Pica pica Games upcoming plans and input welcome

[stargatedalek]

 

This is going to sound foolishly ambitious I know, but keep in mind several of these are almost complete, and assuming this comes to fruition it would probably be next winter before a release (perhaps sooner if I can find someone to partner up with for casting, but I don't want to solicit anyone before I've finished).

I'm hoping to "launch", three separate lines with six new figures added to each every year. There is no set scale yet, and it's unlikely I will stick to any single scale, but feedback on this is appreciated.


The first has been underway for some time; "Bio-plastic" is an invertebrate line following a different group for each batch. This first batch is one of my favorite groups, true crabs. Some of these have been done before, some not, but I hope to make even the previously done species stand out.

All of these are already started in some capacity. Most of them use texture stamps taken directly from specimens or incorporate high resolution 3D scans of specimens that I've received permission to use, so I can assure the absolute best accuracy possible!

Alaskan king Crab: Paralithodes camtschaticus
Yellow-Clawed Fiddler Crab: Uca perplexa
Horned Ghost Crab: Ocypode ceratopthalma
Common Elbow Crab: Rhinolambrus pelagicus
Hime-énkougani: Carcinoplax surugensis
Dark Finger Coral Crab: Atergatus subdentatus


The second line; "Forgotten" is going to be focused on underrepresented extinct animals. I tried to balance the species choices between ones that I myself want to do, and ones that I've seen requested in the past. A few of these have armatures made, but I'm still open to feedback on species choices. This first batch is the rather non-catchy "non-reptile extinct marine animals".

Xiphactinus audax
Hibbertopterus scouleri
Bananogmius ellisensis
Lyrarapax trilobus
Cheirolepis trailli
Boedaspis ensifer


Now for the fun part, the third line; "Collectors Choice" will be entirely decided by vote, every year, for as long as it goes on! It will feature one bird, reptile, invertebrate, fish, mammal, and an extinct animal from a given region.

Suggest a geographical region below, and I'll count them up after a week or two and then people may vote on species. Keep in mind I probably won't be getting to these until after finishing the other two lines.


Nothing to show yet, what progress there currently is looks like a bunch of disassembled crabs (and a bit of it actually is...) and some generic fish shaped outlines, so really nothing worth posting. I was going to wait until finishing a few of the crabs before posting this outline, but I decided I might want to take a break from them and work on some extinct fish in the meantime and I'd appreciate feedback on those before I progress.

As it stands I can't give any information regarding potential costs or material availability, but, and this is absolutely not a promise, there are companies nearby that do die-cast parts, so I will at least look into that if there is any interest.

[Halichoeres]

The lineup for "Forgotten" definitely has me salivating. Three actinopts and three arthropods? Sign me up.

Has the forum always been such an incubator for aspiring figure makers?

Anyway, as long as you're taking suggestions for geographical regions, I'd suggest northeastern Brazil. Rich, rich ground for Permian stuff that's just now coming out of the ground. Nobody has made that fauna and new names are being given out every year. Second place would be Zambia.

[AcroSauroTaurus]

Sounds interesting! I had Bananogmius planned for the second wave of my figure line, but I replaced it with the larger Paranogmius. I'm interested in seeing how this goes, I don't really care what species you choose for it, because I like all species equally!

[Flaffy]

Mini obscure die cast figures?! Sign me up for this! 

[Roselaar]

It may be ambitious as heck, but it sure sounds promising! Can't wait to see the end result.

[BlueKrono]

As for geographical suggestions, mine would be Yunnan Province in China, home of the Maotianshan Shales, a lagerstatte comparable to the Burgess Shales of Canada. There are some FANTASTIC lobopods from the Maotianshan, and I would buy any and all of them. Plenty of other groups to choose from too. The Burgess has been done pretty thoroughly; it would be cool to see some of the rich diversity from recent discoveries at this Chinese site.

[Megalosaurus]

Is this Project still alive?
I'm interested in the forgotten line.

[stargatedalek]

Is this Project still alive?
I'm interested in the forgotten line.

It is indeed, I've been trying to get in contact with some local groups that could make this happen but things were slow through the holiday season. I will have more information next week.

[stargatedalek]

Apologies for the extremely delayed response, I was hoping to have some solid information right away last week but as it turned out I had some expectations that needed lowering.

First off; materials. I was hoping to have access to ABS or soft plastic material to print more fragile parts, but sadly both of these are currently beyond my reach. ABS produces nauseating fumes and though not dangerous strictly speaking still requires a lot of ventilation, and so I simply lack the infrastructure to use this material safely. Soft material in theory is within my grasp, but it requires very specific calibrations which would increase production time exponentially and will likely have a negative impact on detail anyway.

This does however come with some good news, basic PLA doesn't require any bells and whistles, and we've decided on the "basic but reliable" model of printer. I already have it in hand but it isn't set up yet. I'm hopeful I can start printing models within the next few weeks.

Some minor changes to my plans are necessitated, but overall things will continue as originally planned. The species lists for the first series of Forgotten and Bio-plastic remain unchanged, though there are going to be some pretty extreme changes to the Collector's Choice format.

Rather than producing X number of each species, a demo version of each species will be made and subsequent individual models will be started upon order. This allows you the buyer to specify things that only 3D printing would allow! You can not only choose from a predetermined list, but actively work with me to create and decide on the pose, base, and in most cases colour scheme of your model.

Every model is 3D printed and hand painted, with few exceptions most will have details sculpted by hand, and those that aren't large or detailed enough for this will be treated to minimize print lines and any print or assembly artifacts will of course be repaired. If desired, I can prepare a model as if it were a kit, for you to assemble and paint yourself.

Every Pica pica Games model is custom designed and built largely by hand just to fit your needs, and at prices comparable to molded and cast products because of the efficiency available using this 3D printing technology.

My "new" plans for the Collectors Choice line is to read any suggestions here for a location for the next few weeks, then together we can narrow things down from there. The idea is that each season of the line will have a diverse selection of animals that naturally coexist, each with its own base, and a little something extra along the lines of a skeleton, or perhaps a 1:1 skull, for the real anatomy nerds of us out there. The primary idea of this particular line is extant animals, primarily because this line is intended to be consistent in presentation and it's difficult to find "supplementary" material for extinct animals (fossil scans etc.), but there would of course be at least one extinct animal in a batch, potentially more depending on the location.

Some suggestions already are Yunnan Province in China, Northern Brazil, and Zambia, which are all wonderful options.