Triceratops83's Ornithischians- Rebirth from page 14

[triceratops83]

I find the Papo colour scheme in your photo attractive.

Yeah, I'm kinda hoping people get turned around on it. It's definitely more interesting than the mottled green version.

[triceratops83]

The following four acquisitions are the bulk of my "Holy Grail" list. Surprisingly, after years of hunting for them, they all became available in a short period of time, coincidentally blowing up my bank account. So I might swear off Ebay for a while, it's got enough of my money lately. Still, I'm super excited to have crossed these off my want list. I think the next important things I need to get are the Kleinwelka Anatosaurus and Greg Wenzel Lambeosaurus.

The Sinclair Trachodon.


Favorite Saurolophus


Battat Ouranosaurus


Battat Maiasaura


Getting those Battats in the mail today was a fine way to end my holidays. Now, on another note, I've always given up on me sculpting as a bad job. But, working on a modified figure recently on which I sculpted an entirely new head out of Green Stuff, and having it turn out OK, I decided to try and sculpt something from scratch. Me being a cheapskate and using air hardening clay resulted in another abomination of a failure, but I went and bought some Sculpey and tried again. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether it's a success or not, but I'm encouraged to keep going for now. And it turns out Sculpey's not that expensive - the figure below used up an itty bitty block that cost $5.50, so a larger figure still shouldn't cost more than actually buying a good quality dinosaur toy.

So anyway, here's my first ever finished sculpt, for better or worse - a Dryosaurus.



It doesn't have much detail since I wasn't sure how much I'd get away with during baking - I thought bits might crack and fall off like with regular clay, but nuh, this stuff is great. Also, next time I'll sculpt a bigger figure and won't have to resort to tiny little nubs for hands. Here it is painted up.




I know it's not great, but it's better than anything I'd tried to do previously and now I wanna see if I can improve and actually produce a decent model. Please let me know what you think and how to make improvements.

[Shonisaurus]

Nice acquisitions. I congratulate you, those figures are very beautiful but somewhat expensive especially the maiasaura of Battat and the saurolophus of Favorite. The Sinclair trachodon I suppose will be quite expensive. Battat's ouranosaurus (perhaps the best that exists on the market is more affordable, at least it seemed to me). My congratulations and enjoy your new figures.

On the other hand your new dryosaurus sculpture is not bad but you have much prettier figures than that from my humble opinion.

[Faelrin]

Congrats on nabbing some of those rare figures. Some of those (particularly the Battat ones) are on my wishlist, just from them still being the most accurate options out there (it is a shame there isn't more. I hope Safari Ltd or CollectA can deliver some new takes on these). That little Dryosaurus you sculpted is precious too. I really like the color scheme you chose for it as well.

[Halichoeres]

Got some rarities in, congrats!

I'd also be encouraged by this start at sculpting, keep at it!

[triceratops83]

Thanks @Faelrin & @Halichoeres for the encouraging words!

Here's my second attempt, a Velafrons. I used a cheaper (but still trusted art supply brand) of polymer clay, but did the limbs and head with Sculpey, which is easier to detail. Made a couple of mistakes, like standing it up while baking, which caused the hands and feet to crumble and doing a rushed, poor job of repairing - hence why the right foot in particular looks gumby. I also think I must have accidentally pulled the armature forward at some point, because it seems like the tail is too short and the neck too long. Still figuring out how to add detailing. Now I'm gonna start on the next one.

Velafrons

[Faelrin]

I am loving these, especially the exotic choices here.

[Shonisaurus]

That velafrons has turned out great! It is a beautiful figure.

[Libraraptor]

I like this thread, I like the bakgroud on the photos and I like the variety. That extant dinosaur pictures are enjoyable!

[triceratops83]

I am loving these, especially the exotic choices here.

I'm gonna try and stick to genera that I'm not likely to see in toy form for a while. Should provide a bit of variety

That velafrons has turned out great! It is a beautiful figure.

Thanks! But the more I look at the photos the more embarrassed I get. It doesn't look too bad on the shelf with other figures, though. From a distance.

I like this thread, I like the bakgroud on the photos and I like the variety. That extant dinosaur pictures are enjoyable!

That's a real compliment! I know I can't compete with a lot of forum members in photography, but I hope my pictures at least have a distinctive look. And did you notice the Magpie that photobombed the duck photo? A Theropod amongst the Duck-bills!

