David Silva's Beasts of the Mesozoic Tyrannosaur Series

[terrorchicken]

just curious, could the juvie tyrannosaurus figure stand in for a smaller tyrannosaur species?

Probably, although the colour scheme gives it away immediately. You could pretend it's a Tarbosaurus or a Zhuchengtyrannus juvenile at least.

Speaking of Tarbosaurus, I'm dying now to see what its colour scheme will be. Tiger snake would be neat.

I mean could the juvie tyranno figure stand in for a different ADULT tyrannosaur species, or would it be too obvious that its a youngster.

[Carnoking]

The sculpt looks great, but I will agree with @Faelrin that it does look like there's some shrink-wrapping going on with that head. That's generally not something that kills a figure for me even though I do recognize why it's a big source of contention for others. But I do find it interesting that a lot of people on social media are now glossing over that feature, and in a few rare cases are even defending it on an otherwise highly accurate model.

[suspsy]

Yeah, a friend and I are presently engaged in a one-sided argument on Facebook with an individual who's insisting that dinosaur skulls were in fact shrink-wrapped. And when I showed him various comparison shots of lizard skulls vs lizards with flesh and skin completely concealing the large holes, he responded that those don't count because lizards aren't archosaurs.

Oooooookay.

[Faelrin]

Part of me wonders if it is because of the sculptor's style. I noticed it in some of the Saurian models, such as the troodontid:



On the other hand, it wasn't really there on the final rex that was revised for Saurian:





But looked to be when rendered in the same program that the BotM rex is being rendered in):



He also sculpted the sub-adult Triceratops and adult Triceratops, and while one can sort of make out the fenestra, it isn't shrinkwrapped per se (or very minimally if it were). Merely the different texture work going on kind of "highlights" it. I think that could also be what is going on here with this BotM adult rex sculpt, is that the different texture work on the scales, namely the sizes of them, is possibly making it look worse then it is, in combination with the less then ideal lighting of the rendering program being used. Basically there are larger scales along the fenestra, but smaller scales within.





In fact looking at the other WIP sculpts that have been revealed it certainly looks like the scale sizing difference around and in the fenestra is adding or making it worse then it is, if not the lighting from the program it is being rendered in. The only thing is I don't get this impression at all (or perhaps minimally so) from looking at Raul's Tarbosaurus (which seems to be rendered in the same program), and also David's juvenile Tyrannosaurus, which both also have the same sort of larger and smaller scales texture work around the fenestra area going on, as does this adult rex sculpt. And after David's stunning work on raptors and ceratopsians (which I've at least seen the prototypes in person), I would find that very hard to believe that his rex sculpt(s) would suffer from shrinkwrapping, especially now of all times.

The only other thing I can think of comparing this too is perhaps the Safari Ltd Tyrannosaurus, which has a consistent manner of texture work on the face, and therefore completely hides it altogether.

Hopefully he can address or clarify for the folks concerned about this, about what we are seeing here.

[Kapitaenosavrvs]

On the other hand, it wasn't really there on the final rex that was revised for Saurian:

@Faelrin

Wait, are they ACTUALLY working on Saurian again? I considered it dead, since they moved to a new Project. I was very disappointed. I moved to Path of Titans. Which is beatiful and seeing the new Stuff on the Test Brach is quite amazing. I do not want to talk about... the Isle.

To the Debate on Shrinkwrapping. Sometimes, it feels as if People scream Shrikwrapped if there is just a slight sign of Headbone or Bone in Genreal. It feels not like an discussion. More like screaming at each other just to try to win an Argument and feel better. The Pics of the Rex from Saurian we can see above is good example (for me), to combine a fleshy und muscular look, i would expect from a rex and still the typical Shapes. The Tail looks a bit tiny, but there will be always something^^ In the End, theres is and will be always a bit of personal artistic influence on recreating Animals, we never saw in a whole.

Extreme shrinkwrapping exists, it looks awful, but thats not the point in my comment. I just dislike the exaggerated Discussion.

There will never be THE perfect and perfectly accurate Figure in the next years, decades, what ever. Even most of the paleontologists debate over how and why and what.
The BotM Tyrannosaurids look fantastic. I prefer more accurate Figures myself, but these are just massive and great work of talented and dedicated people. At least thats my feel to it. I guess, the Big Boys aren't in my Pricerange and will be sold out quite fast, but i would love to get one, if theres one i like. I am really looking forward to the Yutyrannus.

Also:

The only other thing I can think of comparing this too is perhaps the Safari Ltd Tyrannosaurus, which has a consistent manner of texture work on the face, and therefore completely hides it altogether.

