Safari 2020

[Doug Watson]

Unless I'm wrong, the conclusions of the 2016 Psittacosaurus study are similar to, but more complete than, the 2010 study. The coloration of the Safari piece lines up with both studies; the only "discrepancy" is the lack of patagia on the hindlimbs, identified in the later paper.

I am still hesitant to accept the patagia, I am not a Palaeontologist but I have a observed a lot of rotting animal carcasses in the wild and I have seen some weird stuff happen to skin after a body has bloated then collapsed and begun to decompose. To me it looks like the skin of the leg that has just flattened out as the body rots. I have seen similar things happen on carcasses that I have seen in the wild, but again I am no expert.

[Patrx]

Indeed; I'm no taphonomy expert either, but that scenario does seem plausible.

Going back a bit, I haven't seen the Qianzhousaurus in person yet, but I really like the way the face looks overall. It makes sense for the teeth to be extremely subtle, especially for this taxon. On a more aesthetic note, I am pretty fatigued of big chompy theropods with their teeth on full display at all times. I am presently of the opinion that feathers are likely for Qianzhousaurus, but the skin detail looks really precise and sharp in photos.

I recently got my Deinonychus in the mail!

What a beauty; the dinosaur toy of my dreams right here. It looks to be cast in at least two pieces, and some of the plastic seems to have a stiffer consistency; especially notable in the tail. Consequently, I don't anticipate that people will have many problems with warping on this one over time.

[Jose S.M.]

I love that photo of Deinonychus. Its expression looks so gentle, which is something rarely seen in theropod toys.

[Sim]

Having said that I'll probably have to give up some more scientific accuracy and make the teeth more visible in the future because it seems dino toy collectors want their teeth over accuracy.

While it's not a perfect comparison, I personally prefer if the lips and mouth tissue were restored like this. 

(RJ Palmer's Tyrannosaurus for Saurian)

Personally, I don't like how the mouth tissue is restored in that Tyrannosaurus, where the teeth of the upper jaw are covered while those in the lower jaw are exposed.  I prefer how Doug did the Qianzhousaurus in this regard.  As for how the keratin crests on the Qianzhousaurus are painted, I can't check mine right now, but I think it too only has the tops of the crests painted.  It doesn't bother me at all though, they're very minor details and I like the Qianzhousaurus figure a lot.

With regard to the scaly Safari theropods looking un-polished, I have both the Qianzhousaurus and 2019 Allosaurus and their detail is simply excellent.  They look polished, not un-polished!

It's true, though, we often do want to see "more teeth." Do continue to sculpt on the accuracy side - it's your trademark and a most welcome one in our subculture.

I agree!

@Doug Watson Doug, I have a question. If Safari hadn't told you until now to make a T.rex, would you give it feathers? Since you opted for a scaly version of Qianzhousaurus, also a (derived) tyrannosaurid. This is not to say I'm against the featherlessness of the model, I'm totally fine with it, if there's evidence supporting scaly tyrannosaurids, which I think there is, on Daspletosaurus, if memory serves me well.

Also Doug, I hope you can address to Safari that the paint scheme on the Psittacosaurus is obsolete. Would it be a big effort just release a repaint of that figure so it can reflect the new, more likely coloration? Instead of releasing a repaint of an old figure, this would be a much better option. Only the paint scheme would change and that would make the figure more accurate and realistic.

My preference is to use the fossil record when it is available and as far as I know all fossil integument for North American Tyrannosaurs show scales.

What do you mean when you say the paint scheme is obselete. Has a new study come out refuting the colours? If you mean the 2016 article I don't see any great difference in the colours and since as far as I know it is still an unnamed species there was probably variation between the species.

Yes, I meant the 2016 study. I remember it because it came out a little while after your Psittacosaurus figure had been announced for 2017. And I didn't know it was an unnamed species.

@Concavenator @Doug Watson

Scaly skin is known from Tyrannosaurus, Tarbosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Albertosaurus and Daspletosaurus.

Regarding the Psittacosaurus with integument preserved, this is said about it on the Psittacosaurus Wikipedia page:

The authors were unable to determine which species of Jehol Formation Psittacosaurus the specimen belonged to due to the way the skull is preserved, but ruled out P. mongoliensis, based on hip features.

Which species does the Wild Safari Psittacosaurus represent, Doug?  If it's P. mongoliensis, having a somewhat different colouration to the colour specimen is a good thing since as you say there was probably variation between the different species.

[Concavenator]

Yes, I asked Doug because I basically take the new Qianzhousaurus as a confirmation that if he were to sculpt the T.rex now, he would go for a scaly approach. That's not to look down on his fantastic T.rex, I have it myself and I love it.

@Patrx congrats for your Deinonychus! It's awesome, I have been wanting a beautiful and accurate figure of this dinosaur since I was a very little child, I thought the day we would see a figure like this would never come  And it's (in my opinion) noticeably better than the Velociraptor. Do you plan on reviewing it? That would be great to see 

[Flaffy]

I think I've found my main issue with the Qianzhousaurus.
Like Blade has said previously, it's like the painter was expecting teeth on the lower jaw. And as the teeth aren't obviously exposed, the painters opted to haphazardly dot white paint on where they expect the teeth would be; ending up with weird, flat/round human looking teeth rather than delicate gum-concealed teeth as seen in Monitor lizards.

