This model was created for a traveling exhibit, "The Art of Archaeopteryx" by Silver Plume Exhibits.  I am honored to be a one of six paleo-artists that contributed to this exhibit.

 

The concept of the exhibit was to display each artist's vision of how this animal might have looked.  My vision was to create a scene or snapshot in the life of Archaeopteryx that hadn't yet been created in three dimensions: a nesting site.  There is no fossil evidence of juvenile Archaeopteryx so all of that is speculative.  I based the hatchlings, eggs and nest on comparisons of modern birds and their hatchlings.  Of course the hatchlings needed a bony tail and alterations in their body dimensions and proportions. The adult is based on the Berlin specimen and exact measurements were taken not only on the skeleton but also on the feather lengths.  Each feather is applied one at a time, starting at the tail and ending on the head, laying them on like roof tiles.