Joe's updated collection

[callmejoe3]

Here's my updated thread on my personal collection.



I've decided to drop my cetacean/non-cetacean division of my collection. I've decided to unite all my marine life figures together and organize by scale.

Top shelf is marine life from 1:10-1:30 scale range





Next is 1:30-1:40 scale marine life





Next shelf is for homemade figures and extra marine life at the 1:30-1:40 scale




Next shelf is for my miscellaneous marine life. Includes figures that are less realistic, larger than 1:10 scale, and my 1:70 scale whale figures.




Next is my terrestrial collection. Upper shelf contains extant species, below is extinct species ( Most carnegie collection)







And lastly, my MBA collection.

[bmathison1972]

I especially like seeing the MBA collection together and the sea life at the same scale!

[EpicRaptorMan]

Who's the pink river dolphin by?

[callmejoe3]

Who's the pink river dolphin by?

The pink dolphin is the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin from the Safari Dolphin TOOB.

[EpicRaptorMan]

Who's the pink river dolphin by?

The pink dolphin is the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin from the Safari Dolphin TOOB.

That's what I thought. Thanks!

[callmejoe3]

I present the newest addition to my private hall of whales, the Kaiyodo Aqualand AVL 002W 1/35 scale Humpback whale!



Background: The Kaiyodo Mega Sofubi Advance blue whale is actually a re-issue of an old Kaiyodo Aqualand vinyl garage kit known as the AQL 100W 1/35 scale blue whale.Over the past year, I've been hunting the elusive AQL 100W 1/35 sperm whale.EVERY DAY I look it up on the internet, searching for listings. For months at a time there's nothing, until two weeks ago, a listing was posted for the sperm whale. I set a maximum bid of 80,000 yen.I lost, (2nd place too) but the same seller also had an ongoing auction for the humpback whale, which I won for 64,000 yen.


This is how the model arrived on the 25th. I had to cut the flaps of vinyl from the insertion sites of the all pieces in order to assemble it.



I ended up needing a knife to get the job done. Later, I used a hair-dryer to get the parts to slide in easier and gorilla glue to seal the mouth shut. I then applied epoxy putty around the insertion on the flippers to close the seams (worth it).








Next came the paintjob. Settling on a pattern was challenging due to the great variation within this species.  The model is approx 50cm from snout to the fluke-notch. This places it at about 17.5m at the 1/35 scale. The only humpbacks that grew that large were from the Antarctic. So I used them as the basis for the paintjob. The key difference in the coloration of Antarctic humpbacks is that they have more extensive white coloration on their ventral side. My first attempt was alright, but the glossy sealant I used was excessive and made it look like a rubber toy. I added a new coat to everything with a matte finish and it looks much better with a nice, intermediate luster. For realism, I also ''dusted'' some faint white streaks for a realistic wear on the skin from the cold water.





Here's how the humpback looks next to the MSA blue whale.



This model wasn't exactly what I wanted, but it's easily one of the most valuable pieces of my collection and I'm grateful for it. However, my hunt for the sperm whale rages on! Since the Kaiyodo MSA Blue whale is a re-release of these older kits, I would love it if Kaiyodo did the same for the sperm whale.

[bmathison1972]

Can I assume you'll Blog review this Kaiyodo humpback? ;-)

[callmejoe3]

Can I assume you'll Blog review this Kaiyodo humpback? ;-)

I was planning on asking you on the policy for assembly-required products like garage kits since the blog usually doesn't showcase products with customized paintjobs. Since there's no realistic expectation for anyone else to buy this, I guess it can still work more as showcase.

[bmathison1972]

there are model kits on the Blog already; if this essentially qualifies for that, than it's fine. Would be nice to have 'before' and 'after' of the paint, but not necessary.

[callmejoe3]

there are model kits on the Blog already; if this essentially qualifies for that, than it's fine. Would be nice to have 'before' and 'after' of the paint, but not necessary.

Luckily, I do have such photos. I think in addition to the ones I already posted on this thread, I have another 1 or 2 I took beforehand.

[Ikessauro]

Hey Joe, great collection! If you don't mind me asking, is the Carnegie Diplodocus in this photo custom painted like the Apatosaurus? Never seen a Diplodocus with those colors before.

Next is my terrestrial collection. Upper shelf contains extant species, below is extinct species ( Most carnegie collection)

[callmejoe3]

Hey Joe, great collection! If you don't mind me asking, is the Carnegie Diplodocus in this photo custom painted like the Apatosaurus? Never seen a Diplodocus with those colors before.

