What does the Barylambda say?

Paleogene Pals · January 01, 2014, 11:57:56 PM

So here are the pictures I promised of the Barylambda I'm sculpting. It is in 1/18 to 1/20 scale and a little over 5 inches long. I still have to finish some fur detail, the feet, and create the base. I'm hoping to make resin castings available for sale if there is interest. I'd even like to have one your brilliant artists paint either the master copy or a resin copy for my display. If people want this, I would have to sell through a third party vendor because I don't have the time and inclination to do it myself. Whether there is interest or not, I plan on creating sculptures of other such creatures in this scale range.

Enough chat, here are pics!

I also drug all of my mammals out of hibernation to show you how the Barylambda compares to other prehistoric mammals in the same scale range.

Since I'm still tinkering with this piece, any constructive criticism is appreciated to improve it.

Thanks!

Paleogene Pals · January 02, 2014, 12:05:32 AM

I'm posting some pictures of another unfinished sculpture of mine to give you another example of my art. It isn't a dinosaur or mammal but rather a fantasy character I created. His name is Banana Slugger, and he is the member of an action team called World's Mightiest Invertebrates. I was going to do a series of comics and needed maquettes of the characters. I never got around to doing the comic or maquettes of the other characters. Maybe one day

Balaur · January 02, 2014, 09:49:19 AM

That Barylambda is looking great! I also love your other prehistoric mammals.

wings · January 03, 2014, 01:29:12 PM

Barylambda skeleton (?)

This is more of a query rather than a critic; is your model based on a particular species of Barylambda? The reason I ask is because if I try to look up its skeleton; it seems your animal has different proportion to the skeletal remains (first image). I know your animal is a fleshed out version so it would look a tad different then just looking at the skeleton but still I think the different in proportions of some parts are a little too drastic (for example if you want to keep the back of the animal level (horizontal) then the base of the shoulder blade(s) shouldn't be in line with the animal's knees, if you look at the skeleton you'll see that the knees would be lower. Even if you added the cartilage caps on the blades and pushing them lower; the knees would still be lower in a considerable distance. I'm just referring to the pose you have right now of course) Having said that I'm not sure whether the above skeleton is based on a composite of different sized animals...

Blade-of-the-Moon · January 03, 2014, 05:21:55 PM

Not into mammals so much..but that's some great detail you've managed to get into all your creations. Very impressed !

Paleogene Pals · January 04, 2014, 01:48:18 AM

Wings,

My sculpture is based on Barylambda faberi. I don't do composite sculptures. I based them on a particular species if possible.

Having taken a look at the skeleton against my sculpture. I agree. There are too many anatomical inaccuracies. The head is way too big, back is too arched, knees too high up... I guess I got so caught up in the artistry of what I doing that I forgot about being accurate. I'm new to being a paleoartist and did my whole Woody Allen existential rant on my artistic side versus my scientific side on my Brachiosaur topic. But, I am not happy with this piece so I now have an excuse to fix things.

However, I want to explain what I intend to do with this piece. You can't really see it, but there is vegetation in the mouth. The reason for the pose is that I was going to have the animal standing along the shore of a body of water. After grabbing a bunch of aquatic plants, it looks up to its right to see a Borealosuchus coming toward it. The Borealosuchus would have an interlocking base with the Barylambda to create a diorama. I haven't started the Borealosuchus yet because of scant reference materials and wanted to familiarize myself with the anatomy of crocs and alligators more. I was even toying with having a Titanoides standing on small rise (a third interlocking base) and looking down as if saying, "Better you than me!".

Anyway, I'm going to make the head smaller and get rid of the veggies in the mouth. Now, the question is how much fur should I put on it? It lived from Middle to Late Paleocene, and the climate was warm, although not as warm as the Late Cretaceous or at the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. How much fur would have been needed?

I better stop. As usual, I'm getting bogged down by details, such is the life of a biostratigrapher.

Thanks again for your input Wings! And, thank you to everyone else for your compliments!

Paleogene Pals · January 04, 2014, 01:50:14 AM

Oh and I will post pics of my progress as redo this thing

Paleogene Pals · April 15, 2014, 02:05:54 AM

Wow! Am I embarrassed! After looking at my old pictures again, my first attempt at paleoart from scratch really is inaccurate. I am in the process of adding some finishing touches to the remodeled Barylambda body (skin folds and such) before adding fur. When I get the body to a point that I am happy with it, I'll post updated pictures. Hopefully everyone will like the new and improved version.

