The Wonderful Fish

Decomposed carcasses of large sea animals are often mistaken for the remains of various types of sea monsters. They appear frequently enough, that the term "globster" was coined to describe them.

A walking shark?

The remains of basking sharks are some of the more typical finds that have generated much speculation in the cryptozoology community.

Size estimates for basking sharks place them in the 20 to 26 foot range, but specimens can reach up to 30 or even 40 feet in length. The larger sharks are probably rare at best in modern times due to overfishing and deliberate eradication programs.

The model I own is made by Colorata, and at 5" in length (nose to tip of caudal fin), represents a larger specimen of the basking shark.

The Colorata shark comes from the Sharks of the World Deluxe Set, which includes versions of all three filter feeding shark species (a regular Sharks of the World Set also exists, but it has different models in it).

The other 1/72 scale shark in this set is a whale shark. It is 6" long, which makes it the size of a largish whale shark (36 feet in length).

A couple of other candidates for 1/72 whale sharks (which I do not own) include the whale shark from the regular Colorata Sharks of the World Set, and the 1/40 scale Wild Safari whale shark. The other Colorata shark can be used as a smaller whale shark (25 to 30 feet long), while the Wild Safari model can represent the reputed 60 foot whale shark.

Rounding out my collection of filter feeding sharks is the Kaiyodo megamouth shark (Choco Egg Animals Of Japan Series 4). The megamouth shark was only discovered in 1976, and remains infrequently encountered in the wild.

The Kaiyodo model is 3.5" long (from snout to tip of caudal fin), which is somewhat longer than the 13 to 18 foot size range for megamouth sharks.

The final pictures compare the models of the three different species of filter feeding sharks.

Swamp Stalker

There are several candidates that vie for the title of being the largest pterosaur, all belonging to the family Azhdarchidae. The most well known of these creatures is Quetzalcoatlus, which is represented in 1/72 scale by a model available from Shapeways.

Since I had two of the Shapeways Quetzalcoatlus models, I decided to modify one of them to copy the pose of a 1/40 scale CollectA model.

The first thing I did was to cut off the head of the model. It was filled with powder that was left over from the 3D printing process.

After removing the head, I split the beak open, and mounted the head back onto the body. J-B Weld (which is turning into one of my favorite tools) was used to smooth out the beak and crest, and emphasize details that should have been otherwise on the model. Some Elmer's-Tack was used to mask off areas that should have been depressions in the sides of the beak.

Kneadatite was used to make a tongue and build up the missing areas of the neck.

The small Apatosaurus being eaten for lunch is a "good luck" toy made by Safari Ltd.

One other model that can be used for a 1/72 Quetzalcoatlus is made by Colorata, available in their The Practical Guide of Dinosaurs Vol. 1 box set.

The Colorata version is in a flying pose, and has a different style of crest compared to the 3D printed model. Other differences include a smaller body and a shorter neck. The head however, is the same size, and the wingspan scales out to about 33', so corresponds well with the estimated wingspan of Quetzalcoatlus.

I haven't seen the Colorata model being sold by itself, so it always comes with 7 other bonus dinosaurs, of which only one other is approximately 1/72 scale.