My first homemade model!

[Isidro]

Great selection!
Please, did you read your private message inbox?

[Isidro]

My next model, the dingiso (Dendrolagus mbaiso). Is not a masterpiece and I'm not very proud of it. I managed to do very good hands and feet, but the face is off. However it's enough nice for be displayed in my collection.

This is a species I like a lot and my favourite of the tree kangaroos. I've learned about it in a very charming cryptozoology book by Lothar Frienz, that tell the history about how Flannery discovered this species when all what was known of this species was a single photo and some skin pieces. The first discovery of a whole animal for the science was so late as in 1990, a female killed by dingos. The animal was divinized and respected by the Moni tribe of New Guinea, that consider it as the ancestor of the humans, and they protect this animal and never hunt it. That leaded to use the scientific name of mbaiso, that in Moni language means "prohibited".

It have a striking black and white pattern, unique amongst tree kangaroos. In the photos I can see, the black doesn't look like a "full black" to me, so I did a bit of more "clear" black with shades of deeper black in some parts. The face is very short for a tree-kangaroo and reminds a bear. The ears are very fuzzy. My figure have the ears too flat I think The part that I left most to the imagination is the tail. I didn't found photos of the animal showing the entire tail, just a photo of some skins and an stylized drawing shows the entire tail. I chosen the colours according to said drawing. Not sure if they're correct. Also, the Lothar Frienz book, that I re-readed in the part concerning the dingiso after I finished the model, mentions that the tail is noticeably short. Should I cut the tip of the tail of my figure? How short should it be? Any suggestions in improvements on painting or sculpting over my figure would be welcome, I just would wish my dingiso were perfect :-)

And now, the images:




With Southlands Lumholtz's tree kangaroo for size comparison:


With other Papuan animals:

[Isidro]

Next one for Advicot: the kokako (Callaeas cinerea). I did a bit more smaller than I should, but when I realized it was too advanced for restart...
I chosen to do the nominate subspecies (Callaeas cinerea cinerea), with orange wattles. The body and the toes are made of WePAM and the wings, tail and head with Fimo Air. This is the bird that have thinner toes of all what I've made. WePam allows to do much more delicate structures than SuperSculpey with lesser risk of breakage. Tarsi are wires.

I painted the lores black with acrylic but the eyes and bill with a pen for get the very glossy appareance that both structures have. Unfortunately, I failed. I think that FimoAir don't allow a so smooth surface as for make a figure glossy.




The South Island kokako is like the quagga: the nominate subspecies went extinct while non-nominate subspescies still thrive. However, unlike the plains zebra, the remaining kokako subspecies (the North Island one, Callaeas cinerea wilsoni, with blue wattles) is critically endangered. If it disappears, a whole genus will do, following its cousin the huia and leaving the whole Callaeidae family with just a single species instead the three they used to be.


Here all my passerines. I know, scale went crazy here. Kokako is a bit small, and by other hand the rockfowl is enormous.


After finishing the bird, still I have a small bit of unused paste. What I should do...? Oh wait, the bit is exactly the size of a butterflyfish! Yes! But.. Anooooother butterflyfish? People are getting tired of your butterflyfish obsession. And what about an equally beautiful tropical reef fish from an unrelated family? Angelfishes and surgeonfishes are as beautiful as butterflyfishes! Yes let's do an angelfish! I must chose a species that is not big, for match with the size of the bit of paste. And which one is the most beautiful? For me, this one... the regal angelfish, Pygoplites diacanthus!


Despite not being a butter it integrated inmediately into my butter swarm

[Advicot]

Wonderful job my friend on both the angelfish and kokako! I hope I will get to see a kokako one day, have any zoos ever held them? I can't find any European ones 

[Isidro]

Thanks my friend! Never an European zoo held a kokako, not even London Zoo in it's glorious past days of XX century when it had almost all animals in the world. The only captive kokako in the world was a female called Kahurangi, kept at Pūkaha National Wildlife Centre in Mount Bruce (yes the same of the takahes and kakapos that my demigod Gerald Durrell talked about in its book about New Zealand). She was a rescued chick that fell from the nest, otherwise probably would be impossible to get legally a specimen to be shown in a zoological center. It's extremely unlikely that another kokako pop up in a New Zealand zoo, so for see it you only can do in the wild.

[JimoAi]

My next model, the dingiso (Dendrolagus mbaiso). Is not a masterpiece and I'm not very proud of it. I managed to do very good hands and feet, but the face is off. However it's enough nice for be displayed in my collection.

This is a species I like a lot and my favourite of the tree kangaroos. I've learned about it in a very charming cryptozoology book by Lothar Frienz, that tell the history about how Flannery discovered this species when all what was known of this species was a single photo and some skin pieces. The first discovery of a whole animal for the science was so late as in 1990, a female killed by dingos. The animal was divinized and respected by the Moni tribe of New Guinea, that consider it as the ancestor of the humans, and they protect this animal and never hunt it. That leaded to use the scientific name of mbaiso, that in Moni language means "prohibited".

