Diprotodon Project

Around a year ago our family was traveling back from a trip to the Taronga Zoo. We happened to travel through a tiny town called Coonabarabran where we stopped to visit the local tourist information centre. Inside was a full room dedicated to the display of a Diprotodon skeleton and the story of how it was discovered at Tambar Springs nearby.



Click here to visit the Coonabarabran Visitor Page

I've been fascinated with Australian megafauna for some time now and ever seeing the enormous size of the Diprotodon skull in real life I've wanted to follow up my Thylacoleo with a Diprotodon model. I'd like to take everyone on the journey from how the model was conceptualised right through the sculpting process, through the factory manufacturing process and right up to the point where it is commercially available. I hope everyone finds the journey interesting and follows the process here and on our Southlands Facebook Page. The whole process will take around 6 months I expect. I'm currently already 2 months into it even though this is the first time it's been publicly revealed  

So, after researching many websites the first step in the process was to decide the size and get the initial materials together. The scale was not a problem.. it had to be the standard Southlands 1:15 scale. A male diprotodon grew up to 3m long - this equated to a 20cm long model. As this was going to be a bit bigger than I wanted to go I decided to make my diprotodon a female - actual length 2.4m and model length roughly 16cm. You can see my scribbled notes. There's also a factor of 1.05 involved as I have to allow for shrinkage of 5% during the mould making process.

Thanks for revealing your process of creating this amazing species. I'm very interested in seeing how you create these fantastic models.

Make a female diprotodon with a baby in the pocket (I don't know if we can say "pocket" for a marsupial) ! It would be cool  
A model inspirated by the BBC documentary "The lost giants" would be great but I don't know if it is an accurate model.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OHjMIsfIzg

This is super-exiting

Imagine all the models we have, and as far as I am concerned, I only have a vague idea how they are made

Thankyou, thankyou, Jason, for letting us get a peak into the mysterious world of making wonderful models

It is also very exiting that you are making a Diprotodon !!!
I never heard of this mega-marsupial before

With the Thylacoleo and Diprotodon Sounthlands has already begun to fill in a gap in my knowledge of prehistoric animals

I am particularly excited with this project. You ave a story, your own research about the creature, so I think you could use your own interpretation of it, building a diprotodon as your personal paleoart project with Jason's signature. Obviously it is extensive to your family once I know they participate in the development of Southlands range. I think it is a good idea that you represent a female, it is huge enough to give a good impression of the huge size of that beast and it will put the figure in a more marketable size without compromising your goal of keeping all animals at the same or similar scale.My only personal suggestion is that you make it organic as your other figures, with a body rich in expression and shape once there aren't many noticiable features that make this animal distinct in appearance besides the huge size. It may also mean that a Megalania and a Quinkana are probably in your cogitations. Thanks for keeping us in pair with your project.

Interesting :)

Thanks friends for joining in and I look forward to lots of discussion

Florian wrote:

Make a female diprotodon with a baby in the pocket (I don't know if we can say "pocket" for a marsupial) ! It would be cool

The right term is 'pouch'   ... and the pouch will be a feature of the model, although there won't be a baby visible. Marsupial babies are about the size of a jellybean when they are born. They then instinctively crawl their way into the pouch where they find the mother's milk and stay until they are large enough to start venturing outside.

Roger wrote:

My only personal suggestion is that you make it organic as your other figures, with a body rich in expression and shape once there aren't many noticiable features that make this animal distinct in appearance besides the huge size.

Roger, I always find your comments to be very insightful and respect your opinions greatly. I can promise the pose is very dynamic - I'm sure you will be pleased. These initial photos were taken 2 months ago so the pose is already decided and a lot of work has happened since!

I was lucky enough to find an accurate side view skeleton diagram from which to base my measurements. Also printed out a sideview of an artists representation of the model to view in proportion with our Thylacoleo.

Oh great! A giant wombat! Great idea Jason!

Very good size to this project.

Intersting information of this animal,that I did not know.

Thank you for the nice explanation ! :)

Fantastic! Can't wait to see more

Donny wrote:

Oh great! A giant wombat!

Hey Donny, thanks for joining in   Anna & Fernando welcome too!

Even though a lot of the literature describes the Diprotodon as a giant wombat I don't tend to agree with that generality. Wombats and Diprotodon's shared some similar features such as turned in feet & a rear facing pouch however many of their features such the classic marsupial dental structure is shared amongst other marsupials (kangaroos, koalas etc) so I can't seem to correlate the two as being a large and small version of the same animal. Diprotodon's were too large to dig burrows, they also have a very unique skull shape and I can't see any fossil evidence to show that Diprotodon's adapted to the smaller size due to climatic or other reasons, in fact they became extinct quite suddenly only 25-45,000 years ago. I prefer to think of them as two completely different animals. Others will disagree, but that's just my opinion.  

Stage 3 - Making the spine. This part for me is critical. The proportions must be anatomically perfect so I take plenty of time to bend the wire to match the curvature of the spine exactly - then mark the important pivot points with permanent marker.

I really look forward to seeing how this project unfolds!

And--how this model unfolds! Of your line, the extinct ones are definitely the most popular!

