Sources for top-views of skeletons.

[Justin_]

I've been making mistakes trying to draw and sculpt with only side-views of skeletons for reference. Can anyone recommend books or websites that have top-views, and front, rear and even bottom would be good too?
Outdated reconstructions can still be useful for individual bones or specific areas. For example, I find the detailed hands and feet in the old David Norman encyclopedia useful. I've got the first edition of Gregory Paul's "Field Guide" which has some top views. Also the recent Dorling Kindersley encyclopedia which has quite a lot of photos of museum mounts.

[Tyto_Theropod]

I'd like to second this.  Best I can personally recommend is to refer to photos of skeletal mounts, which will obviously show multiple angles.  If you're willing to splurge on the cash, you can also pick up replicas of parts of dinosaurs (or, for the fabulously rich, even a whole skeleton) which can be very useful references.  I have a replica Velociraptor mongoliensis skull which I've found really useful for drawing headshots of this species - and with a bit of tweaking other similar Dromaeosaurids as well.

Whilst not skeletal, a well-restored model such as those by Safari ltd on PNSO can help too, but obviously you have to be careful to avoid not plagiarising the sculptor's work.  Producing still-life sketches of them might still be handy for getting used to general dinosaur anatomy, though.

[croco_105]

Check out this site called www.sketchfab.com, it has 3D models of dinosaur skeletons, some are even scans from actual museum specimens. 
You can rotate the models and see all angles, some are available for downloading and can be 3D printed.  Just do a search, there are plenty of dino related models on there.

This way you get the data you need straight from the source and not through someone else's drawn interpretation.  You can also take screen shots and print them out if you just want specific angles for reference.

Someone 3D printed their own miniature Smithsonian diorama (this is the new reconstruction)


Some examples:
Stegosaurus scan (Denver Museum of Nature & Science)
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/stegosaurus-skeleton-dc6e1c748484449587b81426d41da6cb


T.Rex and Triceratops (Smithsonian)
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/tyrannosaurus-rex-triceratops-smithsoniandpo-e9fa58a7f25645db99b9519073c88b40


T.rex (American Museum of Natural History)
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/tyrannosaurus-rex-amnh-50k-a0262d71f65048a48fe1b14062c4ed51


T.Rex "Sue" (Field Museum)
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/sue-the-t-rex-0a5025394e994c34b85ebef144bc6e6a


T.Rex "Trix" (Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/tyrannosaurus-rex-trix-in-our-museum-67e4573e2fe849f4958bb702797b938e


Triceratops (American Museum of Natural History)
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/triceratops-scan-57741671697b4cb49d480bd9185e55b0


Emontosaurus (Hell Creek specimen)
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/edmontosaurus-annectens-ff1245706b3441999e387b0545fbc017


Spinosaurus (sculpted, not scanned)
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/spinosaurus-skeleton-ver-2018-by-vi-models-6081bdb0e8ce4096a8d3258c008a5471
 

[Justin_]

Thanks for those suggestions. Basically I'm wanting sculpt on accurate armatures, not going as far as making a complete skeleton but at least modelling all the limb bones and a rudimentary skull and rib cage, and getting the full height and width of the spine.

I only collect what I consider to be accurate figures and I use them for reference, but I'd like to better understand what exactly is bone or muscle or fat beneath the skin, and how big some of those bones are. I know my own anatomy isn't vastly different, and my cat has helped a lot for things like understanding how quadrupeds walk.

I've been using the 3D views on some Shapeways models but didn't know about Sketchfab.

I don't have room or money for full size replica bones but I'd like more in the way of small models. I've been looking at the skulls from Creative Beast and our own @Dinoreplicas (any chance of a smaller version of your Styrac?), although what I'd really like in the way of skulls is a Centrosaurus and some sauropods and hadrosaurs.

I'm thinking about getting this "Dippy" skull from the NHM
https://www.nhmshop.co.uk/3d-printed-mini-dippy-skull.html