Blade-of-the-Moon's Art

[alexeratops]

Wow! That is amazing Blade!

[alexeratops]

Thanks man, they all still need to be coated..but at least this step is complete.

Trying to sketch out a Therizinosaurus head now.

OH. MY. GOSH. A THERIZINOSAURUS!!! BLADE... YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!




sorry... I really like Therizinosaurus...

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Thanks man, they all still need to be coated..but at least this step is complete.

Trying to sketch out a Therizinosaurus head now.

OH. MY. GOSH. A THERIZINOSAURUS!!! BLADE... YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!




sorry... I really like Therizinosaurus...

Really? I'd never have guessed... lol 

I'm carving the spray foam on the head now while also cutting pieces for a Pachycephalosaurus. You can see the base foam board design on the previous page if you missed it.

Here are some more plesiosaurs :

[triceratops83]

Really nice, turtle-like colours. And I never knew the Safari Ammonite was so large! Are you gonna use a few of them in the display?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Really nice, turtle-like colours. And I never knew the Safari Ammonite was so large! Are you gonna use a few of them in the display?

Thanks, I have a feeling they will look mostly blue when the lighting is used in the exhibit..so I had to have some nice contrasting pattens.

I'd like to. I got this extra one via  trade deal and it works nicely.  If possible I'd like to get a couple more..I would also like to find the Bullyland Ammonites and Belemnites if anyone can give me a hand getting them for this exhibit. Not sure of anyone else that makes replicas of these creatures.   I would contact Malcolm about it but he's pretty busy I guess and hard to reach.

[fabricious]

These turned out to be the most lifelike of your models so far (in my opinion)! Great work.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

These turned out to be the most lifelike of your models so far (in my opinion)! Great work.

Thanks! I think we improve a bit with each piece but a lot of factors are involved. Finding good  reliable info and references ( thanks Adam/Admin!), and getting to actually sculpt the heads on the these, not just foam/carve/coat surely helped.  When the paint job works too..it all really came together in these.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

Great to see these finished! Did the color come from the Safari therizinosaurus?

[triceratops83]

Looks like Dejankins still has the bullyland ammonites and belemnite for reasonable prices.

[reinier zwanink]

Your own museum
Now that is fun
Sometimes when i walk in the museum nearby i wished i could do more with it
But nice work on the plesio
Looking at older pics you are improving

[Doug Watson]

Here are some more plesiosaurs :

Really nice Blade, it looks like you have a very plausible looking scale texture in the skin of the neck You have probably dealt with this somewhere back but are these going to be suspended from above? I was looking for eye bolts but I couldn't spot any.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Great to see these finished! Did the color come from the Safari therizinosaurus?

Maybe subliminally..lol I had images of sea turtles and the Kaiyodo Plesio in my head foremost.

Looks like Dejankins still has the bullyland ammonites and belemnite for reasonable prices.

Thanks bud, much better price there!

Your own museum
Now that is fun
Sometimes when i walk in the museum nearby i wished i could do more with it
But nice work on the plesio
Looking at older pics you are improving

Thank you. I've offered my services at local museums as well but they haven't been interested.  The video of the Dinamation pieces I've posted, I could really have added to that exhibit if they had let me.

Here are some more plesiosaurs :

Really nice Blade, it looks like you have a very plausible looking scale texture in the skin of the neck You have probably dealt with this somewhere back but are these going to be suspended from above? I was looking for eye bolts but I couldn't spot any.

Thanks bud, means a lot coming from you. I can't take credit for much past the head as the material I use has this fine scale pattern look in it already.  To be honest I wasn't sure if they going to be hung from above or raised up from the bottom. I've been meaning to look at home improvement stores for some really thin steel cable. That would hang them pretty well, though it would need to be looped about the neck/tail.  The wood in the body is really thin plywood that has a lot of foam built up around it so we figured we couldn't use eyebolts for these...just no good spot to attach them.

[Doug Watson]

Thanks bud, means a lot coming from you. I can't take credit for much past the head as the material I use has this fine scale pattern look in it already.  To be honest I wasn't sure if they going to be hung from above or raised up from the bottom. I've been meaning to look at home improvement stores for some really thin steel cable. That would hang them pretty well, though it would need to be looped about the neck/tail.  The wood in the body is really thin plywood that has a lot of foam built up around it so we figured we couldn't use eyebolts for these...just no good spot to attach them.

