Ceratopsian's custom paints and everything else: new 10 May 2024

[PhilSauria]

Amazing, and what's also amazing is that something like that survived the trip with little or no damage! There's hope for the postal service yet.

[postsaurischian]

  Absolutely wonderful! A lovely scene ... and the babies are adorable.
       Don't let Michael see this! I'm just joking.

[Shonisaurus]

Thanks for the photos ceratopsian. That resin diorama of psittacosaurus with its offspring is fabulous. The photos honor the nice sculpture. Gorgeus figures. 

[ceratopsian]

Your review might be the greatest encouragement to change Bingni's mind to make sculpts of obscure species again!

Let's hope it does. I think Bingni's strength is producing models that are out of the ordinary. Personally I am always looking for species that are represented less often. This is especially true when I am buying a high-end kit. For me, space is too valuable for yet another T. rex etc. His talent will shine more clearly and his imagination will perhaps have more freedom away from the popular genera. I think the mass produced toy market is different here from the market for kits produced in small numbers.

[ceratopsian]

       Don't let Michael see this! I'm just joking.

The cabinet is locked and has an alarm.  (Also only joking!)

[Halichoeres]

Wow, incredible diorama, congrats!

[Fenestra]

Fantastic! I love the coloration of the parent's head.
The babies are very well camouflaged and blend right in with the plants.
All in all it's very lifelike.
I must admit, I'm a little jealous.
Congratulations on such a beautiful piece.

[ceratopsian]

Amazing, and what's also amazing is that something like that survived the trip with little or no damage! There's hope for the postal service yet.

I was so worried it wouldn't survive that it took me an hour to pluck up the courage to open the box!  Nanye used wedges of stiff foam around the edges of the base to great effect to protect all the foliage (and the babies' heads) - the wrapping was held away from the foliage by the foam.  The parent was packaged separately higher up within the box in its own layers of protective plastic. I can't tell you how relieved I was!

[ceratopsian]

Fantastic! I love the coloration of the parent's head.

That was part of the instant attraction when I saw photos of the model.

The babies are very well camouflaged and blend right in with the plants.

That was the other major attraction.  I've never seen that accomplished so well with a base.

......
I must admit, I'm a little jealous.

I think all of us members feel like that sometimes!

[PlesiosaurusNessy]

The Psittacosaurus mum with her babies is really an absolut outstanding piece of dinosaur art!
It is absolute one of the very best dino sculptures, I´ve ever seen, the diorama is fantastic and so super realistic!
A super idea of the sculptor, to create such a wonderful piece of art, absolutely 5 big stars !!!
I very like the whole design of it, especially the babies are extremely well done,too!

[Bokisaurus]

Love it! Make we wish I had more space and $$$ for desktop/resin figures

[ceratopsian]

I can't believe that so long has long by since I last posted in this thread.  It isn't that I haven't bought models - quite a few in fact from the "toy" end of the spectrum.  More that family matters were a little challenging.  I hope to catch up on my postings.

Anyway - today's offering is Dinone Studio's 1:20 Amargasaurus, which I pre-ordered way back in January through acro-man, with delivery expected in April.  It went direct to Martin Garratt.  My brief to him was I wanted something similar as I loved the stripes and how they emphasised the structure of the spines.  But I wanted something just a little less overwhelmingly dark dung brown.  I wasn't sure how long he would be with Martin, in view of their difficulties with the shop being flooded out.  As is the way of things, Marilyn contacted me towards mid-May, just before I went off on a geology/dinosaur related holiday to Northern Spain.  So I had her hang onto it until my return and it came last Wednesday - a real day of it, as we had lots of workmen and also a delivery from Everything Dinosaur (CollectA plus BotM base accessory kits!)  I knew that a couple of neck spines had broken in transit from China to the UK, so Marilyn warned me it was possible this would happen again.  Also the model was top heavy and I would need to super-glue the feet and tail to make it stable.  This rather struck terror to my heart, as I'm not manually dexterous.  But she said she would include a suitable glue - along with a warning not to get it on the paint, as it would turn white!  I think it was top heavy because the model was just very slightly out of true - the underside of the tail has a tab to insert into a slot, but on mine the tab wouldn't quite go in.

