DV77 Posted February 17, 2022 Author Share Posted February 17, 2022 (edited) Hi! Sorry I haven't posted an update on this for a while. I've had a lot of other stuff to do too... But, I already spent a lot of hours on this project and I've been having a lot of fun with it I cleaned the specimen for hours and hours, like it was said before, it looked like it came straight out of the ground. It looked so much better afterwards I applied a 5% mixture of paraloid to all of the specimen. This proved to be difficult, since the inside consists of a lot of small cracks crevices. But I feel like I was able to reach most of the skull. After I did this, I went shopping for some stuff to try and glue it back together. I was advised by a fossil vendor to use a kind of 2 components epoxy glue. I used this to glue the easiest pieces back together and it worked really well! I also used epoxy putty to fill some of the cracks, but still have a lot of cracks to go. Now I still have to do some more difficult glueing to do, because those last few pieces don't fit perfectly together (for example, when I put two pieces together, they would fit well, but then that newly put together piece wouldn't really fit on the rest of the skull). So I tried mixing up a Paraloid Glue for these parts. I think I'll try to attach them all this way and then continue to fill it up a bit more with the epoxy glue and the epoxy stick when I'm happy with the connections. So that's where I'm at right now! Here's a few pictures, but I feel like they don't really do the real thing justice. Comments or feedback are very welcome! Edited February 17, 2022 by DV77 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared C Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 looks awesome! Honestly, having worked so hard on this specimen, your're going to really bond with it when it's done, more than you would have otherwise. Following with interest 1 1 “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 A big project, but I'd say it's indeed coming along well! Keep up the good work! 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Looking good! Be careful with the epoxy, make sure you're happy with the fit of the pieces before you glue. Unlike some of the suggestions you received earlier, I believe the two-component epoxy is not reversible. Don 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilhunter21 Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 Looking good! -@fossilhunter21 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DV77 Posted February 23, 2022 Author Share Posted February 23, 2022 (edited) Hi! Thanks for the nice feedback. I agree with you @Jared C, I'm really enjoying the process at the moment. Here's a few more pictures for those who are interested Attached the front piece. Like I said, it was difficult to get the last parts to fit correctly, but I feel like I got it to look pretty nice The teeth are still loose at the moment, but I feel like I placed them correctly, does anyone have any more knowledge on this? (it's very hard to see on the original pictures from when I bought it). I'm talking about the teeth on the right side by the way (speaking about the first two pics), the two teeth on the left were still in the bone. The side view looks pretty good to me, I'm excited This is without the teeth in place though. After I attach the teeth, that's pretty much it in terms of pieces left to attach. The skull will look pretty much how it looked before shipping (of course it looks way better now, since I took my time cleaning the whole thing). It was already a bit broken before shipping like I said, the price was pretty good in my opinion and I didn't mind. I don't know what else I could do with this: - I'll fill the large cracks that remain - I was thinking about painting the epoxy putty. I have some acrylic paint left, would this be good? - I don't think I'll fill anything else to be honest, everything is now original (exept for the epoxy of course). I think it's sturdy enough... Thanks again! D Edited February 23, 2022 by DV77 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 Great work you're doing on this! Looks very good I don't have any suggestions on the teeth, but painting with acrylic would certainly work. There are plenty of preparators that use it, I've used it myself and it's water soluble 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgdls Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 That is looking very good! Yes, paint the filler with epoxy. You should be able to get a good colour match. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 As an additional tip, don't apply your paint too sparingly: that is, paint a broader area than just the epoxy you want to cover up. By doing that, you'll get a much better blend with the rest of the fossil, so that the repairs will be less noticeable 3 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DV77 Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 Here's a few more pics, I pretty much did all there is to do with the specimen I think I'm pretty happy with the repairs and paintjob, but I might go over it once more and try to blend it a bit more. Interested to hear what you guys think! 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 I must say this turned out beautifully! Well done! Looks very good indeed! Now on to building a custom made stand 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilhunter21 Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Very nice job on that skull! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Looks great! I like the subtle transition to distinguish the repaired areas. 1 2 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgdls Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 What an impressive fossil you now have. I'm very impressed with your work! Paul 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 33 minutes ago, paulgdls said: What an impressive fossil you now have. I'm very impressed with your work! Made all the more valuable by all the work and passion you put into it to get it into this shape! It's the memories that make a fossil great and more than just the sum of its parts 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sjfriend Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 Looks wonderful! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted March 24, 2022 Share Posted March 24, 2022 Wow that turned out fantastic! 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DV77 Posted May 1, 2022 Author Share Posted May 1, 2022 Hi! Sorry it's been a while. I wanted to thank you all for the super kind reactions, I appreciate it a lot! I wanted to show you guys the final result. I Found a jaw that's a pretty good fit I think. Would love to hear any opinions. Thanks for all the help and feedback, it was very helpful! All the best. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilhunter21 Posted May 1, 2022 Share Posted May 1, 2022 5 hours ago, DV77 said: Hi! Sorry it's been a while. I wanted to thank you all for the super kind reactions, I appreciate it a lot! I wanted to show you guys the final result. I Found a jaw that's a pretty good fit I think. Would love to hear any opinions. Thanks for all the help and feedback, it was very helpful! All the best. It looks very nice! I love how you are displaying it. I think that the jaw fits pretty well too. Thank you for sharing, -Micah 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 A most interesting project. You did an excellent job too. RB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.cheese Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 Really enjoyed that thread, I have learnt a lot from the comments you have got back. I often have the opportunity to get fossils that need prepping but have been wary of ruining them but now I feel I might take something on myself. Not as big as that to start with though! Thank you for taking the time to take pictures all the way through. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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