Tyrannosaurs Vs Triceratops
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Back in the Late Creataceous, a mother Tyrannosaur lashes out at a young Triceratops that has been seperated from its herd, tearing away large chucks of flesh from the stomach area. Watching from behind his mother, a young Tyrannosaur learns the fine art of killings ones prey - seperate the vulnerable from the herd, chase it down until it is weak and go in for the kill. Whilst the mother shows the son how the killing is done, a flock of Pteranodons lurk overhead and nearby, watching intently, waiting for the Tyrannosaurs to finish their meal and depart, leaving the left over corpse for them to pick at like Vultures.
It's just another day in the Late Creataceous.
This build was initially just going to be the 1/20 scale Tyrannosaurus Rex by Rader Studios (a sculpt based on a popular Tyrannosaur nicknamed 'Stan'), but it eventually evolved by adding a Tamiya Triceratops kit. The idea was to have the T-Rex eating the Triceratops (which was why I used that Triceratops kit as it is an extremely poor representation of the Triceratops) and make a gory scene. The build evolved further when I had a thought to include multiple Tyrannosaurs and turn it into a sort of 'pack' hunting scene. That idea then turned into adding a smaller scale Tyrannosaur to act as a younger animal and the scene of the mother showing the young how to hunt was born.
Jon Rader's Tyrannosaur kit was great to build. There was very little to fix and most pieces fitted together well. There was a few seam lines and gaps to fill with Milliput Epoxy putty though. It was also my first time using Replicale to return the skin details back to where the putty was added. This product is by far the best thing I have ever used when it comes to Dinosaur modelling. If you haven't tried it, then do yourself a favour and get some.
The Tyrannosaur was then painted with Tamiya Sky on the bottom half and then the top half was done with Tamiya Dark Green. Inside the mouth was done with a custom pink mix whilst the banding across the back was done with Medium Blue and edged with NATO Black. The banding was also given a light coating of Dark Green to tone done the harshness of the black and to blend it in better with the main colourations. The feathering was hand brushed with Red and Blue and given a wash with Yellow Oils. To finish up, the kit was washed with Raw Umber Oils and Clear Red was generously applied to the mouth to simulated blood and gore.
The Tamyia Triceratops kit is an extremely poor representation of what scientists think the animal looked like. Taking this into consideration, I sacrificed the kit and chopped it up. I modified the leg positions so it looked like it had slumped to the ground and filled in the mouth and added a tongue. For the wound, I marked out the spot where it was to go (roughly the shape of the Tyrannosaurs jaws) and then filled the kit with a soft sponge like packing foam. Once I had filled it enough, I added some glue to harden the foam where the open wound was. This hardened the foam and allowed me to paint it without the foam absorbing the paint.
The Triceratops was painted with Medium Blue and then spotted with Blue which in turn was painted over again with Medium Blue. This allowed for the Blue to show through but not as harshly as if it were by itself. The wound was painted with Reds and Purples, then given a generous amount of Clear Red for the blood.
The younger Tyrannosaur is actually a collectable figure, from the CollectA series. I cleaned up the seams and flash lines and removed the 'Made in China' label. It then got a repaint the same as the adult Tyrannosaur, but not as much banding was done to try and insinuate that it was a young one that hadn't matured yet.
For the base, I used some Woodlands Scenics Rock Moulds to make two rock platforms out of Plaster of Paris for the dinosaurs to stand on. I attached them to some MDF board and then added some texturing paste to make the surrounds for earth like rather than flat and boring. Some tree trunks and bushes were added by using some left over florist supplies that I had taken from some flowers I had bought for my wife and had since died. The green mosses were added using a mixture of PVA glue and Green Flock. I mixed them together and added some Dark Green paint to make a paste which was painted on to the rocks.
Finally, as a last minute thought, I took the three Pteranodons from the Tamiya Parasaurolophus kit and painted them up using sponges to creating a patterning on the wings. One was attached to the base on the ground, whilst the other two were attached using some flexible wire that came with the kit I took them from, which makes it look like they are flying.
All up, it's taken me a while to do this one due to other commitments, but now I am finished I am quite pleased with how everything has turned out.
Update 14th June 2010 :
This kit was entered into the 2010 Australian Plastic and Scale Model Championships and I am proud to annouce that it won 1st place in the Civil Dioramas Category!
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