Blade-of-the-Moon's Art

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

That's right, nicely done!

Awesome.   On to the lower jaw!

I did save a few more pics of James Haven's sculpt just for quick references.

Eyes seem to be about 30mm? Or are larger like with the Pliosaur we just don't see the entire eye really?  It's probably like the plesiosaurs I did but it's been awhile since then and I can't recall the facts lol

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

here's the whole thing. gonna add some foam to curve out a few areas.  going with 30mm eyes, I think that's what Havens did. Tongue or lower palate looks to be crocodilian in most reconstructions? 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Finished resculpting the Stygimoloch head and added some spikes to the body. I cut down the longest horns a bit since I have long thought they were too long.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Stygi is painted and done.



I also made an Elasmo-clown lol

[DinoToyForum]

Ha, it's taking shape!

The palate is mostly closed in elasmosaurids, as in crocodiles, but the position of the paired internal nares is different. These are positioned anteriorly in elasmosaurids, even anterior to the external nares (nostrils). If you are sculpting these (they may not be visible if the mouth is closed so don't waste your time!), these are marked "in" on the palatal view of Libonectes, so you can use that as a guide: https://i0.wp.com/plesiosauria.com/wp-content/uploads/libonectes_skull.jpg In front of them is a vomeronasal fenestra ('vf'), which may have housed a vomeronasal or Jacobson's organ (for 'smelling' the water?), but I don't know if that would be visible as a distinct organ (as in b and d here: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photographs-of-the-floor-of-the-mouth-tongue-and-palate-of-two-iguanian-lizards-Stellio_fig3_23247320) or just embedded in the tissue of the palate.

For the tongue, probably a crocodile is a good reference. They weren't forked like snakes and lizards.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Ha, it's taking shape!

The palate is mostly closed in elasmosaurids, as in crocodiles, but the position of the paired internal nares is different. These are positioned anteriorly in elasmosaurids, even anterior to the external nares (nostrils). If you are sculpting these (they may not be visible if the mouth is closed so don't waste your time!), these are marked "in" on the palatal view of Libonectes, so you can use that as a guide: https://i0.wp.com/plesiosauria.com/wp-content/uploads/libonectes_skull.jpg In front of them is a vomeronasal fenestra ('vf'), which may have housed a vomeronasal or Jacobson's organ (for 'smelling' the water?), but I don't know if that would be visible as a distinct organ (as in b and d here: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photographs-of-the-floor-of-the-mouth-tongue-and-palate-of-two-iguanian-lizards-Stellio_fig3_23247320) or just embedded in the tissue of the palate.

For the tongue, probably a crocodile is a good reference. They weren't forked like snakes and lizards.

Awesome, essentially they are nostril like holes in the upper pallet..should be doable. The Jacobson's organ I've heard of but I didn't know elasmosaurs had them. Are there any other aquatic reptiles that might have them? Marine Iguanas might be close but they are herbivores. Do crocodiles have them? I can get good pics of their mouths online to work from.

The tongues make sense, I did the mosasaur with a forked tongue, the pliosaur didn't have much to go on so it was very croc like.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Received the eyes for the Thalassomedon and I'm trying some teeth I have on hand.

[DefinitelyNOTDilo]

Wow, that's really starting to take shape. How I wish I lived nearby lol.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Wow, that's really starting to take shape. How I wish I lived nearby lol.

Heads are fun and easy at the stage, most of the planning and the rough shaping is done it's just adding flesh and making decisions on eyelids, size of scales, ect.. that said this probably won't appear in full form  for awhile. It's a BIG piece and the area I want to make for it includes a bit of construction of faux rocks and a big Pteranodon. I haven't even got the area mapped out lol

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Eyes installed

[DinoToyForum]

It's looking really good!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

It's looking really good!

That's great to hear!

More progress:



Juvenile Brachio head sculpted:


I liked the idea of a lipped covering of some sort with these animals stripping foliage, so I went with not exactly a beak but something similar or a heavy scaling about the lip area to protect the softer scales, help with eating and such. Nostril placement went to the end of the snout instead of on the top of the head, still not a lot of evidence for either.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Ouranosaurus DONE

[triceratops83]

Very peaceful looking. And I love the colours!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Very peaceful looking. And I love the colours!

Thank you! She's supposed to be just looking and listening. The colors took me FOREVER to decide on lol

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Elasmosaur/Thallassomedon head sculpt progress.

Just about there, have to add teeth, finish sculpting the lower jaw and then attach them together.



A question. Most restorations show the neck tissue starting just under the lower jaw and continuing into the neck in elasmosaurs. Others I've found show the.. gular tissue? expanded out and deeper from the mouth as if gulping. Just curious if that's what I'm seeing or are just giving them deeper. thicker necks.

Now..Majungasaurus done.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

These really truly are amazing works of art. I cannot wait to see that elasmosaur done! Fantastuc work on all 3 of these recent projects.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

These really truly are amazing works of art. I cannot wait to see that elasmosaur done! Fantastuc work on all 3 of these recent projects.

Thanks!  The Elasmosaur is currently planned to be a part of a larger area I want to do. It took me around a year to get these made so it's on the schedule just gonna be awhile probably. I started the juv Brachi neck work tonight, gonna add the head and start the neck so I can attach it to the body later.  I need to build a new Quetz and I'm trying to plan that one out as well.

[DinoToyForum]

A question. Most restorations show the neck tissue starting just under the lower jaw and continuing into the neck in elasmosaurs. Others I've found show the.. gular tissue? expanded out and deeper from the mouth as if gulping. Just curious if that's what I'm seeing or are just giving them deeper. thicker necks.

Looks nice! The neck tissue, where is starts, and whether or not there is gular sac or some equivalent structure to facilitate gulp-feeding, is all speculation. So, your choice.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

A question. Most restorations show the neck tissue starting just under the lower jaw and continuing into the neck in elasmosaurs. Others I've found show the.. gular tissue? expanded out and deeper from the mouth as if gulping. Just curious if that's what I'm seeing or are just giving them deeper. thicker necks.

Looks nice! The neck tissue, where is starts, and whether or not there is gular sac or some equivalent structure to facilitate gulp-feeding, is all speculation. So, your choice.

Cool. Thanks!