Blade-of-the-Moon's Art

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Edmontosaurus foam board base:

[triceratops83]

Beautiful! All hail Edmontosaurus!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Beautiful! All hail Edmontosaurus!

Let's hope it turns out as such! lol  These ceratopsians and duckbills are so difficult to wrap my head around!

[fabricious]

Yay for a closed mouth!

[Dinomike]

Looking great as always! Are you going to add the comb on it?

[Yutyrannus]

Very cool! Is it E. regalis or E. annectens?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Yay for a closed mouth!

Yep!

Looking great as always! Are you going to add the comb on it?

Haven't decided yet..

Very cool! Is it E. regalis or E. annectens?

Annectens was the intent. Though I had to use Regalis for some references.  Hopefully it at least looks like an Edmontosaurus sp. of some sort.. lol

[Yutyrannus]

Very cool! Is it E. regalis or E. annectens?

Annectens was the intent. Though I had to use Regalis for some references.  Hopefully it at least looks like an Edmontosaurus sp. of some sort.. lol

Then you probably shouldn't add the comb, different species tend to have different features.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

The skull captures the characteristic shape of an edmontosaur's. I like it. Funny how people say stegosaurus had a small skull while it is the same size as an edmontosaurus'.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Very cool! Is it E. regalis or E. annectens?

Annectens was the intent. Though I had to use Regalis for some references.  Hopefully it at least looks like an Edmontosaurus sp. of some sort.. lol

Then you probably shouldn't add the comb, different species tend to have different features.

Good point. I wasn't thrilled with the look of it either.

The skull captures the characteristic shape of an edmontosaur's. I like it. Funny how people say stegosaurus had a small skull while it is the same size as an edmontosaurus'.

I was tempted to flatten the top  of the bill more near the tip..some show this area more flattened others have restored it higher like I have it for Annectens.

Actually this would be a younger Edmontosaurus, an adult was around T-Rex sized.  The Stegosaurus here is a 30' individual..still a small head for a large body.

[Meso-Cenozoic]

That Nothosaurus is looking cooler and cooler! And that Edmontosaurus' head looks very promising too.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

That Nothosaurus is looking cooler and cooler! And that Edmontosaurus' head looks very promising too.

Thanks on both counts. The Edmontosaurus like other hadrosaurs are 2nd on my aggravation list but some of my favorite dinosaurs..so I have to keep hammering them out..lol I think Corythosaurus would be the next hadrosaur I try..but that's some years from now. 

This also the first of another expansion we're planning. I'm just making heads/hands and such while the weather's cold. I even have the 2nd juvenile Apatosaurus in here with me.. 

[triceratops83]

Why do you find Hadrosaurs so aggravating? As far as Dinosaurs go, they're fairly simple in their body shape. I would've thought bipeds or something overly ornamental like a stegosaur would be more difficult.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Why do you find Hadrosaurs so aggravating? As far as Dinosaurs go, they're fairly simple in their body shape. I would've thought bipeds or something overly ornamental like a stegosaur would be more difficult.

It's not the bodies..those are pretty simple..it's the head shape.  When you have no good 3D references , say a skull, you have to take a slew of images to work from. Sometimes those don't all jive together either depending on how different people restore them, skulls and fleshed out.  Hadrosaur heads are all slopes and curves..hard to visualize when building the frame. Ceratopsians are my biggest annoyance as they are all triangular and have to be pieced together just so..the frills are like fitting wing flaps..lol You should have seen us working on the triceratops..took days to work out and we kept modding, wasting material. But it's all worth it in the end.  Sometimes the things that cause you the most consternation turn out the best.

[Doug Watson]

Hey Blade,
I just thought I would drop by here where I knew you would see it and thank you for helping me figure out this image posting business. I was able to finally post some thanks to you!

[triceratops83]

Ahh, so kinda like 3D Tetris. You should be a doctor as you have plenty of patience.   

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Hey Blade,
I just thought I would drop by here where I knew you would see it and thank you for helping me figure out this image posting business. I was able to finally post some thanks to you!

Awesome! Glad to have helped Doug!

Ahh, so kinda like 3D Tetris. You should be a doctor as you have plenty of patience.   

Aww..I see what you did there..patients/patience. Stellar. lol 

Yeah it gets frustrating when you have references telling you to go in four directions at once..so a bit of the work is just interpreting what I see..hopefully I get close. 

[triceratops83]

I would have thought there'd be plenty of references for Hadrosaurs, and Edmontosaurus in particular. Or do you mean models you can hold and inspect?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I would have thought there'd be plenty of references for Hadrosaurs, and Edmontosaurus in particular. Or do you mean models you can hold and inspect?

Well it's both to be honest. The lack of a good up to date 3D reference is a problem, but so are lack of 2D references. Many I found we're out of date, others were restored one way then someone else restored it another. So my idea of what's right, something I need in my head as I work, varies.  I have to try and take everything into account and make it work.  For example, I was applying foam this morning to it, I came to the tip of the beak on the lower jaw.  Some show it rounded others have it flattened off.  So what to do? That decision will also impact my decision as to just how wide the lower beak/bill is when fleshed out as it my look more correct one way with one width but not the other.  Yes I'm a "detail" person..lol  Just trying to "build" the 3D model of this skull in my head first...and it's a bit like like building Frankenstein's monster. I go through it with every piece of course..but the more visual info and references I have the better.

[triceratops83]

A lot of recent reconstructions show the beaks of Hadrosaurs to have a weird serrated edge, almost like teeth. Just thought I'd give you another option.