Velociraptor

1/4^th Velociraptor mongoliensis

BrantWorks build-up progress, October 2011

A rare model from the Kaiyodo DINOLAND range. It took me many  years to finally obtain a recast copy.

The original kit is beautifully sculpted but I elected to modify it. If I had an original I would not make changes, but it has so much potential that I'm compelled to revise it.

This is a work in progress so I'll post update photos as I go. The pose has been revised and is now more conservative (see details of the original kit here). I will add missing parts such as the furcula (wishbone) and scleral rings (eye bones). I closed the fingers for better accuracy and reshaped the vertebrae around the pelvis (they were much too large).

Progress so far is only a rough pinning together of parts with brass connectors. Very little has been done to detail the model. All the bones need to be researched and reshaped as required. I will also remove the rough fossil-look patina so each bone has a natural and more delicate appearance. The skull seems too large and the jaw is very thickly sculpted. It will require a major overhaul. Most of the ribs and the halux claws of thefeet  have not yet been mounted.

I embedded a brass rod in the middle metatarsal of the foot and it serves to anchor the model to the base (which is also unfinished). As the model is so light and delicate no other mounting hardware was needed.