1/40 Supersaurus- Released

[Meso-Cenozoic]

Wow, wow, wow, Malcolm! This guy is gonna be spectacular!!!

I know you said the spike in these pics aren't quite done yet. In some of the pics I've seen, I liked how the spikes varied in size a bit -- ex: growing a little taller just past the hind legs and then tapering again out onto the tail.
This one's a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea....


This one's a bad angle, but you can still see the varied sizes of spikes...


And, the tail still looks a little short to me in the side view.
This is an Araki Super (blurry pic because I blew it up from a smaller one). The tail in most pics I've seen has always been depicted as longer than the neck. Although, I like that you extended the meat on it a little further out. This one I think is too thin for the most part. I guess it's just the "whip" part at the end that could be longer.


But, hey, I know you're not done yet Just thought I'd throw some of these ideas your way.

Do you want us to post some pics for paint & pattern ideas?

This one's kinda nice...


I also like the subtle camouflage shadings in these (Although, the spikes are a bit too uniform. These are older Araki's)...



I'll keep an eye out for more! Great job so far, Malcolm. You should be really proud of this one! ;D

[dinonikes]

thanks for the encouragement- I am fairly happy with this piece, looking at it, as I try to pull it all toghether for the big finish line- I tried to meld together some of the different things I have seen done in other artists' reconstructions, especially when it comes to the neck- not 100% sure of the 'definitive' look to this one- so i supplied my own version-

I don't think this one will be that much of a pain to cast really-or to ship- it won't be real heavy, certainly not as heavy as polystone casts are- this will be a hollow resin/fiberglass piece -the resin is brushed into the silicone mold covering the image surface of the mold- next a layer of fiberglass is resined on top of this face coat of resin, the two halves are resined together , and the resulting cast is lightweight, yet very strong and durable-

Meso- i know you have said a few times that the tail looks short, but I can assure you that it is longer than the head/neck- I have it in hand and have measured it- the photos are deceptive, as the tail curves alot more back and forth than the head/neck end of this beast does-also my tail is lot more beefier than others I have seen- probably another reaon it appears shorter- I guess I just don't like the whip-ended tail look, for different reasons, some of them personal esthetics on my part, others technical as to molding and casting costs- will shoot a top view in the next batch of photos-
The spines on my figure do have a variety of sizes- easier to see in person maybe- they start off small att he back of the head, then they get quickly large on the neck, then they taper down to a smaller size on the back, hips and tail getting smaller to the end of the tail- I don't have that jagged looking spinal size variety seen in some reconstructions, I opted for a smoother transition of sizes making a more gradual, more even changes of size -as for placement relative to spacing of the spines- I placed a spine over every vertabrae seen in the skeletal reconsruction I used as reference

[tetonbabydoll]

I believe that the spines are not actually attatched to the skeleton in any way, but instead appeared to be made of keratin and just imbedded in the skin. ;DSend one to me for a prototype paint job to copy.....

[dinonikes]

^I might take you up on that idea- it would be sort of cool to collaborate with Teton on one of these as far as paint job, I could translate his paint scheme into the hand brushed over airbrushed style i use- hmmmm

[Radman]

Jul 3, 2009 23:52:57 GMT Meso-Cenozoic said:

Wow, wow, wow, Malcolm! This guy is gonna be spectacular!!!

I know you said the spike in these pics aren't quite done yet. In some of the pics I've seen, I liked how the spikes varied in size a bit -- ex: growing a little taller just past the hind legs and then tapering again out onto the tail.
This one's a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea....


This one's a bad angle, but you can still see the varied sizes of spikes...


And, the tail still looks a little short to me in the side view.
This is an Araki Super (blurry pic because I blew it up from a smaller one). The tail in most pics I've seen has always been depicted as longer than the neck. Although, I like that you extended the meat on it a little further out. This one I think is too thin for the most part. I guess it's just the "whip" part at the end that could be longer.


But, hey, I know you're not done yet Just thought I'd throw some of these ideas your way.

Do you want us to post some pics for paint & pattern ideas?

This one's kinda nice...


I also like the subtle camouflage shadings in these (Although, the spikes are a bit too uniform. These are older Araki's)...



I'll keep an eye out for more! Great job so far, Malcolm. You should be really proud of this one! ;D

The 3rd pic you show- I don't think it's an Araki but a Jonathan Rader original - he has it on ebay right now;
cgi.ebay.com/1-20th-Scale-Resin-Dinosaur-Model-Kit-from-RaderStudios_W0QQitemZ270381940151QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ef404fdb7&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=|293%3A1|294%3A30

[Meso-Cenozoic]

Yeah, radman, you're right. Actually, that's where I got the pic. Oops! His style does remind me of Araki though. Did you also catch his BIN price of $495 + $30 shipping! Ugh!!! Although, it is 50" long and 12" tall! But, it also needs to be assembled, glued, puttied, and painted!

Hey, Malcolm, no problem. You're probably right about the tail's length if it curves. We've only seen it from the side. And about the spikes, I guess I can't see them that well in these pics and it's not that I don't like them as is either. I was just throwing out ideas since you said they weren't completely done yet.

But like I said, you've done a helluva job so far! This is the one I've been waiting for! Any outside guess on what the price might be? Weren't we guesstimating it would be a little less if you made it hollow? Somewhere around the $30 - $40 range?

