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

[Shonisaurus]

Honestly, the repainted model of Caiujara de Collecta by Ben Van Steenberge for me is superior in work and quality to the Martin Garratt model, I personally like those more muted colors, it gives a feeling of a more realistic animal, without saying that Martin Garratt's repainted model is a work of art with the two repainted models being superior to the initial Collecta model.

[Bokisaurus]

Wow!😲 that is one stunning repaint! It's just exquisite! I'm glad you snapped it when you can, it's truly a showstopper piece!
It's really shows how amazing figures these CollectA pterosaurs are, with repaints it transforms them into something else.😃

[Libraraptor]

Those are gorgeous, breathtaking repaints! Congratulations!

[Duna]

Both of them are exquisite and gorgeous! Like a cryptic and dominant version ....

[Halichoeres]

That's a beautiful repaint. The Caiuajara seems to be a popular canvas!

[postsaurischian]

    This is to die for - consummate beauty - pure joy!
        I think I'm convinced and have to let mine getting re-painted as well.

[cooksonia]

Makes a good contrast to the garish paint jobs

[ceratopsian]

Thank you everybody for the comments on the Caiuajara.  I love both Ben and Martin's versions.  The sculpt does indeed seem to lend itself to repaints - if you decide, @postsaurischian, to have yours done, I would love to see a third take on the theme!

Today I'm showing a couple of Kaiyodo models.  Not quite "recent" arrivals, but relatively so.  I didn't buy all the 2020 releases, just the Spinosaurus and Allosaurus.  I didn't want another Tyrannosaurus, and I don't really collect skeleton models. If I was honest, I'm a tiny bit disappointed in the finished products.  They are not up to the high standard of the old Kaiyodos.  The paint jobs are definitely inferior and somehow the sculptures seem a bit more crude and less delicate.  The Spinosaurus didn't fit together terribly well either.









If you want to see hi-res images, or a few more, here are the links to my Flickr albums for each of them:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69501171@N03/albums/72157717379222898
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69501171@N03/albums/72157717379571098

[Sarapaurolophus]

Today's model is a repaint of a CollectA model, but not by Martin this time.  I've seen quite a bit of Ben Van Steenberge's work on the various dinosaur groups I dip into on the dreaded Facebook.  I particularly liked his repaint of the Supreme line Caiuajara when he showed it off.  This really is a bit of a guilty pleasure, as I already had a lovely repaint by Martin and I try (not always successfully!) to avoid duplicates.  But I couldn't resist it when he offered it for sale.  I particularly liked the restricted palette and the soft blue/grey background colour in combination with the rich browns.

Some pictures:

Simply gorgeous!

[paleochris]

I confirm that Ben does a very nice job! I also bought one of his repaint: his protoceratops of collecta is fantastic! it looks like a high quality resin model, it enhances much more the sculpture (which is very successful) compared to the original painting which is really poor.





You should ask him to make you one if you don't have a custom protoceratops collecta yet

[Shonisaurus]

@ceratopsian Magnificent repaints of Kaiyodo figures I congratulate you.

P @paleochris  repainted protoceratops is superior to protoceratops, in this case marketable by Collecta. My congratulations.

[ceratopsian]

P @paleochris - it's a beautiful repaint of the CollectA Protoceratops you have there.  You should definitely start your own collection thread to show off your models.

Today is a look back to something purchased earlier this year - it seems a life-time ago now, but it probably wasn't that long really!  I never got round to showing any photos of my Eofauna Deinotherium.  Here's a few I took last month before moving it from my study to join my other ancient elephants in the model room.  These are the only Cenozoic mammals that I collect.







As a bonus, here's a couple of photos of the Deinotherium skull cast on show in the magnificent central hall of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, taken when I went in autumn 2019 to visit their temporary exhibition on First Animals:





Here's the link to my Flickr album if you want hi-res images:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69501171@N03/albums/72157717388184927

I unpacked a box from Martin today - but the weather is so dark and dull photographs will have to wait a bit!

[Bokisaurus]

Great choice if your limited to just a few mammals, at least They have a few elephants to keep it company 😃

[Shonisaurus]

@ceratopsian A wise decision when choosing to collect figures, in this case deinotherium within prehistoric mammals. We have to prioritize purchases and know how to choose our favorite figures we cannot have all the figures of toys of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, not only for economic reasons but for reasons of space. You have to prioritize and know how to choose which prehistoric animals one has to buy. I congratulate you on your realistic decision. We cannot have all the figures and even most of the prehistoric animals of the innumerable brands of toy dinosaurs that exist today around the world, even brands of toy dinosaurs from the past vintage version.

[ceratopsian]

@Shonisaurus - wise words.  I collect a wide range of dinosaurs.  I do not have the space to collect an equally wide range of mammals!  B @Bokisaurus - it was really the Eofauna models that made the elephants decision for me.

Yesterday was bright, so I was able to start photographing the two Shapeways models I had purchased from @DinoToyCollector.  Both went to Martin Garratt for painting and basing.  The first I'll show here is the dwarf sauropod Magyarosaurus, from what is now Romania.  Baron Nopcsa was the first to suggest that the small size of this genus (then known as Titanosaurus) was due to the evolutionary process of island dwarfism, brought about by pressures on resources.  Subsequent studies of their bones about ten years ago supported his view that they were indeed small adults and not juveniles.

To remind me of the link with island dwarfism, I asked Martin to create a base showing my sauropod walking along a beach, with plenty of footprints of its peers and some flotsam and jetsam.  Although we don't have footprints of Magyarosaurus wandering over a beach (as far as I know anyway), there are trackways of other sauropods wandering over lagoonal shorelines or sandy damp surfaces, so it seemed a reasonable environment.  I'm very pleased with the prints: the "wet sand" shows off to perfection the banana-shaped manus prints lurking amongst the more obvious pes rounded prints.

I asked him to please himself on colour (just not the same colour as the Psittacosaurus and Repenomamus he was painting at the same time).  I'm very pleased with the palette he selected, especially the orange in the throat area fading to a more yellow colour further down the neck, and also the way he picked out the osteoderms, which are attested for Magyarosaurus.  I'm also partial to the little line of stripes across the tail.  Martin managed to get in a lot of detail and variation without the model seeming fussy or cluttered.

The scale for this model is the usual one for Wild Past - 1:35.  The length of the model itself, measured in a straight line from nose tip to tail tip is about 15 cm; the base is about 16 cm across.  This tests the limits of my photographic skills, as a lot of the length is of course neck and tail.  The body is tiny at about 4 cm.  The animal stands about 8 cm tall.













If you want hi-res or more photographs, here's the link to my Flickr album:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69501171@N03/albums/72157717456592967

[Flaffy]

Really fond of the how the deep-orangish yellow transitions into a lighter tone as well. The details on the base are a very nice touch.

[Shonisaurus]

As always, that repainting has been fable. I highlight apart from the beautiful painting, the precious effect of dinosaur footprints, how did you achieve it? It is a very nice figure that Shapeways magyarosaurus even if it is a small figure it is a highly collectible figure.

[ceratopsian]

@Shonisaurus - I do not know how Martin created the footprints. Perhaps he used the model itself to make them before he painted it.

[acro-man]

That repainted Caiujara is truly stunning, breathtaking!
This is the best of best, better than a thousand ways I could imagine it to be, a metamorphosis from a toy to a real animal!
And your photographic technique has improved dramatically. Brings out the detals. Adds depths to the miniatures and makes them look 10 times bigger (smart trick!)

[Ezikot]

The Caiuajara is a masterpiece and the whole thread is full of wonders!