+1

[Flaffy]

Wow, wasn't expecting to see the big man himself this early, but damn... that's a cool looking rex. Really digging the intricate wrinkles, hopefully these details are preserved on the final action figure.

Either it's shrinkwarpped, or that the large scales behind the nostrils are particularly pronounced on this restoration. Giving the impression that the fenestra is sunken in. I'm more partial to the latter. Though I wouldn't mind if they added more flesh to the face either.


Seeing how fancy the Tyrannosaurus looks. I can't help but feel the Tarbosaurus sculpt is a bit... bland. It just feels like a toned down version of its North American cousin, especially the face sculpt.



As the BotM Tyrannosaurus has pretty sharp and spiky keratin, maybe the Tarbosaurus's keratin could be rounded, but far more rugged and extensive. Something similar to the Prehistoric Kingdom Tyrannosauurs/Tarbosaurus reconstruction. (notice how the keratin almost wraps around the eyes)

[Flaffy]

Wait, are they ACTUALLY working on Saurian again? I considered it dead, since they moved to a new Project. I was very disappointed. I moved to Path of Titans. Which is beatiful and seeing the new Stuff on the Test Brach is quite amazing. I do not want to talk about... the Isle.

What new project? All I know is that the team has shrunken by a few members since the EA launch, and that progress has been moving at a snails pace, if at all.

[John]

The final sculpts revealed for the tyrannosaur series have all been good,but the Tarbosaurus is my favorite so far.

[suspsy]

Seeing how fancy the Tyrannosaurus looks. I can't help but feel the Tarbosaurus sculpt is a bit... bland. It just feels like a toned down version of its North American cousin, especially the face sculpt.

Radically different colour schemes will undoubtedly spice up and distinguish both of these guys.

[Faelrin]

Some information from the adult T. rex sculpt post on FB from David. First things up is the response to all the feedback he's been receiving.

Thanks everyone for the comments- I'm glad to see that the majority of you are happy with this depiction. I too am excited to see this sculpt developed into a huge action figure! But the thing about recreating a subject so beloved and well-known is the inevitability of divisiveness based on how people believe it should look, as often times the evidence itself is divisive. That being said, as with any figure that we develop, there will be a constant commitment to improving the figure at each stage of development. And if this stage isn't to your liking so far, I ask that you please reserve your judgement for the physical prototype. Or perhaps in the end it's simply not the T-Rex you had in mind, and that'll happen in some cases as well. In any case, I truly believe we have the best team in the business to create these figures and I have no doubt that this T-Rex action figure will blow minds when all is said and done.

In response to someone asking if it would need a base:

It will have a base.

In response to someone that asked about if it would need rod support:

This pose should be achieve able with only the feet pegged into a base, but more dynamic poses will require a posing rod.

In response to someone asking about when it would go on sale:

Kickstarter is currently planned for next spring.

The last of this is important I think as it shows progress is moving along steadily/faster, and might not need to wait until late 2021 for the Kickstarter to go live, as was earlier estimated. Of course anything can come between now and change that, but still good news I think. Edit: I think the base stuff is important too, and I recall discussion about the pegs on instagram (on the colored concept art post), and how it will possibly be an option, which is further confirmed above.

I also do agree with him on reserving judgement until seeing at least the physical (probably unpainted) prototype, which I mentioned in my comment on instagram last night after my post here, which I'll share below (which is basically more of the same that I posted here as well, but slightly modified take on it to fit the shorter character limit on instagram):

Part of me understands the concern here with the "shrinkwrapping" of the antorbital fenestra that some folks are having, as this is coming from the same sculptor of some of the Saurian models, and I got that impression with some of them (such as the Pectinodon). However I didn't get that impression with the final revised model from the Saurian T. rex (but did with an earlier version when revealed and rendered in this same program). I think what may also be going on here is difference in size in the texture of the scales could be exaggerating (if present), or creating an illusion that it is present. Namely the scales around the exterior of the antorbital fenestra are much larger, then the ones "within it". The revised Saurian T. rex had or has something similar going on with its sculpt detail on the face/head as well. The same sculptor also worked on the Beasts of the Mesozoic Triceratops (both sub-adult and adult) and I didn't get that impression that they were shrinkwrapped (even after seeing the prototypes in person last year), despite that it looked somewhat highlighted on them, which again was probably due to the difference in texture work. If this is an actual concern I'm sure it will be addressed and corrected as any potential issues were fixed after feedback was given on it (such as with the Buitreraptor, Microraptor, or Sinoceratops). I certainly also want to reserve judgement until there is a physical prototype to look at as well, and from more angles then seen here.

