Paleozoo - new for 2020

[Halichoeres]

Revised Anomalocaris canadensis


Wiwaxia corrugata, revised and updated, 2× life size

[Faelrin]

I saw this on youtube last night. I was quite excited to see it, since I realized it was new (aside from this being one of my favorite Cambrian period species). I like the color scheme and pattern this has too.


Edit: Okay I saw the response below, and now I am looking forward to seeing those future releases. A number of those are species I long for (although there are a few alternatives in regards to some of those).

[Paleozoo]

Hi Halichoeres,

Thank you for posting the Wiwaxia image. I've been meaning to place a post here in the "New for 2020" page to provide an update on Paleozoo and the work that I've recently been doing - and plan to do this year - so I might just tag along here.

The Wiwaxia corrugata model is the latest release from Paleozoo. It has been built with assistance from Dr Jean-Bernard Caron from the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada (Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology) who has kindly given me feedback on anatomy. I believe that it is about as accurate as you can reasonably get and the various details are based on a number of papers which I link back to from the main Paleozoo website.

Over the last few months I have been revisiting a number of Paleozoo models, checking on detail, accuracy and quality and Jean-Bernard has been particularly helpful with the Cambrian assembly. One of these models is Anomalocaris canadensis which has been rebuilt from the ground up under his guidance. I'm expecting to release this model in the next week or two and will post that here when I do.

I continue to work my way through the Paleozoic era, attempting to research, build and animate accurate lifeform portraits from the various periods. It is a very time consuming process but I think I make steady progress. Through this coming year (time permitting) I hope to build Marrella, Arandaspis, Sollasina cthulu, Tullimonstrum, Diplocaulus, Gorgonopsid,....and the list goes on.

I'm also open to build suggestions and am happy to respond to any questions about Paleozoo here.

Best regards,

Bruce Currie
Paleozoo   

[Halichoeres]

Hi Bruce, thanks for taking the time to respond to this thread! I noticed that last year you tweaked the Dunkleosteus, it's much improved! I'm looking forward to seeing what else comes down the pike.

Out of curiosity, do you plan to follow the McCoy et al (2016) hypothesis that Tullimonstrum is a stem-group lamprey, or the various responses (e.g. Sallan et al 2017, Rogers et al 2019) arguing against that interpretation?

[Shonisaurus]

The wiwaxia looks spectacular. The material he uses for his prehistoric animals Paleozoo is of a superior quality to the toy figures as is logical.

The details are excellent and Burgess Shale's invertebrate painting can't be better. I really like Paleozoo figures.

[Paleozoo]

Many thanks Shonisaurus.

Thanks also Halichoeres: I'm not sure about the Tullimonstrum detail yet as I haven't really dug down into that - but many thanks for the heads up on the papers. They will be my first port of call. As you probably know most organisms have conflicting interpretations and that's something that I'm trying to reflect in the portrait notes and links that I include on each creature. Aside from reading papers I also try and get feedback from someone centrally involved within a field - ideally someone who has written a relevant paper (and getting that someone to come on board can take a bit of digging all by itself). At the end of the day of course I have to make a call on the build or nothing would get done - but I do at least try to keep my own speculation at bay. I guess I'm most interested in having it explained to me by the best in the field and if it makes sense then to pass on that information in a portrait.

Best regards,

[indohyus]

What a gorgeous looking thing. Look forward to seeing the rest of the creatures coming this line.

[Paleozoo]

So I've just released this today.



Although I built Anomalocaris a number of years back this is an entire rebuild from the ground up - with detailed feedback on anatomy from Dr Jean-Bernard Caron of the Royal Ontario Museum.

https://youtu.be/33VzVb296JA

[Shonisaurus]

Wow! The Paleozoo anomalocaris is the best Cambrian figure of this invertebrate species made to date. I would like Paleozoo to commercialize obscure figures of Paleozoic invertebrates, especially from the Cambrian age.

[Flaffy]

Wow, the updated anomalocaris is truly a work of art. One of the most convincing reconstructions of the animal I've seen.

on another note, has the Tiktaalik model been updated as well? It looks different from the previous slit-eyed version.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

Wow, these are both spectacular 

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for the update, @Paleozoo! I'll update the first post with this great new model

[indohyus]

That is an absolute beauty! Good work

[Killekor]

I find this new Anomalocaris to be spectacular. Congratulations!

Killekor

[BlueKrono]

Hey Bruce, is there any chance the older versions of Anom and Dunkle would still be available?

[Paleozoo]

Thank you for the comments.

Killekor: No unfortunately, I will no longer be making the old Anomalocaris and Dunkleosteus models available for sale. It really just gets down to accuracy at the end of the day. Even if one were to prefer an earlier version - and despite my best efforts at the time - they are simply not accurate enough for me to now consider releasing. Just collector items now I guess:)

Flaffy: Yes Tiktaalik was updated early last year - in fact it has been updated a couple of times over the last few years in response to professional feedback. There have been a number of changes made to the model, some anatomical and others more to do with model quality.

The anatomy has been reworked in a number of places - the pelvis region is now much more robust - the head has a more refined and accurate profile and proportional adjustments have been made overall.

Technically I have re-addressed surface displacements and textures to better reflect Tiktaalik skin surfaces and to also improve the printing results (those damned lines). I have learnt over time that a great deal can be done in this regard to help improve the general quality of 3D prints.

Once printed I also now apply protective coats to all models to improve the look and provide better handling protection. Then I carefully apply a further polymer coat (it's less than a coat really, more like strategic dabs and workings) to help accentuate the surface textures. All up I believe it makes for a much nicer finish to the models.

Tiktaalik roseae is not strictly new for 2020 but as it is so different from the earlier version reviewed here on Dinotoyblog I thought I might just upload a couple of files.



https://youtu.be/fWimuhXlZE0

New information keeps arising on all these Paleozoic creatures so in that sense they tend to be works in progress - however I do always try to be as accurate as possible.

Many thanks.

[Shonisaurus]

Tiktaalik perfect! Paleozoo makes figures of impressive quality.

@Paleozoo By the way, will you ever dare to make PVC prehistoric animal figures as long as they are of the same quality? I am fascinated by these beautiful sculptures.

[Flaffy]

Thanks for the response Bruce!
Man, I really oughta get myself one of these someday.... 

[Flaffy]

How durable are Paleozoo models?
While the figures definitely not made to be played with, are they fragile like resin? Do they deform easily when compressed since they're hallow?

[stargatedalek]

How durable are Paleozoo models?
While the figures definitely not made to be played with, are they fragile like resin? Do they deform easily when compressed since they're hallow?

They would shatter before they would deform. They're made of sandstone, so think of them like ceramic or polystone.