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1/40 Scale Agustinia 
 
Agustinia (pronounced /ɑːɡəˈstɪniə/) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of South America. Like all known sauropods, it was quadrupedal and herbivorous. Although some sauropods are known to have body armor, Agustinia's armor was unique even among sauropods. It had a series of wide, vertical spikes and plates down the center of its back, somewhat like the unrelated Stegosaurus. Aside from the armor, very little is known about the anatomy of Agustinia. A fibula (lower leg bone) has been recovered that is about 3 feet (895 mm) long. When compared to the same bone in related dinosaurs, this indicates that Agustinia may have been about 50 feet (15 meters) long.

Because of its unusual features, Agustinia was originally assigned to its own family, Agustiniidae (Bonaparte, 1999). This family name has not come into wide acceptance. Agustinia is difficult to classify because of its fragmentary nature, and because it exhibits features of both diplodocoid and titanosaurian sauropods. Both groups are known in Early Cretaceous Argentina, so Agustinia most likely belongs to one or the other, but until more complete remains are found, it will be hard to know which one.

My customized reconstruction of this dinosaur is based on a speculative painting of this beastie.

I decided to add spikes to the neck and a 'Thagomizer' to the tail - (after all, there were other really weird spikey sauropods around at that time in South America, including some with 'Thagomizers'.)

FIrst I made a cast of a Carnegie Diplodocus head, and attached it to the Procon Collecta Agustinia body with a wire. I extended the tail with another wire and putty.

The paint job naturally 'evolved' as I did it - bluish dark grey with a hint of yellow on the belly, then experimentation til I got a mix of gold and red acrylic paints for the spikes. When dry I sprayed it with acrylic matte sealant.