Alectrosaurus olseni is UNLOCKED!
over 4 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 4 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

My new interview with Paleo-Nerd!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Oct 16, 2021 at 05:33:14 AM

Just a light update today as we approach unlocking the Daspletosaurus (more on that tomorrow!). 

I want to share a really fun interview I had yesterday with Paleo-Nerd that I think you all will enjoy. I talk a lot about Beasts of the Mesozoic, Cyberzoic and plenty of other toy/ dinosaur related topics. 

And as you can see, I have the Dino Riders homage T. rex prototype in-hand, and Yutyrannus later in the interview as well. 

I want to give a big THANK YOU to Paleo-Nerd for setting this up and allowing me to share this with your audience and now with mine. I hope you'll give it a watch!

Talk to you all tomorrow- have a great night everyone!

-David

Final Prototype preview for Tarbosaurus and Daspletosaurus!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Oct 16, 2021 at 04:58:31 AM

As we quickly head toward unlocking that big 'ol Gorgosaurus, I wanted to show a quick preview of two more Wave 3 stretch goal figures!

Tarbosaurus

Aided by some very nice paintwork by Michael Withworth, I took Tarbosaurus a step further in matching it up with the original color design. 

Daspletosaurus

Featuring the great paintwork of Shane Foulkes, I added a bit more of that Beasts of the Mesozoic fare to Daspletosaurus, lining up the final look with the color design and the soon-to-be-revealed package art. 

More photos of these two coming soon. And while we're on the topic of painting... 

Paint Tutorial

Since the new unpainted grey versions of the T. rex figures have been included as add-on options (see last night's update) I've been asked for some tips on how to paint dinosaur figures. My process is pretty simple and has remained the same since I started with the Raptor Series. The paint you use may vary, depending on how bold you need the colors to be. I actually still use a lot of the same paints from my art school illustration classes.  Personally, I don't like to spend much on supplies, so you may want nicer brushes, but I'm fine with the value packs. 

So for those wondering how you might go about painting your T. rex once it's available, or even a BotM figure you own right now, check out this paint tutorial I made a while back for a Build-a-Raptor set as it may help give you some ideas.

The photos begin with the final painted figure (based on the Roadrunner character) and then the tutorial picks up midway through the gallery. This custom figure I did for fun of course ended up being released later as the Saurornitholestes s. 'Runner'. 

That's all for now, but it looks like it won't be long before I make another announcement for the Gorgosaurus unlock, which is very exciting. We're looking strong going into our final week- I have a feeling we're going to see things pick up very soon!

-David

Eotyrannus lengi is UNLOCKED, Plus updates on other Tyrannosaurs!
over 4 years ago – Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 09:41:31 PM

Catching up now on yesterday's events- the 1/18th scale Eotyrannus lengi has been UNLOCKED! This is now selectable from the 'add-ons' menu to include in your pledge. Add-on price: $32(US)/ $35 (INT)

 Eotyrannus features a new head and thicker neck, but otherwise will share the same body as Suskityrannus.

As with the other 'Body 1' figures,  Eotyrannus measures 8" / 20cm long, with 19 points of articulation including a bendable tail, base. and interchangable feet.

 Once painted, the figure will feature colors inspired by the Red Kite.

 Sculpting

 The head sculpt began for Eotyrannus with yet another amazing skull sculpt by Raul Ramos. 

And again, the printed skull was less than 1 inch in length.

 The actual head sculpt is still in-progress, but I can already see the personality coming through in this one as 'hungry and fluffy.'

Package Art (WIP)

 The package art illustration by Shannon Beaumont, is still in progress, but should be finished soon. Here's the latest update.

Can't get enough of those Tyrannosaurs and their predatory lifestyle. :)

Following Up

 Just wanted to share some follow up progress on a couple of other figures. 

Proceratosaurus

Still working on the head for this one, but I think the proportions/ placement with the neck is looking more natural now.

 It's a bit easier to see it all without the wax color.

Tarbosaurus

 Based on some backer feedback, I went back in to the Tarbosaurus paint and touched up the striping with more gradated colors and less solid shapes. Hopefully I interpreted the feedback correctly, but I do feel like this is an improvement, so thank you for the comments.

That's all I have for now. We're heading toward unlocking the big Daspletosaurus with about $17K to go, so let's keep things going! And I want to give a big thank you to all of you who've been promoting this campaign to your friends on social media in an effort to reach new backers. It's a great help and is very much appreciated.

Take care everyone, we'll talk again soon!

-David