Iguanodon museum model

[Gideon]

Hi All,

I'm hoping someone might be able to identify the maker of this large model Iguanodon. I contacted the dino sculptor Roby Braun, who suggested it might be by his predecessor John Holmes. The twin of this model is pictured on page 102 of The London Natural History Museum's Book of the Dinosaur (1998 Ed, so presumably the 1993 edition too), but unlike other similar books from the same period, there are no model credits. Hopefully the image link works.





https://postimg.cc/gallery/8DCj24Q


Thanks for looking,

Peter

[DinoToyForum]

Hi Peter and welcome to the forum. The link worked but I hotlinked the individual images directly in your post for good measure, I hope you don't mind.

I don't know the sculptor but the style is familiar to several other models from the time that appeared in NHM books. I'm sure you're familiar with these as well.

e.g. Here are some I picked out from the NHM's online image library, including the Iguanodon. So I would guess the sculptor is the same. Not that that's much use.







It's a fantastic model, by the way. If it's part of your own collection, I'm curious how on Earth you came to acquire it!?

[Justin_]

Also, what is it made of? Unless it is some kind of resin cast I suspect what is in your first pictures is the model from the book but with a better paint job.

[Gideon]

Thank you for sorting out my original message and adding some images, much appreciated. I'm only just familiarising myself with the models from the NHM books, but the model making credits in some of them list Roby Braun as the most prolific sculptor (his extraordinary career archive is easily found online). He tells me it's not one of his.

I was searching the auctions for something unrelated and just happened to notice it selling in a saleroom fairly nearby. It was love at first sight!

It seems to be of fibreglass construction. There are no signs of repainting, so I don't think it's the NHM model from the picture and it's likely than more than one model was cast from the original mould. An NHM curator suggested the original was in storage.

[Gideon]

Members might be interested in seeing images of dinosaur exhibits where the skeleton is accompanied by a scale model.

[Halichoeres]

That's a fascinating piece! I don't know anything about it, but I'll look forward to any updates to your investigation. And welcome to the forum!