I opened the box.  Bad news.  Five of the neck spines had snapped off, all along the far-side of the neck.  It took an age to find one stray one but eventually I located it.  Then I spent several minutes working out which spine fitted where - they are different lengths and thicknesses.  When I was feeling stronger, I roped my husband in to hold the model while I glued the bottom-most spine into place, having carefully worked out first the precise orientation of how it needed to fit onto the neck.  I wanted to get the best possible result.  All well.  I tried another.  We spread the five over a couple of days.  Only one was tricky to bond, which gave me kittens.  I was also scared of exerting too much pressure on the model as I held the spine in place to bond.  But all went well.

On Sunday we tackled gluing him to his base.  Again, my husband was much more gung-ho than I.  I took my time looking carefully under the tail to work out the best point of contact to glue - mostly it didn't have a good contact to the base.  But again, all well, even if I was suffering from nervous exhaustion by the end of the operation!  I held him in place for a good while.  Then took my hands away.  He seemed firm.  I placed cushions and pillows around, hoping that if he took a nose dive, that might prevent breakage.  Not sure it would have though!  That evening I brought him upstairs to the model room with great care and parked him in the window.  Today I managed to get some photos, and then transferred him to his permanent home in the cabinets.  I didn't take the risk of standing him against my usual black velvet ground.  I thought the less movement and manoeuvring, the better.  So the shots aren't wonderful, but they do give you an impression.

One other thing - Martin avoided the dark dung brown by using a brighter shade of brown on my beast.  But he also very cleverly made a larger mass of running water to slot in front of the dinosaur, over the integral rather dark water.  Martin's a more of a turquoise blue than the original brown, and he made it seem fast flowing by showing it parting round rocks.  I think the larger river is in better proportion to the size of the model.  Marilyn said I could glue it in place or leave it resting.  I felt I'd done enough gluing!

The model also came with a postcard-sized certificate and plastic stand.  It has artwork on one side:

The other side has the image of the skeleton of a rearing Amargasaurus, the model number (15/20) and various logo stamps.

Despite the trauma of the gluing operations, I'm very happy with my new acquisition and don't regret for a minute ordering it.

[Jose S.M.]

That was a shame what happened to the spines but luckily you were able to fix it, it's a gorgeous model.

[ceratopsian]

That was a shame what happened to the spines but luckily you were able to fix it, it's a gorgeous model.

I don't think you would see anything wrong unless you knew.  They snapped off cleanly right at the bottom.  And thank you!

[postsaurischian]

   He is wonderful! The earth-toned striped colouration suits him well.
       The larger river is definitely in better proportion to the size of the model.
       Your story reminded me of a model I had to glue together, stored between pillows over night.
       My first thought when I woke up the next day was to pull the pillows away and see if everything was alright .
       Without your story I wouldn't have noted any flaws ... and I still don't. Congrats! A great piece of art.


       P.S.: Oh! I forgot to mention that I love the card's design .

[Shonisaurus]

Fortunately, thanks to your work, it has been for the amargasaurus a sad story with a happy ending, in short, a work of art. ' 

[Bokisaurus]

Wow, that is simply amazing! My favorite sauropod 
Nicely painted, love the design . You guys did a great job with fixing the spines. Congrats, what a beautiful addition to your collection.

[ceratopsian]

Thank you for your comments, friends.

[SidB]

Congratulations on your milestone post - #1000, Ceratopsian.

[ceratopsian]

Congratulations on your milestone post - #1000, Ceratopsian.

Oh yes - I hadn't noticed when I posted, though I knew it was approaching!