I was just checking the progress shots of your Plesiosaurs and I see you have a solid plywood silhouette  that runs the length of the body sandwiched with expanding foam. If you know someone who can weld if you could get them to weld eyebolts on top of lengths of threaded 1/4" steel rod the length of the depth of the body you could work them through the body beside the plywood and then fabricate a plate on the bottom that you could secure with a nut to keep it from coming through. You probably could get by with one on the base of the neck and one at the base of the tail. You could put a guide wire on one or more of the flippers to tilt it.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Thanks bud, means a lot coming from you. I can't take credit for much past the head as the material I use has this fine scale pattern look in it already.  To be honest I wasn't sure if they going to be hung from above or raised up from the bottom. I've been meaning to look at home improvement stores for some really thin steel cable. That would hang them pretty well, though it would need to be looped about the neck/tail.  The wood in the body is really thin plywood that has a lot of foam built up around it so we figured we couldn't use eyebolts for these...just no good spot to attach them.

I was just checking the progress shots of your Plesiosaurs and I see you have a solid plywood silhouette  that runs the length of the body sandwiched with expanding foam. If you know someone who can weld if you could get them to weld eyebolts on top of lengths of threaded 1/4" steel rod the length of the depth of the body you could work them through the body beside the plywood and then fabricate a plate on the bottom that you could secure with a nut to keep it from coming through. You probably could get by with one on the base of the neck and one at the base of the tail. You could put a guide wire on one or more of the flippers to tilt it.

Actually,  didn't photograph it I guess but there is a wood plate that is cut to the width in the body here between the foam :
Then I foamed over it as well.

I honestly didn't think the mounting through very well I suppose. That would have worked pretty well if it were all foam.  Maybe I'll just have to sculpt some 6' rocks to support them.  I could use fishing line..but is it strong enough over time?

[Doug Watson]

[Actually,  didn't photograph it I guess but there is a wood plate that is cut to the width in the body here between the foam :
Then I foamed over it as well.
I honestly didn't think the mounting through very well I suppose. That would have worked pretty well if it were all foam.  Maybe I'll just have to sculpt some 6' rocks to support them.  I could use fishing line..but is it strong enough over time?

Even better, all you need is an extra long drill bit, I have one that is 1/4" x 18" is the board deeper than? You may be able to get a 3/8" bit that is longer Then just drill along side the upright board until you hit the horizontal and drill through. Then work the threaded rod with the eye bolt through the drilled hole and then through the foam on the other side until you see it poking on your belly's skin and cut it through. You could even run some thickened two part epoxy on the threaded rod when you pass it through for the final time to help secure it. You could make a plate for the top and bottom that you could also epoxy to help secure it as well as the nut below. I could sketch out what I mean if you like.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

[Actually,  didn't photograph it I guess but there is a wood plate that is cut to the width in the body here between the foam :
Then I foamed over it as well.
I honestly didn't think the mounting through very well I suppose. That would have worked pretty well if it were all foam.  Maybe I'll just have to sculpt some 6' rocks to support them.  I could use fishing line..but is it strong enough over time?

Even better, all you need is an extra long drill bit, I have one that is 1/4" x 18" is the board deeper than? You may be able to get a 3/8" bit that is longer Then just drill along side the upright board until you hit the horizontal and drill through. Then work the threaded rod with the eye bolt through the drilled hole and then through the foam on the other side until you see it poking on your belly's skin and cut it through. You could even run some thickened two part epoxy on the threaded rod when you pass it through for the final time to help secure it. You could make a plate for the top and bottom that you could also epoxy to help secure it as well as the nut below. I could sketch out what I mean if you like.

18" would certainly do it, the bodies are only around 12" thick vertically. No need for the extra work this go round bud I get what you mean. Done some simialr things in the past though not for something like this. I'll have a look around at Lowes when I'm there next and see what all they have I can use...then I can figure out what I need to make.

[Doug Watson]

18" would certainly do it, the bodies are only around 12" thick vertically. No need for the extra work this go round bud I get what you mean. Done some simialr things in the past though not for something like this. I'll have a look around at Lowes when I'm there next and see what all they have I can use...then I can figure out what I need to make.

