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Post by tomhet on Dec 15, 2008 3:25:44 GMT
Well, since he's going to make scenery elements, there's no point in having a base, is there?
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Post by kuni on Dec 15, 2008 3:34:04 GMT
I like the idea of bases, especially for the theropods! One idea that could work, would be to have the carnivores and such have a small indentation in the foot, and have the scenery have a few small "pegs" in places to stick the carnivores. Not a perfect solution, but it would be decent. One other thing: In the 15-fig sets, it would be awesome to have the figures in "interactive" poses -- carnivores snarling or snapping their jaws, herbivores bellowing, etc etc, since it seems to me the point of a set with multiple dinos is to have them looking like they're interacting with each other. That being said, if I had to choose between "action poses" and "amazing accurate sculpts", I'll take the latter. dinonikes: That Diloph reconstruction is incredible! I love the head in particular, especially the shape of the jaws. Really makes you wonder if Diloph was a fish eater like Bary and the Spinosaurids.
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Post by dinonikes on Dec 15, 2008 3:34:47 GMT
I proposed the bases for cases where i would want to have say the dilophosaurus running with one leg off the ground, the base would be necessary in such situations to make the dino toy able to be stood up- it couldn;t stand on one leg. The accessories would be separate elements, not tied to the dinosaurs. Does this make sense? I am just trying to have the option to make some dynamic poses on these toys, instead of the cliche poses. Wanted to see if this would be a turn off to collectors, as most dinos seem to not have bases except the higher end ones like dinostoreus dinos for example. I would not be making these type of toys as my museum model line as shown on my Classified thread covers this higher end type model.
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Post by dinonikes on Dec 15, 2008 3:42:20 GMT
Yes Dilophosaurus had one of the Baronyx / spino type heads. The mouth has the same type indentation near the front, not unlike crocs and such. You dont usually see this in most of the models, which is why i like ROger's sculpture so much.
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Post by kuni on Dec 15, 2008 3:58:13 GMT
I think the separate bases would be good, and if the peg and the foot-indentation are always the same size or close to it, you can use the same base for all of the dinosaurs who need it. I'm assuming something like this?
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Post by therizinosaurus on Dec 15, 2008 4:02:29 GMT
I think something like that would work great!
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Post by dinonikes on Dec 15, 2008 4:37:17 GMT
I would probably make the bases part of the cast dino as opposed to a separate base that the dinosaur plugs onto. I have found that toys that have those type plug in prongs either dont work well,too tight or too loose, or the prongs ends up snapping off. I am thinking more along the lines of toy soldiers like the marx soldiers- that have a base cast as part of the figure. This would be much more stable and wouldn't get lost. NOt all ofthe dinos would have these, just a few that would need a base to be stable due to an action running pose.
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Post by kuni on Dec 15, 2008 5:18:26 GMT
I'm not opposed to the idea, though I would prefer to just have a "base" piece to stick on. Since the peg would be on the base(ie. not the dino), the peg snapping off wouldn't be too big of a deal, especially if the peg is a nice standard size like 1/16th or 1/8th of an inch.
I strongly prefer bases to no base in general just because it means we'll get to see theropods with their tails in the air instead of "kangaroos".
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Post by dinonikes on Dec 18, 2008 1:55:53 GMT
So tonihgt I thought I'd take a break from other things and start a toy dino. I chose to start with Dilophosaurus for sentimental reasons of my own. I started out by getting a book and looking up the length- it says 6 meters- so following wheezy's formula for making things 1/40 scale- I took one of Gregory Paul's drawings of dilophosaurus and scaled it down to 6 inches. I always try to find a straight on side view- a perfect profile of whatever critter i want to sculpt. Paul's drawings are great for this purpose. I cut out the body in the printed paper drawing, used spray adhesive to adhere it to some thin stiff cardboard- soda or beer cartons are great cardboard for this, cut it out of the cardboard. i hot glued some floral wires to the cut out body, using an additional scaled print of the drawing to measure from to make my bends in the wire with needlenose pliers. This gives me an armature to sculpt onto. i can bend the armature to get it out of its stiff pose. I got this far ( posted photos) before my puppy got a hold of it when i wasn't looking and chewed it. It is salvagable, the little devil. But this is a samll dilo- this scale won't work for some of the dinos or other prehistoric critters that have been most requested- for example- coelophysis was one of the most widely picked so far. This scale would be too small to make a decent coelophysis in my opinion, maybe I am wrong. I am starting to think that I should have variable scales in these sets, i had wanted to make them all one scale. Any reactions? I think that the lists are great, doesn't seem to be any others coming so my plan now is to go ahead and figure out the most popular ones and make a set list for each of the two playsets and get started as i can fit them into my workload.
