Interesting Display Technique for Oreodont Skull

[AlaskaNick]

The first (and only- for now) Oreodont skull I prepped was in remarkably good condition and required virtually no reconstruction, just a thorough and careful cleaning + a little stabilizing. Afterwards I was looking for a good way to display this little skull in a manner where it wouldn't just be sitting on a flat surface. I'm not great at bending metal to create an elevated cradle so I came up with this:

 

I laid a sheet of plastic wrap on the underside of the skull and gently pressed Apoxie sculpt on top of the plastic so it molded to the contours of the skull. I then pressed a metal rod bent in two 90 degree angles into the Apoxie making sure it was straight. After setting for a little while- still soft enough to pull it away from the skull without getting stuck, but firm enough to hold its shape- I pulled the mold out and allowed it to dry. Once fully hardened I lightly sanded to smooth out some of the rougher contours and reduce the overall size so it wouldn't be as visible with the skull resting on it. A bit of tweaking here and there and I got it so that the skull could gently 'clip' in and out of the mold. 

 

Attached are a couple shots of the original piece with matrix, and the finished fossil and stand. I am really happy with the end result and plan on using this in the future- I hope you find it interesting and useful as well!

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by AlaskaNick

[digit]

Very nice (and creative)! Excellent job of providing a stable mount for this which still allows you to pick up the oreodont skull for closer observation.

 

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[mr.cheese]

I like that! I will have to steal that idea off you if I have a tough shape I want to mount! Good work!

[Nanotyrannus35]

Nice display! I'm working on an oreodont skull right now and I might use that method.

[Discover and Preserve]

Nice- killer display!

[biolenvs]

Really good idea! Where did you get the metal rods and stand?

[AlaskaNick]

1 hour ago, biolenvs said:

Really good idea! Where did you get the metal rods and stand?

The stand was just an acrylic base that you can google and find in lots of different sizes and shapes all over some of our favorite auction and retail websites, just had to measure and drill the holes for the metal rod ends. I believe the metal rod I picked up at a local hardware store and just bent a single piece with two 90 degree angles spaced out a bit less than the length of the underside of the skull. I’ve built a bunch of simple stands for other simple stuff and just wanted to try something new, happy how it turned out. Next time depending on the fossil maybe a brass rod instead, maybe different base. 
 

I made a stand for a small mammoth tusk using a petrified wood slice as the base and I liked that a lot, I could see doing that again but I had a seriously hard time drilling holes in the petrified wood- need to figure out a better way to do that 

[fossilhunter21]

Awesome display technique! I really like how it looks! Very nice work.  

 

 

-Micah

[Kiros]

Awesome work I really like it.