Making a Mold

Molds and casts of the reconstructed fossils are made so that the original bones can be placed in storage for study while the casts are displayed to the public. This prevents furthur damage from occurring to the fossils (Farlow et al, 1997).

A mold is made by placing layers and layers of wet fibreglass fibres ontop of a layer of liquid rubber that is spread ontop of the fossil. Spouts are built into the fibreglass mold and rubber spread so that plaster can be poured into the mold and casts can be made. Once the plaster hardens the mold is removed and the resulting cast is an exact duplicate of the original fossil, but it is much lighter so that it is easier to mount in a display.