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Review of a T-Rex Dual-View Cast Resin Model Kit By Artist Doyle Trankina.


For quite some time i was looking for a Dinosaur skeleton model for my "curiosity cabinet". I wasn't particular about what sort of dinosaur, but i wanted something that was as accurate as possible. I was hoping to find something that where life size but no bigger than a fox or small dog. There are some companies that deliver skeletons for museums and film that have quite neat models but most of them are over my limited budget and or to big. Then there where a lot of models that was aimed at children that did not measure up to my standards. 


So after extensive surfing on the web i was left with a few candidates when suddenly a new kid on the block appeared. I'm no paleontologist but as far as i could judge this seemed by far to be the most accurate model out there. I still hesitated since there where several of my criteria s that where not met by this model. First of all it was a bit on the small side. It was both a skeleton and a "live dinosaur" as opposed to the skeleton model i was looking for. And for obvious reasons It was certainly not life size (1:24). And as it seemed both the model and the company seemed to be brand new. 


Most models i was considering had at least two dozen reviews and could be found by several dealers on the web. However after some more web surfing decided that this guy (Doyle Trankina) seemed to be trustworthy enough to give my honestly earned $199.99 in exchange of this model. 


This is also one of the main reason why i'm writing this review. If there anybody else out there scanning the web in hope of finding a really nice dinosaur model i really like to spread the word that this indeed is a very detailed beautifully crafted model. The price tag might seem hefty but to my understanding resin cast models is more of a handcraft than an industry.


The arrival of the package. 

I used PayPal to pay for my model and got a confirmation that the order was received in my mail. Then i heard nothing for quite some time so wrote another mail and eventually got an answer where Doyle apologized for the late reply and assured me that the highly anticipated package was on its way all the way to Sweden (as it turned out only a few delivery's had been dispatched to outside united states). 

Finaly the package arrive.

Very well packed.
        

The Build.

I must emphasize that i'm not in anyway an expert in the field of model building so taking any of my advice on how to build this model is done on your own risk.

The first thing i did was a field trip to Stockholm natural museum to study real fossils. As it seems there are very few real dinosaur fossils on display anywhere. One of the reason for this is that very few whole skeletons have been discovered (and none in Sweden due to the Ice Age). Most skeletons on display are made from casts from several different findings. The color of real fossil may vary quite a bit dependent on where they where found. The paint scheme i eventually selected for my models skeleton is called "Tar-pit" or at least that's what i think its called. 

As i understand it there have been findings of fossilized skin from T-Rex suggesting that at least for fully grown species there no evidence of feathers and regarding the coloring of the skin all we have is more or less qualified guesses. 

The next stop where at the biggest model supply store in Stockholm wentzels. Where i got some advice on how to build and paint resin models and what colors to use. 

  1. A Grey Primer metal-plastic (vallejo)
  2. Deep yellow  (vallejo 70915)
  3. Flat red  (vallejo 70957)
  4. Silver   (vallejo 70.997)
  5. Andrea Blue (vallejo 70841)
  6. Glossy Black (vallejo 70.861)
  7. Gloss Varnish   (vallejo 70.510)
  8. White foundation   (vallejo 70.919)
  9. Black Glace   (vallejo 70855)
  10. Smoke   (vallejo 70939)
  11. Brown Glaze   (vallejo 854)
  12. Vermillion   (vallejo 70.909)
  13. Ice Yellow   (vallejo 858)
  14. Epoxy Putty
  15. Super Adhesive
  16. Some very thin pencils             
Parts before priming


I was told that all parts should be assembled before any painting. I decided that to do some assembly before doing the priming but that assembling the whole model before painting wold have made it cumbersome to work with. Fortunately we have a carpenter/paint room in the building where i live. I used my Dremel to cut out the rib cage from the cast but tried to keep as much as possible as a guide for the assembly. This was quite messy and i'm very happy i didn't have to do this at home. After that all parts where cleaned with first soap an then pure alcohol.   
I used both glue and putty to put the rib cage in place.
Essentially i mounted the rib cage and all parts of the head before priming.
After priming.
The priming was equally messy if you don't have a paint-room i really recommend to do this outside.
After priming
If i had a chance to do it all over again i would have been more causes about removing all residues from the cast before doing the paint, live and learn (especially between the tenths). All surfaces that where to be glued later was masked using some Plastelina clay before painting.

Before doing the the painting of the bones i considered to do them much brighter than i eventually did, to get em to stand out more against the background. For the background of the bone i choose between ether plain black, "meaty" or the sort of "sand-rock" surfaces that i went with. First i applied a thin layer of white (70.919) to all bones and silver to all teeth and claws. Then painting "down" all bones using "smoke (70939)" with small doses of blue, red and yellow in different areas to get it more vivid. All the time trying to emphasize the structures and crackles of the "bone". 


The background was then painted black and painted "up" again using different brownish colors mixed with iron fillings and alum to get the right texture, finally some ocres dry pigment was applied on top of the almost dry paint. Then to get the bones to stand out against the background i applied "Lefranc and Bourgeois" aging and cracking varnish on the bones. 
the bony side
(From my field trip to the natural museum i learned that in the beginning sometimes varnish was applied to fossils in the same way as they had done to preserve natural bones. As i understood it, this is no longer a practice and that, this varnish at length do crack.)
Painting bones
   
Note that the teeth has a silver under-painting causing them to chine a little extra in some angels.
Rex
For the skin i was first thinking of a sort of light brownish color mainly to go well together with my stuffed armadillo but after studying pictures of very beautiful iguanas i decided to add some color to it. The bigger scales on the legs where painted silver and covered with black glace. The scales where emphasized using a glossy black with much water only letting it cover between the scales. Then all was covered with a dry bright greenish color applied very thin on top of the scales. For the yes my original plan was to use a acrylic eye from a taxidermy shop but it turned out that no eye where small enough for my purpose. So i used gold leaf and many layers of varnish instead.
Gold leaf on the eye
Using a tiny amount of gold leaf-base
Many layers of varnish
After this all parts was assembled except the base.
 
Then i applied blue and brown colors in sort of a stripe pattern also adding some dry pigments as dirt and some bright red om the throat. Also used a glue gun to create some saliva in the mouth. After permanently  mounting the T-Rex on it's stand some gravel was applied with glue and some more paint and pigment was used to get the whole thing to work together.  

The final result was to my surprise quite similar to that used by Doyle on his home page (of course i have studied his pictures carefully but i never directly used them during the painting)
  


 In retrospect i really like the educational aspect of the model being "dual.view"
   additional pictures