[bucketfoot]

Jul 4, 2009 7:12:49 GMT Meso-Cenozoic said:

*SNIP*

But like I said, you've done a helluva job so far! This is the one I've been waiting for! Any outside guess on what the price might be? Weren't we guesstimating it would be a little less if you made it hollow? Somewhere around the $30 - $40 range?

You trying to rob the man? Whatever it is, we'll GLADLY pay it for what is shaping up the be THE finest 1/40 Sauropod dino ever made (well, maybe except for the Battat Diplo....)

Seriously, I am already thinking about selling off some of my "unworthy" Sauropods like the Safari godawful Mamenchiasaurus and Bully. Apatosaurus to make room on the shelf for this baby!!

[Meso-Cenozoic]

Well, we all discussed this before you joined. I might be a little off with my memory. But, one of Malcolm's reasons for doing these was to make good quality sculpts at affordable prices. I remember we discussed prices in the $50 -- $60 range, but I think that was if it was solid. BTW, not all of us were lawyers!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

The price tag on the Rex is about 30.00 isn't it ? I would guesstimate 60.00 or so a good price for this one even if it's hollow.

What's wrong with the Safari Mamenchiasaurus ? It's one of only two Mamench replicas I'm aware of and really shows it's sculptor's ( Ely Kish ) style.

[bucketfoot]

Jul 4, 2009 8:15:48 GMT Blade-of-the-Moon said:

The price tag on the Rex is about 30.00 isn't it ? I would guesstimate 60.00 or so a good price for this one even if it's hollow.

What's wrong with the Safari Mamenchiasaurus ? It's one of only two Mamench replicas I'm aware of and really shows it's sculptor's ( Ely Kish ) style.

Your last sentence hits the nail on the head. Ely Kish has NO style or feel for dinosaurs, her 3 sculpts are among the absolute WORST that Safari has ever put out. Pathetic really, given the uniqueness of the animals.

I even raised the neck and tail of my most recently bought Mamenchiasaurus so they are parallel with the ground and straightened the neck out, but ...it still doesn't work.

So a little paint touch up and off to ebay we will go. Mamenchiasaurus is weird, but I can do without it until Malcolm gets around to doing a PROPER one.

As far as the Yangchuasaurus, its embarassingly bad.

Looks like a 210lb. guy wearing size 5 shoes!!!! (Actually, HOF ballplayer Hack Wilson did have incredibly small feet, but I do not think this dino did.) ;D

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I actually love some of her dino art :




Really look at Safari's quality at the time...no better than the pieces she made really...but the Mamench has some style I think...these animals were pretty new discoveries at the time as well if I recall.

[Meso-Cenozoic]

I like the Mamenchi too! Those new pics of hers are nice, especially the second one. In the first one, the theropod looks a bit too emaciated to me.

Anyway, Blade, I found where I remembered seeing the prices we talked about. I got the price right, but the animal wrong! My bad! LOL! Remember we first talked about Malcolm doing an Alamosaurus, not a Super. Malcolm had said, "When it comes to saurapods- at 1:40 scale the Alamosaurus would be 21 inches long and will use quite a bit of material, a piece like that could run up to like 30-40 dollars or so with my production process."

In the end, whatever he decides on I'm sure it will be worth every penny! ;D

[dinonikes]

Not sure of the price tag for this one at this point, will keep it as cheap as I can as always-

polyester resin is a bit cheaper than the urethane i cast my other figures in- so that will help keep the costs down- although the casting process will be more labor intensive than just pouring and filling a mold with urethane as I do with the other pieces-

we will just have to wait and see once one is cast-

[sid]

I like Eli Kish dinosaurs...They are "strange",granted,but it's still great paleoart,and i like the 3 Safari models inspired by her style

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

Jul 4, 2009 14:05:06 GMT sid said:

I like Eli Kish dinosaurs...They are "strange",granted,but it's still great paleoart,and i like the 3 Safari models inspired by her style

They weren't just inspired by her--- They were made by her.

[bucketfoot]

Jul 4, 2009 10:06:15 GMT Blade-of-the-Moon said:

I actually love some of her dino art :




Really look at Safari's quality at the time...no better than the pieces she made really...but the Mamench has some style I think...these animals were pretty new discoveries at the time as well if I recall.

The paintings make my point further. Its not like she was doing them in Burian's or Zallinger's time, when we didn't know any better that tails didn't writhe like snakes and that dinos weren't just giant splayed-leg toads..

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

She got her advice Don Lessem on Dinos...so if they look wrong to you I guess you can blame him...heh

I used to have a whole book of her artwork...I got a lot of inspiration from it among others for doing my own.

Meso I had pretty forgot he even mentioned doing an Alamosaur...lol seems like such a while back now. Maybe that conversation is what I was recalling..I thought it was somewhere else in this thread...my minds not lost...it's just gone...lol ;D

Malcolm, will this be the next dino finished or is there any others your just as close to completing ?

[tomhet]

*sigh* I really think those spines weren't necessary

I think we don't enough information about them so far

*ducks and covers*

[tetonbabydoll]

No need to duck, its true. Spines are all the rage now, but the evidence seems pretty sketchy. Has there been more than one specimen found with any associated spines?

That said, I am still dismembering cheap combs and putting spines on the Carnegie diplo. It is nice to have just one that way...

[dinonikes]

I was on the fence about whether to have spines or not- then I just I figured that if the spines are sculpted and molded in, I can offer a spine/no spine option- if you don't want the spines I can make one without them easily-