Polacanthus Reconstruction: Part 11 ‘Caudal Spines’

Previously I wrote about sculpting a pair of the enigmatic ‘Splate’ spines. Something I will be returning to later. With a pair of Polacanthine Splates finished, the next job was to sculpt all the spines of the tail.

Based on a couple of different interpretations I needed to sculpt between 22-24 Caudal Spines, now that’s a lot of spines! Fortunately they get smaller towards the end the tail.

Unlike the ‘Splate’ I do have a cast of an (early to middle) tail spine to refer too. So I measured the spine and drew it at just over half scale to make a template.

With the outline marked on the extruded polystyrene I cut the shape out and started to carve the spine.

Once the first spine was finished I carved the other spine of the pair.

With the first pair of Caudal Spines finished I repeated the process by sculpting the second pair of spines (using the first pair as an example).

At the end of the day I took a group shot of all the pairs of spines (Cervical - Pectoral, to Caudal) sculpted to date.

Next time I will complete the process of sculpting the remaining Caudal Spines.

A crazy fortnight at the Dinosaur Farm!

A crazy fortnight at the Dinosaur Farm!

We have had late nights, and even earlier starts. 
Turned cabinets around and dug over old ground.

Old friends have returned and we have made new ones too.
A Euro cent passed off and paper vanished from the loo.

We have had a bird in the barn and a duck through a roof.
A pterosaur limb and a pterosaur tooth.

We have mounted heads on a wall, stood over ten feet tall.
We have had record-breaking trips and generous tips,

Old foot-casts were buried and new ones found.
Ceilings went up and ceilings came down.

VIP guests came with stories to tell
and travelling salesman with books to sell.

A purse lost, then found and a picture drawn by a kid.
A huge dinosaur claw won by a last minute bid.

A barn emptied, a barn filled and then emptied again.
Tired feet, a split thumb and Miss Hernia pain.

A Mad Max Digger, new fences for old.
Glorious sunshine and bitterly cold.

We have had serious meetings and heated discussions.
Made plans for events and entertained factions.

Identified mystery bones and bags of kids stones.
Built impossible storerooms and confiscated brooms.

A big tooth, a little tooth, new artwork, new labels.
And we still haven’t finished the fossil preparation tables!

OM

Next time there will be more updates on the Polacanthus sculpt and I promise not to inflict my terrible prose on you ever again.

isnotadinosaur:

I don’t know if I’ve posted this before but #dontcare it’s the best. 

Every School needs these images as posters.

Dinosaur Expeditions Open Day

Clifford Wrigley from ‘Wrigley Maintainance’ [email:  wrigleymaintenance2014@gmail.com] is helping us to get all the big jobs done before our Free Open Day on Saturday 28th March.

The Eotyrannus Head display was produced by local artist Nigel George for the Dinosaur Farm Museum in the late 1990s.

Come along to the Dinosaur Farm on Saturday 28th March, enjoy free admission and see the latest fossil discoveries. Talk to our volunteers about the exciting work we do, see live demonstrations of fossil conservation and the creation of original paleoart.

Visit our website for more information:

www.dinosaurexpeditions.co.uk

Polacanthus Reconstruction: Part 10 ‘Splate’

Stegosaurus is famous for the plates that form an alternating row from the neck to the tail. Various hypotheses have been proposed for their function: from defensive armour, thermoregulation (warming / cooling) to visual displays. Their exact function is still open for debate although current research by the Natural History Museum in London on Sophie the juvenile Stegosaurus may well conclude that all three proposals are correct. Just as feathers can be used for insulation, display and flight!

Polacanthus and it’s relatives had a diverse range of dermal osteoderms (bony armour). The ‘Splate’ or Spined-Plate is a flat plate like spine with a prominent spike in the middle. 'Splates’ have been found from Polacanthus and Hoplitosaurus. Their exact postion on the body however is a matter of debate (Shoulders, Back, Hip or Tail?) subject to future discovery of an articulated skeleton with a splate to confirm their actual placement.

Sadly I don’t have an actual fossil 'Splate’ or plaster cast so I had to base the sculpt on some line drawings and photographs with a scale bar!

Once I had a scaled drawing I traced a copy to make a template and copied this on to the Extruded Polystyrene Foam.

With the templates marked out I cut the shapes out of the blue foam and started to sculpt the first 'Splate’.

Given the narrowness of the prominent spine I took my time to sculpt the 'Splate’.

I repeated the process for the opposite spine.

With the pair of 'Splates’ finished, my next task will be to sculpt the numerous middle to late caudal tail spines for the Polacanthus model.