Blade-of-the-Moon's Art

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

By the way, I've just re-added the logo and link to the website to the DTF sidebar.

This won't mean much to readers but @Blade-of-the-Moon and I have been making some sweeping changes behind the scenes at  https://backyardterrors.com, including a change of hosts and setting up a brand new website that Blade is in full control of. We've had a few hurdles to overcome along the way and the site is still under construction, but we're getting there! Check it out and please donate to the cause if you can: instructions here: https://backyardterrors.com/frequently-asked-questions/. And if you're close to Tennessee, drop by the park, it is free.

That we have! It's great to be in control of it without having a middle man. I really appreciate all the help Adam! I hope it works for everyone, please let us know what you think and any suggestions?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Tany progress/applying vinyl

[DinoToyForum]

Nice. Did you sculpt the legs separately?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Nice. Did you sculpt the legs separately?

Nice. Did you sculpt the legs separately?

Yes they were done in foam with an Apoxie Sculpt skin and a texture stamp. The waterproof vinyl of the body has to meet up just right with the Apoxie or you can get water leaks inside.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Base has been sealed up, neck is coated, just waiting on eyes to install the head.

I did do a test today and I think the vinyl will work for coating the latex/foam  dinosaurs we had donated.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Ok quick question, after wrapping about 80% of this Dilophosaur in black vinyl I had a thought. Would this make a good Indoraptor with some tweaks?   The kids visiting here have asked for it along with the Indominus Rex of course.  Would take some work to elongate the arms, make fingers, ect.. the head would need less work than one might think being very un-dilo like already and more like a generic theropod.   The original plan was to make this a Dracovenator, something possibly similar to Dilophosaurus as suggested by the few skull fragments the species is based on but there isn't much. So any opinions?

[DinoToyForum]

Ok quick question, after wrapping about 80% of this Dilophosaur in black vinyl I had a thought. Would this make a good Indoraptor with some tweaks?   The kids visiting here have asked for it along with the Indominus Rex of course.  Would take some work to elongate the arms, make fingers, ect.. the head would need less work than one might think being very un-dilo like already and more like a generic theropod.   The original plan was to make this a Dracovenator, something possibly similar to Dilophosaurus as suggested by the few skull fragments the species is based on but there isn't much. So any opinions?

That sounds like a good idea to me, if you can make it work. You already have a couple of Dilophosauruss in the park anyway, to it makes sense to turn this one into something different.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Ok quick question, after wrapping about 80% of this Dilophosaur in black vinyl I had a thought. Would this make a good Indoraptor with some tweaks?   The kids visiting here have asked for it along with the Indominus Rex of course.  Would take some work to elongate the arms, make fingers, ect.. the head would need less work than one might think being very un-dilo like already and more like a generic theropod.   The original plan was to make this a Dracovenator, something possibly similar to Dilophosaurus as suggested by the few skull fragments the species is based on but there isn't much. So any opinions?

That sounds like a good idea to me, if you can make it work. You already have a couple of Dilophosauruss in the park anyway, to it makes sense to turn this one into something different.

Dracovenator is certainly the easier route. There isn't much at all to go on. Another suggestion put forth was Sinosaurus?

[DinoToyForum]

Ok quick question, after wrapping about 80% of this Dilophosaur in black vinyl I had a thought. Would this make a good Indoraptor with some tweaks?   The kids visiting here have asked for it along with the Indominus Rex of course.  Would take some work to elongate the arms, make fingers, ect.. the head would need less work than one might think being very un-dilo like already and more like a generic theropod.   The original plan was to make this a Dracovenator, something possibly similar to Dilophosaurus as suggested by the few skull fragments the species is based on but there isn't much. So any opinions?

That sounds like a good idea to me, if you can make it work. You already have a couple of Dilophosauruss in the park anyway, to it makes sense to turn this one into something different.

Dracovenator is certainly the easier route. There isn't much at all to go on. Another suggestion put forth was Sinosaurus?

We had a Sinosaurus skeleton cast in our Dinosaurs of China exhibition in 2017, so if you go that route I should be able to dig out plenty of reference photos.

If it were down to me, I'd do that, but I don't like the fictional species in Jurassic World, and I'm not your target audience, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Ok quick question, after wrapping about 80% of this Dilophosaur in black vinyl I had a thought. Would this make a good Indoraptor with some tweaks?   The kids visiting here have asked for it along with the Indominus Rex of course.  Would take some work to elongate the arms, make fingers, ect.. the head would need less work than one might think being very un-dilo like already and more like a generic theropod.   The original plan was to make this a Dracovenator, something possibly similar to Dilophosaurus as suggested by the few skull fragments the species is based on but there isn't much. So any opinions?