Paleogene Pals · May 22, 2014, 02:56:02 AM

Here is an updated photo of my WIP on my 1/18-1/20 Barylambda. I'm comparing the old and new sculpture so you can see the differences. Photos are not of the best quality, but I took them quickly over my lunch. It took me since January just to get the body form right, although there are still some minor work needed on the eyes and ears.

Before

After

Before

After

Here is a pic of the new sculpt from above

If everything looks right, I am ready to add the fur details. I hope to finish by mid-summer.

I think my next project will be a 1/20 scale Sarkastodon.

Paleogene Pals · May 22, 2014, 03:00:28 AM

So, I do have a question. I know that this subject is too small and not interesting enough for making a lot of resin castings to sell. However, since this is my first completed piece of paleo sculpture, I would like to have one resin copy for myself and have Martin paint it. Unfortunately, I do not have the time to make any castings. Any recommendations for good casters out there for me to make just one or two copies?

Thanks

Paleogene Pals · May 25, 2014, 03:15:27 AM

I just sculpted the fur on the underside of the body, ready for baking

EmperorDinobot · June 22, 2014, 12:08:31 PM

Very interesting set of mammals. I'd like to learn more about them. Have you ever done any ancient primates? You know, Archeolemur, any koala lemurs and so on and on?

Paleogene Pals · June 29, 2014, 04:52:17 AM

I haven't done any primates...yet. The Barylambda is my first attempt at paleoart and my first sculpture. Right now, I am working in the fur details and trying to make it look as realistic as possible. In the future, I hope to include more obscure/underrepresented subjects. Maybe even a Gigantopithecus.

Alexxitator · July 06, 2014, 11:12:35 AM

Wow this is very impressive stuff yer making there!

Paleogene Pals · July 06, 2014, 03:28:22 PM

Thanks Alexx! The Barylambda is the only thing I'm making now. The other mammals are by Sean Cooper and Lu Feng Shan. They are all part of my collection which continues to grow. Still working on my Bary however. This has been a very slow process due to my numerous distractions and tangents throughout the year. I think I do have a caster lined up and plan to make resin copies once I finish.

I plan on making more Paleogene mammals to fill in the gap out there. My next piece, and I forcibly have to commit to this, will be a 1/20 Sarkastodon. When will I start it? That, I can't tell you anymore.

stoneage · July 07, 2014, 02:44:15 AM

Quote from: Paleogene Pals on July 06, 2014, 03:28:22 PM
Thanks Alexx! The Barylambda is the only thing I'm making now. The other mammals are by Sean Cooper and Lu Feng Shan. They are all part of my collection which continues to grow. Still working on my Bary however. This has been a very slow process due to my numerous distractions and tangents throughout the year. I think I do have a caster lined up and plan to make resin copies once I finish. I plan on making more Paleogene mammals to fill in the gap out there. My next piece, and I forcibly have to commit to this, will be a 1/20 Sarkastodon. When will I start it? That, I can't tell you anymore.

Will the Sarkastodon have a long fluffy tail?

Paleogene Pals · July 07, 2014, 04:00:36 AM

It will not have a long fluffy tail. It is going to have a tail similar to Sean Cooper's Andrewsarchus, unless there is some evidence for a long fluffy tail.

stoneage · July 07, 2014, 04:27:47 PM

Quote from: Paleogene Pals on July 07, 2014, 04:00:36 AM
It will not have a long fluffy tail. It is going to have a tail similar to Sean Cooper's Andrewsarchus, unless there is some evidence for a long fluffy tail.

Well as far as I know Sarkastodon is known only from a skull and jaw bones. But this site here says it has a fluffy tail.

http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/mesozoicmammals/p/sarkastodon.htm

Yutyrannus · July 07, 2014, 05:51:44 PM

I don't know about fluffy, but it probably was long. See this skeletal:
http://blazze92.deviantart.com/art/Some-big-creodonts-429600608

Paleogene Pals · July 08, 2014, 03:45:42 AM

Maybe the tail was long, I have seen it reconstructed similar to a grizzly and read as much too. I was surprised by how low at the shoulder this thing probably was based on the link you sent Yutyrannus. It is a creodont, as is Patriofelis, so I will likely base my post-cranial reconstruction on that of Patriofelis. Still in the early research stage though. Thanks for your inputs stoneage and Yutyrannus. I hope to at least have something sketched out at the end of the month.

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What does the Barylambda say?