1/40 Acrocanthosaurus- Released

[dinonikes]

Here's an armature I made tonight right before going to bed, just had a bit of time- figured this was something I could get done in that time - didn't want to mess with clay- this one measures approx. 11 inches in length-

[tomhet]

Wow, I can't wait to see this one finished

The proportions seem correct so far

Here's the tricky question: will you cover the large vertebrae with meat or will you make a sail? As I understand it, it was more likely that the spines were covered in flesh, since they probably sustained big muscles and fat.

Pics of the skull and the skeleton:

www.naturalsciences.org/visinfo/history/Acro_fd.jpg

3.bp.blogspot.com/_QC0xe56GvUo/R6nsCXgujKI/AAAAAAAAAzM/zdvEcLne9cI/s400/IMG_4848.JPG

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Yer killin' me...you know that right ? ;D

Here are some pics of Acros models I've personnally liked :






General Acro art I approve of :

[kikimalou]

This one is not too bad also.

I agree with Tomhet, I think fleshy spines would be more appropriate.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Ah...how could I have forgot Brett's Acro... heh ;D

I would make it with a slightly higher ridge though...like in Julius' pic above.

I would say a fleshy high-ridged spine would be best as well...since I don't believe the skeleton had the exact same structure as a Spinosaurus. If possible.. could you do the spikes along the back ? Not neccessary of course...but I think it adds to the look of the animal and would make it more diff than Safari and Battat's....oh that's right..with this piece I finally get to forget about that expensive bloody Battat !! ;D

[Meso-Cenozoic]

Wow, an Acro! Very excited!!!

I also agree with the flesh on the spines. And, if it's not too much trouble, I also like Blade's idea of the the spikes. We hardly ever get to see any theropods anymore with a ridge of spikes running down their backs!

[dinonikes]

Thanks for the reference photos- I have no preference either way regarding the flesh or the sail- which is current thinking? Why would it be fleshed out, this seems to make it WAY more bulky than any other theropod? Just asking. I could mkae it with the spines like in the first photo Blade posted above^ is this something that is pure speculation though, or is there some sort of evidence of this to back it up, just asking once again- I have more then a few sculpts to finish up before this one, just felt like making an armature for it last night.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Apparently Acros are more bulky and robost predators than once thought..this bit I read mentioned them being more related to Charcharadontasaurs ( heavier build ) than Allosaurs ( lighter build ) ... and the vertabrae in the ridge had places for muscle to connect so no sail... the spines or spikes really are just an artistic feature to make it look..well...cooler I guess...

The most notable feature of Acrocanthosaurus was its row of tall neural spines, located on the vertebrae of the neck, back, hips and upper tail, which could be more than 2.5 times the height of the vertebrae from which they extended.[3] Other dinosaurs also had high spines on the back, sometimes much higher than those of Acrocanthosaurus. For instance, the unrelated Spinosaurus had spines nearly 2 meters (6.5 ft) tall, about 11 times taller than the bodies of its vertebrae.[4] Rather than supporting a skin 'sail' as seen in Spinosaurus, the lower spines of Acrocanthosaurus had attachments for powerful muscles like those of modern bison, probably forming a tall, thick ridge down its back.[3] The function of the spines remains unknown, although they may have been involved in communication, fat storage, or temperature control. All of its cervical (neck) and dorsal (back) vertebrae had prominent depressions (pleurocoels) on the sides, while the caudal (tail) vertebrae bore smaller ones. This is more similar to carcharodontosaurids than to Allosaurus.[5]

[tomhet]

Yup, the spikes can be there or not, I personally think it definitely looks better without but that's up to you, and yes, blade is right, the muscle and fat ridge theory is more plausible

[dinonikes]

I kind of hate to do anything that is speculation or just plain made up with these figures- if there were some sort of evidence of scutes or spikes on the back I might go with them, but the more I look at the photos above I tend to like the second model better, the one without the spikes- would rather play it safe when it comes to this sort of detail- have to say it would also make the sculpt easier to mold, cast, and cleanup not to have them- I will be running into plenty of difficult details as I go through these figures without adding any that aren't really necessary as a definite proven detail-

[tomhet]

^^^ Yup, I'm with you. The Ctosonyi version is helpful, it shows the correct position of the hands

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Well there are therapod skin impressions that show sort of spiney scutes...I htink Carnotaurus has them....really it's just a neat detail that makes the piece more attractive...look at how well the Papo Spino and Allo sold...and there isn't exactly proof either had such thick scales or plates, even spines on the Allo..but it made it different and popular.

I know what you mean though, really if you stick to the fossil evidence up until putting flesh over the muscle, whatever you do will pretty much be acceptable...it's like color..without proof we don't know really what the hide looked like.

[Meso-Cenozoic]

Here's a nice different angle of the Acro + a couple good skull pics....

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

Wow! Looks great so far! May I ask, if you order all of these at once, is there some kind of discount?

I think the acro should have a meaty sail, like the battat one. That way, it won't just look like a funky allosaurus.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

M. Shirashi did that piece based on Keith Strasser's sculpt I posted above... heh

Acros don't really look like Allos when you get down to it... to the casual observer they may look similar but Allo wasn't that heavy-bodied...and the skull is a bit diff too.

[Tyrannax]

The skull is not only larger, but the animal is a little bulkier too.

It may not be the largest theropod to live, but it was certainly massive.

[dinonikes]

Mar 18, 2009 15:36:52 GMT [][][]cordylus[][][] said:

Wow! Looks great so far! May I ask, if you order all of these at once, is there some kind of discount?

I think the acro should have a meaty sail, like the battat one. That way, it won't just look like a funky allosaurus.

There would be a cost savings to order in numbers instead of one by one- but that savings would be in shipping costs- these pieces are kept as cheap as I can, there isn't really any room to give any discounts as to the cost of the figure itself.

[dinonikes]

Mar 18, 2009 20:02:16 GMT Blade-of-the-Moon said:

M. Shirashi did that piece based on Keith Strasser's sculpt I posted above... heh

Acros don't really look like Allos when you get down to it... to the casual observer they may look similar but Allo wasn't that heavy-bodied...and the skull is a bit diff too.

I think to the average person all of these theropods would look pretty much the same- I don't think they would notice the subtle differences- they're just not into them like we all are- I am trying to do the ones that stand out either because they are more well known or the ones that have distinctive head decorations- crests or horns or whatever- it is the same with sauropods- to the average person the are all 'brontosaurus' -

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

True..but CT isn't an average person....

and didn't mean that in a negative way at all I assure you...just meant he has more dino experiance than the average person.

It's sound logic... that's why toy companies like Safari have been spreading out to Amaragasaurus and Nigerosaurs beasts with diff looks. This also another good reason to use a tiny bit of artistic license in scale patterns , armor and such...things that certain you can manipulate to say " Hey, this isn't the same animal as the one you bought before " I know with Kenner/Hasbro's JP line I steered clear of re-paints after I had the orig... only the sculpt mattered and made it diff to me.

[Tyrannax]

I noticed this. Notice WS only sculpts Sauropods that look completely different from each other. There is more profit this way. People want variety in there toys, not a Brachiosaurus and Sauroposeidon for example.