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Post by dinonikes on Dec 18, 2008 1:56:37 GMT
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Post by dinonikes on Dec 18, 2008 1:57:14 GMT
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Post by dinonikes on Dec 18, 2008 1:57:57 GMT
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Post by dinonikes on Dec 18, 2008 2:00:37 GMT
I think you can see why i wanted to be able to have bases for these theropod toys.
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Post by kuni on Dec 18, 2008 2:12:15 GMT
Absolutely -- bases are a necessity for theropods.
I think variable scale is a requirement if things like Coelophysis are in the set, but why not do a sort of variable scale? Have a general range of 2-7 inches (more than 7 seems too big for a "playset", smaller than 2 seems too small to sculpt, but your mileage may vary). Small dinosaurs like Coelophysis can still be small, (2-3 inches), so they'll be smaller than a theropod or sauropod, but they won't be technically as small as they should be. That way, we can have differently sized dinos and have an idea who's bigger or smaller, even if the exact scale isn't right.
For example: Category.........Size...................Dinosaurs Small............2-3 inches...........Coelophysis Medium........3-5 inches...........Dilophosaurus, Ceratosaurus, etc Large............5-6 inches...........T-Rex, Spinosaurus Huge.............6-7 inches...........Most sauropods
This way, a Coelophysis will be smaller than a sauropod, even though the scale won't be exact.
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Post by tomhet on Dec 18, 2008 2:24:49 GMT
If the scale isn't exact, there's no point in making them smaller. I say make them as big as possible stating the scale
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Post by dinonikes on Dec 18, 2008 2:27:41 GMT
What do you think of the dilo so far? I will post photos as I go so you can see how I work if that is of interest.
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Post by wheezy on Dec 18, 2008 2:34:47 GMT
if you are planning to do smaller dinos try a 1/20 scale. I would keep all the smaller dinos to the same scale. Since this is half the 1/40 scale just double the meter measurements to get the figure size in inches. Coelophysis is 2.7 meters(9ft.) x2 equals 5.4. or roughly 5.5 in. or Take 9 x12/20 equals 5.4. this is slightly smaller than you dilo but makes it a little larger to work with. This is why most museum lines don't do smaller dinos the 1/40 scale makes them too small. Usually dinosaurs 15 ft or larger are a workable size in a 1/40 scale.
Kuni's idea would be fine for a basic toy line like the marx, but i would not recommend it for a collectors or museum line. Besides a coelophysis in a 1/40 scale comes to be about 2 3/4 in.If the size is too difficult to work with and you have your mind set on making that particular dinosaur scale it up to the 1/20 scale.
The figures pose so far looks great. I can't wait to see him finished the dilo is my favorite theropod. I hope you would consider doing a parasaurolophus for the same reason tomhet wants an acrocanthosaurus. Its my favorite and no museum line has got it just right yet.
I know how you feel about the dog scenario. My pug has eaten 2 pairs of glasses, 3 glass xmas tree ornaments, and chewed threw a strand of lights. And that is just in the past 2 weeks.
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Post by stoneage on Dec 18, 2008 3:28:20 GMT
Coelophysics at 2 3/4 inches is comparable to Dinotales and they seem to have decent detail!
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Post by wheezy on Dec 18, 2008 3:40:11 GMT
Coelophysics at 2 3/4 inches is comparable to Dinotales and they seem to have decent detail! Is that in height or length. The coelophysis would be 2 3/4 in long in a similar pose as the dilophosaurus he has already made making it even shorter in height.
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Post by dinonikes on Dec 18, 2008 3:45:10 GMT
i have been working on a duck bill carcass at work on my lunch, which is a parasaurolophus- ao you should like it wheezy. I will probably make a 'live' one for the set- it is also one of my favorites.
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