Town of Stewiacke,
Nova Scotia
Mastodon
Designer: Atlantex Limited (Head of Chezzetcook, NS)
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When Built: January 1995
Dimensions:
Weight: 3000 pounds (1400 kg)
Height (at the shoulder): 10 feet (3.5 meters)
Height (to tip of trunk): 13 feet (4.5 meters)
Length: 22 feet (7.5 meters)
Length Tusks: 6 feet (2 meters)
Construction Materials:
Fiberglass and steel. First, large blocks of Styrofoam were sculpted
into the mastodon image. Molded tusks were installed and a stainless
steel armature was incorporated into the foam sculpture for structural
integrity. A 3/8" thick layer of fiberglass was then applied to the
entire mastodon for a weather resistant finish. A simulated
fur coat was added using a mixture of polyester and fiberglass.
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Reason for Building:
The Mastodon Replica represents the male juvenile Mastodon whose
bones were unearthed in 1991 at the National Gypsum Quarry near
Milford, N.S..
Additional Information:
The entire project, form sculpting the clay model to the completion of
the fiberglass and steel replica took about 8 weeks.
The project of creating the Mastodon Replica began by first
sculpting a clay scale model based on imformation supplied by
archeologists and studying illustrations and other models. At a
scale of 1" to 1' close attention was paid to skeletal and muscular
structure, in particular the shape and size of its shoulders and
unique sloped head. The tusks were modelled off of real one at the
N.S. museum.
The Mastodon ears proved to be a bit of a problem as no
one knows exactly what they would have looked like. Unlide African and
Asian elephants, who have large floppy ears to provide cooling,
Mastodons living in cold climates probably didn't develop such large
ears. It was decided to give the Mastodon smaller versions of those
found on modern elephants.
Information Source: Mastodon Ridge Developments
Picture Source: Jamie Playfair of Advocate Printing & Publishing
Co Ltd.
BACK TO BIG THINGS IN NOVA SCOTIA
Created By DMY on
May 4, 1999
Last Updated: July 6, 1999
