The skeletal mounts all start with an envisioned pose and a selection of materials. We use a high quality or grade of steel and create all of our own fittings for each section or part. When mounting an original fossil skeleton, the steel is bent into shape to conform with the bones, and special 'cushions' are then added to the steel to protect and hold the bones. When we mount a cast skeleton, the steel is hidden inside of the casts so that it is almost completely undetectable.

Our mounts are designed so that they come apart and fit through a 36" doorway. An original skeleton can be mounted so that each individual bone can be removed from the framework. Sometimes all of the 300 or more bones in a skeleton must be mounted in this manner allowing for each bone to be removed and studied at a later date. A cast skeleton, on the other hand, is mounted in several modular parts or sections. The skeletons are all designed to be as lifelike as possible. We try to capture a moment in time and action in all of our mounts.

 - Field Work
 - Preparation
 - Molding & Casting
 - Mounting
 - Research
 - Displays & Services

 - Company Profile PDFs

The speed of assembly of our mounts is dependent on the fittings for each section or part. The original STAN T. rex skeleton takes a crew of 4 people about 3 hours to assemble. A cast skeleton of STAN will take the same crew only about an hour. Assembly is also dependent on the design of the crates and the manner in which we pack the skeletons. We try to design all of our mounts so that they unpack and assemble in the same order that they come out of the crates. This makes it especially convenient if the exhibit has to be taken down and reassembled more than once.

BHI does custom mounting for museums and institutions. We might charge more than our competitors for our services, but you won't find another mounting process in the world that produces such a versatile and fine quality finished work.