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Old 03-19-2018, 11:43 AM
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Kevin WS Kevin WS is offline
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Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft

I thought it was maybe time for me to make another bird and then remembered that I had Johan’s Microceratops printed out and ready to go. It reminds me of a large bird (and modern archaeological theory says dinosaurs were birds anyway) so I decided to make this!

For me, this is a rather large model as I tend to reduce everything – easier to store.

However, one of its claims to fame is that the model is life-sized – given that I thought I better build it life-sized then!

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Microceratops was a small dinosaur (up to two feet long) that lived in the Cretaceous period (66 million years ago) in North America and Asia.

It was a parrot-beaked dinosaur, and being a herbivore fed on the plants of the time – ferns, cycads (I have one of these in the garden) and conifers. It used its sharp beak to bite off leaves or needles.

It was renamed in 2008 to Microceratus (“small horned/beaked”), as the name Micorceratops had been found to have already been given to a wasp many years before this little dinosaur was originally named.

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The model itself consists of 6 A4 pages, to be printed in 120 grm paper.

For those of you using American paper, the equivalent thickness(for those who are lucky enough to have a micrometer) is .148 mm +/- .002-3 mm or in inches .0058.5 in +/-.

The model has 27 parts - quite a lot for one of Johan’s models.

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Photo 1 – A reconstruction of a Microceratus.

Photos 2 and 3 – The parts sheets (and yes they come without the white squares).

In models of this type, I usually start by first cutting everything out.

Before doing this I hold the part sheets up to a light and write the part numbers in pencil on the back, to prevent any mistakes or confusion later on. This is especially important in the case of Johan's models, as the assembly order is generally done following the numerical order of the parts.

So now off to cut everything out...............
Attached Thumbnails
Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-m1.jpg   Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-d1.jpg   Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-d2.jpg  
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Old 03-20-2018, 03:29 AM
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Before cutting everything out I first sprayed the sheets with a matt varnish.

This both protects the parts and makes it easier to clean up any white PVA glue that oozes out of joins during the construction process.

Cutting out was done using a craft knife with a very sharp blade – I constantly keep sharpening the blade on an Arkansas whetstone. A blade lasts me about a year if I keep doing this.

With everything cut, time now to start with the assembly.

One of the interesting things about making Johan’s models is the way you end up crafting one completely flat piece of paper into a 3d curved object. And it is obvious this kit is not going to be an exception!

The first step was to start assembly of the two body halves.

Photo 1 shows the two parts before assembly.

It is important when making these types of models to get the shapes right, and this can only really be done one step at a time. I usually work as follows...

* Dry fit.
* Gently bend the curves needed to get the first tab glued easily.
* Glue only one tab at a time. Let each tab dry.
* Because there are two halves to the body I work on each alternatively.
* When gluing a tab place the next tab ON TOP of the part. This will ensure you can “seat” the first tab accurately. After the first tab has dried, you can flip the next tab back and the following one up etc.
* Repeat the above process.

Photo 2 shows the result halfway through. Note that I started with the top tab in each case, and then glued from top to bottom. You can see how the curve of the body is now being nicely “built-in”.

Photo 3 shows the finished halves.

Next steps will be the forelimbs, followed by the hindlimbs.
Attached Thumbnails
Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-d3.jpg   Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-d4.jpg   Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-d5.jpg  
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Old 03-20-2018, 05:08 AM
rmks2000 rmks2000 is offline
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Watching with interest. I built one body half and then got distracted (squirrel!) as I so often do. Good tip on alternating the tabs top and bottom when gluing. I suspect that helps to hide the seams, although Johan does such an amazing job with the textures that the seams tend to blend in fairly well.
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Old 03-20-2018, 05:42 AM
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Turning out pretty good so far.
You gave some good advice about the gluing of the parts. I have built some of Johan's bird models.

