Monumental at over 20 feet long and 10 and a half feet tall, this was a fun and ferocious assignment, no exaggeration. That's also the actual size of the beast, known as Dilophosaurus, who once prowled the earth. The picture can't convey the unsettling feeling conjured by standing beneath this behemoth sculpture. The project was sculpted in conjunction with Garner Holt Productions and Gentle Giant Studios for the Natural History Museum in Cairo, Egypt.I started by presenting a quick little study to GHP's president -- Garner's superlative-- and vice president of production. With the study, I suggested that I sculpt a detailed maquette designed from current paleontological records and anatomy charts, and then scan and enlarge my design by CNC. (GHP would eventually bring in an enormous CNC 5 axis gantry mill to do the job.) They took my suggestion, and I got the amazing opportunity to design and direct this project.
A big job like this requires big tools, so we enlisted the help of Gentle Giant Studios to do the scanning -- a great company to work with (they get all the fun projects), and Owner/President Karl Meyer is as personable a guy as you could hope to work with. Quite a sight it was to see that mega robotic CNC mill carving the dino in delicate 4#psi polyurethane foam. Several 8'x4'x2' blocks of foam later, I had multiple puzzle pieces to assemble and begin carving -- that's right begin carving (the mill provides only a rough stratified form). I had to craft custom carving loop tools, because with a short time frame I didn't have time to use the "big" tools you can buy at art supply retailers (one of the loops I made had a cutting edge about a foot and a half).
The armature for this piece was also bigger than usual and more dynamic than the standard museum taxidermy fare, so I worked with a roller coaster engineer to make sure all those curves could be supported on just two limbs -- otherwise a tripod is preferable for stability.
One thing I would've liked to see done 
differently was the paint scheme. Due to the limitations of an egotistical painter, the colorfully varied markings I had envisioned were left off. (A note to painters: Don't paint in the shadows, it overemphasizes them -- the forms will create their own -- it doesn't read right when you do.) I wish I could have done that part myself, too.
differently was the paint scheme. Due to the limitations of an egotistical painter, the colorfully varied markings I had envisioned were left off. (A note to painters: Don't paint in the shadows, it overemphasizes them -- the forms will create their own -- it doesn't read right when you do.) I wish I could have done that part myself, too.In contrast to Crusader, this project demonstrates I can handle the big scary monsters with just as much dino-mism, while still micro-managing the microscopic details right down to the scales.
