Advice on making a Custom Gorgonops Action Figure

[Papi-Anon]

Firstly, this is my first post here on the Dino Toy Blog Forum. Hello to you all! I hope I can contribute to this place and make some friends.

Now onto the main topic:

So, I'm working on a 1:12 scale poseable figure of a generic Gorgonops as a possible thing to sell on Ebay or Etsy (or even to reverse-engineer as 3D-printable parts from Shapeways, Mechanical Drafting being my major). I'm basing the design primarily off of the Gorgonops featured in the BBC documentary "Walking with Monsters" (aired as "Before the Dinosaurs" in the US) but was considering making it appear somewhat more mammalian in its features by giving it more glandular skin rather than scales and MAYBE small areas of fur in the sculpt's design.

I know that there is only (at best) evidence SUGGESTING that gorgonopsids might have had naked skin and/or some hair either as loosely spread whiskers or small patches of fur, but would my interpretation for the sculpt be paleontological heresy tantamount to a kangaroo-postured T-Rex? Instead of scaly texture I was hoping to give it naked skin with a few scattered pebbly spots like the JP Lycaeonops figure and a narrow ridge of 'hair' in the sculpt running along its spine, tail, and the back half of the cranium.

While biology and paleontology have always fascinated me, I'm not a true expert in either. I'm going by superficial similarities Gorgonops's skeletal designs (primarily the skull) have with a true mammalian layout, which to me makes it seem reasonable to think of Gorgonops as possibly more mammal than reptile by modern morphological definitions.

So, should I go for more reptilian or more mammalian? I'll post progress pics later today when I get home in my own thread in the Custom Figures section. Just need some scientific advice.

[Patrx]

Welcome, Crash! Quite the ambitious project you're embarking upon here. I think your speculation is well-justified - nothing much is known about the outward appearance of gorgonopsids, and it is generally considered very reasonable to go with a mammalian look for them. Some folks have taken to giving them full coats of filaments, (hair?) which can't be ruled out as a possibility and looks quite cool. In short, my suggestion would be to go with your current idea and make a very mammalian gorgonopsid!

[DinoLord]

Welcome! It's always great to see paleoartists who put time and effort into researching their work (instead of those who make the mass-produced drivel that can be all too common in dinosaur books and certain store shelves). There's definitely been a recent trend towards restoring synapsids with rather mammalian traits (such as stance and integument), as shown in John Conway's illustration of Dimetrodon:

[Kayakasaurus]

Hello! Welcome to the forum.

As far as posable goes, one idea I've wanted to try; is to salvage the joints from a cheap action figure (dollar store, goodwill?) and use them to make a posable Dinosaur. Depending on the joint, you may be able to take it apart, cast it, and then assemble the casts, if you wanted to sell them. I use Magic Sculpt brand epoxy for my Dino's, one of the advantages is using mixed media like this, because it bonds to things and doesn't shrink or need baking. Can't wait to set what you come up with!

[Halichoeres]

Hope we'll see lots of progress pics! Cool animal, underdone.

[Papi-Anon]

(Sorry for the late response!    )

Thanks for the fast responses and advice, everyone! I plan on cannibalizing some cheap action figures for the limbs and will be posting a few updates in a week or so.

Also, I might have the thread renamed and moved to the Dinosaur Art section as just a general thread of my Paleoart (I do some digital 2D stuff).