Crazy About Dinosaurs Hutton Elementary’S Peter Thomas Takes Paleo-Passion To New Dimension With Sculpture Of Teen Utah Raptor

Peter Thomas is a dino-nut.

The Hutton Elementary fifth-grader became fascinated with dinosaurs after watching the movie “Jurassic Park” when he was 4. He’s been making his own dinosaurs ever since.

Recently, however, his passion has taken on larger - make that much larger - proportions.

Peter, 10, has sculpted a horse-size rendition of a Utah raptor, a predator from the early Cretaceous Period around 125 million years ago. The project took him the entire summer to complete.

The result appears every bit as fearsome as paleontologists believe the prehistoric animal must have been.

“Razor teeth and sickle claws. Yeah, these guys were pretty deadly,” Peter said.

The sculpture, crafted from cardboard, newspaper and tape, is 13 feet long from nose to tail and appears as if it is sprinting after a tasty meal. The jaws are open, leaving rows of cardboard teeth and a slender tongue exposed.

The eyes - golf balls with black-marker pupils - are focused forward on the imaginary target. Long arms outfitted with sharp claws seem to reach forward while massive legs stretch in a dramatic stride.

The tail points straight back.

Based on its size, the sculpture could be that of a teenage raptor, Peter said. It’s so big he has to keep it in the shed behind his parents’ house on Manito Boulevard. To keep the sculpture upright, he has it suspended by rope from a frame his dad had specially built.

Because the raptor will be displayed outside, Peter and his dad are planning to coat it in fiberglass soon.

The prehistoric raptor, estimated to be 26 feet long on average, reigned supreme in its day but was dinky compared to a better known dinosaur from millions of years later, the 50-foot T-Rex.

Peter has researched the ancient animals extensively in the library.

“It’s pretty amazing to know that things the size of a dump truck actually lived,” he said.

The first sculpture Peter made was in first grade. It was a wobbly, papier-mache reproduction of a compsognathus, a breed of small, chickenlike dinosaurs known affectionately as Compis.

More sculptures followed, and Peter soon hit upon the technique he has used on the raptor. He cuts out the general shape of a body part in cardboard, then fleshes it out with wads of newspaper. He sticks the paper on with packaging tape.

The final result is a full-bodied dinosaur. After a coat of papier-mache and paint, the dinosaur is complete.

Peter has more than a dozen, so far.

“The amazing thing to me is that he has taken this love and turned it into something so creative,” said his dad, Jeff Thomas. “He just imagines these things and brings them into reality.”

Peter Thomas also draws dinosaurs with markers, and the pictures wallpaper his basement work space. All sorts of dinosaurs are depicted - velociraptors, compsognathus, hypsilophodon. Peter rolls off the tongue twisters without a hitch.

Some of the pictures show graphic scenes of dinosaurs killing and consuming prey.

It’s savage stuff, but Peter explains that dinosaurs were savage creatures, and his drawings come with fair warning:

“Some of these may not be for children,” he explained.

When he grows up, Peter wants to be a paleo-artist, like his hero Stephen Czerkas. “I won’t know my limit until I reach it,” he said. “So, I guess I’ll just keep going and going.”

Next, Peter plans to sculpt a stegosaurus that will keep going and going … at least until its back touches the ceiling.

This sidebar appeared with the story: COMING UP Exhibition Saturday

The Utah raptor sculpture will be on display at Ray’s Video Station, 430 E. Sprague, Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.