P.E.I. man building giant T. rex in shed

Chris Ruprecht says he wants to build something people don't expect.He's succeeding.

The Charlottetown man is creating a nine-metre-long replica of the T. rex featured in movie Jurassic Park.

"I was a fan of special effects and when Jurassic Park came out in the 1990s, I really wanted to build a T. rex," he said.

So he began learning all he could through videos and online classes with Stan Winston Studios, the man famous for movie special effects.

A year-and-a-half ago, he started the project using a 3-D model of the Jurassic Park T. rex he found online. He even renovated his shed to fit the creature inside.

He figures it'll take him another five years to finish.

If you stick with it you can almost do whatever you want.- Chris Ruprecht

Part of his motivation, he said, is teaching his seven-year-old son, Brayden, that he can do anything, if he puts his mind to it. A few years ago, he created a fourmetretall Optimus Prime for Art in the Open.

"If you want to build something and if you focus enough and there's tons of ups and downs and things don't always work out, but then if you stick with it you can almost do whatever you want," he said.

Wood, fibreglass and clay

For the T. rex project, Ruprecht became Facebook friends with special effects artists who give him feedback along the way. It's being built with wood and fibreglass, and he'll sculpt the finer details with clay.

When it's completed, he said his goal is for the T. rex to be able to move its head, open its jaws, blink its eyes and wag its tail.

"People can maybe come and take a look at it so maybe one day I'd have a bigger location and I'd have visitors and things like that," he said.

"I just want people to maybe see something that they don't expect."

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