FINAL 24 HOURS! Last stretch goal, Albertosaurus, is nearly unlocked!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Oct 21, 2021 at 08:59:43 PM

Congratualtions everyone in our success thus far as we now are in our final 24 hours of the Tyrannosaur Series Kickstarter! As of this update, we are less than $4K away from unlocking the last stretch goal, Albertosaurus!

Here's a preview of the Albertosaurus album I'm currently working on.

I'll have a full gallery to show for this figure later today. 

As for what's on the paint desk next... it's Dryptosaurus!

I wonder how far I can get on this before the campaign closes tomorrow morning? Let's find out!

More on the Albertosaurus later today- let's get it!

-David

Postcard Set #3 added, plus new Daspletosaurus gallery, and first look at Albertosaurus!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 11:01:12 PM

Hi All- as we approach the home stretch of the Tyrannosaur Series campaign, I have several updates for you today!

Postcard set #3

The third set of postcards featuring the beautifully rendered package art for Daspletosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Tarbosaurus, Eotyrannus, Albertosaurus, Dryptosaurus, and Qianzhousaurus is available to add-on to your pledge now!

This set includes seven postcards instead of six like the other two sets, and features the artwork of Gabriel Ugueto, Raul Ramos, Shannon Beaumont, and Raph Lomotan. 

Add-on price: $13(US)/ $15 (INT)

 Daspletosaurus gallery 

I've uploaded a new Daspletosaurus gallery to my website, which you can find here.

A link to the gallery has also been added to the item listing on the main campaign page. Daspletosaurus was recently unlocked and is available now to add to your pledge.

First look at the Albertosaurus prototype 

Some of you may have seen this pop up late last night on the campaign page, but here is a the first image of the finished Albertosaurus, our final stretch goal at $530K!

Expect to see more photos and information on this figure as well as for the Tarbosaurus within the next few days.

Will we see the Tarbosaurus unlock later today? If you've been planning to let your friends know about this Kickstarter, now is definitely the time. And thank you once again to the backers who've been sharing this project- it's been a huge help!

And also, if anyone is having trouble with selecting the add-ons, please post your questions in the regular comments section so that myself or one of the other backers here can answer you as quickly as possible. 

We'll talk again soon- enjoy your day everyone!

-David

Tarbosaurus bataar is UNLOCKED- plus updates on the last two stretch goals!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 10:59:57 PM

We're now getting down to the final days of the campaign and unlocking the last of the stretch goals. So as you may have heard, yesterday the 1/18th scale Tarbosaurus bataar was UNLOCKED!

This figure can now be selected from the 'add-ons' menu to include in your pledge.  Add-on price: $117(US)/ $122 (INT)

The Tarbosaurus figure measures 20"/ 51cm in length and features 22 points of articulation, three sets of alternate feet, base, interchangeable standing lower legs, and a bendable tail end.

The preliminary paintwork for Tarbosaurus was done by Michael Whitworth and he did a really nice job establishing the foundation for the final look. 

Here's Tarbo with a few other Asian Tyrannosaurs. You can view the full prototype gallery here.

At this point I must address the size of this figure. While Tarbosaurus is estimated to be between 33-40ft long, due to its lighter build, it would not have been compatible with the T. rex body. And giving it its own 27" long figure would have been a big additional expense, so I opted to share it with the other Body 4 figures: Daspletosaurus, Gorgosaurus, and Albertosaurus. 

At this size it would represent a specimen of 30ft long, so if the size of the figure is a concern, you could refer to this a sub-adult. 

 It wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility to make a larger Tarbosaurus at some point later on, but for now this was the only way I could include this species in the line up.

Sculpting

 The sculpting for this entire figure was expertly handled by Raul Ramos.

This was the first of the body 4 figures to be sculpted, and various heads, necks, and arms would follow to create the other species. 

 Again, Aaron Doyle did great work with the parts separation for this figure.

This exploded view gives you a good idea of the amount of articulation that this and the other Body 4 figures will have. Keep in mind that the neck piece will be made of flexible plastic.

Package Art

 Being the multi-talented artist that he is, Raul is also creating the beautiful package illustration for this beast. This is still a work-in-progress, but as you can see it's already quite impressive.

 This package art will also be included in the newly added, Postcard set #3, which was added to the campaign yesterday.

Stretch goal updates

Seeing as how we only have two more stretch goals left to unlock, I wanted to give a quick update on each. 

Moros

First, here's the next stretch goal figure at $500K, Moros intrepidus! The head sculpt is still in-progress, but you can see it taking shape.

Albertosaurus

And after the recent reveal of the Albertosaurus prototype, a few people comments on the thick squat neck that was used. For some strange reason, I'd used the Tarbo neck which was a mistake on my part. So yesterday, I kit-bashed a new neck using the front of the Tarbo neck and the later portion of the Gorgosaurus neck and I think it turned out really well! 

