A prototype of Type C orca

[caipirasuchus]

Hey guys, let's talk about orcas.

I'm a Brazilian researcher living in Germany for some months. As it's very difficult to obtain good models in Brazil, I have a limited time and budget to start a collection prior to my return. Inspired by this amazing review, I decided to combine my fascination with cetaceans and the Antarctic and collect whales... Antarctic whales.

No problem with the minke and sperm whale. But then I have to choose an orca. For me, the problem with this species is that they never have a realistic paint job: it appears that its coloration pattern is so iconic that just reproducing it in any way is enough.

As I want an Antarctic orca, I decided to buy a Wild Safari Sealife miniature and try to customize it. This model, a male, has a pretty look, its proportions are realistic (not oversized head, large pectoral fins) and, to be honest, its paint job is very decent. For Antarctic forms, it can be fairly assigned to a type A ecotype.


A very nice miniature about to be messed up

The problem is that type A is a huge orca, one of the largest ecotypes. To put this 14.73cm long model on the same scale of my 1:40 minke and sperm whale, we have to consider that it represents a 5.8m individual. It's a very small size for an adult male orca, and the only ecotype which fits in this proportion is the type C, the Ross Sea killer whale.

And that is perfect because they're awesome. It has a very distinct coloration pattern, with a small and inclined eye patch and a dark grey "cap", which is separated by the overall grey coloration of the body by a thin line that connects the saddle to the eye patch. And more: as with the type B ecotype, these orcas become covered with diatoms, which gives them a brownish-yellowish aspect. A truly unique animal.


The perfect activity for a rainy Sunday

I want to reproduce this striking pattern using a mix of black and white acrylic paint. To avoid an immaculate look (as far as 'immaculate' can be said of an amateur and first-time paint job attempt), after the overall paint was finished I also dirty it with beige paint while trying to get a more realistic look. Here are the before/after:

















In a nutshell, I'm very happy with the final result. Although it now has this amateur, handmade and a bit dirty appearance, it fits better to my taste than the professional but non-realistic original paint. And it makes me wonder: how many other Type C models are there to join mine?

[Isidro]

Welcome to the forum!
That's a very well done and exhaustively researched repaint!