I purchased the Microceratops model a while back and have it stored somewhere on an external hard drive.
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Old 03-20-2018, 11:23 AM
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RMKS - you are correct that alternating the tabs keeps the seams spot on. More importantly, with the complex shapes in a model like this, it also helps with the correct alignment of each tab as it is glued.

Doug - what are you waiting for? Give it a go!
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Old 03-20-2018, 12:05 PM
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I thought it may be useful to show a couple of things I am using in this build.

For colouring the white edges and for touch-ups, I use a cheap watercolour set, and water colour pencils (often called water soluble pencils as well). The pencils can be quite expensive, but they are very useful and last a long time.

The pencils I use on all my models for the white cut edges (and in the case of buildings to hide the printed fold marks on the corners of buildings), and I will also use them on this model as well to fix the “scale patterns” at joins.

The pencils can be used like an ordinary pencil, or moistened. The lines or shading drawn can also be worked over with a wet brush to soften or blur the effect.

I always varnish my models before I cut out – the varnish as well as protecting and preventing splitting on folds, also assists me in enabling me to wipe off watercolors if they are wrong. I always varnish the finished models as well to protect the watercolors.

Photo 1 Shows (from left to right) the watercolor paints, watercolor pencils, the Arkansas whetstone which I mentioned in an earlier post (used to sharpen my blades), and some shaping tools I picked up in a craft shop.

The Arkansas whetstone I dropped with the result about a quarter of an inch broke off – but it is still serviceable.

The shaping tools on the right are normally used with a soft pad to shape paper flower petals. I found the soft pad useless and just use a hard surface (my cutting board).

In a model like this one with compound folds, the shapes often end up with little sharpish “peaks” - these tools are useful for burnishing the inside of the model parts to smooth out the “peaks” and also rounden curved areas. I use them after the parts have been glued. They can also be used very effectively to smooth out joins.
Attached Thumbnails
Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-b1.jpg  
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Old 03-21-2018, 05:29 AM
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Next step in the build are the two small forearms.

They were a bit of a puzzle at first as it was not really clear to me initially how the shapes could be formed.

However in the center of the part the tab locations were clear, so the next step was to stick these and then do a bit more shaping.

Photo 1 – This shows the forelegs with center tabs glued. At the top and the right, you will see sections where the tab attachments were puzzling me! What goes where given the apparent gaps?!

Photo 2 – This shows the legs from another angle, and after I had gently shaped the legs a bit more.

Photo 3 – With some more shaping done, the next attachment point suddenly became clear. The top half (with the number 5) folds around to become the upper limb, while the bottom part becomes the lower limb.

The correct way to start here is to stick the tap on the top left (marked with an X) to the corresponding part of the on the lower right (also marked with an X).

Photo 4 – The first forelimb is done.

Photo 5 – Both forelimbs complete.

No fit problems and an interesting exercise in spatial modeling and shaping!

At this stage, I also partially stuffed the legs with toilet paper to prevent them collapsing in places when later handled.

Now I am on a roll, the next step will be the hind legs..........
Attached Thumbnails
Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-d6.jpg   Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-d7.jpg   Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-d8.jpg   Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-d9.jpg   Microceratops/Microceratus - Johan Scherft-d10.jpg  

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Old 03-21-2018, 05:47 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin WS View Post
...At this stage, I also partially stuffed the legs with toilet paper to prevent them collapsing in places when later handled.

Now I am on a roll...
Funny how some things just jump out at ya.

I too sometimes scratch my head trying to figure out what is needed to get a part into shape then the veil is removed and it all makes sense. Then I say to myself "Self, maybe the designer does know what they are doing."
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Old 03-21-2018, 06:47 AM
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rockpaperscissor rockpaperscissor is offline
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Looking good!
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Old 03-21-2018, 07:27 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin WS View Post
...I also partially stuffed the legs with toilet paper ...
Now I am on a roll, .........
Toilet paper..On a roll...HAHAHAHA!
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