In the early 80s, the best dinosaur models available were the 1/50 scale series made by the British Museum of Natural History. At the time, only the Diplodocus and 5 or 6 other types were released, but due to their consistent scale and high quality, there were no other options for main dinosaurs. Besides Diplodocus, I also included Megalosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Scelidosaurus. However, I had trouble with the paint adhesion (the products were monochromatic), and the paint would peel off quickly. After much struggle, I ended up using Tamiya's surfacer as a primer and somehow managed to paint them (please see the photos in Vol. 15: The Entirety of the Secret Treasure House ~ Part 9).

The Apatosaurus is a plastic model kit from the British company Airfix. The product name was, of course, Brontosaurus. There's a story behind this one that really shows its age. The original kit's head had a classic dinosaur face with nostrils at the end of a tapering snout, which was really crude. Dissatisfied, I didn't hesitate to use putty to remodel it into a Camarasaurus-like face, which was the accepted wisdom at the time. It was only several years later that Apatosaurus's head was identified as belonging to the Diplodocus group... So, I've resigned myself to ignoring its short front legs and calling it a Camarasaurus or an undescribed sauropod (Photo 1).

I also recreated the scene of Ornitholestes chasing Archaeopteryx, a classic sight from the Jurassic period that used to be a staple in dinosaur books but has strangely become rare lately. For Ornitholestes, I inserted wire into a small rubber theropod dinosaur, extended its tail, posed it in a bipedal stance, and then finished the surface with putty. It ended up a bit on the plump side, but it's about 5cm long. There are three of them with different poses (Photo 2).

The pursued Archaeopteryx was made from an airplane kit sold as an accessory for the 1/700 scale waterline series model ships. The aircraft name is "Junkers Ju87," a German dive bomber. This airplane's wings are an inverted gull wing shape, meaning that if you turn it upside down, it looks like a seagull - a bird flapping its wings... I think I had a good idea there, if I do say so myself. The wingspan is about 1.5cm. The Pterodactylus casually flying around (Photo 3) was also modified from an airplane, and this one is even smaller, about 1cm (Photo 4).

Additionally, a Britains crocodile by the water's edge and self-made small lizards placed on rocks (dinosaur bone fragments) complete the diorama. Finally, I wanted to boast (?) about the background painting, but this turned out to be longer than expected, so I will summarize it as a bonus episode next time. Please bear with me for just one more time.