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Psittacosaurus Prep


Ptychodus04

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On 2/12/2018 at 8:44 AM, RJB said:

That abrasive work should make it 'pop'.   and I dont mean to be picky, but the way they smoothed out the rock around the edges is awful.  Just my oppinion. 

 

RB

 

I agree. Rarely do you see a prep that is so bad that it makes one question the authenticity of an authentic specimen! This one did it. The smoothing of the matrix was a big red flag. It made the piece look like it was glued to the base when in fact, it was not. I'm hoping to rough this up a bit to make it more natural looking.

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1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said:

It made the piece look like it was glued to the base when in fact, it was not. I'm hoping to rough this up a bit to make it more natural looking.

Excellent! I think this tactic will improve the piece.

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See

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Well, I didn’t get the matrix as rough as I would have liked but it does look better. I just finished up the final cleanup. Soup to nuts, this took me 14 hours.

 

The specimen is very stable now and shows up better against the matrix. I’m still amazed at the pink color of the bones that was hidden under all the old glue! :D

 

56A51FAE-9FBD-4086-A306-BD289655B825.thumb.jpeg.fbee4230e4df8030187624865bbb9ee1.jpeg

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Beautiful finish! Glad this specimen got to you for prep, it was in bad need of it!

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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4 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

Beautiful finish! Glad this specimen got to you for prep, it was in bad need of it!

 

3 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

:yay-smiley-1:Beautiful save!

 

Thanks. This was a fun project.

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12 hours ago, ynot said:

WOW!! What a difference a good prep can make.

Glad You got to save this piece from a pile of rubbish.

 

1 hour ago, RJB said:

What a really fun project that must have been.  Nice job man!!!

 

RB

 

Thanks guys. It’s a great feeling when you’re done with a prep and it turned out well.

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  • 2 months later...

Great project and work. Curious question, would be possible to make more contrast between matrix and bones, ribs, head... or is specimen (bones, matrix) too fragile?

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Excellent work, as usual, Kris. :) 

Thanks for this enlightening thread. 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow.
Who knew it was possible to prep an already prepped fossil? 

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On 4/22/2018 at 6:31 AM, aeon.rocks said:

Great project and work. Curious question, would be possible to make more contrast between matrix and bones, ribs, head... or is specimen (bones, matrix) too fragile?

Pictures don’t really do it justice. There’s more bone revealed that appears to be the case. With small bones like this, it is a dangerous proposition to remove too much matrix. It also had to survive a trip half way across the country. 

3 hours ago, FossilSniper said:

Wow.
Who knew it was possible to prep an already prepped fossil? 

It is far more common that one would think. I have prepped a ton of fossils that had already had prep work done on them. Often, the original work is substandard or they used coatings that don’t age well.

 

I once worked on a block of mosasaur ribs and verts that was a sickly yellowish color (matrix and fossil). I determined it was caused by 20+ year old lacquer and spent a dozen hours removing it with scribes and alcohol. The final result was a block with beautiful gray shale matrix and deep chocolate brown bones. 

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1 hour ago, Ptychodus04 said:

I once worked on a block of mosasaur ribs and verts that was a sickly yellowish color (matrix and fossil). I determined it was caused by 20+ year old lacquer and spent a dozen hours removing it with scribes and alcohol. The final result was a block with beautiful gray shale matrix and deep chocolate brown bones. 

Wow. Have any pictures? That sounds like a unique experience.

Still am very impressed by the Psittaco.

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8 hours ago, FossilSniper said:

Wow. Have any pictures? That sounds like a unique experience.

Still am very impressed by the Psittaco.

Unfortunately, no pics. I lost a stack of photos in a hard drive crash a few years ago and the pics of this piece were one of the casualties.

 

The Psittacosaurus was a great specimen to work on.

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