[ceratopsian]

Your bank account might be less happy, but lovely new acquisitions! I love the two Battats of course, but I always get a lot of pleasure from my Favourite Saurolophus.  I don't have any Sinclairs but have always hankered after some, so I'm quite envious!

As for your sculpting efforts - I can't do anything in this sphere, but I would think there's a lot of satisfaction in having something unique on your shelves and knowing it's your own handiwork.  Keep at it, I'd say - and the more you do, the more you will learn about the process.  A really good idea to make models of taxa you can't buy.

[triceratops83]

Thanks, @ceratopsian , hopefully given enough time and practice I'll get around to sculpting something I can be proud of. In the meantime though, here's a sleepy Hadrosaurus.

Sorry, this pic is a little bright.

[Shonisaurus]

You have been great. By the way, the hadrosaurus has come out with more muscle mass, which makes it more scientific. Have you been inspired by the mummified edmontosaurus nicknamed Dakota?

[Jose S.M.]

Your sculpts are beautiful. I love the Velafrons coloration.

[triceratops83]

You have been great. By the way, the hadrosaurus has come out with more muscle mass, which makes it more scientific. Have you been inspired by the mummified edmontosaurus nicknamed Dakota?

I've just been looking up photos of skeletons (in the case of the Hadrosaurus I used a Gryposaurus), then I put a piece of paper on the computer screen and trace it in the position I want. Then from that I build the armature. As for musculature I just keep adding until it looks reasonable.

Your sculpts are beautiful. I love the Velafrons coloration.

Thanks! And despite my dissatisfaction with the Velafrons several people have praised the colours, so I guess I did that all right at least.

[Halichoeres]

I imagine the resting posture was a bit easier to keep intact in the oven. These are a great way to get species that, as you say, are unlikely to be made soon by our favorite companies. This thread is inspirational--I've long wanted to do the same for some fishes that I think are unlikely to be made, but this is really pushing me to do so sooner rather than later.

[Faelrin]

Another lovely addition.

I agree with @Halichoeres. This is really great and  inspiring, and is a great way to add neglected species to one's collection. I still have a wee bit of sculpey left. Maybe I could try my hand at something with it this week. Just gotta decide on what.

[triceratops83]

I imagine the resting posture was a bit easier to keep intact in the oven. These are a great way to get species that, as you say, are unlikely to be made soon by our favorite companies. This thread is inspirational--I've long wanted to do the same for some fishes that I think are unlikely to be made, but this is really pushing me to do so sooner rather than later.

Yeah, thought I should practice on a few lying down rather than put pressure on the limbs. I really messed up the Velafrons by standing it up in the oven.

I would LOVE to see some fish sculpted by you, your drawings are amazing.

Another lovely addition.

I agree with @Halichoeres. This is really great and  inspiring, and is a great way to add neglected species to one's collection. I still have a wee bit of sculpey left. Maybe I could try my hand at something with it this week. Just gotta decide on what.

What's your favourite group of Prehistoric animals? I'd love to see the results of whatever you pick. Hey, we should start a "Neglected Species Art" thread, where members could add their sculptures/drawings/paintings of animals not represented by toy companies.

[Faelrin]

Well I do like anything from the Ediacaran through till now, but that's such a vast amount of options to pick from. Granted I'm probably leaning on something from the Paleozoic as it is pretty neglected (though has seen a huge boost in options thanks to O @Oammararak's LIFE project). Maybe Greererpeton, or Diadectes, which I think have no figures out there currently, and depending on how feasible they would be to bake, and how much information I can find on them to reference from. An invertebrate like a trilobite may be an easier one to go with though, and there is a plethora of options that interests me when it comes to those. Granted stuff from the Ediacaran would probably be fun to sculpt out as well, because of their interesting and odd and simple shapes. The only downside is whatever I do sculpt will have to remain unpainted for the time being as I have nothing to paint anything with.

I also have some resin stuff lying around that I've never used in all the years I had it. Depends if it is still good, I could probably make use of that as well, once I get familiarized on how to use it. I also have some sculpting tools laying around too that may be beneficial to use.

[triceratops83]

You're right, a Trilobite would be a good, simple project (kinda wished I thought of that). But, I think Diadectes is a great choice - it's an interesting looking animal yet most often it was, in the books I had as a kid anyway, depicted as a fat iguana.