It have a striking black and white pattern, unique amongst tree kangaroos. In the photos I can see, the black doesn't look like a "full black" to me, so I did a bit of more "clear" black with shades of deeper black in some parts. The face is very short for a tree-kangaroo and reminds a bear. The ears are very fuzzy. My figure have the ears too flat I think The part that I left most to the imagination is the tail. I didn't found photos of the animal showing the entire tail, just a photo of some skins and an stylized drawing shows the entire tail. I chosen the colours according to said drawing. Not sure if they're correct. Also, the Lothar Frienz book, that I re-readed in the part concerning the dingiso after I finished the model, mentions that the tail is noticeably short. Should I cut the tip of the tail of my figure? How short should it be? Any suggestions in improvements on painting or sculpting over my figure would be welcome, I just would wish my dingiso were perfect :-)

And now, the images:




With Southlands Lumholtz's tree kangaroo for size comparison:


With other Papuan animals:

I remembered being a young boy in school making a great white shark out of plastecine because I wasn't allowed to get figures due to my bad grades. You're making my young self's mind blown

[Isidro]

haha, I also did sharks with plasticine when I was a kid. But as I was not interested in figures until I were old, my school skills never gave me a problem. However in my early school my father used seashells that gave to me if I had good grades! And I keep now all those seashells

[Advicot]

I'm also surprised that London zoo didn't hold them!     But they held wandering albatross at some point, how and when? is what I wish to know 

[Isidro]

Apparently was an individual caught at Cape Horn (in antarctic Chile) in 1893.

Currently there is AFAIK only one albatross in captivity, that is a Laysan albatross at Dallas Sea World Aquarium.

[Isidro]

Other two animals favoured by Adam are two South American waterfowl: the black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus) and the torrent duck (Merganetta armata). Black-necked is in my opinion the most beautiful swan species so far, and despite being a relatively well known and common species I still love it a lot. They have shorter necks than most other swans and I reflected this in my figure with success. The plumage is very detailed  when compared with my early bird figures, altought this is not visible in the photo. I wanted to give the swan a bit more natural posture, so I turned the head to a side while kept the neck partially waved in a very swanish gesture. About the torrent duck, it's a species absent from zoos I think, but still not too obscure. However they're absolutely magnific. Only species in the genus, the torrent duck honours its name living only in strong current waters. It have a striking sexual dimorphism as many ducks, but this time the female is not duller or less pretty, it's just different. Male have a striking white head with bold black markings, while female have a vivid orange belly that contrast with the grey plumage above. Both sexes have a bright red bill, and a long rigid tail. For this figure I did individual elongated back feathers in volume.




I have not many to choose as for sympatric pals of the ducks. The swan live in southern South America but I don't have figures of guanacos, rheas, maras, vicunhas or magellanic penguins. The torrent duck lives in the torrents of Andean mountains, much higher than the swans. Same mountains where the Jame's flamingos thrives, but the flamingos live MUCH higher, and in quiet waters. So, probably the three species usually never met each other.


My whole duck flock:

[Advicot]

Wonderful job, they both look truly wonderful 

Thank you very much for the info on the wandering albatross at London zoo 

[Isidro]

Three new models done this week. I think I like to be specializing in mini models of smaller animals

1. The first I did is also the one that resulted better. Cramer's blue morpho, Morpho rhetenor. What inspired me to do this species is to give use of the metallic blue marker that I bought for customize a Colorata skipjack tuna. I like a lot how it resulted. The model really shine more or less depending of the angle of view!

I chosen the helena subspecies, that is the most beautiful in my opinion as it's the most heavily marked with white. Other subspecies of M. rhetenor have faint white markings or not at all, being completely blue. As always, I did accurate underside of wings, instead copy the same colour of upperside as many brand do. For the legs I used very thin stripes of a CollectA tag, and for first time I gave them an angled shape. Only four legs as it should be in a nymphalid (nymphalids have actually six legs, but first pair is much reduced and always folded against the body). The antennae are even thinner stips of CollectA tag - as thin as an human hair!





My lepidopteran swarm that grew a lot recently:


And the Amazonic Team attacks again

[Isidro]

Second was the red-legged partridge, Alectoris rufa. Being one of the most iconic birds in my country and the extraoficially national gamebird, it's indeed one of the most beautiful birds of Europe even when people tend to considere it for the taste of its meat instead of its beauty.



My landfowl flock. I love these kind of birds


Looks like somebody is in trouble.... Partridges are considered delicious meals and not only by humans! So here some more Mediterranean predators native in my country

[Isidro]

And finally one finished today: the Sulawesi lined gliding dragon, Draco spilonotus. With love for the reptile-lovers in this forum
It was the hardest to do (toes are very thin stripes of CollectA tag attached with glue), but the less satisfactory in shape.





My lizard team:


And the Sulawesi pals:

[JimoAi]

And finally one finished today: the Sulawesi lined gliding dragon, Draco spilonotus. With love for the reptile-lovers in this forum
It was the hardest to do (toes are very thin stripes of CollectA tag attached with glue), but the less satisfactory in shape.





My lizard team:


And the Sulawesi pals:

I'm always curious on what did you use to paint and does it chip off or do you apply varnish/sealant?

[Isidro]

Acrylic paints, brand Amsterdam, standard series. They don't chip off.

[Advicot]

It's truly amazing what you can do with CollectA labels! 

[Isidro]

Last one, done today. I like how it resulted, pose, sculpt, etc... but... I realized that it was a bit tiny. And I realized AFTER finishing it! Aside to my great bustard, this whooping crane have a smaller body!
However it's more right when put aside with my jabiru.




North American team:

[Arctinus]

Wow, it looks amazing!  As do all the others.  You could be selling these critters. 

[Isidro]

Thanks for your kind words!

You could be selling these critters. 

I could accept commisions, even when my models are far from being as good as most of the modern branded ones.