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Restoration Methods


32fordboy

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As I dig into this little chilotherium skull, I found a couple things (as to be expected-it's a China fossil). First, the lower jaw came from another chilo. Oh well. Second, the back of the jaw is missing. The person who "repaired" it used bone from another animal. I removed the plastered-in bone and would like to use paleo sculpt to make it look right. A photo is attached to show the patched-in bone, which has since been removed.

Question is: What should I use as a structural foundation for the PaleoSculpt? Foam would be easy to carve to shape, but is this an acceptable method for fossils? Thanks.

Nick

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32fordboy.......Ive seen Car Body filler used (fibreglass)..as well as a material called Milliput..... the latter can be moulded to shape like plastercine for 20 minutes or so before it begins to harden.....although if the chinese fossil 'preppers' have used bone from another animal to repair it, why bother to take it away and substitute it, maybe re sculpt whats there first?....

Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... :)

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I wanted to pop the bone out because they used cheap plaster to glue it in. It can go back in if necessary. Milliput is good stuff. Seems pretty similar to paleosculpt, only it seems more expensive. Thanks for your input. Never thought of fiberglass. Talk about a DUH moment :D

Nick

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nick the best thing i have found is bondo. it is easy to use cheap and you can add or subract easily. it is also very faast and you can texture it well. it will hold any type of pigment or paint. i use it by the case restoring dinosaurs profesionally. and judging from you screen name you know how to use it.

brock

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ha, yeah I see WAY too much of that stuff-every freakin day. :rolleyes: I'm starting to think kitty hair would be perfect for this area. It's the body filler with the glass strands in it. Strong stuff. I'll use that as the structural base, then put PaleoSculp over that for the final finish. I want to use a clay/thick putty for the finish coat, and here's why:

If we spread some paintable latex on the fossil-somewhere that has the kind of texture we want-that latex "mold" can be pressed into the clay to make the texture match perfectly-cracks, lumps, everything. It's a modeling trick used to cover seams in the plastic.

Nick

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Another question: is it necessary to restore the bottom? If I don't you'll be able to see the repairs from the bottom, but then again, it sits on its bottom, so it won't ever really be seen. Thing is, I'd like to sell it after the restorations are done, so it needs to be done right, whichever way that is. Opinions? Thanks.

Nick

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Just an observation, but too perfect can be as bad as not perfect enough. Relacing obvious missing bone is one thing, but part of a fossil's story can be found in it's imperfections. Since this is a display piece I would not worry about the bottom because-as you said, it will be sitting on it and thus is really irrelevant to anyone except the pickiest collector. I think anyone who has a real interest in fosils will accept the natural condition of the bottom as natural and it would not affect the sale. I know in my case I would hesitate to purchase a skull that has too many replaced parts.

This "Kitty" for example has about 40% of the visable sabre and 30% of the other replaced. The rest is real.

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Be true to the reality you create.

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Another "filler" to use other than bondo is Durhams Rock Hard Water Putty. You can mix it to various consistencies, it carves easily and gets really strong. It's also very easy to paint. I've seen it used at the Denver Museum as well as the Smithsonian and I've used it for years.

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Okay, so here's what has been done so far:

1. A latex "stamp" was made from original bone to get the texture on the restored part right.

2. A foam core was made from the blue dow foam.

3. Over the foam core, I used a combination of duraglass and kitty hair, although fiberglass cloth would have been better.

4. Once covered with the fiberglass mentioned above, PaleoSculp was put on top of that to fine-tune the shape.

5. While the PaleoSculp was soft, the rubber stamp was used to replicate the texture.

6. A few coats of white paint were applied.

7. I watered down a toothbrush and rubbed it on the old matrix. This "mud" was used to "stain" the reconstructed part. After it was dry, I used a paper towel to wipe off the excess. The color match was great, except the white died-back a little on the blue side, so the dirt was wiped back off so more coats of white could be added.

I'll update again when it is done. Suggestions and criticisms are welcome.

Now I just need to decide if it's worth the effort to pop the nose back up (not the top of the skull, though). This would make him look much more straight.

Nick

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Looking good!

For posterity, you might want to make records of the work you do and archive it with the rest of the fossil's data (if you haven't already).

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Here's the final product. Anyone with more experience than I could take it farther, but I figured it would be a good idea to stop while I was ahead (this guy really is a head). He is up for sale now, though I haven't yet decided on a price. In one photo, there are red lines pointing to little "divets" in the bone. I pulled matrix out of these, so I guess it's safe to assume they weren't put there by someone handling the fossil. I don't know how to tell if they are scavenger bite marks and I don't know how rare bite marks are, but that's sure what it looks like.

