All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
20 07, 2017

New Prehistoric Times Issue 122 Reviewed

By |2024-01-01T16:25:03+00:00July 20th, 2017|Dinosaur Fans, Magazine Reviews, Main Page, Prehistoric Times|0 Comments

Prehistoric Times (Summer 2017) Reviewed

Time for another “Prehistoric Times” magazine review and this issue (summer 2017), is as packed as a palaeontologist’s rucksack after a successful day of fossil hunting!  The front cover features a rearing Sauropod image, one of the amazing prehistoric scenes created by the remarkable John Gurche, a paleoartist, whose work has adorned many museums around the world and numerous dinosaur books.  Inside, John provides an insight into how he started his career at the Smithsonian Institute and his involvement with Steven Spielberg and “Jurassic Park”.  The concluding part of this most informative article will be featured in issue 123.

The Front Cover of Prehistoric Times (Summer 2017)

Prehistoric Times (issue 122)

The front cover of Prehistoric Times (summer 2017).

Picture credit: Mike Fredericks

Prehistoric Times One Hundred Not Out

Regular contributor Tracy Lee Ford reaches a landmark with issue 122.  Inside the magazine, readers will discover his 100th, “How to Draw Dinosaurs” article.  It is part one, of a series that looks at pathology preserved in fossils – everything from fused metatarsals to the damage caused by a stegosaur’s thagomizer.  Everything Dinosaur congratulates the author on reaching this milestone and a special thank you for taking the time and trouble to include some excellent images showing the damaged skull of the tyrannosaur known as “Stan”.

The Cast of the Tyrannosaurus rex (Stan) BHI3033 on Display at Manchester Museum

Tyrannosaurus rex cast skeleton on display

Estimates of up to 9 tons in weight

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Edmontosaurus and Kronosaurus

Phil Hore delves into the deep blue sea to discuss the fearsome predator Kronosaurus and takes us back onto land (Laramidia) to update readers on the large, Late Cretaceous Hadrosaur Edmontosaurus.  Both articles incorporate lots of reader submitted artwork, it is fascinating to see how the concept of a soft “comb” on Edmontosaurus has been adopted by numerous artists.  Amongst our favourites is the stylised illustration of Edmontosaurus sent in by Meg Bernstein, the skeletal drawing showing head and neck movement by John Sibbick and the beautifully detailed composition of Kronosaurus by long-time customer of Everything Dinosaur Luis Rey.

Prehistoric Times magazine is the magazine for fans of prehistoric animals and dinosaur models.  Published four times a year, it’s a great way to stay in touch with developments in the world of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals.

For further information about the magazine and to subscribe: Prehistoric Times Magazine.

The First Dinosaur Films

Long before John Gurche’s collaboration with Steven Spielberg, prehistoric animals had already featured in numerous dinosaur films and an article by Sylvia Czerkas tells the story of one of the early pioneers of dinosaurs in the movies, Major Herbert M. Dawley.  One of the great things about “Prehistoric Times” is the breadth of the articles for example, in addition to the regular book reviews, updates on palaeontology, replica news, classifieds and such like, Allen A. Debus expounds on the developments in how ancient landscapes are depicted and editor Mike Fredericks, even manages to find room to squeeze in a couple of drawings from Allen’s grandson Tyler.

The pictures in the magazine include one of the spectacular artworks by John Gurche.

Our thanks to all the contributors and a special mention to Steve Kelley for the extremely well-written article on his collection of Aurora Prehistoric Scenes kits.  That’s a fantastic collection you have their Steve and a very special thank you for including the “Jungle Swamp” images.

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

20 07, 2017

Impressive and Spectacular Dinosaur Model Painting

By |2024-04-01T14:04:04+01:00July 20th, 2017|General Teaching, Key Stage 1/2, Key Stage 3/4|Comments Off on Impressive and Spectacular Dinosaur Model Painting

Schleich Pentaceratops Model Makeover

At Everything Dinosaur, our team members and teaching staff are always amazed by just how creative and clever dinosaur fans are.  Take for example Peter Thomas, a collector of prehistoric animal models who kindly sent to us some pictures of his version of the Schleich Pentaceratops dinosaur figure.  What an amazing colour scheme and such a skilfully painted model too.

Schleich Pentaceratops Model

Schleich Pentaceratops.

Schleich Pentaceratops available from Everything Dinosaur.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Colour of Dinosaurs

Despite considerable advances in recent years, palaeontologists cannot be certain about the colours of horned dinosaurs.  However, most scientists believe that these bird-hipped reptiles had excellent colour vision and that their spectacular frills and crests played a role in visual display as well as in intraspecific combat and as defensive weapons against carnivorous dinosaurs.  Peter has opted to give his Pentaceratops a very colourful crest and skull, the flashes of yellow combined with the red tones would have made a most impressive display surrounded by the greens and browns of the forest.

Combining Dinosaurs with Art

Dinosaur models, such as those made by Schleich with their roughened textures and carefully crafted features, provide tremendous scope when it comes to considering a repaint.  By repainting, you can be guaranteed to have created a unique piece of art and after all, not even the world’s most respected palaeontologist can criticise your choice of colours, as no one has ever seen a living non-avian dinosaur.  Horned dinosaur replicas make an excellent model choice for the hobbyist.  These types of dinosaurs, known as ceratopsians, are famous for their ornate head shields and myriad of bumps, horns, and lumps on the heads and faces.  When painted the model can be photographed in a suitable setting or added to a custom-made prehistoric landscape diorama.

The Schleich Pentaceratops Compared to the Schleich Triceratops

Schleich Pentaceatops compared to a Schleich Triceratops

One of the enlarged jugal bones with a horny sheath on it can be clearly seen on the Pentaceratops model (cheek area, under the eye).  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

Education Extensions

As an extension to a science module involving learning about evolution, fossils and extinction, teachers could challenge students to repaint a dinosaur model.  This brings an element of art and design work into the science curriculum, helping to support the idea of cross curricular touch points in the teaching syllabus.   Students could be tasked to consider the following areas:

  • What colour scheme might work best to help camouflage the animal?
  • How the habitat/environment might influence the evolution of different coloured animals
  • The evidence for the colouration of extinct animals
  • Can students use examples of living (extant) animals to justify their chosen colour scheme?

A spokesperson from the teaching team at Everything Dinosaur commented:

“Peter’s Pentaceratops is an excellent example of a repainted dinosaur replica.  The photography has really helped to emphasis the hues and tones that have been carefully blended together to make a fantastic and truly unique dinosaur model.”

The Schleich model range is an excellent choice for this sort of activity, to view the range of Schleich prehistoric animals in stock at Everything Dinosaur: Schleich Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals.

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