Looking for a 1:1 Brontosaurus or Apatosaurus skull replica

[modelnut]

Brian Switek said that he bought one in his book, My Beloved Brontosaurus. But I have been unable to find one. Brontosaurus is my wife's favorite dinosaur. And she would be thrilled to find a life-sized Bronto skull under the Chgristmas tree this year. 

I haven't had any luck finding one though. So I have collected diagrams and specs online if I have to sculpt my own. And I bought the Dinostoreus 1/4 scale Diplodocus skull which should be here by Thursday. Dippy's skull is just skinnier than Bronto's. But they have enough of the same features that I am sure I could translate into a bigger sculpture.



The trouble is that I don't have a secret sanctum or workshop or studio in which to keep this project under wraps. I would be willing to spend a few hundred dollars to get one ready made.

Do any of you have any ideas?

- Leelan

[RobinGoodfellow]

1:1 Brachiosaurus:  https://www.urzeitshop.de/gb/skulls/3048-brachiosaurus-altithorax-dinosaur-skull-replica-by-eofauna.html

1:1 Europasaurus:   https://www.urzeitshop.de/gb/skulls/3069-europasaurus-holgeri-dinosaur-skull-replica-by-eofauna.html

(expensive items)

[croco_105]

This fossil replica shop has quite a few apatosaurus items for sale including a full skeleton cast.  I assume they could just cast the skull by itself for you, though I don't think it will be cheap. 
They also have an adult diplodocus skull for $700.  The majority of their products seem to be actual fossil casts, not sculpted models.  They're based in St.Louis.

Might be worth contacting them for a quote:
http://www.angelfire.com/mi/dinosaurs/dinosaurs_sauropods.html


This shop sells a apatosaurus skull replica but it cost $2,400!  Listed on page 34. 
http://trieboldpaleontology.com/VIPcatalog.pdf

[modelnut]

I forgot about Triebold! But that price is too steep for me. 

I was willing to go $500 or a bit higher. After all Bronto's skull is about the size of a horse's skull --- a little over two feet in length.

My wife would divorce me if I spent over a thousand dollars for what amounts to a big dust collector. 

So sculpting it is.

- Leelan

[modelnut]

The Plan (so far)

[modelnut]

Brontosaurus' skull is almost the same as Diplodocus. Just wider.

[croco_105]

Sculpting is the best way to go, to keep within your specified budget. 
How do you plan to make it?  Paper mache, or carved foam, outer layer epoxy putty?

Some inspiration.
Foam carving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p79Zdghh1M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL-lxAe-Lb0

Paper mache

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQYihFE1AwA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1EuodlmCfQ

[modelnut]

I'm not sure yet. Foam seems most logical. But I think I need to study the Dinostoreus Dippy skull that arrived yesterday. That way I can figure out how thick the bones need to be. Then I will see which material will be strong enough to last a few years. I have a vacation next week. So I will have time for thinking. Not much time in our usual week. We work nine hour days and make an hour-and-a-half commute home six days a week. 

- Leelan

[croco_105]

Good luck with your ambitious project, hope to see images when it's done.

[Justin_]

I'm curious to know how you can work on a project as large as this but keep it secret from your wife? Have you got a studio or workshop away from home?

[Dinoreplicas]

Wishing this project well and looking forward to seeing it develop.
Found a couple of reference links (you may already have these)-

WitmerLab Apatosaurus skull photos
Good resolution multi-view pics for copying details.

Brantworks re-model of the skull from the Platt 1/12th scale skeleton
Includes a diagram showing layout of inner palette bones.

Hope these are helpful to your sculpting.

[modelnut]

Croco, I don't think I have any hope for keeping this a secret from my wife once I start. I don't have a garage or workshop outside of the house. It will be a huge mess if I try to carve foam. To quote Fagin, "I think I better think it out again."

DinoReplicas, I do have the Brantworks site bookmarked. The other one I don't think I have seen. Thank you!

- Leelan

[modelnut]

There was no time for much leisure or thinking this past week. First the kitchen stove went out. So we bought a new one. Then that stove didn't work. So we called an electrician. A wire had come loose in the plug-in. So we will get our old stove back on this coming Tuesday. That took the whole week. AND I threw my back out on Wednesday helping my mother-in-law. I am just now recovering from that. I had planned to finish three models this vacation. I have hardly touched any of them. I NEED A DO-OVER! 

- Leelan

[Dinoreplicas]

What an awful week, hope you can quickly put it behind you.

[modelnut]

Our old stove is kaput. So we have to buy a new one which won't be here until the middle of October.

As for the skull, I think I will build a wire frame bulked out with cardboard and covered in Apoxie. That seems to be the best plan I can come up with. Carving foam will be too messy. And once I had the shape right I would have to thin it so that the Apoxie skin would bring it back to the correct thickness. I used Bondo for my last sculpt and that was so much fun that I decided "Never again!"

I need to order another batch of Apoxie. What I have on hand won't be enough. So it may be a few weeks before I can really get started. But I am still hoping to get it finished by Christmas.

- Leelan

[Dusty Wren]

@modelnut, any updates on this project? I've been thinking about making a life-sized skull myself, and I'm curious how well the cardboard/Apoxie plan worked for you. 

[modelnut]

I have not tried anything yet. I had completely forgotten!

At first, I couldn't figure out how big the skull should be. When I first thought of it the best information I could get was that a Brontosaurus or Apatosaurus skull was a maximum of two feet long. But if I look at any of my wife's scale figures it doesn't matter if it is 1/40, 1/35, or 1/15 scale, the head looks bigger than that. In the neighborhood of 28 to 35 inches. I only want to build one skull. I'm almost sixty. I don't know how much longer I will be around. 

Add to that we've had a succession of household mishaps all year. Major appliances dying on us the day before four separate vacations. The dryer. The hot water heater. The airconditioning duct work. The stove. I completely forgot this project until you brought it up.

With the holidays going on I think the next chance I get will be February. Maybe I can get it done by our anniversary in July?

- Leelan

[Dusty Wren]

Oh, man, it sounds like you've had a rough couple of months! Dino skulls can definitely wait I'm sure your wife will love it no matter when she gets it.

Thanks for the response in any case. If I get around to making my own skull, I'll post a build log on the forum. You can learn from my mistakes, and that'll eliminate some of the trial-and-error for you.

[Kapitaenosavrvs]

Our old stove is kaput.

Did not know that this is a word used by american English speakers.

[modelnut]

I don't know what TV show or movie it was when I first heard "kaput". I'm five months short of sixty. It could have been anything. 

- Leelan