Hi, My name is Phillip. I haven't edited my profine as yet due to there being some kind of erra in the system today but wanted to introduce myself to you all so here goes. I am a museum preparator and have been for almost 20 years. I have worked for several large museums world wide including the Smithsonian NMNH in Washington DC. My primary area of research and construction is that of dinosaur material and the reconstruction of the skeletons for public display. I am also the creator of a life size animatronic Allosaur which is the Museum of Tropical Queensland's mascot in Australia. Currently I am working on a full sized articulated Carnosaur puppet out of personal interest as I am a big fan of Night at the Museum. The puppet is a recreation of the one used in Night at the Museum. It is my intention to use it only at night with the added effect that it would have some glow capablilities. The puppet stands at 2.4m tall at the hip and will be 6m in length when completed. It is my intention to hire it out for special night time events. I would be interested to hear from anyone with ideas for how it could be used.

Cheers,
Phillip

Welcome to Puppets and Stuff Phillip! Wow that makes two new Aussies in one day. Sorry about the bug in the Profile. Na alerted me to problem and I have it fixed now.  You should be able to edit and add to it now.

Love the idea of a walking bones dino!  So it is mobile right?  Why are you limiting it to just night time events or did I miss understand that?  I would think that during the daytime it would be big hit at festivals or in parades.

Hello Phillip! Nice to see some of our animatronics people here for once... I am totally jealous of you guys, animatronics are just so darn cool.

Do you have any links to videos or images? We'd love to see them.

Other than using it at night time events at museums, a big thing might be to do a 'petting zoo'. I know Erth in Sydney have done similar things. http://erth.com.au/. Like Shawn said, parades and festivals are probably your best bet.

Also, if you haven't checked them out, Creature Tech in Melbourne do a lot of the animatronics on TV/film/stage, and are worth looking at for ideas. http://www.creaturetechnology.com/. One of their staff, Philip Millar, is worth chatting to as well. http://www.puppetvision.com

Last of all, go check out QLD company, John Cox: http://www.johncox.net/. They actually rent or sell some of their stuff, and seem to have a perpetual exhibition touring to different galleries/museums.

Hi to Shawn and Na,
                 Thanks for your ideas and the contacts. Some of them I am familiar with already. Shawn, I'm really only going down the night time events road as unlike full skin mascots this item will have a more visible operator. However practice has shown that he can be blacked out to a certain degree. Another reason is that past practice has proven issues with operation of animatronic suits regarding the video screen the operator uses for vision, i.e they blur out from time to time. Daytime events will certainly be considered though if available. This suit will be more suited to night time operation also because it will glow in low light which will also be possible because the operator won't be relying on video screen for vision. Over to you guys and thanks for having me on board.
Cheers,
Phillip

Got it so someone is going to be inside the "suit" and since he is just bones there is going to be a lot of open space. I thought perhaps that may be the reason. I do think that in daylight if your operator is in black that many will forgive the fact that he is seen and still enjoy the performance.

Hi Shawn, yes your right. Proven practice has shown that after the initial surprise that there is someone in the Museum of Tropical Queensland suit they quickly forget it and just enjoy the show. I once over heard to my amusement a young boy whisper to his younger friend "Don't be scare, it's a fake dinosaur with a real man inside"...Hahaha. In general the kids love the mascot affectionately named "Nibbles" and the museum is enjoying a marked upswing in visitations though out school holidays since the introduction of the Dino suit. Cheers, Phillip   

Wow, this sounds great. Willkommen, Phillip, sorry for being late...

Hi to Shawn and Na,
                 Thanks for your ideas and the contacts. Some of them I am familiar with already. Shawn, I'm really only going down the night time events road as unlike full skin mascots this item will have a more visible operator. However practice has shown that he can be blacked out to a certain degree. Another reason is that past practice has proven issues with operation of animatronic suits regarding the video screen the operator uses for vision, i.e they blur out from time to time. Daytime events will certainly be considered though if available. This suit will be more suited to night time operation also because it will glow in low light which will also be possible because the operator won't be relying on video screen for vision. Over to you guys and thanks for having me on board.
Cheers,
Phillip

I'm naughty and have been out of touch...

Glad to provide some help, even if you knew some of them. Did you end up deciding what you were going to do? I'd love to see some pics!

This belongs here.


http://m.gizmodo.com/5953729/you-will-absolutely-win-halloween-with-a-jurassic-park-velociraptor-costume?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_twitter&utm_source=gizmodo_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow