Electric-Eye
plastic skull underneath
In this view, we see some things about the form of the skull that are not always apparent when we study photographs, illustrations or diagrams in books. For instance, note that the zygomatic bone joins to the temporal bone by a kind of high arched bridge. Muscles anchored at the temples, filling in the hollow called the temporal fossa, pass under this bridge to move the jaw. The masseter, the cheif jaw muscle visible at the side, going to the corner of the jaw is anchored to the zygomatic arch. Note also the large hole, the foramen magnum, through which the spinal cord passes, and its two thick round bumps at the front, the condyles, which show where the weight of the cranium tends to rest on the first vertebra. This is the pivot point for movements of the head, the spine runs to the middle of it, not up to the back.
This "budget skull" model I got to study the anatomy of the head originally came with some metal hardware, metal hooks to hold the top of the cranium, and springs from the coronoid process of the mandible to the temple area, but I like it just fine without them. I'm concentrating more on the cranium now anyway.
There are things I like about this, and at the price I paid I can't say I regret the purchase, but on the other hand, its hard to understand why just because something is cheap it doesn't need to have detailed accuracy. I get the distinct impression that skull models are mostly priced to squeeze as much blood out of medical students as possible.
This cost me less than $30, including shipping. Though I had to wait almost a full month for it. Maybe my mistake was ordering so close to Halloween? From what I've seen the next step up in price is to a $60, miniature model from Freedom of Teach. Which company seems to be partnering with the Gnommon workshop to sell some of their excellent miniature anatomy models. More accurate life size skulls seem to start at about $120, and hover in the $120 - $265 range. In this range we also find some of the lowest priced complete plastic skeletons. I was seriously considering looking to buy one at some time hoping that I could get a better skull out of it as well as all the rest of the bones until I noticed a complete skeleton in a local art supply store, not for sale, but as an ornament apparently, which had the exact same "budget skull" you see above.
Skulls with separate skull bones, such as separate frontal, maxillary, and zygomatic bones, are available for over $500.
When you think of the materials of which such things are made, and the method of construction, molded plastic, of which half of our world seems to be constructed these days, its hard to see what could be so difficult about making an accurate skull that would justify the prices. It has to come down to a judgment of what the market will bear, I guess, and with medical students of some kind being the most likely to purchase such a thing, and artists far less likely to buy, or care about accuracy, well, I guess they make good ones in smaller batches, and take a lot more care gluing the pieces together and cleaning the seams. But even realizing all that, I have a hard time understanding why the artist priced model isn't even symmetrical from the right to the left side. Why, when the jaw is off, are the condyles in front of the foramen magnum so uneven that it is difficult to get it to sit flat on anything, why it lacks any squamousal suture on the side of the head, when the coronal and lambdoidal sutures are so clearly visible. These defects tend to decrease my confidence in other features which I notice are different from a majority of illustrations and photographs of the skull that I am studying, and have made note of all my life. Such as the relatively weak to nonexistent supra-temporal line, the weakly defined temporal fossa, a coronoid process of the mandible far shorter than the condylar process, when most pictures I've looked at recently show them coming to more nearly the same height. And the very square seeming eye sockets and cheek bones which are so flat from the front.
Can I really do no better than this without compromising my rent money?
plastic skull underneath
In this view, we see some things about the form of the skull that are not always apparent when we study photographs, illustrations or diagrams in books. For instance, note that the zygomatic bone joins to the temporal bone by a kind of high arched bridge. Muscles anchored at the temples, filling in the hollow called the temporal fossa, pass under this bridge to move the jaw. The masseter, the cheif jaw muscle visible at the side, going to the corner of the jaw is anchored to the zygomatic arch. Note also the large hole, the foramen magnum, through which the spinal cord passes, and its two thick round bumps at the front, the condyles, which show where the weight of the cranium tends to rest on the first vertebra. This is the pivot point for movements of the head, the spine runs to the middle of it, not up to the back.
This "budget skull" model I got to study the anatomy of the head originally came with some metal hardware, metal hooks to hold the top of the cranium, and springs from the coronoid process of the mandible to the temple area, but I like it just fine without them. I'm concentrating more on the cranium now anyway.
There are things I like about this, and at the price I paid I can't say I regret the purchase, but on the other hand, its hard to understand why just because something is cheap it doesn't need to have detailed accuracy. I get the distinct impression that skull models are mostly priced to squeeze as much blood out of medical students as possible.
This cost me less than $30, including shipping. Though I had to wait almost a full month for it. Maybe my mistake was ordering so close to Halloween? From what I've seen the next step up in price is to a $60, miniature model from Freedom of Teach. Which company seems to be partnering with the Gnommon workshop to sell some of their excellent miniature anatomy models. More accurate life size skulls seem to start at about $120, and hover in the $120 - $265 range. In this range we also find some of the lowest priced complete plastic skeletons. I was seriously considering looking to buy one at some time hoping that I could get a better skull out of it as well as all the rest of the bones until I noticed a complete skeleton in a local art supply store, not for sale, but as an ornament apparently, which had the exact same "budget skull" you see above.
Skulls with separate skull bones, such as separate frontal, maxillary, and zygomatic bones, are available for over $500.
When you think of the materials of which such things are made, and the method of construction, molded plastic, of which half of our world seems to be constructed these days, its hard to see what could be so difficult about making an accurate skull that would justify the prices. It has to come down to a judgment of what the market will bear, I guess, and with medical students of some kind being the most likely to purchase such a thing, and artists far less likely to buy, or care about accuracy, well, I guess they make good ones in smaller batches, and take a lot more care gluing the pieces together and cleaning the seams. But even realizing all that, I have a hard time understanding why the artist priced model isn't even symmetrical from the right to the left side. Why, when the jaw is off, are the condyles in front of the foramen magnum so uneven that it is difficult to get it to sit flat on anything, why it lacks any squamousal suture on the side of the head, when the coronal and lambdoidal sutures are so clearly visible. These defects tend to decrease my confidence in other features which I notice are different from a majority of illustrations and photographs of the skull that I am studying, and have made note of all my life. Such as the relatively weak to nonexistent supra-temporal line, the weakly defined temporal fossa, a coronoid process of the mandible far shorter than the condylar process, when most pictures I've looked at recently show them coming to more nearly the same height. And the very square seeming eye sockets and cheek bones which are so flat from the front.
Can I really do no better than this without compromising my rent money?