Prep Poll (Xiphactinus Jaws)

[KansasFossilHunter]

I've been working on these for a while now and I'd like your opinion. Should I keep the jaws out of the rock? Just repair the teeth but don't put them in a new slab? Or Repair the teeth and place in a slab?

Here is a similar example of tooth repair and placement:

Let me hear your thoughts!

-Kris (KansasFossilHunter)

[Ray Eklund]

I always liked the Kansas chalk specimens left in the matrix with the top side prepared. Even the mosasaur and other large reptile specimens look better, even when disarticulated. The fish you have no choice but to leave them in matrix. A series of vertebrae in a prepped slab mounted on a wall looks spectacular compared to being in a carton with cotton backing.

Plus... the Niobrara chalk is light!

The Eocene Green River Formation fish become beautiful specimens and art when prepared and self framed in the matrix. None are considered of any scientific value but more for "decor".

Unless a specimen is new to science, leaving it in the matrix is the best option. Even if new to science, it is best left in the matrix as evidence of its source.

Good luck in your hunting. I still have my maps of the areas west of Hays, Kansas from the mid 1960's as a High School student exploring Gove, Logan and whatever other counties that got in my way. You wanted an opinion and I just could not resist.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Ray Eklund

[KansasFossilHunter]

Thanks for the ideas and insight, Ray!

Edited March 26, 2014 by KansasFossilHunter

[fossilized6s]

I think that looks great! Good job!

[tooth_claw]

I am an advocate of fossils out of the matrix but this one looks like it wants a slab.

Besides, the matrix option will probably help keep those teeth from breaking again.

Edited March 26, 2014 by tooth_claw

[PFOOLEY]

What is this jaw pressed into?

Edited March 26, 2014 by PFOOLEY

[KansasFossilHunter]

What is this jaw pressed into?

It's a mix of plater of Paris and powdered rock from the area (for light coloration).

[old dead things]

I think I replied another time to either this one or something similar (it's heck to get old), but I still like fossils in the matrix.

Jim

[PFOOLEY]

It's a mix of plater of Paris and powdered rock from the area (for light coloration).

Slick! Would you do the same for the jaws in question?

I'm gonna have to do that with some ammonites and hang 'em on the wall!

[KansasFossilHunter]

Slick! Would you do the same for the jaws in question?

I'm gonna have to do that with some ammonites and hang 'em on the wall!

Thanks! That's what I'm thinking about doing to the jaws. Here are some examples of my earlier plaster work:

[PFOOLEY]

... Here are some examples of my earlier plaster work:

Yup, those are very nice. The plaster holds them in place? or do you have to adhere the fossils to the plaster when dry?

You really find some neat specimens out in that chalk.

Edited March 26, 2014 by PFOOLEY

[Xiphactinus]

For this set - I'm with you on placing them into a plaster slab. If you had both mandibles I'd leave them loose and prep them 3D, but since you have one side....

Can't wait to see the result!

[KansasFossilHunter]

Yup, those are very nice. The plaster holds them in place? or do you have to adhere the fossils to the plaster when dry?

You really find some neat specimens out in that chalk.

Yep, the plaster does all the work. Thanks

[Kosmoceras]

I too prefer chalk fossils in matrix, gives them a nice frame.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Kosmoceras

[Opisthotriton]

I vote for making a nice slab background, but keeping the fossils removeable. Just add some plastic wrap in between the wet plaster and fossil, and after it's dry you can texture it as you please. Best of both worlds, and commonly done in museums too. You get a nice display piece, and you can always remove the fossils for study or a different display in the future.

If you want to hang it vertically, then use a removable adhesive to keep the fossil in place. Or, if you sculpt the base just right, the fossil will balance in place while still being removable. With practice, the results are very impressive; it looks like surely the fossil must be one with the matrix, yet you can still reach in and, at the right angle, pull the bone out of the plaster socket.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Opisthotriton

[KansasFossilHunter]

I vote for making a nice slab background, but keeping the fossils removeable. Just add some plastic wrap in between the wet plaster and fossil, and after it's dry you can texture it as you please. Best of both worlds, and commonly done in museums too. You get a nice display piece, and you can always remove the fossils for study or a different display in the future.

