Will Vale Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 Hi folks, This is my first dinosaur since I was little, I think, when I have fuzzy memories of painting Airfix dinosaurs with enamels? I picked up the Lindberg "spitter" Dilophosaurus on a trip a couple of weeks ago at a bargain price and built it pretty much straight away. It's a simple kit with nice surface details. The seams close up pretty well and most of the construction work is in restoring or sculpting lost detail across the seams and where the mould horizons mean a lack of relief. I painted it with Tamiya rattle cans decanted and airbrushed - the main colours are Medium Blue and Dark Earth from the AS range (I think?) and Chrome Oxide Yellow from the TS range. After airbrushing a basic pattern I did a lot of work with a paintbrush to refine it, both sharpening and breaking up the colour transitions. Lots of drybrushing, washes and glazes of acrylics helped define and tone the skin, and I sprayed some thin blotchy filters with Smoke, Clear Green and Clear Red before varnishing. While I did pick out some scales individually on the body, I mostly left that kind of fiddly work for the face which was more-or-less entirely repainted by brush over the airbrushed base. I made a base by sanding a slight profile into the upturned base of a fancy hipster table salt bowl and building a little relief on the top with scraps of torn up foamcard before adding stones, dried twigs and textured putty to create damp ground. Again I painted this up with acrylics and applied "moss" putty mixed from Woodland Scenics ground foam plus various kinds of foliage (Silflor, Heki, Kamizukuri) fixed with matt medium. The dino itself is pinned in place with scraps of 1/16" brass rod as I thought that paperclips weren't substantial enough at this scale. I had a scare when the tail seam cracked open on one side (not sure why) but the join was so exact that it vanished when closed up with thin CA and varnished Overall a fun little project and not bad at under two weeks from shop shelf to my cabinet shelf! Thanks for the various suggestions on the WIP thread and sorry I chickened out (ha!) from adding feathers. Cheers, Will 29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 Amazing work, the painting mind blowing. Fantastic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phas3e Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 awesome work. I picked up the kit recently for a song as I built it when Jurassic Park first came out and the nostalgia hit me, I will have to save a couple of pics as reference as I love what you did with the jaw and the eyes looks fantastic 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted May 16, 2021 Author Share Posted May 16, 2021 Thanks for the kind words! @Phas3e I thought originally the I'd made a mistake in doing the jaw changes after assembly, but it probably made some kind of sense that way as there's no real way to sculpt the tendons otherwise. I guess you could remove the teeth beforehand, that would help a bit. Cheers, Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 Superb Will! Such a cool paint job, love the colours. Just had a flick through the wip, yeah that jaw change made all the difference 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs PlaStix Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 Hi Will, this is a really lovely creation - you've done a fantastic paint job and the base is wonderful too! 🦖 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carts Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 Handsome critter you have there Will.👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted May 17, 2021 Author Share Posted May 17, 2021 8 hours ago, Hunter Rose said: jaw change made all the difference Cheers, I wouldn't have thought of the jaw on my own so credit and thanks for that one to Bonehammer 8 hours ago, Mrs PlaStix said: Hi Will, this is a really lovely creation - you've done a fantastic paint job and the base is wonderful too! 🦖 Thanks, and thank-you for providing such a treasure trove of dinosaur inspiration with your various builds. I must give some of the smaller Tamiya dinos a try at some point. Cheers, Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave S Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 Very nice work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 Fantastic work Will. I'm amazed at how natural and integrated that jaw mod looks. It really does look like it was part of the original sculpt. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oileanach Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 I love it, Will. Beautifully painted and such a cheerful subject! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonehammer Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 Beautiful! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 One of the most pleasingly different and creative things I have seen on here. Really enjoyed the build and the end result. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted May 20, 2021 Author Share Posted May 20, 2021 Thanks so much for the kind words everyone. You've put a smile on the face of my dino On 5/18/2021 at 7:38 AM, Andy Moore said: It really does look like it was part of the original sculpt. I will never cease to be amazed at how a coat of paint hides the problems in all kinds of sculpted detail! It has integrated well despite the difficulty in tapering/feathering the stiffer Tamiya putty. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 Lordy. I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 Very interesting painting there. I can see that you've spend a deal of dime working over the surface with different techniques. There's really no end to the possibilities with a dinosaur, is there? Was the basic scheme drawn from nature (i.e. a modern lizard) or a work of the imagination? p.s. I love the glint in his eye! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted August 3, 2021 Author Share Posted August 3, 2021 Thanks! It was inspired by looking at pics of Iguanas, but the colours came from Monster Hunter - the Tigrex has the same blue and yellow. Cheers, Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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