CollectA-New for 2015

[stargatedalek]

I think it gets curled during shipping and its meant to be somewhat straight. Mine has a slight curve to it but the entire head follows this same curve so its intentional. The upper bill tends to get bent yet further (the tiny sauropod could also be playing a role in this, so make note that I removed it) during shipping which I fixed by dipping it in hot water for a few minutes, no force necessary it returned to its intended shape on its own.

[suspsy]

I've been meaning to try that with my Quetzalcoatlus. How hot does the water need to be? Steaming from the tap or should it be boiled?

On a separate note, it's been pointed out here in the past that the Triceratops models from CollectA and Wild Safari are starting to show their age. I would like to express my desire not just for a new Triceratops, but for a Triceratops prorsus. I can't think of a single Triceratops toy that wasn't based on horridus. Poor neglected prorsus deserves some plastic love too!

[stargatedalek]

I used steaming from the tap, it can be more tedious but its a lot easier and safer for the plastic. With steaming tap water I can fill a bowl and leave it to sit on its own, but I wouldn't want to leave plastic sitting in boiling water without attendance.

[suspsy]

I used steaming from the tap, it can be more tedious but its a lot easier and safer for the plastic. With steaming tap water I can fill a bowl and leave it to sit on its own, but I wouldn't want to leave plastic sitting in boiling water without attendance.

Makes sense. How long did you leave it immersed in the bowl for?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Would you mind posting some pics,Blade? 

I'll do my best, I've installed 4 in the exhibit already. 

I love Guidraco, its amazing!!! But, i have a question why do a lot of Collectas with a longer snout or beak have a bridge beak? Dont know if you understand it. But a lot seem curved. You know what i mean?

I've seen a few Quetz reconstructions with a slight curve to the overall beak, Shane's here is one :


So it depends on how much of the curve you want to take out or your preference.

[stargatedalek]

I only left it in for about ten minutes, which could well have been longer than needed. Mine was a lot less bent than many photos of it I've seen, and I also removed the sauropod first, so don't take my success without some salt. I got pretty lucky.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

I only left it in for about ten minutes, which could well have been longer than needed. Mine was a lot less bent than many photos of it I've seen, and I also removed the sauropod first, so don't take my success without some salt. I got pretty lucky.

How hard is it to remove the sauropod? Can it be put back easily?

[stargatedalek]

I had to saw it out with a pocket knife, but it wasn't especially difficult and both of them made in out intact.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Guidraco pics :




This has to be the best figure CollectA has made thus far. 

My little flock installed in the Terrors of the Deep exhibit :

[Meso-Cenozoic]

Stunning pics of your Guidraco, Boki!

And Blade, impressive looking "flock" you got there!!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Thanks bud!

I might build em' a momma at some point. It would be fun to animate i think.

[Concavenator]

Thanks for the great pics,Blade! 

[suspsy]

Nice little flock, Blade! They really look like they're in a zoo!

[Dobber]

Cool pictures everyone!

One thing about the Guidraco, though. It may just be the photo's angles, but it doesn't look like there is enough wing. Look at the picture of the Quetz model that was posted above. You can tell that when the arms and hand are extended that there will be a wide membrane there to form the wing, but from what I can tell on the Guidraco, it looks like the membrane is very close to the arm and thus wouldn't be very wide at all when the wing is stretched. 

Am I just missing something? 

Chris

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Cool pictures everyone!

One thing about the Guidraco, though. It may just be the photo's angles, but it doesn't look like there is enough wing. Look at the picture of the Quetz model that was posted above. You can tell that when the arms and hand are extended that there will be a wide membrane there to form the wing, but from what I can tell on the Guidraco, it looks like the membrane is very close to the arm and thus wouldn't be very wide at all when the wing is stretched. 

Am I just missing something? 

Chris

From what I've read recently pterosaur wings seem to always be restored too large.

Check out this link : http://www.reptileevolution.com/pterosaur-wing-shape-problems.htm

[Patrx]

Careful - that's David Peters' site; he's not what you'd call a trusted expert. He might be on the right track in this case, but I'd look for info on the matter from another source.

[stargatedalek]

Peter's isn't entirely correct in this instance either. There is still some room for speculation as to the placement of membranes, and while Peters model makes a great deal of sense for small pterodactyls that would be diving and other such aerobatics it doesn't work for the earlier rhamphorhynchoids or for larger pterodactyls that flew primarily as transport such as azhdarchids. So it is really up to the artist as to what placement they feel works best for the pterosaur they are reconstructing.

@ Per Peters: He does tend to do an adequate job on his skeletals, but then he poses them in exaggerated and implausible ways which ruins them as references. His theories generally tend to be really "out there" to say the least. The one thing his pterosaurs do well on consistently is not shrink wrapping.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

You take the good with the bad..lol

There are a lot more illustrative examples there of the theory than anywhere I can find easily, some pages use diagrams showing thinner wings but aren't specifically referencing them, like this : http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2009/12/01/rspb.2009.1899

The wings in the diagram look like what I've seen recently in a lot of restorations.

[Victoria's Cantina]

The Guidraco does look pretty nice, but I can't get past the white around its eye. Kind of gives it a cartoony look. I do love the pose it's in though.

[Dinoguy2]

The actinofibrils would allow the membrane to contract up against the arm and expand back out when deployed. Actinofibrils are the closest thing we've found in nature to shape-shifting ability in tissue!

And Dave Peters is 100% wrong bout wing shape. Every real pterosaur scientist in the world and all the fossil evidence disagree with him. Except the spoon shaped tips, that's real.

@ Per Peters: He does tend to do an adequate job on his skeletals,

Yes, he does a great job making up bones and bone shapes based on nothing but his imagination. Based on the way he restores skulls he also doesn't believe crushing exists. Nothing on his site should be trusted. There are a few things he might get right based on nothing but the rest is pseudoscience.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/world-must-ignore-reptileevolution-com/