 I still have a little painting to do before I shoot the gallery, but I'm much happier with this look. For the final action figure, we'll have an actual dedicated neck made for Albertosaurus, but it will be based on this look so the differences will be negligent. 

Albertosaurus unlocks at $530K and I think we still have plenty of time to make that happen.

That's all for now- let's go get that Moros!

Later everyone!

-David

Alectrosaurus olseni is UNLOCKED!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 11:35:41 AM

Congrats everyone on unlocking the 1/18th scale Alectrosaurus olseni! This is now selectable from the 'add-ons' menu to include in your pledge. 

Add-on price: $53(US)/ $55 (INT)

Color design

 The colors for the Alectrosaurus will take inspiration from the juvenile Green Tee Python.

This is one of several prototypes that is awaiting paintwork, but remember that after the Kickstarter campaign, the BackerKit pledge manager will remain open long enough to see all of the finished prototypes.

The hands for Alectrosaurus show a vestigial third digit, which is speculative, but believed to be very possible.

 This figure measures 12" / 30cm long and shares the same body (Body 2) as the juvenile T. rex, Teratophoneus, and Qianzhousaurus.

 Qianzhousaurus is part of the Wave 3 assortment and is estimated to deliver in September of 2023.

Sculpting

 Jake Baardse provided yet another beautiful head and neck sculpt as well as unique hands to go with this figure. 

 And Aaron Doyle once again provided the parts excellent separation. 

Package Art

The exciting package art illustration by Raul Ramos, depicts a couple of Alectrosaurus' in what appears to be a friendly scuffle. This composition is a nice call-back to Charles R. Knight's classic painting Leaping Laelaps.

 You can be sure that I'll be referencing this illustration when painting up the prototype figure. 

Add-Ons and FAQ's

I know that there are still a few backers having trouble adding on the new unlocked figures to your pledges. As mentioned previously in the campaign, Faelrin has provided us with this helpful guide to adding rewards to your pledge: https://imgur.com/a/RuVRN2Y 

It's also been mentioned that the Firefox browser can sometime erase the added items while managing your pledge, but Chrome seems to work fine.

The add-on selection options has allowed for a more streamlined pledge tier arrangement. And also worth noting again- if you only want to pledge for an add-on item(s), pledge at the 'Base Shipping for Add-Ons Only' and you can then select any add-on items that you want.

And if anyone has other questions, please be sure to take a look at the FAQ section of the campaign as I've been adding to it regularly as a resource for helpful info about the project.

We're now down to our last three stretch goal figures. Let's keep the momentum going toward the next big unlock, Tarbosaurus at $485K! 

More to come soon!

-David

Daspletosaurus torosus is UNLOCKED!
over 2 years ago – Sun, Oct 17, 2021 at 02:25:12 AM

As many of you know by now, the 1/18th scale Daspletosaurus torosus has been UNLOCKED! 

The figure is now selectable from the 'add-ons' menu to include in your pledge.  Add-on price: $117(US)/ $122 (INT)

The Daspletosaurus figure measures 20"/ 51cm in length and features 22 points of articulation, three sets of alternate feet, base, interchangeable standing lower legs, and a bendable tail end.

 I want to mention first off about the arms. Several people had asked if the they would be larger on the final version. Admittedly this is a detail that I'd overlooked at first, so I'm glad that it was called out. It just so happens that the hands and forearms for the Body 3 figures (Lythronax and Bistahieversor) were a perfect solution to this issue. 

 Shane Foulkes and I collaborated on the paintwork on this one. He did some really nice work with the preliminary paint for the broad color blending, mouth, eyes and claws. 

 And I then added the final applications to match both the color design and the package art (which we'll see soon).

 There was a request to see Daspletosaurus with Tarbosaurus and Gorgosaurus, so here you go!

 Between the three figures, they all have unique heads and necks. Tarbo and Daspleto will have their own hands, while Gorgo and Alberto (not shown) will have the same arms and hands.

I'm very pleased with how the colors turned out on Daspletosaurus, (the head in particular was very inspired by Gabriel's package art) and this has now become one of my favorites of the line. I'm working on a new gallery for Daspleto and I expect to have it up tomorrow.

 Sculpting

 The great sculpting work for Daspletosaurus was done by Raul Ramos. The wrinkle details really add a lot of personality.

 The head and neck were sculpted to blend with the body 4 which Raul also sculpted. 

 Package Art

Gabriel Ugueto created the wonderful package art illustration for Daspletosaurus, and even managed to incorporate the BotM Albertaceratops. 

That's a wrap for now, but don't go too far because as of this post we're less then $2K away from unlocking Alectrosaurus. And then on to Tarbosaurus at $485K.

Enjoy your Saturday night everyone- we'll talk again soon!

-David