EDU Science Tyrannosaurus Skeleton

I’ve discussed the T-Rex family on other reviews, but let’s just agree that it was an amazing animal, capable of doing a lot of damage with foot long teeth, long talons, and strong arms.  Whether they were scavengers, predators, or ate cocoanuts is a moot point, since we will never truly know.

It is factual that several Triceratops fossils show grooves that match well with Rex’s teeth, in one case, having bone growth afterwards…indicating an attack on a live animal.

No cocoanut fossils have been found with T-Rex tooth impressions.

Most likely, and aside from the arguments of Horner and Bakker, it is probable that Rex, like most predators, will scavenge from a fresh corpse. Hey, it’s like a woman in high heels and a tight skirt: they can’t run away.  It is doubtful that a nicely designed running machine like Tyrannosaurus was in any way fitting into one small niche of meat eating archosaurs.

As far as the skeletons go, several dozen have been unearthed, ranging in sizes from a bear to an elephant, though most are incomplete. Fossil hunting has become a multi- million dollar business, often  resulting in outright theft from public lands, and many digging expeditions employ armed guards (read: mercenaries} to help keep their finds secret.

It’s much safer to just buy this kit and build it. 

The massive box contains an equally massive amount of semi-rigid injected plastic parts, and a long curving spine of aluminium.   50 pieces and a plastic base that it snaps into are included, all cast in a dingy brown and dirty white colouration.  Most of the Rex’s I have seen pulled out of the ground were somewhat reddish, like a dark radish, so painting will be necessary unless you want it as a toy to chase the kids around with. Or have them chase you around with. “Rowr !” (since it is made from plastic and aluminium, it would be theoretically pool safe…oh the ideas boggle the mind )

Each piece is numbered, so unless you plan on disassembling this thing and putting it back into the box for storage, you will need to get rid of the raised plastic.

The fit is snap tight, for a more permanent solution, I used C/A glue.

  Fold out the huge (HUGE) instructions, and marvel at the amount of time and energy these people put into this kit.  It is so simple, even a caveman could do it. (whoa- am I going to be in trouble here?)

The individual ribs and spine bits slide over the aluminium spine without a hitch, just make sure that you get them in the right order, especially if you sanded off the numbers. I laid mine out on a long table prior to painting, and used a fine sanding cone in my moto-tool to remove the numbers and injection marks.

You could probably assemble the whole thing in twenty minutes, but I like to paint the bits, and there was some of filling to do where the keel and center bones meet. I used Bondo glazing putty to do the minimal work, it has the same rough texture as the plastic.

 The base was covered in a white glue wash, and sprinkled liberally with the leftover grass, stone and HO scale sand ballast that I keep in one big container for just such a project. By changing the base, the running skeleton seems to be almost floating above the ground, enfleshed, it must have been a true terror.

 The whole affair was painted in a thin red wash, three times, and allowed to dry between each wash.  This glazing effect brings a lot of depth to the project, and even those old bones seem to be lively.

A clear coat of future was applied, and allowed to dry.  This whole thing was followed up by a hand brushed wash of thinned out black because my friggin air compressor died on a job sight at the zoo. Yes, I have purchased a new, and larger one (17 gallon). Anyhow, after the black has dried, you can overspray with clear, using your new compressor !

Now, the only job left is to have every single person you know come over and look at your 3’ long Tyrannosaurus !

For the dollar amount, I would have to rate this as the most fun I have ever had with any sort of model.  If you can find one, buy it. But, the production has been halted, so these are likely to become rare quickly.

Toys-R-Us
all my dinosaur books. If you need information about a tyrannosaur, hit google.

Greg Ewald

August 2008

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