[Flaffy]

Seeing how fancy the Tyrannosaurus looks. I can't help but feel the Tarbosaurus sculpt is a bit... bland. It just feels like a toned down version of its North American cousin, especially the face sculpt.

Radically different colour schemes will undoubtedly spice up and distinguish both of these guys.

That is true, but I really think the Tarbo could use just a little more spice. Especially with how much "love" (in terms of stylistic flair) the Tyrannosaurus got, with all the fancy wrinkles and throat pouch. Instead of smooth keratin as depicted on the current Tarbo, I think rough textured keratin would significantly help in differentiating the two tyrannosaurids.
I doodled something to illustrate my idea: (skull restoration by Batavotyrannus on twitter)
- Rough texture
- Far more extensive (wrapping around the orbits, increased thickness of keratin in front of the eyes)
- Heightened nasal ridges
- Jugals in the correct orientation

[suspsy]

I shared the T. rex sculpt images on a Facebook group dedicated to tyrannosaurs and Thomas Carr weighed in:

Pointer: the jugal horn points down, not to the side.

I passed on that information to CB. To be honest, I'm surprised Carr didn't say anything about the lips given that he's been a vocal opponent of them.

[John]

I shared the T. rex sculpt images on a Facebook group dedicated to tyrannosaurs and Thomas Carr weighed in:

Pointer: the jugal horn points down, not to the side.

I passed on that information to CB. To be honest, I'm surprised Carr didn't say anything about the lips given that he's been a vocal opponent of them.

I've noticed that overall opinion on the subject seems to be shifting more and more on the side of theropods having lips.The Cryolophosaurus built by Blue Rhino Studio did not have extensive lips,but the life size T. rex based on Sue later built under the same scientific advisor from the Field Museum actually does.

[Kaustav Bhattacharyya]

Has they said anything that the direction of the jugal horn will be corrected in the final updated version of the T.rex and all the tyrannosaurs?

[suspsy]

David Silva acknowledged Carr's comment, so we shall see.

[Kaustav Bhattacharyya]

The progressing artwork of Guanlong has been released in Facebook.

[Flaffy]

Thanks K @Kaustav Bhattacharyya for the notice.

Seems like he went with the suggestion of using Northern Cassowaries for inspiration instead of Southern ones. Now that's very epic.

[Faelrin]

I'm actually glad he used the Northern Cassowary as well, as it's very fresh (not that I had any qualms about the Southern one being used, but well in regards to Guanlong it has been done before, such as the Dinosaur Revolution one for example). This is definitely one I will be getting though (but also helps that it is one of my favorite tyrannosauroids).

Also hard to tell for sure but it kind of looks like the insides of the digits and palms will have reticulae while the outsides are feathered? That's going to look very awesome I think, if that is the case.

Anyways I'll add this wip pic to the op.

Also @Flaffy I really agree with your ideas for the Tarbosaurus. And the jugals on the Tarbosaurus need correcting then too? Any other issues with the others so far? Would be good to catch any potential issues as early as possible.

[Flaffy]

Also @Flaffy I really agree with your ideas for the Tarbosaurus. And the jugals on the Tarbosaurus need correcting then too? Any other issues with the others so far? Would be good to catch any potential issues as early as possible.

Glad you agree! I feel like this figure is a perfect opportunity to show paleo-enthusiasts and casual folk alike that Tarbosaurus is not just a smaller, lesser version of it's North American cousin. But an incredibly unique and specialised Tyrannosaur in it's own right. Here's to hoping the unique proportions of this dinosaur is captured on the tweaked body sculpt.

The jugals on the Tarbo are better positioned than on the rex, but could be better. I've already brought this up with David.
Not too familiar with Bistahieversor myself, and thus I can't comment on it at the moment. The juvenile rex head sculpt is fine for a more conservative approach, though a bit inconsistent in design with the adult version. The arms and legs are a bit wonky here and there, nothing too serious, but since they're very early work-in-progress sculpts I'll be holding judgement.

Also, David's response to the Tarbo suggestions.

[Faelrin]

@Flaffy Glad to hear he is going to take it into consideration. Tarbosaurus is certainly one of my favorite tyrannosaurids, and I would love to see it given its due in this line (especially with how few options are out there for this one as is). I suppose it also helps that it comes from one of my favorite prehistoric ecosystems as well, and co-existed with some of my other favorite prehistoric animals, such as Deinocheirus.