I've been a LEGO® dragon builder for a long time, so when set the task of building some of prehistory's "dragons," they came pretty easily to me! Anatomically, dinosaurs and dragons aren't all that different; I designed similar "skeletons" on these models as I have used on a few dozen fantastical creatures. While the Stegosaurus is an older build—it's from 2016—I designed the Hadrosaur and Velociraptor recently as separate commissions... and with their completion, the opportunity to present a new "Dinosaurs Series" was too good to pass up!
STEGOSAURUS
This minifigure-scale Stegosaurus predates my other two dinosaurs by a few years. While creating this creature, my greatest challenge was designing spinal plates of different sizes, and then fastening them to the Stegosaurus's back at intervals where they wouldn't impede posability too greatly. My initial design didn't have enough "meat on the bones" so, at my client's request, I revised my build to be a bit bulkier before I published it and submitted my deliverables.
Features 19 points of articulation.
Color scheme of brown, tans, and greys selected to give this dinosaur an stoic and natural feel, and to mask as many dark grey ball-joint parts as possible.
Minifigure-scale Stegosaurus is around 11" (27cm) long.
Hadrosaur
I designed the Hadrosaur—more colloquially known as a "Duckbill Dino"—for the same client who commissioned the Stegosaurus... He was so happy with my first dinosaur design that he just needed a second! This replica is also minifigure-scale. Biggest challenges I encountered here were the head and the posture; the real Hadrosaur could stand on either four legs or two, so I wanted to be sure that my finished replica had that capability as well. I also faced some difficulty cladding the body along coherent color lines, to create the "gradient" body coloration you see now.
Features 21 points of articulation.
The brown and ochre color scheme felt natural and earthy; my goal here was to settle on a palate complementary with, but distinct from, the Stegosaurus's.
Minifigure-scale Hadrosaur is more than 11" (27cm) long.
Velociraptor
I designed this ferocious pack-hunting lizard by modifying the basic frame of my Rock Wyvern dragon. It's got lots of personality in a small package, and sports the raptor's signature curved front talons. I opted to build this raptor "featherless," in the style of Jurassic Park, to make it as recognizable as possible at this diminutive scale. Biggest challenge for me was deciding on a head design which felt appropriate to my source material.
Features 13 points of articulation.
Deep red was a fun, easy primary color choice on this dino; I included the two shades of tan in the underbelly to balance out the red's virulence and to add a bit of organic flavor to the final impression.
Velociraptor model is more than 7" (18cm) long.