If you want to hang it vertically, then use a removable adhesive to keep the fossil in place. Or, if you sculpt the base just right, the fossil will balance in place while still being removable. With practice, the results are very impressive; it looks like surely the fossil must be one with the matrix, yet you can still reach in and, at the right angle, pull the bone out of the plaster socket.

Thanks for the reply, that sounds very interesting. Do you have pictures of specimens that this process has been done to?

[KansasFossilHunter]

Somewhat like this?: http://paleobiology.si.edu/lvf/html/pageTen.htm

[Opisthotriton]

The examples in the link you gave are storage cradles for supporting fragile specimens in Collections Storage. Also a good idea.

In old exhibits, museums sometimes set whole skeletons into plaster to make a wall mount. Terrible idea, because now they have to re-prepare the bones out of embedded plaster if they ever want a 3-D mount in the future. Now, if a museum wants an "in situ" dig display, they try to keep the specimens removable for research. The Museum of the Rockies has quite a few examples. Every single bone is completely removable. Here is a Hell Creek Formation crocodile.

The bones are protected with plastic sheeting/wrap and either pressed into soft plaster, or the plaster is poured around them, making sure that they don't get locked in by a lip of plaster. After the plaster dries, the surface can be textured with crumbled matrix mixed with glue, or the matrix can be mixed with the plaster in the first place.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Opisthotriton

[Opisthotriton]

The gravity-defying Montanaceratops. These bones are not held by any wires or adhesives; the sockets in the plaster offer them just enough support. Still makes me nervous, though.

[Opisthotriton]

I like the matrix on this plesiosaur. They saved the rubble from prepping the original jacket, and glued it on to the final display.

[KansasFossilHunter]

Those are great! Today, I worked on the teeth on the upper jaw:

I'll paint them slightly darker then add some shine back to them.

[Ash]

I think fossils, if prepped, should be done as naturally found as possible - not put into new matrix (even if from the same area). If its to be in matrix, it should be prepped and not fully removed. Prep stops where you want it to, but nothing added (seems a bit of fakery, and to me on par with the morrocan mosasaur jaws. Though this stuff isnt ADDING bone/fossil)

[KansasFossilHunter]

I think fossils, if prepped, should be done as naturally found as possible - not put into new matrix (even if from the same area). If its to be in matrix, it should be prepped and not fully removed. Prep stops where you want it to, but nothing added (seems a bit of fakery, and to me on par with the morrocan mosasaur jaws. Though this stuff isnt ADDING bone/fossil)

I understand what you mean, but in this situation the fossil was not able to be removed with the matrix (due to roots and fracturing). I also think that sometimes adding things (that would have been there) can and should be done to help others picture the creature. That is something seen in museums around the world. Think about the Stan the T-Rex, he'd have no arms if only natural bone was displayed. Morrocan mosasaur jaws are different in that they are literally cobbled together with all kinds of things (one of mine used an echinoderm) that's real fakery.

-Kris (KansasFossilHunter)

[Ash]

Echinoderm!?

Never seen Stan.

You have problems with roots also? Theyre all through one of my jaws i'm working on at the moment..darned pains.. Gunna leave them in, trim off and paraloid over. Bones way too soft to remove them.

Cheers for response, thats ok i guess if its for helping people visualise.

[LordTrilobite]

I think repairing teeth is fine. Though probably best if they are visibly fake. So I wouldn't add shine to them.

I also don't think it's preferable to put it into plaster if it's already fully prepped. If it's out of the matrix you can view it from all angles. If it's already removed from the original matrix, IMO a new slab doesn't really add to it.

Just my two cents.