Dino Time!!!

One of the first companies I worked for in Bristol was the brilliant Puppet Factory. There I learnt many skills on mold making, armatures, sculpting and painting techniques.
A few of us worked on this Dairylea Dunkers T-Rex. We built a full bodied Dinosaur and a larger neck and head, with bigger hands/claws (for the close up shots).
Ray Harryhausen was at the shoot and was highly impressed with the final puppet/s. Merlin Crossingham animated the commercial, Creative Director of 'Wallace and Gromit' at Aardman Animations.

Here's a shot of me putting the finishing touches to the paint work on the T-Rex:

Here is the larger head. For the skin we used foam latex. The tongue had a few replacements and was made from silicone. The claws and dental work were cast from dental acrylic.

Grrrrr!!:

Ray Harryhausen on set with the full body puppet and Merlin Crossingham.

And here is the final commercial. It has Harryhausen's style splashed all over it:

I had an amazing time working at the Puppet Factory. They were all a very skilled and talented crew. A big thanks goes out to Sam, Simon, Max, Andre, Sarah, Clay, Andy and all the others that walked in the door. ☺☺☺