Is this Keichousaurus specimen real?

[makias]

Does this look real to you?

[Ludwigia]

I'm no expert on this subject, but I can recognize a paint job when I see one.

[JBkansas]

Where's the paint? This is a typical grinder prep keich. Only positive on this is the juvenile next to it.

Edited August 6 by JBkansas

[rocket]

Parts are engraved, parts reconstructed, parts original

Nice for decoration if its cheap

[snolly50]

I find the rampant disarticulation to be highly suggestive of a natural piece. Paint will be easily detected by examination under magnification. A 10X loupe will do. No ones hand is steady enough to paint those small bones without "coloring outside the lines." A rub of acetone would also be a quick option. Of course all this requires in hand contact. However, that is the surest way to evaluate any piece. Good luck, have fun.

[JBkansas]

I'm not sure it's even worth it to fake a kiech this poorly prepped. The verts don't even have features and the skull looks gored to hell by the grinder. I'm sure that someone could make a fake that looks like this but there's no reason too since these 5 minute prep jobs are all over the market.

 

There could be painted on bones but the pics are too blurry to be sure. The bones on both side of fractures look similar (most common site of painted bones).

[Ludwigia]

11 hours ago, JBkansas said:

Where's the paint? This is a typical grinder prep keich. Only positive on this is the juvenile next to it.

 

Like I said, I'm no expert on this subject, so I guess I must be seeing things.

[JBkansas]

11 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

 

Like I said, I'm no expert on this subject, so I guess I must be seeing things.

No worries, perhaps a real expert will come along to educate us all.

 

Interestingly, the juvenile appears relatively well prepared (need better photos to confirm), almost as if they fast prepped the adult and then realized there was a second and then swapped techniques to air abrasion to try and make more money. 

Edited August 7 by JBkansas

[JBkansas]

Here's a couple grinder preps and a air abrasion prep for comparison (using the skull because it has the most detail):

[Crazyhen]

This plate is genuine, it's prepped by acid and grinder.  I don't think it's painted. The bones of the adult look very dark, it's a typical result of acid prepping. 

[JBkansas]

6 hours ago, Crazyhen said:

This plate is genuine, it's prepped by acid and grinder.  I don't think it's painted. The bones of the adult look very dark, it's a typical result of acid prepping. 

Thanks, I was wondering why the adult's bones were so much darker. There are so many ruined keiches online, I really wish they would at least air prep the skulls.

[Crazyhen]

10 hours ago, JBkansas said:

Thanks, I was wondering why the adult's bones were so much darker. There are so many ruined keiches online, I really wish they would at least air prep the skulls.

Unfortunately, because of the abundance of Keichosaurus at the source and very often they are contained in plates of very hard matrix, the locals tend to use the most economical way to prepp the specimens (i.e. acid + grinder).  A lot of specimens were ruined in this way.  I heard that more locals are however manually prepping specimens now.