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I purchased a unsightly Franken-Basilosaurus tooth a few weeks ago for pretty cheap. Seeing as though i don't have $400-700+ to spend on a nice basilosaurus tooth i saw potential and a fun project in this cheap ugly duckling. Yes, it's Moroccan. It came with the typical glue/sand mix covering it, filling all cracks, voids and roughing out transitions of deceptive franken composites. How it came: Ok, first things first. Clean it. I used acetone, a razor, a needle, a tooth brush and my engraver. Hours of delicate work later i finally see what i'm working with. After cleaning: Yeesh, this might be more work than i thought...... And someone composited a incisor or canine tooth tip on the top of my premolar!! Bwahahaha!! Ok, composites need to go. Bye, bye Next i noticed this was not lined up correctly when it was glued back together. So i grab my trusty dremel tool and proceed to carefully saw this baby in half. Then i removed most of the epoxy/sand glue from each side. Continued.........

Call it what you may, but i decided to be cheap and cheat a little. I've always wanted a big honkin' dino tooth in my collection, but like most i don't have $1,000+ burning a hole in my pocket. So i bought the fattest, longest and cheapest tooth i could find. $150 Spinosaurus it is (no shocker). It was 4 1/2" when i bought it, and in really rough shape. Moroccan sand glue everywhere, thick clear epoxy gushing from the repaired cracks and enamel missing in spots. And whom ever decided to "clear" it, must of been a cat hoarder, because there was hair everywhere. Here she is, fresh from the bubble wrap I started by dremeling most of the sand glue i could find (I kept a bit on for character). Then i cleaned up any messy seams and got rid of the cat coat. Next i whipped out the ol' Magic sculpt epoxy and started sculpting. This was a bit tougher then i had anticipated. Given the volume of the area, detail that needed to be crafted and the soft nature of the Magic Sculpt it went slow. I did however find a trick to harden the epoxy temporarily for more control for detail. Stick it in the freezer! It doesn't really harden, it just stiffens up. I tried my best to not inflate the size of the tooth and i did my best to follow the natural lines. After it was sculpted and dry, i took my trusty dremel and fine tuned the striations and cleaned up any bumps, lumps or anything else unpleasing to the eye. Here she is sculpted Next was the paint. Oh the paint. Being severely color blind i just had to guess. It's a shame really, but what am i going to do?! In my eyes it looks pretty darn good, to you i don't know..... YOU let ME know. Being a perfectionist, I've learned in some cases (such as this) being imperfect is perfect. Being a bit "sloppy" and "erratic" with my colors makes it look more authentic. When the paint dried, i cleared it. This is important, because it blends my restoration epoxy into the real deal, forever camouflaging my devious deception. Here she is all ready for her close up She was 4 1/2" and worth $150 Now she's 5 3/4" and worthless! Hahahaha! Edit: added another pic

With the help of my fellow TFF members i bought some Magic Sculpt to restore my Mazon fern. It worked out pretty well. I appreciate all of your help guys. My only problem is getting a dull finish on my paint. Does anyone have any techniques they implement for this application? I've tried a flour wash, but nothin'..... I highly recommend Magic Sculpt. It's a bit sticky, but easy enough to work with. And not to toot my own horn, i think for being colourblind i matched the paint decently (well in my eyes). Haha! Alethopteris sullivanti Measurements: 4 7/8" Step #1. Find fossil Step #2. Apply and form Magic Sculpt accordingly Step #3. Paint Thanks for looking! Happy New Year TFF.