As I mentioned in my last build, my modeling mojo has been low for a while. I've had a couple of the old Tamiya dinosaur kits in the stash, and I figured something like that might help me get out of the doldrums. It definitely helped!

This was one of Tamiya's first dinosaur kits, and it does not go together like a modern Tamiya kit. The diorama kit of this subject has new molds. I had to fill in several gaps. I used epoxy, and that worked okay. I wanted to avoid sanding, so I used a cotton swab to wipe away the excess epoxy before it set.

Not surprisingly, there aren't any photographs of actual living dinosaurs. The Triceratops reminds me of a rhinoceros (although the Triceratops was a reptile and the rhino is a mammal), so I went with a gray scheme. I primed with Ace Hardware white primer from a rattle can. I found that as I sprayed the top coats, the primer absorbed the paint, so I won't be using that again. The belly was painted with Tamiya XF-19 Sky Grey, which was actually a bit lighter than I was going for. I then sprayed the sides and the top with XF-75 IJN Gray (Kure arsenal), and the very top was painted my mix for RLM 74, which is XF-24 Dark Grey with some XF-27 Black Green.

The horns were handpainted a mix of White and Golden Sunset, both from the Apple Barrel line. I was very pleased with how it turned out - it was just the shade of yellowish white that I was aiming at. The eyes were painted Jo Sonja Naples Yellow Hue, with Vallejo Model Color Black for the centers.

After painting was complete, the kit was given a coat of Future, then a wash of Vallejo Model Color Black Grey in a bit of soapy water. It flowed well, but didn't make the animal look as dirty as I'd hoped. I then gave it a flat coat, and it was done. Two nice things about dinosaurs: no decals and no canopy to mask!

Page last updated June 15, 2023.