stars custom figures and repaints

[stargatedalek]

I've always been bothered by a distinct lack of "whip scorpions" in my collection. So when I acquired a damaged AAA scorpion second hand I figured this was a chance to make one

this was probably the easiest custom I've ever done, took literally 5 minutes
-the tail and part of the claw were missing
-I carved a deeper hole into the base of the tail, filed it in with crazy glue and then stuck in the twine, then sealed the end of the twine with crazy glue to prevent fraying
-I'll probably repaint it someday along with its counterpart to be more accurate to their respective species

its not very accurate (bottom photo for comparison), the sizes of the legs are off, the claws are entirely different, and theres no "stub" to the tail
but it suits my purposes well enough, just thought I'd share

[brontodocus]

Brilliant idea! I don't know about any whip scorpion figures (but we should wait for Blaine to be sure). I was just thinking that replacing the chelae (but not the entire pedipalps) with smaller ones made of putty, e.g. Wonder Putty or Apoxie Sculpt, could improve the custom even more. You wrote a part of a claw was missing, anyways?

[stargatedalek]

The lower "aposable" portion of the "pincer" is broken off
thats a great idea, the current ones might even be large enough to carve into smaller ones

[bmathison1972]

Brilliant idea! I don't know about any whip scorpion figures (but we should wait for Blaine to be sure). I was just thinking that replacing the chelae (but not the entire pedipalps) with smaller ones made of putty, e.g. Wonder Putty or Apoxie Sculpt, could improve the custom even more. You wrote a part of a claw was missing, anyways?

I have two whipscorpion figures. One is a small black one by Funrise Toys (1989). The other whipscorpion is a dollar store 'chinabug' figure. I will try to image both and post them here later today or this week.

edit: thanks to Chad for reminding me Funrise was the name of the company

[A.Garcia]

I also have the Funrise whip scorpion (not with me for a picture, though). When I was little I was unaware of their morphology and thought the figure looked strange, but the Funrise arthropods are actually sculpted really well (I can't think of a current equivalent line for variety or accuracy).

With that tail and a few adjustments your AAA scorpion should look rather convincing, and I think such a simple paint job also encourages customization.

[bmathison1972]

Here are the two aforementioned whipscorpions. The smaller black figure on the left is by Funrise Toys; it's roughly 4 cm (incl tail). The larger green figure is from a generic dollar store set (which also had a pseudoscorion and a sheep ked!!!!).

[stemturtle]

Bmathison1972 I was curious to see the Funrise figure.  Here is another whip scorpion.


Silurian Giant Scorpion (Character Options Ltd.)

This Primeval Action Figure may have been inspired by a whip scorpion, but it is not an actual species. Total length is about 9 inches or 23 cm.
Giant scorpions in the Silurian would have been restricted to the sea because of the low oxygen levels on land. The appendages are posable.
Issued in 2006, it still shows up on eBay.

[bmathison1972]

I just realized the Funrise figure is upside down in my image-LOL. Oh well, all black above except the mouthparts are white.

[widukind]

Interesting figurines 

[stargatedalek]

update:
-whip scorpion, I filed off a lot of the claws upper surface, and I'm planing on repainting it
-AAA big headed turtle, repaint is WIP
-AAA American Toad, repaint is WIP

[stargatedalek]

AAA "Toad" (re-purposed as American Toad) WIP
I'm going to be honest here, I am WAY too proud of how this toad turned out, I didn't base it on any specific photo
hopefully it will look better when I remove the red around the eyes and add the line along the back (which is present in most patterned specimens)







AAA "snapping turtle" (actually a juvenile big headed turtle)
not much done on it, the first coat of patterns for the face, but I thought it might be interesting to document the process

[Jetoar]

Wonderful repaints  .

[brontodocus]

Looking great so far, especially the toad.  And, yes, I think it would benefit from repainting the eyes and adding the medial stripe to the back. But the colour pattern is already very convincing.

[stargatedalek]

thanks guys

I find I enjoy painting while I watch movies, and I've gone through a few the past few days (Lego Movie, Aliens Resurrection, Army of the Twelve Monkeys, and a few episodes of Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai), the vinegaroon, microraptor, and big headed turtle are coming along nicely but so far I've only finished the toad







in case anyone was curious to see the original toad;



hopefully someday I will improve to the point I can start doing commissions or something along those lines

[Jetoar]

It better than the original paint, nice custom  .

[stargatedalek]

here's the painted vinegaroon
(I swear that damned camera loves to bring out the worst in my paint apps )
The grey is not nearly so prominent as it looks in the photos. Unfortunately it seems the sealant (despite being fairly matte (not entirely)) glares making it look like more grey. To compensate I took some without the flash, but they loose some detail so I decided to post both sets of photos anyway.

[brontodocus]

Yay! So you decided to leave the chelae like they were, then?

[stargatedalek]

I did alter them slightly (I filed off most of the upper surface making them straight), but yah I decided on leaving them mostly as they were

*edit*

I decided I wasn't pleased with the chelae after all, so I did a bit more work on them

[brontodocus]

Looks already better now! The pedipalps of vinegaroons are indeed quite different from those of true scorpions since they are rather subchelate than chelate.

[stargatedalek]

update:
-finished Safari ltd. Cambrian toob anomalocaris and sanctacaris
-started Safari ltd. Deep Sea toob giant isopod
-continued AAA big headed turtle juvenile

since I probably won't get any more painting done today, I'll go get pics soon