My modified Horizon JP Brachiosaur

[Paleogene Pals]

I have been making some changes to the JP Brach manufactured by Horizon.  I adjusted the head/neck position, stretched it out to make it a 1/20-scale model of an 85-foot creature, and added some details. 

This is still a work in progress, but there is only a few things I need to do before I primer.  Some of you may disagree with the decisions I made, but I think these things were walking billboards and went with that idea. Anyway, I'm happy with how it is turning out and am learning a lot of valuable lessons in sculpting with Magic Sculpt.

[darylj]

This is exceptional! Seriously, brilliant work.
Very excited to see how this progresses...
I love to Get my hands on this to paint and display!

[ITdactyl]

Who'd complain about this?  It's very nice work.

'Iguana inspired, or not really?

[Paleogene Pals]

Well thank you guys for your compliments.  I'd actually love to have someone paint this because I'm not that good with an airbrush, but it is just so darn big!    I've worked on this thing off and on since 2012. Glad to see it is nearing completion.

[Paleogene Pals]

And, yeah, I thought 'iguana' meets elephant, maybe not appropriate for a sauropod...


...but, prove me wrong! 

[Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus]

Hey, looks good!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Wow, very impressive !

[mmfrankford]

And, yeah, I thought 'iguana' meets elephant, maybe not appropriate for a sauropod...


...but, prove me wrong! 

Hey nothing says they did or didn't, right? Love the improvements you made on it. Now it just needs an inspired coat of color.

[Paleogene Pals]

I am open for suggestions as to color. Obviously bright flashes of color will be necessary in strategic areas.

[Simon]

Boy, that must weigh a ton!  Did you fill the body with plaster before re-sculpting the neck?   How did you connect the new neck to the body?

Looks fantastic, but personally I do not care for the dewlap.  Otherwise A++++++!!!!!!!

[darth daniel]

That´s really cool. Did you do the spines individually? I need a good way to sculpt some on a Tamiya Brachiosaurus...

[0onarcissisto0]

Great! I love the new neck positioning. Looks very natural. Not crazy about the wattle but I get the look you were going for. Can't wait to see how this turns out!

[radman]

Can't upload the file, but looks kinda like you based it on this?

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Macronaria_scrubbed_enh.jpg

[Paleogene Pals]

Bingo Radman! That Wikipedia picture was my inspiration for the dewlap/wattle. I know some folks wouldn't like it, but it has grown on me. Basically, I went through several references and incorporated elements that I thought would make a nice overall piece, within scientific plausibility of course.  Still, this version is a lot more accurate than the JP Brachiosaur, agree?

The Brach isn't heavy. I stuffed the body with newspaper making a tunnel in the middle of the mass with a drill. Then, I filled that empty space with expandable foam to fill out the body.  The legs are filled with plaster capped with resin to keep the plaster from breaking loose. This way, I kept the weight down despite adding all of that Magic Sculpt.

For the neck, I cut the original neck into thin sections and created a wire armature of the neck.  I fit and glued the armature into the body and slipped the each neck section on, one at a time.  I put duct tape over gaps between the neck sections and filled the inside of the neck with expandable foam.  I now had a rigid, sturdy neck to work with. Working my way from the body to the head, I coated the neck with Magic Sculpt to sculpt in the details.  I made sure to pay attention to neck muscles and neck thickness. The whole process took a year but went incredibly smooth without mishap.  Plus, I avoided having to spend an arm and a leg on Magic Sculpt.

The spines were created by cutting over 100 pieces of 16-gauge wire into 1-inch segments. Magic Sculpt was sculpted onto the back one segment at a time and the wire fitted in.  Once cured, I cemented the wire segments onto the back to secure them. After that, it was just a matter of adding Magic Sculpt. I still have to sand the spines to smooth them down, but everything appears mostly done in the sculpting department.

Overall, a time-consuming, messy, but fun project!

[Titanosaur]

That Brach looks amazing!! I cannot wait to see it finished and painted>(if it happens)

I would love to have something like this placed on my bookshelf along with the Sideshow Apatosaurus

[darth daniel]

The spines were created by cutting over 100 pieces of 16-gauge wire into 1-inch segments. Magic Sculpt was sculpted onto the back one segment at a time and the wire fitted in.  Once cured, I cemented the wire segments onto the back to secure them. After that, it was just a matter of adding Magic Sculpt. I still have to sand the spines to smooth them down, but everything appears mostly done in the sculpting department.

Oh that sounds like a LOT of work... It paid off though. Thanks for the explanation!

[Paleogene Pals]

Not to mention a lot of stabbed fingers    I'm sanding the spines smooth today. Hopefully I can start to primer sometime this month  *orthocone*

[Paleogene Pals]

And, what was I thinking? The wire gauge segments weren't one-inch; they were half-inch.

[DinoLord]

Sorry for the bump, but I saw this and my curiosity was piqued. Paleogene Pals, is there any chance of reuploading some pics? I currently have a spare Horizon Brachiosaurus and am trying to figure out what to do with it.

[Paleogene Pals]

Yeah, I can although I plan to modify it some more because there are things I am not happy with.