Dunkleosteus confusion and a reiterated question

[dunn1@IDT.NET]

> From:          paleo@ix.netcom.com (Glen J. Kuban)

> Larry recently wrote about a Dunkelosteus (large 
> arthrodire from the Devonian Cleveland shale) 
> sculpture, suggesting it is the first such sculpture 
> of this remarkable fish.  Actually, several life 
> models of Dunky have been made before, including a 
> full-scale, realistic life model built by Tim Riedel 
> and others about a year and a half ago the "Cleveland 
> Before Cleveland" exhibit at CMNH.  The model was 
> based on the many fine original specimens of D. 
> from the local area. 

Sorry again about the marginal topicality of this but I know there 
are some paleoart collectors out there --

>From the replies to my post it's clear that there's some 
misunderstanding here.  

I thought it was fairly clear that I was referring to scaled-down  
life restorations accessible to the non-institutional collector of 
such;  I'm sure the life model at the CMNH is wonderful (and 
there's an awesome one at the AMNH which may actually be the same 
model), but I don't have room in my apartment for it!  

Furthermore, I haven't carried out the Fort Knox job yet so its 
price tag may be a bit extreme. 

If you are interested in a 1/35th scale sculpture of Dunkle's Bony 
One for display on your shelf or in your classroom or just to scare 
the cat, the Wiccart one at about a hundred bucks may be a better buy 
and more managable than a gigantic ten thousand dollar (or more) 
lifesize model.  It is a kit so will come unbuilt and unpainted, but 
I think they'll probably be available built and painted up for an 
extra charge.  Sorry if I was unclear.  Even with PT out there 
sometimes news about paleoart slips through the cracks and I like to 
give a heads-up.

Wiccart's URL is:

http://www.idigital.net/wiccart/index.htm

Steve has had a death in the family recently so may not reply to your 
mail with his normal incredible speed if you inquire.  

It's a commercial site.  I'm not affiliated with it.  They offer very 
nice scale or lifesize skull restorations of Riojasuchus, 
Herrerasaurus, Styracosaurus, Platecarpus, and will have T. horridus 
soon.  They also offer a full-size Rhamphorynchus skeleton, one of 
which is currently  in the Lost World exhibit at the AMNH.  The 
Dunkleosteus is their first life restoration. At 1/35th scale, it'll 
be in scale with such sculptures as the Dinosaur Studio's great stuff 
and Mike Trcic's incredible T. rex, so should offer an exotic 
addition to a collector of this stuff.

This leads to a question I've asked before but never got a reply to: 
Wiccart's model will be 1/35th scale and assumes D. reached lengths 
of 30' or more.  They are modeling it on the more traditional 
rendition of D. rather than the new sharklike trend (there's a 
picture of this on the Wiccart website in case you're interested).  
Is this length estimate in line with the current thinking of those 
who disagree with the shark body-form?  Should he say it's 1/12th 
scale instead?  Length estimates I've seen recently all top out at 
about 16' but they assume the more compact sharklike form.

Regards,
Larry

"Atheism: a non-prophet organization"