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She's Just Big Boned: 
Paleocraft's 1/45th Scale Indricotherium

Dinosaurs get all the credit for being big, but this creature, the Indricotherium, was clearly in the dino range.  About four times heavier than a modern African elephant, the Indricotherium is the largest land mammal currently known.  The tallest giraffes would only come to its shoulder and it was well over 35 feet in total length.


Confused about a term used in this article?  Go to the model builder's dictionary.
   

Part of Sean Cooper's excellent Paleocraft series, the kit comes in three parts--base, tale and body.  I love Cooper's sculptures and have several myself, but this one was done as part of our build up service, so in the end, I don't get to keep it.  (Sigh . . .)

I received this kit in the mail from a client who wanted more than just a standard brown or gray two-tone finish but also wanted something reasonably natural--no hot pinks or electric blues.  I thought about a giraffe pattern, actually, but in the end, I did not think it would look right because of the general bulk of the animal.  So, I went for modified horse, with a few neck stripes in yellows and browns.
After washing and drying the kit, the main prep work is the mold lines.  Before I glue the tail to the body, I go over the kit visually to identify any mold lines.  When I come across them, I gently scrape them away with a razor knife at a 90 degree angle and then go back over the area with the knife to score in lost or missing detail.  In other words, the folds of the flesh are obscured by mold lines and the easiest way to conceal those lines is to gently carve out skin folds at various crossing angles (right).  For the most part, you can just follow pre-existing lines . . . just take your time.

   

Another pre-painting job is to fill in stress lines with putty.  I use both two part putty (like Aves) and the Testor's white putty for this job depending on the stress lines or holes.  Generally speaking, a thin spread of white putty is good for flat surfaces while two part putty is best in deeper crevices or detailed skin areas. In the photo to the right, I am using a toothpick to press in a small amount of two part putty.  When that is done, I will smooth it out with a drop of water and by rolling the same toothpick over it to conceal the split.

   
After the putty is completed, I glue on the tail with CA glue and smooth over the gap with 2 part Aves putty.  I put a coat of primer on the kit and more or less re-do the process of cleaning mold lines and filling seams, and re-priming. 

There is not much of this to do, so the next step is to decide on a base color.  I went with Badger's Rotten Tooth Tan, a nice light, earthy color.  Using an Iwata HP-B at about 15 psi, I coat the whole kit.

   
A second layer of paint comes hot on the heels of the first (right).  The colors come from Life Tone--Transparent Burnt Sienna on the head and Yellow Ochre on the upper part of the body.  Then, underneath and in the ears, I put in a light coat of Pale Flesh.  It loses any defined pink tones when applied to the base coats.

Once this layer dries, I coat it with Testor's Dulcote.  Then, I decide to use Parma's liquid mask to mark out some neck stripes (below left).  In the end, these stripes will need work, but it will preserve the underlying color.

   

   

The next step introduces a surprisingly important color--Life Tone's Payne's Gray, which is kind of a blue gray color.  It is very adaptive makes a nice off black when placed on the transparent browns.  For this step, I first outline the lips and edges of the ears with black using a liner brush.  Then, over that, I swirl a light coating of Payne's Gray . . . almost a dry brushing . . . but I do use a little water on the brush to make it like a watercolor.  It gives the animal a very viable transition in skin tone.

Now comes the tricky part . . . layering in the colors.  With a very light spray I am working in layers.  The snout gets a layer of Lifetone Nuance Umber to darken it a little.  Then, the body gets a random mixture of Lifetone Transparent Chestnut, Createx Transparent Light Brown and then spots of Payne's Gray.  The interior of the ears is hit with transparent light brown and the toes are hand painted with Badger Near Black.

Also, note the eye is whitened.  Animal eyes show very little white, but this will act as a base to allow a more natural color--chestnut, actually.

   

At this point, I hit the beast with a coat of sealer and when it was dry, I carefully pulled away the liquid mask.  The stripes were initially bright yellow, but we want them toned down.  I sprayed a little Transparent Burnt Sienna over them lightly and went back with a liner brush and defined the stripes with black.  The, one more time with the transparent colors to blend it naturally.

   

When that was done, the kit was sealed again with Testor's Dulcote.  When the seal was dry, I created an oil wash of Burnt Umber and stroked it over the kit in small patches, wiping away any excess.  It is VERY important to have a good seal during this stage or you will wipe away all your color.

Finally, the eyes, as mentioned above, are completed with transparent Chestnut.  using the tip of a straight pin, I dotted the pupil in and then layered Chestnut over it until they were dark enough.  When that was done, Future Floor Wax completed the eye, with small dots applied to get a nice rounded gloss.
   

The last step is the base.  First I painted the whole thing with Payne's Gray.  Next I drilled seven holes for grass plugs like the one you see to the right.  By taking a small bit of Woodland Scenic's tall grass, bending it in half and binding the bottom with florist's wire, it creates a nice and easy to manage plug.

In between the rocks, I painted in a thick coat of white glue solution (about 1/5 glue and 4/5 water).  Woodland Scenics fine ground foam was then gently sprinkled on the glue and a few very small rocks were placed in.  The fallen log was base coated with Mummified Brown and the log and rocks were both drybrushed with Gargoyle Gray, which looks like gray on a gray rock and brown on a brown tree.

   

   
As I mentioned at the top of the article that this was done for a client through our build up service.  I really was happy with the final results, so it was tough to ship it away.

However, I am ultimately willing to part with my work, so if you have a kit you want done, feel free to check out the build up service page and email me for an estimate.

   

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