Silvanusaurus' Customs - New Megalosaurus Photos

[Silvanusaurus]

Thanks everyone for the great comments, it's been very encouraging posting my work on here so far.

Here's a couple more photos I took for fun with the pair:

Thankyou, that is wonderful to hear, I'll be very interested to see how your collection goes.

[Rathalosaurus]

This ist the best Tyrannosaurus I have ever seen!! You really made a beatuy out of the ugly Schleich Rex!!

[Arul]

So much better repainted so well  amazing

[Mr. Challenger]

This is a real masterpiece! Congrats Silvanusaurus, you created a fantastic character, he could be the main character in a special episode of Walking with dinosaurs documentary 

[Paleogene Pals]

Awesome! One of the best rexes I've seen in awhile. Very realistic.

[DinoLord]

I never thought that the horrendous Schleich T. rex could actually be turned into something good... Nice work!

[MLMjp]

Fantastic job!
love this custom
This figure now feels like a "character" it has its own ''personality''

[Dinomike]

Fantastic work! A piece of art!

[Othicx]

Very nice!!!

[Tyto_Theropod]

WOW. This is without doubt one of the best - if not the best custom I have ever seen. Kronos looks like he could be from Rebor or even Sideshow. To think that you managed to make the Schleich rex into something so beautiful it's without doubt a work of art shows that you have some serious talent. That's also some great photography skill, and the environment really brings the models to life.

[Paleona]

I love the red coloration you've given him!  The scars on his muzzle and missing teeth are a great touch, and make me imagine what his life has been like.  That little rex chick really pairs well with him, too, I love it!  Your photographs really make him seem massive, awesome work~

[Silvanusaurus]

WOW. This is without doubt one of the best - if not the best custom I have ever seen. Kronos looks like he could be from Rebor or even Sideshow. To think that you managed to make the Schleich rex into something so beautiful it's without doubt a work of art shows that you have some serious talent. That's also some great photography skill, and the environment really brings the models to life.

Wow, such praise! Thankyou! The only problem is I'll have to try and top it with whatever I customise next...

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

You really made the most out of the Schleich rex! The baby really shows contrast between (largely) factory paint and a custom paintjob.

[pylraster]

How were you able to take off the head by the way?

Not the most delicate technique; I just pulled it off with my bare hands! The head has a protrusion on the back that slots into the neck, and holds the jaw in place It came apart surprisingly neatly, whatever glue or sealant was used just tore off, now it can be removed and replaced easily, but I'll have to glue it back in at some point and sculpt over the seam. I'm trying to retain the moving jaw but it will probaly end up limited by the additional sculpted bits around the neck.

Thank you. This actually worked for me when I tried it, although I dipped it in hot water first. This Schleich rex has a lot of good texture, and with some tweaking like what you did, it does have potential. Anyway, your work continues to inspire me to work on some customs too.

[Silvanusaurus]

I finally got around to completing another customised dinosaur piece, although didn't manage to take any in-progress shots. It's nowhere near as extensive as the Tyrannosaurus 'Kronos' I did last time...
It's the Carnegie Carnotaurus, which I purchased some months ago. While the figure has a great sculpt, I really dislike the 'standing still and roaring into the air' pose (which has put me off some of the other Carnegies), as to me it just isn't visually appealing or very naturalistic. Otherwise I think it's a very elegant vision of carnotaurus, if in need of a large meal or two...
Anyway, the main operation was in removing and repositioning the lower jaw in order to close the mouth, and then a resculpting of the whole throat area, with a bit of added wattle for good measure.  I also repositioned one of the legs so that it would have a horizontal stance, with the other foot angled back as though walking. Though it was impossible for it to balance like this so I made a base with a raised lump of earth/rock, and a sculpted foot-shaped depression, with a metal pin and a corresponding hole on the foot, to allow it to stand or be removable if wanted.
Then I repainted the whole figure, with a kind of salamander style scheme, it's mostly very dark earthy greens, then pale browns beneath, and finally a very bright and flamboyant red/orange for the throat, as a display feature. Unfortunately, when I coated it in a 'Matte' sealant, it ended up with a slight gloss that obscures the original depth of the colours, and is more obvious in these photographs. Funnily enough it actually makes it look more like a salamander, though it wasn't my intention.
The photos aren't too good as the light outside at the minute is pretty dismal... 

Also unfortunately, my base plan didn't go so well, as the foot doesn't fit neatly into the depression, and unless balanced absolutely perfectly, the whole figure still manages to fall over. (But hey, a company like Rebor struggles with these issues, and I'm just an amateur, so what did I expect!) I'm not entirely sure how to fix it, whether to somehow add weight to the base itself, or just glue the foot down and be done with it... 

Anyway, I don't know if I'm pleased with it or not, I really like the colour scheme and the new pose/face etc. but I'm very disspaointed about the gloss on it, is there any way of reversing it? I'm also annoyed the base hasn't worked out, but thats not too big of a deal overall.
I like to give these custom dinosaurs mythological names... I think I'll go with Mephistopheles for this fellow... as he's turned out quite demonic.

[Dilopho]

Wow! That carnotaurus looks so much better than the original!

[Megalosaurus]

I love what you did to the throat area.
The base is pretty but is too small.
Great customisation.

[Silvanusaurus]

I love what you did to the throat area.
The base is pretty but is too small.
Great customisation.

Yeah, I should probably make a whole new base of a larger size, I wanted to keep it minimal but it wasn't practical.

[Kayakasaurus]

Really neat! He could have one foot in the water, like stepping into a river. That's probably a little to complicated though.

[Silvanusaurus]

Well, I have gotten back into the game properly now, and started on a new extensive custom, in a similair vein to my previous T-rex; starting with a  rather silly looking, cartoonish figure, and turning it into a more realistic and dynamic dinosaur, with lots of fleshy detail. This time, it isn't a T-rex at all though, it's what will eventually be a Baryonyx! Or something as close to one as i can get... The crop of current baryonyx figures is fairly underwhelming (although I'm already loving the Papo one) and I really wanted to create an impressive, lifelike version of the dinosaur. The base for the custom is the Bullyland Spinosaurus; an incredibly goofy looking specimen, but with a pose and certain attributes I liked and thought could convert into that other spinosaurid. Firstly, the spine had to go, as you'd expect. Next, I did some facial surgery to elongate the head, as the proportions were too stumpy. Now I have begun sculpting the fleshy detail, starting at the head... Here is a before (not my photo), and after so far...

The textures are based on snapping turtles, toads and crocodiles. Unfortunately, the head is looking too big at the moment, so I will have to bulk up the body as I did with the Rex. I also need to add some bigger claws so it lives up to its name.