Nick

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  • 3 months later...

Here's the final product. Anyone with more experience than I could take it farther, but I figured it would be a good idea to stop while I was ahead (this guy really is a head). He is up for sale now, though I haven't yet decided on a price. In one photo, there are red lines pointing to little "divets" in the bone. I pulled matrix out of these, so I guess it's safe to assume they weren't put there by someone handling the fossil. I don't know how to tell if they are scavenger bite marks and I don't know how rare bite marks are, but that's sure what it looks like.

Nick

Nick,

I'm late on this but the stuff I've seen people use and that I've used is that 2-part type putty that comes by the tub. One part is the putty and the other is the hardener. Used in equal amounts it is a good fill-in that can be sculpted and/or finely textured to blend in with the bone. It comes in different basic colors - one for light-colored fossils; one for dark-colored ones. Usually, you also need a decent artist to do the painting unless you are also skilled in that.

Yeah, you don't want the restoration to look better than the bone. You want it near undetectable - as smooth or as unevenly preserved as the rest of it.

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nick the best thing i have found is bondo. it is easy to use cheap and you can add or subract easily. it is also very faast and you can texture it well. it will hold any type of pigment or paint. i use it by the case restoring dinosaurs profesionally. and judging from you screen name you know how to use it.

brock

I would recommend against Bondo. Bondo can actually shrink a small amount as it hardens which is a problem for very fragile specimens. Also, Amy Davidson, chief preparator at the American Museum of Natural History says that Bondo is not as chemically stable over time as other products. She says that while it appears to harden completely, it actually doesn't -- small amounts of the chemicals are still undergoing reaction months after the material seems solid.

A better choice would be one of the two-part epoxy putties like MagicSculpt.

“When you're riding in a time machine way far into the future, don't stick your elbow out the window, or it'll turn into a fossil.” - Jack Handy

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Bondo does indeed shrink over time. Ever notice how a showcar can be laser stright after paint, only to get wavy five years later? It can actually cause cracking. I've been messing around with PaleoSculp and MagicSculp, and they seem to work really well.

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  • 9 months later...

I have a few teeth that I have reformed into the shape the should have been if they were whole but I would love to know what paint to buy.

Thanks

steve

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I have a few teeth that I have reformed into the shape the should have been if they were whole but I would love to know what paint to buy.

Thanks

steve

Acrylics. To mimic enamel, you can then add a layer of clear coat onto that.

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Acrylics. To mimic enamel, you can then add a layer of clear coat onto that.

Sweet thanks man!

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Remember, you can make things easier for yourself by mixing paints into the epoxy to match the fossil's colour. That makes painting easier at later stages.

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32fordboy-

You're doing almost all the right things. I agree with Amy Davidson... avoid Bondo. I use Magic Scuplt. It is what the Fied Musuem used on Sue, so that oughta be good enough for oyu. Paloe Sculpt is good too. A good solid foam base like oyu are using is exactly what I woulda done too.

You're pix are not coming through on my computer tonite, so I can't see the work, but it sounds like your car fixing hobby is paying off in the fossil world. Keep it up. I agree with others who have said don't make it to perfect. Part of the fossil's story is its imperfections.

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Oh, and I fprgot to mention, if you havwe vinac handy, a quick coat of vinac will shine up your paint job on the teeth making them shine a bit more than the rest of your paint job.

jpc

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  • 1 year later...

For me, a little PC11 wood filling putty, or the metal putty has worked very well, depending on the color of the fossil. The wood putty is "fossil brown" and so needs little additional coloration. If the color is not quite right, i like to mix a little sand or dirt from the fossils locality into the outer layers of the putty, especially in cracks or fissures. Blending the edges between where the putty and natural fossil meet helps hide the restoration; a little crazy glue and sand or dirt works well there. If the weight needs adjusting, and all large scale replications do need weight adjustment, I highly recommend using lead fishing sinkers. Split shot, or barrel sinkers from 1/16 to 1 oz are perfect.

Hope this helps. It can be fun to recreate parts of fossils that are lost forever. I've gained a whole new perspective from reconstructing fossils; and have gotten to know the habits of fossils in a much more in depth manner. At the same time though, I've lost all respect for reconstructed fossils and consider them to be undesirable in terms of commercial sale. A reconstructed fossil just cant compare to natural perfection. I feel that reconstruction should only be a learning tool. I find it breaks my heart every time a beginner hands me a perfect 6" megalodon they just paid a huge sum for, and as soon as I touch it I can feel reconstructed parts. Those of us who know the secrets of reconstruction should do our best to educate people who are not as familiar with the processes, no one likes discovering they have been duped.

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