How to Build a Dinosaur part III


Links to the other posts in this series:
Part I
Part II
Part IV
Part V
Part VI


Because you can't sculpt something in the round without a way to hold it up, I made a stand from scrap plywood and 2x4s, and some threaded rod and nuts.  I drilled a hole in the the chest of Mr. Deinonychus so he could be propped up tripod-like on the stand.

Making a stand with threaded rod

Stand is built.

Next, I set about making the tail.  Because I had cut them to fit into the car, I didn't have any sheets of foam long enough for the tail, so I knew it would have to be spliced together from shorter pieces.  It's hard to see here, but the finger/splice joint is in the center.
What's this foam for?

The tail in its infancy

To attach the tail to the body I used two lengths of PVC pipe like dowels and drilled holes in both the body and tail to stick 'em together.  The reason I used two and not one is I didn't want the tail rotating/spinning at the joint before the glue dried.
Adding a 2nd PVC pipe

Only after the tail was attached did I really begin shaping it, as I wanted to make sure it matched to contours of the body well.
Now it looks like a dinosaur.

All the while I was also working on shaping the neck:
Taking shape

The head is not permanently attached yet because I know I'm going to have to add teeth and acrylic eyes, and paint the inside of the mouth, so I need to be able to get into all those spaces easily.
Head closeup

Oh yeah.  Arms!  He'll need those.
Arm beginnings

Rough cutout of arm

Inside of the right arm/hand

Outside of the right hand

Pinned in place with wooden barbecue skewers:
Arm pinned in place
There are no claws at this point either, because I will be making them later from polymer clay.

Check out Part IV.

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