The Return of the Pterodactyl

Back on May 25, 2006, Ken Ham wrote the following in a blog post:

An animatronic pterodactyl sculpted and engineered totally by AiG Creation Museum staff was raised today to “guard” the entrance to the new Creation Museum bookstore. The pterodactyl head will turn from side to side and its mouth (beak) will open and close.

Those of you that came to the bookstore in those first couple of years were treated to the sight and sound of this excellent display, but many of you are probably wondering how you missed this.

Well, shortly after the opening year, the pterodactyl became stationary due to the wear and tear by the constant movement. Unfortunately it wasn’t an easy fix since one of the people that created it no longer lived in the United States.

Recently we decided to ask the company LifeFormations that created and works on some of our other animatronics if they would mind taking a turn at it. They added a control system and replaced another component. Then our staff rebuilt the jaw mechanism and tweaked the neck mechanism. They also created a new silicone skin from the original mold, painstakingly matched the paint on the silicone to the original paint scheme, and did a lot of restoration to the rest of the paint.

Now the pterodactyl is “up and running” again thanks to our staff and LifeFormations!