T rex 3D printed skeleton (and velociraptor skull)

[Duna]

Hello,

I'm new here, I've loved dinosaurs for decades, when I was little I asked for dinosaur scientific encyclopaedias for presents, instead of reading dino books for children. 
I just restarted my collection of figurines a few months ago. My husband has just bought a 3D printer as has surprised me with this wonderful T-rex skeleton. Not to say that I assembled it and loved doing so, hehe! He's not as interested in dinos as me.

It looks nice (it's big), yes, I know the arms are not ok, there was a little problem with the printing, but we are new with it. The rex is printed in white and black PLA. I would like to give it a more "skeleton" look, or a "fossil" appearance. I've been searching but I found nothing that could help me.

I'm not an expert in painting, but I know basic concepts. Can you help me with the painting materials I should buy? All suggestions are also welcome!

Thanks!

PS: Please excuse my writing as English is not my mother language, sorry! 

[stargatedalek]

I find lightly brushing my 3D printed bird skulls with yellow or brown makes them look more natural, though that's for a modern look.

For fossils I'd probably want to start with solid brown, then brush on shades ob black, grey, or other browns.

[BRONSON]

Get him to print off a spare leg or skull to practice on first, usually when painting something like this people tend to paint it all over one base colour, as an undercoat, then do a dark watery wash that sinks into all the nooks and crannys, to highlight shaded areas, then the main colour would be lightly brushed onto the main areas, probably a dark leathery brown for a t rex skeleton, then add a tiny amount of white to the main colour and dip a little on your brush, then wipe it off the brush till almost dry and gently go over areas which would be highlighted.

[Duna]

Thanks, BRONSON,
What do you mean by base colour, should I just paint it or give it an undercoat paint? PLA is very soft, will acrylics be ok?

[BRONSON]

Hi ya, here's one way of doing it, you probably could do it with acrylics they are the most forgiving paints, quick drying and water soluble, here's a few vids that might help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJnI3n9dGKY

Now its best to practice on some spare parts of the same material, a mate of mine actually tried using cold wet tea and that left a nice aged look to a model skeleton (human), no milk or sugar though.

[Duna]

Oh, thank you! Now I get it. I'll try to cover first the lines of the printing material in paint before applying the dark shadows.

I'll try and practice with another bone.

Thanks!

[BRONSON]

Oh, thank you! Now I get it. I'll try to cover first the lines of the printing material in paint before applying the dark shadows.

I'll try and practice with another bone.

Thanks!

Good luck and show us the results, I am sure you will make a good job of it.

[Duna]

Well, BRONSON, I did it! 

I've learned a lot by doing so. I bought brown and black acrylic paint and I just painted a small skull just directly on the PLA surface. It looked so great, with lights and shadows as a real old bone.
But I also bought a white undercoat, and thinking it could be better, because I wanted to disguise the tiny lines of the printer, I applied it on all the rex skeleton. And then, tried painting it with the brown paint and it was an absolute failure. The white undercoat didn't cover the lines and when painting with brown, looked like it was dirty or covered in mud. I had two options, to apply 3 or 4 layers and cover totally the white, or wash it and apply a very thin layer.

If I had decided to paint it all, I would have done just like the video: paint a plain brown, and then black and wash. But I would have needed a lot of paint, covering the nice details of the bones, and many layers.
But why to do so when the white bone is so nice with  just a washed brown, showing all the details and shadows.

So I washed the skull and the hip bone (because they were the worse parts) with water and brush, to take the undercoat off, which took me a lot of time. In the rest of the skeleton, I just applied a brown coat but very thin as if it was washed.

The final work, not as I planned, but I think I saved it:




For my following 3D printed skeleton (I've seen a nice triceratops and an stegosaurus), I think I'll do this:

- Apply paint directly on the PLA. Not undercoat.
- Paint acrylic brown on a very thin layer.
- In parts which should be darker, as in the inside of eyes and teeth, apply a second hand when dry.

It's easier and looks a lot better.

Thanks for your suggestions!

[BRONSON]

That looks superb, well done  you have brought it to life (death  )

[Duna]

Thank you!!

This is my next proyect, real size velociraptor skull (teeth are printed individually and skull in 4 pieces).

I'll take more care with the shadows in this one.

[BRONSON]

Look forward to seeing the end result