1/6 Velociraptor, sculpted by Bruce Bowman.

This 1/6th sculpt depicting Velociraptor mongoliensis was available as a 7-part kit sometime around the turn of the millenium. That Bruce chose not to portray Velociraptor running at full pelt with it´s mouth agape like some dromeosaurian Basking Shark trawling the air for sustenance, combined with this being perhaps the first model to portray a theropod with feather-like integument, made this a kit I very much wanted to own. Instead of sufficing with a single "mascot" model of Gorgosaurus, I was now on my way to becoming a collector of scale-model Dinosaurs.

The kit needed minimal clean-up and all the pieces fit very well. Joins were thoughtfully placed, easy to hide by simply sculpting feathery detail over them making sure this matched the surrounding original sculpt. The long and filamentous plumage, like that of a Cassowary or Rhea, made this a relatively simple task.

I originally planned on painting Velociraptor to look somewhat like the European Red Kite (Milvus milvus). In order to emphasise that patch of naked skin on the throat I ended up adding some bolder blacks and off-whites to the head and neck.

The finished model was mounted on a raised stone, a sentinel-post - this Velociraptor looks like an animal that has just noticed something in the near distance, be it a potential prey-item or an approaching rival or mate. Trails of droppings were placed on the stone to indicate its habitual use as a look-out spot. Surrounding groundwork was made from crushed cat-litter and small pieces of natural vegetation found in the countryside around where I live. Under a crevice in the stone there is a small fragment of real bone,a tiny fractured bird femur from an owl pellet.

Finished February 2004.

(There is now a scientific concensus that long feathers over the hands would very likely have concealed the manual digits of Velociraptor. These will have to be sculpted at some point.)

Spike.