Dinosaur Skeletons!

[acroray]

Would anyone care to discuss the various dinosaur skeleton kits that have been released throughout the years?

[acroray]

When I was young, my dad & I bought about 4 different dinosaur skeleton kits: Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, T-Rex and a Mastodon/Mammoth. The 3 saurian skeletons were later re-released by Glencoe. I think the ones I had in the late 1970s were by ITC. I don't recall much about the Mastodon/Mammoth, except that it didn't build up as nicely and didn't look nearly as impressive without flesh and fur. I don't think it was from the same kitmaker as the first three.

I picked up this vintage built & broken Palmer Brontosaurus Skeleton a few weeks ago. The kit's sculpt is really, really bad. But it was less than $10 shipped, and the vintage box is in really good shape and displays nicely. Maybe someday I'll try to restore the buildup. Does anyone know if these were re-issued more recently? I'd thought it might be an earlier edition of the Brontosaurus skeleton I built as a kid, but it unfortunately isn't.

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[TAY666]

I've looked at them before, but never actually had one, or thought about building one.
Most of the time, I was thinking about using them for added bits for PS kits.

[becdecorbin]

From the "Alignment Nightmares" file. Glencoe's name was on the box when I bought this Brontosaurus skeleton years ago. But names aside, it's a struggle. A long wire is provided to string the vertebrae, which is a good idea.

Forget ordinary glues and get out the epoxy. "Bronty" will likely split somewhere when you take the final step: getting his bony feet to line up on the flat spots of the base. Judicious use of the hot-air gun may soften the overall frame and permit you to bend the model this way and that so that some positioning is possible.

I painted "Bronty" a deep gray/brown color, suggesting that the skeleton is a stony fossil mounted in a museum. I didn't want white.

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[becdecorbin]

Brontosaurus was a cake walk compared to Glencoe's stegosaurus. His back is broken in this photo, and I have made no attempt to fix it. Thinking back, epoxy would have been the way to go, but I used superglue. Despite Cyanoacrylate's legendary holding power, it proved less than adequate against a kit that wasn't designed and executed well.

Any two of "Steggy's" feet can be glued into place once it is completed. If you get three, take a drink. If you get all four feet bound securely to the base without his spine splitting asunder, call the press.

As with the Brontosaurus, I painted the model a mineral gray
to imply Stegosaurus was a museum specimen.

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[acroray]

Beautiful builds! (Although your pictures are really small!)

I remember my dad & I building earlier editions of these when I was small, and they wound up with excessive glue and huge gaps everywhere because of the poor fit of he bones. Bronto had a long rod in his neck, which was a good idea for the kit and kind of neat because it was rather like how the real museum displays were supported... at least to my mind as a child.

[becdecorbin]

Here's the back crack.

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[becdecorbin]

A larger file. Much easier to see. Poor Stegosaurus has suffered enough through the years. I didn't bother to dust him off.

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[acroray]

The dust is good. Looks like something from Forrey Ackerman's collection...!

[scooke123]

These skeleton kits look pretty good built up - I never had one or seen any in real life other than pics.
Steve

[Grimlock]

Use a compressed air can for the computer to take off the dust. I sat on mine for about 10 years before I got around to building them...10 years ago!







(I'd called the owner of Glencoe some time ago - he told me it would be waaaayyy too prohibitively expensive to make a correct skull. So I guess this model really IS of a Brontosaurus!)

[artdecovampire]

I just bought a Glencoe stegosaurus skeleton (£6.95). I have seen theses around on E bay mostly in the USA so I was tempted because this was in the UK. The box is red and looks pretty average with none of the vintage charm of the original manufacturers with its cool illustration. Having read this I might just leave it sealed and collect the others to satisfy my desire for completism. The Trex looks good though?

[prescenes2]

Never been a fan of building skeletons of things but when done right, I love looking at them. Especially when done in the style that museums do with the brown bones.
I'm lucky to live in an area that has a love and collection of dino bones and skeletons. Here's some links to what's in my neighborhood:
Over 60 full sized skeletons: www.thanksgivingpoint.org/visit/museumofancientlife
The Jurassic Wall: www.nps.gov/dino/index.htm
No skeletons but lots of full size dino sculpts: www.dinosaurpark.org/
Plus 3 universities with Dino Skeletons!