Aurora Prehistoric Scenes style Iguanodon Model

This is my Neave Parker/Burian style Iguanodon. Parker and Burian did artwork of what the Iguanodon may look like in the early 1900s. They only had a few bones to work with and conferred with other scientists about how the creature might look. Today the Iguanodon looks much different as more complete fossils were found in subsequent years. They are primarily quadrupeds and don’t have that broad neck design.

Ok, this is not a marketed model kit – it is a sculpt I made from plastic forming clay to add to my Aurora Prehistoric Scenes kits. I used the Lindberg Corythosaurus figure (minus the head) to start the modeling from, completely covering the entire body with clay to be molded.

I made the base out of clay and plaster. It is shaped to lock-in with my custom Allosaurus base.

I made two Compsognathus (Compys) for the background and the Archaeopteryx on the branch in the foreground is from the Tamiya Mesozoic Creatures model kit collection. I know this mixes time periods but so does the whole PS Line of model kits.

I added some palm trees, plants, broken tree limbs and rock outcrops to complete the scene.

Dinosaur Model Kit project

Dinosaur Model Kit project – Jan. 2013 – March 2013

Ok, here is where my complete nerd-iness shines through. Let my geek flag fly! When I was young there was a hobby store in my town that would have model-kit building contests every year. I had won trophies for my kit building skills.

Recently, having a little time on my hands, I decided to revisit the days of my youth and build some model-kits. The 1960’s and 1970’s Aurora Prehistoric Scenes Kits were too hard to find at a decent price but I found these Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops model-kits that I believe were released in the 1990’s. As the diorama grew I added other dino’s to build a complete scene, with trees, shrubbery, rock formations and a mountain background.

Diorama elements:

‘Aurora/ Playing Mantis’ model kit – Tyrannosaurus – 1990’s

‘Aurora/ Playing Mantis’ model kit – Triceratops – 1990’s

‘Lindberg’ Ankylosaurus model kit -1990’s

‘Tamiya’ – Creatures of the Mesozoic model kit (baby T. Rex and Parasaurolophus) – 1990’s

Base: 2.5 x 2.5 plywood base

‘Scene-A-Rama’ grass, trees, and rock sculpting kit

‘Testors’ brand model kit paint

The total diorama took me about 2 months to build. I used the plastic base of the Tyrannosaurus but not the one from the Triceratops. I incorporated the T. Rex base into the mountain and rock formations I had built for the scene. The other kits did not include bases.

With the Tyrannosaurus, I followed the color scheme recommended in the kit, but decided to make the eyes orange/red for contrast. For all other kits I deviated from the recommended colors and came up with my own color combinations – mostly because I did not like the recommended colors.