Upcoming Prep Project - The Green River Bird

[Ptychodus04]

4 hours ago, RJB said:

Black marker pen.  and a hardy har har.  Actually, I know a guy who has used a black marker to color a part of a fossil.  No, not me.

 

RB

 That would be the last time I get to prep a bird!

 

I had some luck last night with scribing to the absolute lowest point possible, then using a needle to remove matrix until there’s just a hint on the feathers. Turned the Swam all the way down and pushed as little abrasive as possible through the smallest tip to clear it off. It degrades the feathers a bit by it’s better than nothing.

[RJB]

18 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I had some luck last night with scribing to the absolute lowest point possible, then using a needle to remove matrix until there’s just a hint on the feathers. Turned the Swam all the way down and pushed as little abrasive as possible through the smallest tip to clear it off. It degrades the feathers a bit by it’s better than nothing.

If I ever get an unprepped bird, I know who is gunna prep it.  I hope you take checks. 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

31 minutes ago, RJB said:

If I ever get an unprepped bird, I know who is gunna prep it.  I hope you take checks. 

 

RB

[Adam86cucv]

Just drop the check when it's handed to you...if it bounces then you say 'no thanks cash only'.  

 

 

Not that I think Ron is that type of guy. 

Edited Friday at 12:57 PM by Adam86cucv

[fossilhunter21]

Those feet are pretty nice! Something I never thought I would say... 

 

Looking really good, Kris. 

 

Cheers and Shalom,

 

-Micah

[Biotalker]

It looks great! What a nice achievement to be able to work and expose such a remarkable and delicate fossil.

[Ptychodus04]

7 hours ago, Adam86cucv said:

Just drop the check when it's handed to you...if it bounces then you say 'no thanks cash only'.  

 

 

Not that I think Ron is that type of guy. 

 

He's not but he sure likes to mess with me.

[Ptychodus04]

Bird prep update picture. 175 hours and counting!

 

[Adam86cucv]

Amazing details you are finding as you progress.  How long are you typical sessions on this?  I imagine a few hours of highly detailed prepping like this would wear on your eyes and hand/wrist.

[MetalRavioli]

Wow! That looks awesome! Excited to see it when it's fully prepped!

[RJB]

15 hours ago, Ptychodus04 said:

Bird prep update picture. 175 hours and counting!

I was thinkin about this bird last night about 1 in the morning.  With wing and tail feathers being more robust than the plume feathers, I would think that the farther you get on this bird that the easier to prep the feathers would get? 

 

RB

[Ptychodus04]

23 hours ago, Adam86cucv said:

Amazing details you are finding as you progress.  How long are you typical sessions on this?  I imagine a few hours of highly detailed prepping like this would wear on your eyes and hand/wrist.

Thanks. My max time prepping is around 3 hours before I need a break. After that, it’s hard to keep a steady hand. With larger specimens, there’s some room for error, not in this thing. Sometimes the bones start to crumble before I even get near them. This is mostly around the joints where the bone is super thin.

 

9 hours ago, RJB said:

I was thinkin about this bird last night about 1 in the morning.  With wing and tail feathers being more robust than the plume feathers, I would think that the farther you get on this bird that the easier to prep the feathers would get? 

 

RB

The opposite seems to be true here. The matrix is really sticky further out from the body.