That sounds like a good idea to me, if you can make it work. You already have a couple of Dilophosauruss in the park anyway, to it makes sense to turn this one into something different.

Dracovenator is certainly the easier route. There isn't much at all to go on. Another suggestion put forth was Sinosaurus?

We had a Sinosaurus skeleton cast in our Dinosaurs of China exhibition in 2017, so if you go that route I should be able to dig out plenty of reference photos.

If it were down to me, I'd do that, but I don't like the fictional species in Jurassic World, and I'm not your target audience, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt!

I'm probably not going to actually cut into the foam and change the generic theropod design too much. I know this thing is drastically different from any know Dilophosaur, it's closer to a Ray Harryhausen Allosaur with crests on it's head lol So references in this case might not help a lot. My initial plan was to do mainly cosmetic work, maybe a more realistic crest? Lots of spines, knobs and bumps...kids like them to look different I've found even with closely related species. 

I've talked with a friend of mine who is helping me at the park, she might be interested in doing us an Indoraptor for the park and I already have asked her to do an Indominus Rex head for a photo op..kids ask for these all the time mostly younger ones. I do explain they aren't real dinosaurs but they saw them in a movie and still like them and want the toys lol

This what I was thinking sort of for a Dracovenator:


Vinyl feathery ridge down the neck. Maybe some small wings on the arms? Just to change it as much as possible from the original.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Eyes for projects came in so I've been working on getting them added.

First up Tanystropheus :



Next our new/redo "Dracovenator

[DinoToyForum]

Looking good.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Thanks!

I really wanted those crocodile eyes for the Tany but after taking my money three months ago, the company has gone out of business and despite the assurances from the owner he would take care of it I have heard nothing..so we are trying something different.

The Dilo/Asian creation/Dracovenator ..it is what I could do with it lol I tried to make it look different from our Dilophosaurus in the park already of which we have 4 both scientific and JP creature.  I'm going to try add a ridge of feathers on the neck today..the neck itself is way too thin for a real animal so maybe the optical illusion of a ridge will balance it out? I went with Dracovenator since it has so few remains it was easier to make this creature work as something we have no real clear picture of what it looks like.

I'm sort of on a dragon theme with this new area. I added one dragon to the park to talk about history and myths, then I had Balaur which is named after a dragon, now I have Tany which sort of looks like a sea dragon, and last Dracovenator which also has dragon in the name lol

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

update pics :

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Tany in the woods.



I'm thinking maybe I should make a bigger base and raise it up higher to get the head well away from people's fingers?

[DinoToyForum]

Looks great. The base looks a good size to me but you'll know best whether it's at risk of having teeth plucked out or being pushed over.

Where about is this in the park so I can update the map?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Looks great. The base looks a good size to me but you'll know best whether it's at risk of having teeth plucked out or being pushed over.

Where about is this in the park so I can update the map?

I'm always a bit paranoid. If you could trust people to leave things alone then it wouldn't be an issue. :/

It's on the same side of the path as the Balaur, just about 60' down the trail. I also moved the Dracovenator in on the opposite side about another 60-80' down from the Tany.

[DinoToyForum]

Looks great. The base looks a good size to me but you'll know best whether it's at risk of having teeth plucked out or being pushed over.

Where about is this in the park so I can update the map?

I'm always a bit paranoid. If you could trust people to leave things alone then it wouldn't be an issue. :/

It's on the same side of the path as the Balaur, just about 60' down the trail. I also moved the Dracovenator in on the opposite side about another 60-80' down from the Tany.

Yeah, you can't. And in my experience there's not much point in putting up signage, counterintuitively, "please don't touch" signs can even encourage touching! And they ruin the vibe of a display. If someone wants to touch it, they will.

Thanks, I'll update the map.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Looks great. The base looks a good size to me but you'll know best whether it's at risk of having teeth plucked out or being pushed over.

Where about is this in the park so I can update the map?

I'm always a bit paranoid. If you could trust people to leave things alone then it wouldn't be an issue. :/

It's on the same side of the path as the Balaur, just about 60' down the trail. I also moved the Dracovenator in on the opposite side about another 60-80' down from the Tany.

Yeah, you can't. And in my experience there's not much point in putting up signage, counterintuitively, "please don't touch" signs can even encourage touching! And they ruin the vibe of a display. If someone wants to touch it, they will.

Thanks, I'll update the map.

I've even planted prickly bushes in front of them and they still stomp them down. One had a flowering bush in front and the entire thing was ripped out of the ground.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Tanystropheus and Dracovenator painted and done