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knightyo
January 23rd, 2010, 03:39 PM
I found this forum while looking for reference material on the T-Rex skeleton. Thagomizer's thread http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=151924 has proven to be a great motivation!

This all started when I decided to finally put to use the book T-Rex to go by Chris McGowan.
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg176/immunosuppressor/IMG_2050600x337-1.jpg

The book instructs the user to procure the bones of 3 chickens. This I did by purchasing about one chicken a week.. After carving the meat from the chicken, the book instructs the user to boil said chicken for about an hour to an hour and a half in order to separate the rest of the meat from the bones. Then the methodical task of collecting and cleaning the bones begins. It takes about an hour or so of separating/scrubbing for each chicken. This process is also creepy enough to diminish one's appetite for chicken.

I now have the bones needed in order to proceed. (only 2 sets of chicken bones are shown. The other set is separated into right/left sides in plastic baggies)
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg176/immunosuppressor/IMG_2044600x337.jpg

On the platter above, you will see a skull. The book instructs the user how to create a skull from the chicken bones, but admits that due to the limitations of the chicken bones, it won't be anatomically perfect. Well........ This put me off enough that I decided to try my hand at sculpting a skull from sculpy clay. By using the templates in the book, I was able to get make some fairly good pieces. The sites provided by Thagomizer also helped immensely.

The "problem" I will have is in matching the coloration/texture of the sculpy skull with the real bones of the rest of the skeleton. The skull shown is going to need a LOT of experimentation with washes, etc before it starts to look authentic. I'm thinking this will be a major challenge, as I've never done anything like this before. I'm also intending on adding a great deal more detail to this skull as far as creases, contours, cracks, holes, etc....Any and all suggestions will be appreciated. :)
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg176/immunosuppressor/IMG_2053600x337.jpg

taurn7
January 23rd, 2010, 05:38 PM
oh this is going to be interesting. Where are the chicken feet?!

knightyo
January 23rd, 2010, 06:29 PM
Lol. No chicken feet included or needed. The requirements were for chickens of the type you can get on the "hot rack" @ your local grocery store. I believe I have 2 barbecue and 1 honey roasted versions. :)

Thagomizer
January 25th, 2010, 02:56 PM
Even piled up on the pan it looks like a dinosaur (which, according to the findings of phylogenetic clasdistics, it is)! Never got around to doing this myself with McGowan's method; it will be fun to follow your progress. Looking forward to updates on this!

knightyo
January 27th, 2010, 03:23 PM
Well, I sat down last night in order to start work on the skeleton. I quickly learned that I was mistaken in thinking I needed 3 chickens. The number is actually 4+... Soo... As of right now, I'm full, and the skeleton of chicken #4 is in the pot boiling. Below are a few pics of the skull. It still needs a lot of work, but is slowly starting to look a little more realistic. The last pic shows some of the vertebrae halfway organized. The variation in vertebrae is pretty interesting.


http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg176/immunosuppressor/IMG_2060800x450.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg176/immunosuppressor/IMG_2061800x450.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg176/immunosuppressor/IMG_2062800x450.jpg

http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg176/immunosuppressor/IMG_2063800x450.jpg

SavageGoldfish
January 27th, 2010, 03:31 PM
This looks like a really neat project! Looking forward to seeing how it comes together.

Joshua A.C. Newman
January 27th, 2010, 05:44 PM
Wait... you just ate three chickens?

knightyo
January 27th, 2010, 07:06 PM
Wait... you just ate three chickens?

Lol, no, just one. I had prepared the other 3 previously.

Jiangzu - I checked out your sculptures... Amazing!