Trilobite model

These two photos are from a David Attenborough series, First Life, which focussed on prehistoric animals and plants living well before the much vaunted age of dinosaurs. He found that some of the most spectacular fossils of that dominant creature, the trilobite, were to be found in Morocco. When we saw the series my wife was quite taken with these much more interesting trilobites and so I determined to give her one for her birthday. But do you have to go to Morocco?

 

 

This is how I went about making my own "Moroccan fossil trilobite".

A block of casting plaster was quickly formed with one end higher than the other. This would give the particular animated look that these recent trilobite fossils have-- most I was familiar with were flat impressions in rock with very little 3D-ishness about them.

 

 

For the body of the creature I used balsa wood carved with a raised front as if it were climbing a slight slope. 

 

 

Over the raised spine of balsa I modelled the segmented basic shape of the typical trilobite, referring to the DVD or book as I needed. I used an interesting material for this basic body bulking phase as it is cheaper than the Apoxie Sculpt which I would use for the  majority of the build. It is called Ferropre and is a pipe jointing putty used by plumbers. As seen in the pictures, it is darker than the Apoxie Sc. but is a similar two part  material and would be compatible  with any modelling putties (milliput, greenstuff, Tamiya ,Magic Sculpt etc). There is of course a drawback to using anything which appears too good to be true. Ferropre is sooo sticky, it has to be mixed UNDER WATER.Wet  your hands before you dip into the white compound to mix with an equal part of the black, then combine to an even coloured dark grey, in a bucket of water. As well as being 'interesting ' to mix, it is also a lot softer than other putties, so does not hold  detail until it  has begun to go off, but once it has, it is an excellent base for modelling. A 2kg  pack of Apoxie Sc.(with shipping) cost me $114 while  the equivalent amount of Ferropre cost about $40 and was available at a local plumbing supplies store.



I began to add detail with Apoxie Sc. and the form started to take shape.  

The head was a particular area I wanted to get correct as the animal seems to be crawling up and over a small rise, actually looking at the viewer. I added small pittings and texture to this head area and made sure I had good strong bases for the very special spines which decorated this species of trilobite.

Wire with putty wrapped around would become the many spines seen on the original photo and as this animal is symmetrical side to side, equally shaped and sized  spines would have to be made. I worked out the pattern for the total number, then cut wire, formed putty around each and cooked the lot of them in my Turbo Oven. This picture shows the importance of the base attachment points all over the body .  

This shows the main sculpting of the segmented body.           

The main body is complete and the fiddly 'fringes ' have been added. They were a pain in the proverbial as they had to be identical in shape but taper in size with the body. I also found I had made the plaster base a bit too narrow, but that's modelling isn't? You just find a way to make it all work.                   

This is one of at least 30 small swimming 'legs' arranged symmetrically on either side of the body and each had to be refined, fitted and sized for its specific location. Add caption

The head had a lot of character, as it seemed to look at you with its large compound eyes and with all those feelers advancing, the impression is of an intelligence far beyond the primitive times in which it lived.

All the modelling is done and all that remains is to add the cured spines. Holes are drilled and the support wires are inserted, positioned and super glued in place.            

Lots of spines decorate the rear end of this species and they didn't  want to fit into place, but with many a curse and a wiggle or two, all was well.    

This shows the completed, unpainted model in front of my reference photos .

In the film, the trilobite fossils seemed to be a shiny black against a pale ground rock, so I masked my plaster base  with Maskol ( after it had been sealed with super glue)  and prepared to spray the upper surface a satin black.

What a job removing that Maskol! I'm not sure about the shiny paint but I haven't changed it yet.

 



At last finished, delivered and appreciated. Not too sure about that shiny black but I doubt anyone else is bothered so there she stands.