Next is my terrestrial collection. Upper shelf contains extant species, below is extinct species ( Most carnegie collection)

Sorry for the very late reply. I don't think the diplodocus was custom-painted. I believe it's some later variant. There's a blog dedicated to the Carnegie collection and I thought I at least saw one mold with those colors.

[callmejoe3]

Greetings from my semi-hiatus. I return to announce that I am retiring my MDS Sperm whale ornament in my collection.


It served its purpose for over a year, but it's has outlive its purpose. A replacement is intended to be revealed by tomorrow evening.



Until then, I proudly announce that the Kaiyodo Aqualand 1/35 Humpback Whale has a new paintjob. This time, I used an airbrush. It not only looks better, but it was done a lot faster than painting by hand.








The new whale would have been revealed by now, unfortunately, one of the parts for the airbrush gun went down the drain of my sink. It still ''works'' but doesn't operate as precisely as I need it to for adding the finishing touches. The new airbrush gun won't arrive until tomorrow.

[callmejoe3]

I FINALLY GOT IT!




Yes, I did it. I got my long coveted whale, however, it came at a great cost. I won it for a bid of 150,000 Japanese Yen/1300 USD. In order to meet that demand... I sold off my modded GBA and all my games for it, my Nintendo Switch, and my New 3DS XL... but it was worth it!

So, anyways, here it is. This whale has a total length of 63cm when accounting for the pose. This corresponds to a 22m individual at the marketed 1/35 scale. This may be inaccurate, as the largest excepted by experts is 20.7m. Records of larger individuals exist, but those reports are considered more suspect. On the topic of length-falsification in the whaling record, sperm whales were the greatest target of embellishment for whalers.










This is how the sperm whale looked upon arrival. There's no hint of the seam across the forehead that's present on other listings of this assembled kit. They filed down the teeth to look more realistic. 4th pic is an example of the seam I mentioned on a another listing. However, I was not a fan of the paintjob. It looked good, but I didn't like it was near-pure black. I don't find that to be a good color for a sperm whale. Something closer to a gray with hint of brown is the best color IMO.










However, I was not a fan of the paintjob. It looked good, but I didn't like it was near-pure black. I don't find that to be a good color for a sperm whale. Something closer to a gray with hint of brown is the best color IMO. I whipped out my airbrush and got going. Here's the final result. I wanted this whale badly, so I took many measures to adhere to the strictest attention to detail to ensure this didn't look half-assed and complemented the premium sculpt.



The main body is colored using a medium-gray mixed with a bit of brown. The ''white'' accents are actually a light gray. My experience painting sperm whale figures and models was excellent experience going into this for my color choices.



The inside of the mouth was something I'm proud of. I did some studying and knew a flat pale pink wasn't gonna cut it. Layered the roof of the mouth with layers of both pale pink and the ''white'' for the outside of the mouth. (OOH TOOTH SOCKETS!)



I even brushed the teeth a pale yellow. However I suffered minor casualty of 3 teeth while trying to angle to airbrush right. Kinda sucks, but it's ultimately mitigated because it's very realistic for older sperm whales to have some missing dentition. Maybe I'll fix it later (or not).



The only deviation from realism I allowed was the extension of the white accents to become full counter-shading. It's a very common aesthetical choice for owners of this model and I grew fond of it. Maybe some sperm whales actually look like this, who knows?



There really is no substitute for this model for those looking for a large sperm whale as of today. As we're all well aware, the PNSO sculpture's head is too messed up for it to be worth $500 to me and the large one being sold by the Lanatimeshop is too big and has an excessively prominent keel.

I am so glad I found this figure for part of my collection. It drove me insane similarly to how Moby Dick did Ahab. Now I got it. BTW, I updated my collection with little stands. Now they're spatially oriented more interestingly.



Despite this huge victory, I am not satisfied. I still aim to expand my collection much, much further. Though to be serious, I am gonna put modesty aside. As I currently stand, I am probably already among the most accomplished collectors of commercial whale models in the West.

There's probably not going to be any more whale-purchases for a while, but there's likely plenty of other creatures to further develop my little hall into a full Museum of Natural History.

[bmathison1972]

congrats Joe, and looking good!

[Gwangi]

Thanks for sharing, it's a fantastic piece!