With the precision of paint on the upper teeth, the painters are clearly capable of working with extremely fine details. So it's not the skill of the workers that is the issue here. I think it's just a lack of care in general while painting the figure, as seen in the keratin hornlets.

I personally didn't realise the Qianzhousaurus was based off monitor oral tissue until Mr Watson clarified it was, mainly due to how the lower teeth were painted.

[SidB]

Interesting. Comparable to the factory folk painting on the extra fore claws on PNSO's Amargasaurus because they thought they were missing.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I read an article..maybe in PT recently? I think it was Don Lessem said he didn't like the robotic dinosaurs made in China, rough, out dated, ect..then he went to the factory and met the people making them and it turns out they weren't bad at making them, they just had no idea what was "right".  I can understand not every factory worker actually having an interest in dinosaurs, but someone supervising could make an announcement on how they could be done.

[Doug Watson]

Which species does the Wild Safari Psittacosaurus represent, Doug?  If it's P. mongoliensis, having a somewhat different colouration to the colour specimen is a good thing since as you say there was probably variation between the different species.

P. mongoliensis

[Doug Watson]

I think I've found my main issue with the Qianzhousaurus.
Like Blade has said previously, it's like the painter was expecting teeth on the lower jaw. And as the teeth aren't obviously exposed, the painters opted to haphazardly dot white paint on where they expect the teeth would be; ending up with weird, flat/round human looking teeth rather than delicate gum-concealed teeth as seen in Monitor lizards.

With the precision of paint on the upper teeth, the painters are clearly capable of working with extremely fine details. So it's not the skill of the workers that is the issue here. I think it's just a lack of care in general while painting the figure, as seen in the keratin hornlets.

I personally didn't realise the Qianzhousaurus was based off monitor oral tissue until Mr Watson clarified it was, mainly due to how the lower teeth were painted.

I didn't sculpt the teeth as though they were completely covered with gum material. I used the Komodo as reference but I shied away from going full Komodo. The teeth should be painted like the close up catalogue image. By the looks of yours it appears as though the painter missed most of the teeth and painted teeth between them. The factory may have filled in around the teeth more than I wished or they may have shrunk down more during moulding, I'll know better when I get my samples.

[tanystropheus]

Unless I'm wrong, the conclusions of the 2016 Psittacosaurus study are similar to, but more complete than, the 2010 study. The coloration of the Safari piece lines up with both studies; the only "discrepancy" is the lack of patagia on the hindlimbs, identified in the later paper.

I am still hesitant to accept the patagia, I am not a Palaeontologist but I have a observed a lot of rotting animal carcasses in the wild and I have seen some weird stuff happen to skin after a body has bloated then collapsed and begun to decompose. To me it looks like the skin of the leg that has just flattened out as the body rots. I have seen similar things happen on carcasses that I have seen in the wild, but again I am no expert.

Yeah, basking shark carcasses turn into Plesiosaurus 

[Shonisaurus]

@Doug Watson By the way Doug, what kind of ichthyosaurus does the figure you have made belong to?

[Concavenator]

@Doug Watson By the way Doug, what kind of ichthyosaurus does the figure you have made belong to?

I.communis, I believe

[Shonisaurus]

@Concavenator Thanks for the info.

[Daspletodave]

I got my 2020 Safari dinos, and I'm very impressed. My favorite of the bunch is the Edmontosaurus! I was a little surprised at how small the Dilophosaurus and Concavenator are, but they are very nicely done.

[Doug Watson]

@Doug Watson By the way Doug, what kind of ichthyosaurus does the figure you have made belong to?

@Concavenator is correct it is based on Icthyosaurus communis with much help from @dinotoyforum

[Shonisaurus]

@Doug Watson I congratulate you on your figure Doug Watson I really like your icthyosaurus communis you have done a good job. Sincerely, your real figure of Icthyosaurus communis goes round the same as prototype photos and even videos and photos of collectors. He was at first quite pessimistic with this figure, but far exceeds that of other brands such as Invicta and exceeds or at least equals his Carnegie counterpart in genius.

[Concavenator]

@Doug Watson Out of curiosity, when did Safari ask you to sculpt the species of the 2020 lineup?

I remember when Qianzhousaurus was revealed to the world way back in 2014, Safari posted the news of the discovery on their Facebook page and some people (me included  ) asked for a figure of it, and they answered with a "Maybe". But clearly they didn't plan to release it back then. Funnily enough, when Nasutoceratops was discovered in 2013, Safari also made a post showing the discovery, and another person asked for a figure of it, and just a year after, in September 2014, they announced their new Nasuto.

[Doug Watson]

@Doug Watson Out of curiosity, when did Safari ask you to sculpt the species of the 2020 lineup?

Early in 2018.

[MLMjp]

@Doug Watson Out of curiosity, when did Safari ask you to sculpt the species of the 2020 lineup?

Early in 2018.

So basically, @Doug Watson, you probably have part of the 2021 line up sculpted already and you probably know or will soon know what you will do for 2022.
Of course your lips are sealed and you can't tell us nothing. But I may ask something?:

Do you ever think things like..."Can't wait to see what the people at the DTF will say when they see this" or "this is going to make (insert random forum member/members) very happy" when you finish your pieces?