juvenile Tyranosaurus stomping through some sort of forest.
The trees are lengths of wood skewer with wet blue roll wrapped around not too neatly then soaked in PVA and pushed about a bit with an old brush to create wrinkles. Leaves are lengths of brass beading wire taped to baking parchment (to allow the leaves to peel off easily when done) with 6 or 8 coats of rubber latex ovals painted over them then painted and glued into holes drilled into the trees. The wire allows them to be bent against the dinisaur's body as it pushed through them. Orange flowers are just splats of rubber latex with wire pushed through the middle, painted and pinched together with a dot of superglue to hold them in a closed position.
Water splashes are lined of thick superglue teased into shape as it sets which I'm considering tinting to dirty it up a bit - though I'm wary of losing the transparent effect so I'll make some test splashes to practice on first.
Excellent Dave.
Scary stuff!
Love the attention to detail.
Nice work.
Looks fantastic, well done.
Got another one finished. It's been nearly finished for a month, just needed to place the dinosaur but everytime I tried, it looked wrong, anyway I got up this morning still half asleep after my gig, plonked it down randomly, realised it worked and quickly stuck some glue down. One more to do now ... I may bring it to the play day tomorrow
Decision made - this last one will be real simple - stalking across the volcanic rock plain towards a vine struggling up from a little crevasse.
The vine will be a string of rubber latex pulled from the rim of the jar. This stuff has become one of my favourite products for modelling organic stuff such as leaves, roots and vines as well as making moulds for casting rocks. It can be a touch unforgiving until you get to know how to handle it but one you have that sussed it can be very flexible (bad pun intended ;D )
Looking good Dave.