It is so wonderful to see how enormously carfully you make your models !

Southlands Replicas wrote:

Roger wrote:

My only personal suggestion is that you make it organic as your other figures, with a body rich in expression and shape once there aren't many noticiable features that make this animal distinct in appearance besides the huge size.

Roger, I always find your comments to be very insightful and respect your opinions greatly. I can promise the pose is very dynamic - I'm sure you will be pleased. These initial photos were taken 2 months ago so the pose is already decided and a lot of work has happened since!

I was lucky enough to find an accurate side view skeleton diagram from which to base my measurements. Also printed out a sideview of an artists representation of the model to view in proportion with our Thylacoleo.

Thanks Jason, I am now even more excited after reading your further comments. I am very glad that you are not just creating a "giant wombat", and I agree with all your observations about the creature. Although related with wombats, it surely was not just a huge wombat once as you pointed, there are some important differences, particularly in the skull and surely these animals occupied a different niche with a different style of life. I don't know if you'll adopt the small trunk some researchers suggest or just a "rhino" upper lip or none, I also have no idea about the coloring or how furry your diprotodon will be but I am very glad to know that you are developing it unattached to the idea of a giant wombat.

Welcome along Sean, hopefully we'll see our Diprotodon selling through Fauna figures someday

Susanne wrote:

It is so wonderful to see how enormously carfully you make your models !    

Thanks Susanne... I think you'll enjoy what is still to come!

Roger wrote:

I don't know if you'll adopt the small trunk some researchers suggest or just a "rhino" upper lip or none

The shape of this area has been a huge area of conjecture and frankly after all of my research I can't find a definitive answer. In fact I would have started the model sooner if it was clear. There are dozens of artistic depictions and almost all are different. To be honest I didn't even know exactly how it would look until I started physically sculpting it but I'll explain my interpretation a little further along in the process..

For now here are 4 more updates ..

Stage 4.
Making the skull frame. Note double layer so that I can use the ends for shaping the upper and lower incisors which are obviously a major feature of the animal. I use a thinner wire to bind the pieces together. Jaw hinge point is marked with permanent marker.



Stage 5. Attaching the skull to the spine, again using the thinner wire and also a drop of quick drying super glue.



Stage 6. Shaping the legs, again taking great care to measure accurately and marking hinge points.



Stage 7. Front and rear legs now done and ready to attach to the spine.

I really like your choice of this new Southlands model Jason
So interesting creature ...
And it is so great of you, that you are showing the process of this project

Southlands Replicas wrote:

Roger wrote:

I don't know if you'll adopt the small trunk some researchers suggest or just a "rhino" upper lip or none

The shape of this area has been a huge area of conjecture and frankly after all of my research I can't find a definitive answer. In fact I would have started the model sooner if it was clear. There are dozens of artistic depictions and almost all are different. To be honest I didn't even know exactly how it would look until I started physically sculpting it but I'll explain my interpretation a little further along in the process..

I suspected it required a lot of thought from you while developing this figure. Now the important is that you already have a decision and that you are confident in your choice. Whatever it is, it will always be your interpretation and as valuabel as any other. If you explain your decision as you mentioned, it will enrich surely your work. I think these conjectures make the hobby of collecting extinct animals, a very exciting hobby.

Costicuba wrote:

I really like your choice of this new Southlands model Jason  
So interesting creature ...

Welcome along Kosta! and thankyou

Roger wrote:

I think these conjectures make the hobby of collecting extinct animals, a very exciting hobby.

I couldn't agree more. It's been my most enjoyable model so far to make as there is that element of 'design' if I may use that word, and seeing something come to life that there is no accurate record or living memory of.

Some more updates now ..

Stage 8. Basic skeleton frame is now together. Still have a few improvements to come.



Stage 9. Added pelvis and nut for armature stand. Turned out later that didn't work as the model was too heavy but here it is for now anyway.



Stage 10. Framed out the rib cage.



Stage 11. Wire frame complete    Thin wire wrapped around neck and legs to help clay to grip. Aluminium foil used to bulk out rib area.

Note the model hasn't been posed yet. It's basically a static pose at the moment. I'm very happy though that the frame is sturdy and correctly proportioned. Finally I can start on the next part .. adding clay.

A star being borne

In the future I will always think of her as the lady with a bolt in her hip

Now we see how your careful start pays off

Very cool--and yes, I will want to know more for my store when it comes out!

It was surely a good idea to share all these steps with the community of collectors. I really feel much more excited about the project than if it was presented already done. I can't stop thinking in every detail, from ears, will it be big or small? Considering it is too big to be a burrowing creature, will the back of the beast be just conventional? Will you give a unique coloring to this creature or make it based in any other creature? You don't have to reply now, just keep showing the development of this figure and I will follow it with all excitment.

Roger wrote:

I really feel much more excited about the project than if it was presented already done.

I'm so pleased you are enjoying it!

Stage 12 - Now I'm adding the actual bones, femur, humerus and pelvic bones. This is a process I use for larger models which helps me pose the model. I've also posed the lower limbs to give the model 'movement'. The head will be posed later.

Very very interesting!

And we even learn about the anatomy of the Diprotodon