This for me was one of the first professional jobs I got and at the same time the largest to date, The T-rex was contracted by Nimba Creations run and owned by Tom Lauten and Siobhan Hall, I was lucky enough to get the job after being recommended by the infamous Dick Smith, when Tom Called him to find suitable British artists. In total a dozen or so people must have lent their skills to creating this beast, for the most part there where 4 key fx technicians, one of those being myself, Javi Aliaga, Andy Colquhon and Simon Hall with Tom Lauten supervising the whole project, guided by his many years of experience in the industry.
The 7 months I spent on the project meant I was involved in all steps from the maquet to the final installation at Combe Martin Wildlife Dinosaur Park, which would be its home to entertain the thousands. Scroll down to see how we made this 16ft high 40ft long beast rise back up from the ashes.
The Construction
(Left) Maquet Originally sculpted by Tony Mcfay. (Right) Photo of a T-rex tooth, compared to the size of reference maquet
The T-rex maquet is cut in half to estimate the number of slices to cut it into. The maquet is then sliced into about 70 pieces.
Each slice from the maquet is used as a template to project on to polystyrene, the template is then cut out using a hot wire technique.
(Left) Simon Hall and I carefully cut each piece; the difficulty in this is that we have to keep the wire parallel with out the benefit of being able to see each other. (Right) Javi and I start to order and stack the polystyrene.
(Left) Simon stands next to what will be the right lower leg and foot. (Middle) Sit boy. This is the first impression we truly get of the size of it. (Right) The sculpting of the polystyrene begins.
One thing I will always remember about sculpting polystyrene is, when you are reaching up to it, use eye protection. It is not the nicest experience to get beads of polystyrene stuck behind you eye ball for days on end, especially when it happens on more than one occasion.
Once the sculpture is complete, it is coated with a silicon paint to help with the de-moulding process.
(Left) The parts are then flanged up so moulds can be created. (Middle & Right) Fibre glass sections are cast from completed moulds and the exciting part of putting this beast together starts.
(Left) Javi starts to paint the sections which will be almost impossible to paint when installed, this is the back of the beast. (Right) Andy Colquhon tests the animatronics he has created. This is an exciting step for all of us because after 6-7 months of hard work it is finally really taking shape.
Installation
Finally the day of installation has arrived and the sun is shining. It is a relatively slow process but considering we have all put so much work into it, no one wants to rush unnecessarily.
The 3-4 weeks of installation is almost complete. The Sun newspaper has travelled down to do a quick segment on it, along side a story of England Vs Argentina. Javi who is originally from Spain is roped into wearing an Argentinean football shirt to pose next to the T-rex.
The Finished T-Rex
Stands 16ft tall and 40ft long depending on its movement
The T-Rex can be seen at Combe Martin Wildlife Dinosaur Park in the north of Devon, England. As far as I am aware it is the first and only life size animatronic T-Rex to be housed outside. It operates for 10 minutes out of every hour entertaining the crowds, it is rigged with a sound system that can scatter herds of cattle miles away if turned up full.
If you are interested to see more photos of the T-rex then please check out my Portfolio by clicking the link below. Please also take the time to visit www.nimbacreations.com and see many more of their amazing creations.
