The Reassembly of Dillon III- Finished

After a final binge of puttywork and painting of the restored/donor plastic pieces, our Platecarpus sp. RMDRC 10-007 "Dillon" is ready for its public debut. Be sure to check it out this week in Denver at the Coliseum Gem and Mineral Show.

The Reassembly of Dillon II- Mosasaur Boogaloo

The Mosa-tissarie is alive and well. Back from the field (more on that in another post) and right into the final push of this project! The lower jaws are now mounted although still a bit wonky. Just about everything is in place and now it is time for the final restoration of the teeth, braincase and pterygoids. The last step will be painting all the restoration to match the original fossil color. Be sure to come visit it at the RMDRC before it heads off to the Denver Coliseum show next week.

The Reassembly of Dillon

The squished incomplete and partially disarticulated Platecarpus sp. skull is coming back together! It's taking a lot of time and some hefty restoration, however it does indeed now look like something!

The top of the skull has a welded steel support frame holding everything together. Lower jaws will be removable for shipping but also are attached to a steel superstructure. All missing parts are based off of our Platecarpus planifrons cast, including the donor braincase (which is an odd thing to go missing on a skull and neck this complete). Next up is mounting the 5 cervical vertebrae recovered with the specimen and final detail/paint work. Hopefully it will all be finished shortly after Labor day!