fossil cast

Polacanthus Reconstruction: Part 6 'Cervical Spines'

With the first pair of Cervical (neck) spines done, I decided to base the next pair of (slightly bigger than half scale spines) on a plaster cast of a fossil Polacanthus spine rather than some small black and white photographs.

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With the outline of the template marked out on the foam, I cut out one of the spines and started carving. A couple of hours later I had finished the left spine.

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Before starting the opposite spine I thought it would be a good idea to mount the spine on the Minimi model to see how it looks. I temporarily attached the foam spine to the fibreglass model with a small piece of modelling putty

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So far so good. Next I added the first cervical (neck) spine to check the effect of both spines together.

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Obviously to finish the model they will need to be blended to fit when finally mounting them but the overall impression seems great.

An hour later I had carved the opposite spine.

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So I mounted the pair of spines on the model.

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Not too bad for a few hours work! Next I will look at a reconstruction of the Polacanthid Gastonia and sculpt a pair of  ‘solid-based’ scapula-coracoid spines.