LordTrilobite Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 I've been collecting woolly rhino (Coelodonta antiquitatis) bones for years now and trying to make a compilation skeleton. But Skulls are pretty rare. So I decided to make a skull replica out of foam. And I thought it would be cool to share the building process here. I based the blueprints mostly on the skeleton from the Natural History Museum in Paris. Piece by piece I cut away pieces of foam to get the correct shape. I've never done anything like this before so it's an interesting project to do. Now that I have the basic shape I plan to cover the surface with something so I can add more detail and colour too. But since have little experience with this I thought maybe some of you guys have some ideas what kind of material I should use for that. Anyway here are some pictures of the carving process. Tell me what you guys think. I've also added more foam to fill in some holes and errors I made but I'll post pictures of that later. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Looking good! Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 wow! there is a whole career awaiting you in china... Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 I'll be watching this with interest. I'm in the middle of a similar project. I have this mosasaur skull I found, and I'm in the process of carving a replica out of pine. I'll let you know how this goes. Ramo For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun. -Aldo Leopold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32fordboy Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Very, VERY cool. www.nicksfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32fordboy Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 For the surface, you can use Magic Sculp. It comes in a variety of colors and is a 2-part epoxy putty. It has a work life of about 45 mins to an hour and can be smoothed with water. When it cures it becomes rock hard and can be sanded, added to, drilled, painted, etc. If you use epoxy putty, make sure you are familiar with getting your sculpting/detailing done in 45 mins or you'll have a wasted batch. You can do small sections at once using basic clay tools. Or, if you make a latex texture stamp, you can just stamp textures into it. Paintning will require various methods that, if done right, will look very real. Magic Sculp should be foam-safe. www.nicksfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 I'll be watching this with interest. I'm in the middle of a similar project. I have this mosasaur skull I found, and I'm in the process of carving a replica out of pine. I'll let you know how this goes. Ramo Your project looks really cool as well. Wood is also a nice material to work with, also probably good for those thin parts of the Mosasaur skull. I chose to make my rhino skull out of isolation foam because it's so rediculously easy to carve. The downside of course is that it's hard to add details. For the surface, you can use Magic Sculp. It comes in a variety of colors and is a 2-part epoxy putty. It has a work life of about 45 mins to an hour and can be smoothed with water. When it cures it becomes rock hard and can be sanded, added to, drilled, painted, etc. If you use epoxy putty, make sure you are familiar with getting your sculpting/detailing done in 45 mins or you'll have a wasted batch. You can do small sections at once using basic clay tools. Or, if you make a latex texture stamp, you can just stamp textures into it. Paintning will require various methods that, if done right, will look very real. Magic Sculp should be foam-safe. Hm, I'll look into it. Thanks for the tip. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 My mosasaur skull doesn't have any individual piece that is over 3/4 inch wide, so I'm just using pine. Ramo For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun. -Aldo Leopold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost1066 Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Yep Magic Sculpt is the way to go. I have been using it for years. Have some on the workbench now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Thanks for the positive comments everyone. I've looked up Magic Sculp. It looks nice. but if I want to get enough to cover the whole rhino skull it could turn out pretty expensive. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32fordboy Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Magic Sculpt actually goes a very long way. Paleo Sculp by PaleoBond is essentially the same thing, so you can compare prices. Start with a 5 pound kit and see how far that gets you. I bought the 5 lb kit to restore the rear portion of a rhino jaw (both sides) and had WAY too much left over. I'm willing to bet one or two 5lb kits will be more than enough if you smooth it down to a thin layer. Nick www.nicksfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indiana Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Nice work, that looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost1066 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 You can thin that stuff down to incredibly thin sheets. I use a rolling pin and add a bit of water to keep it from sticking. Works very well. I use a little water on my hands or tools to slow the cure down a little, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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