If the people can't go all around it you can even suspend it by coming in from one side with a couple 2 x 4s that you could black out. It would mean digging into one side however.
Oh yah about fishing line don't use monofilament it dries out over time and gets brittle.
Also save yourself sleepless nights, don't hang anything over people's heads. When I did the two life-size Pteranodon longiceps with their 24 foot wingspans the plan always was to hang them about 2 to 3 stories over the public's heads in the Atrium of the Museum of Nature right where the public enters the museum. We had to embed welded steel frames inside the fibreglass bodies with eyebolts welded to those frames to attach aircraft quality steel cable. The cables were hooked up to motors in the ceiling that allowed them to be lowered for maintenance. I lost sleep before and after they were raised. They came in at just under 250 lbs each so if they fell they could do some damage. They were taken down  awhile back for building renovations and they haven't put them back. They contacted me about putting them back but I guess they thought I would do it for free. Bad enough I did them for half price because they cried poor so good luck getting anymore free work out of me.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

18" would certainly do it, the bodies are only around 12" thick vertically. No need for the extra work this go round bud I get what you mean. Done some simialr things in the past though not for something like this. I'll have a look around at Lowes when I'm there next and see what all they have I can use...then I can figure out what I need to make.

If the people can't go all around it you can even suspend it by coming in from one side with a couple 2 x 4s that you could black out. It would mean digging into one side however.
Oh yah about fishing line don't use monofilament it dries out over time and gets brittle.
Also save yourself sleepless nights, don't hang anything over people's heads. When I did the two life-size Pteranodon longiceps with their 24 foot wingspans the plan always was to hang them about 2 to 3 stories over the public's heads in the Atrium of the Museum of Nature right where the public enters the museum. We had to embed welded steel frames inside the fibreglass bodies with eyebolts welded to those frames to attach aircraft quality steel cable. The cables were hooked up to motors in the ceiling that allowed them to be lowered for maintenance. I lost sleep before and after they were raised. They came in at just under 250 lbs each so if they fell they could do some damage. They were taken down  awhile back for building renovations and they haven't put them back. They contacted me about putting them back but I guess they thought I would do it for free. Bad enough I did them for half price because they cried poor so good luck getting anymore free work out of me.

They will only see them from 3 sides. The back wall is supposed to look like rock work of some sort. Something like that could work. Maybe a welded steel mount on the back wall? An upside down "L" shape. It would need to be sturdy if I wanted to secure them in place. this part of the exhibit is on a rise which slopes down, the height of the ceiling changes from 8' where people will stand behind railing to about 13'.

Ah, see now that's something I suspected about fishing line but never knew.

We usually try to keep things away from people if at all possible..though here in the woods we have trees that drop limbs on occasion..all sorts of natural hazards..those darn trees worry me to death. I'm debating now whether to let people stand under the Apatosaurus to look up at it or just have them go along side. I love standing back and looking up at them myself.

That's terrible. I always loved those pteranodons. It always taints a project when one party isn't happy with some aspect I know. Why on earth they would think you would re-install for free is beyond me. Just like paying someone who has to come back and fix something on occasion..it's not a lifetime contract.   If they keep them in storage long enough they may not ever get back up there..I know a local nature park here used to have life size models of many creatures..they had a big pteranodon and a Dunkleosteus. The took down the Dunkleosteus that used to hang over head and put in storage I was told last year..it stayed there so long it was busted up and tossed in the trash. They said they were going to remove the Pteranodon at some point and I told them I'd be happy to give it a home here in the Park. Haven't back since but hopefully it's still hanging in there.

[Doug Watson]

It always taints a project when one party isn't happy with some aspect I know.

The kicker on that one was I gave them an estimate and they said they could only afford half since the money was being raised by staff but then after the project I heard in an interview they had raised 10 grand more than my original price. So free work now? Fool me once....

I have been meaning to ask do you have special liability insurance since the public is coming on your property. I have business insurance but it doesn't cover clients coming to my house that would double my premiums so I always meet clients away from my home.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

It always taints a project when one party isn't happy with some aspect I know.

The kicker on that one was I gave them an estimate and they said they could only afford half since the money was being raised by staff but then after the project I heard in an interview they had raised 10 grand more than my original price. So free work now? Fool me once....

I have been meaning to ask do you have special liability insurance since the public is coming on your property. I have business insurance but it doesn't cover clients coming to my house that would double my premiums so I always meet clients away from my home.

Huh..yeah that's confrontation worthy to me.

We have property insurance but really we don't charge any admission so no one has technically paid to be here. We also have a large sign/disclaimer saying that we are not responsible for anyone who chooses to enter and be here.