How to Build a Dinosaur part IV


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


Okay, so I had to make some claws and teeth.  I'd thought about this from the beginning and decided I would make them from polymer clay (Fimo was the brand I used), a material I'd never worked with before.

I had all the measurements at my disposal, thanks to The Dinosauria. 
More claw sculpting
I built the claws around wooden skewers (not really visible here) so I could punch them into the soft foam of the Deino, then hold them in place with epoxy clay, another new material for me.  The brands of epoxy clay I used was called Apoxie Sculpt, which I ordered online.
Fimo clay claws
For the teeth, I used sewing pins instead of skewers.
Making teeth on a cookie sheet
If you're not familiar with polymer clay, it's a kind of malleable plastic that's as shapeable as clay, but only needs to be baked in the oven to harden.
Putting the teeth in the oven
I created a bead of epoxy clay--a self-hardening, extremely adhesive two-part clay that doesn't need to be baked--for the "gums" on the top and bottom jaw.  Before it was dry I stuck the polymer clay teeth in, and the pins held them in place until the epoxy clay hardened.  This had the added bonus of naturally deforming the epoxy clay around the pressed-in teeth to resemble gums perfectly, and therefore needed little shaping on my part.
Adding teeth

I have to say, as soon as I saw the jaws with teeth in them I was very pleased!
Teeth!

All "pinned" together with skewers, with hand claws and teeth:
Arms temporarily pinned in place

Part V:  Eyes and scales!  (And plaster?)





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