Megalodon repair suggestions

[minnbuckeye]

I have been gifting some Florida fossil sharks teeth that I have found to the 8 year old son of my technician. He adores these fossils. So to do something different this year I had noticed  some Forum Members had been repairing broken Megalodon teeth and gave nice instructions. So I decided to fix a big one for him to gift at Christmas. A tooth that was only 67% present caught my on line eye due to it's LOW price ( 10 bucs). Even if I mess up the repair, I am only out pocket change. @Reptilia and @mattbsharks had great info on how to repair these teeth. The purpose of this post is to add to their detailed suggestions. Painting is likely to be someone's biggest struggle in the repair of a broken meg. What I did  to help with this step was put paint into the resin while I was mixing it, making the need to paint the tooth potentially unneeded.

 

The putty is a greyish white to begin with. To it, I added some brown and black resulting in an almost perfect match for the root. There is subtle streaks of color since I did not excessively kneed the last couple of paint drops that I applied. This adds much realism to the fake root. In this picture, a large piece of root was missing and is already repaired. It is hard to tell where I filled in the void. The resin in my fingers was mixed up to fill in a few depressions not noticed on my initial repair. No painting necessary!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Next, I tackled the missing enamel. I thought I had a good match for the natural tooth, but when it dried, I needed to add JUST A LITTLE paint to bring it in line with the natural enamel. Total paint time was under 2 minutes!

 

 

  

 

Below is the enamel prior to painting. Close but not quite on the match.

 

  

 

Did I create a perfect look a like? NO! Could I have? YES, VERY EASILY, and this was my first attempt. It is not hard to do (and is fun!!).  I listened to the wise @snolly50, who made me think about the implications of such repairs and decided my creations always need to look repaired to a collector, yet good enough to fool a 8 year old for the next 8 years. So some imperfections  in shape purposely remain. To make sure this is not passed on as a complete meg, I etched an M subtly in the repaired part of the root that will make anyone with any knowledge of megs  scratch their heads. Unfortunately I did not get a finished picture,  having to get it wrapped quickly, as I am leaving for Ohio for the holidays. Maybe a shot of it with the little boy holding it is warranted when I get back. Happy Holidays to one and all.

 

One question to those who have repaired megs: How do you create the dark color in the cracks running through the enamel? I tried different techniques until it came close but none were quite as good as I would have liked.

 

Mike

[snolly50]

@minnbuckeye I think your approach to restoration is great. I am very confident your effort will result in a very happy 8 year old! Please do post a shot of the tooth with recipient. Wishing you a wonderful holiday, the older I have become the more I enjoy finding just the right gift for someone. It sure sounds like you have in this instance.

[mattbsharks]

Looks good. You can always fill in the cracks with a dark acrylic paint, watered down if need be, and then paint the enamel color over that

[caldigger]

At eight years old I doubt he will be so concerned with colors matching perfectly.  Rather that he has a really big shark tooth and his buddies likely don't.

He'll be the point of interest in his homeroom class...for the day.  Hey, their eight years old! 

Tomorrow will be something else, but at least he will have your tooth to cherish forever.

[minnbuckeye]

On ‎12‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 7:11 PM, snolly50 said:

Please do post a shot of the tooth with recipient

 

@snolly50, Here is the picture you requested. Avery was very excited with the gift Santa had left him. He did ask me about my initials on the back . We both decided worm borings made sense. And I thought he would never notice!! 

 

 

[snolly50]

34 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said:

Here is the picture you requested.

That's great! He looks as happy as I would to get a big old shark's tooth. I really do love seeing folks share wonders of the natural world with young people. I truly believe that inspiring children to think in a scientifically curious manner will aid their development and ultimate success no matter what endeavors they eventually pursue.   

[ischua]

On 12/18/2017 at 7:45 PM, minnbuckeye said:

 

 

One question to those who have repaired megs: How do you create the dark color in the cracks running through the enamel? I tried different techniques until it came close but none were quite as good as I would have liked.

 

Mike

 

Wait till putty is almost hard and use a needle or point of XActo blade. It will leave a V in the putty with raised/torn edges. Gently rub the V flat. Wipe darker color paint over "cracks" it will make them stand out even if they look like they are not there. Very the time you wait to rub it flat will change how it looks.

[minnbuckeye]

Will try that if I repair another one. I know It was tough making the cracks when the putty was fresh. So this makes sense! Thanks @ischua