Mysticeti - Baleen whales (or was it whales with a moustache?)

[MariaEvri]

very cool. This definitely goes in my wishlist!

[MariaEvri]

here's some baleens of mine that i didn't see posted

Bryde's whale by Kayiodo


fin whale by kayiodo

an ancient old humpback whale. I believe it was from safari's toob

humpback whale-migration

humpback whale by kayiodo

[Jetoar]

I love Kaiyodo  .

[MariaEvri]

agreed!

[Quincy]

This is an amazing review! Sharing this...

[modelnut]

I just got this figure in the mail. Paid about $300 all told.

But mine has a couple of dents in it. I wonder if there is any way to re-inflate it?

- Leelan

[brontodocus]

I just got this figure in the mail. Paid about $300 all told.

But mine has a couple of dents in it. I wonder if there is any way to re-inflate it?

- Leelan

Hi Leelan, congrats for getting it. On some of my photos you can see that my figure also has its imperfections. Most notably there is a long, shallow groove on the left side of the spine at mid length. I think it's even visible on Kaiyodo's prototype photos. I tried to remove it but without success, neither a hairdryer nor hot water treatment worked.

[Stuckasaurus]

Holy wow! That's amazing! Thank you especially for posting the comparison photos at the bottom: I actually joined this forum for the express purpose of finding 1:40 scale animals for my collection. Now if only I could convince my wife to concede the shelf space to me for this thing!

[brontodocus]

Holy wow! That's amazing! Thank you especially for posting the comparison photos at the bottom: I actually joined this forum for the express purpose of finding 1:40 scale animals for my collection. Now if only I could convince my wife to concede the shelf space to me for this thing!

Many thanks, Stuckasaurus! I can fully understand (and confirm) the problems caused by the huge size of the model. We still haven't found a final place to display it properly, here.

[AnimalToyForum]

New member Emabel posted the following, but accidentally used the report button instead of the reply button. So I post it on their behalf:

"Please can you say me where can I buy a humpback whale from Schleich? But it must costs 30€ or $. Thank you."

[Stuckasaurus]

Would you happen to have a side-by-side comparison with the MBA Humpback?

[Thylakeane]

Great detail... but the shape of the rostrum bothers me a bit 

[wakphotographer]

Hey sorry for bringing up an old post but this whale is truly amazing.

OP do you still have it?

Does anyone have one they want to sell? I don't mind if its damaged/missing packaging etc.

Just thought I'd ask on here before I try and import one from Japan....

Thanks for your time

[Rossano]

" Some seams are a little more obvious, i.e. those were the fluke and flipper pieces are inserted or the oval-shaped insert on the underside, "

I had already noticed that often japanese models show little to null sensibility to these details, that to my eye are the worst things I can find on a model, the thing that cries out loud "THIS IS A BUILT MODEL! THIS IS MADE OF PIECES OF PLASTIC ATTACHED TOGETHER! THIS IS A FAKE!" and I find them really disturbing on ANY model, even the smallest and cheapest one.

Now, am I the only one here? I find it astonishing: such a huge effort to produce it and such a huge effort to buy it, and so poor solutions in the insertion of the different peices? Not even the minimal care to paint them so to give continuity at least to the colour of it? 

[brontodocus]

Hey sorry for bringing up an old post but this whale is truly amazing.

OP do you still have it?

Does anyone have one they want to sell? I don't mind if its damaged/missing packaging etc.

Just thought I'd ask on here before I try and import one from Japan....

Thanks for your time

No problem! However, I'm not going to part with mine anytime soon. Yes, shipping and import tax/customs may even exceed the price of the item itself. On the other hand, Japanese sellers and Japan's EMS shipping service usually take great care in shipping items and are usually very reliable (and surprisingly fast, too).

" Some seams are a little more obvious, i.e. those were the fluke and flipper pieces are inserted or the oval-shaped insert on the underside, "

I had already noticed that often japanese models show little to null sensibility to these details, that to my eye are the worst things I can find on a model, the thing that cries out loud "THIS IS A BUILT MODEL! THIS IS MADE OF PIECES OF PLASTIC ATTACHED TOGETHER! THIS IS A FAKE!" and I find them really disturbing on ANY model, even the smallest and cheapest one.

Now, am I the only one here? I find it astonishing: such a huge effort to produce it and such a huge effort to buy it, and so poor solutions in the insertion of the different peices? Not even the minimal care to paint them so to give continuity at least to the colour of it? 

I think this is a case where a reasonable compromise had to be chosen. Hollow vinyl models like these usually consist of several parts. Sometimes they are sold as kits and have to be assembled (assembly requires more work, especially gap filling, than an injection model would) and sometimes they are sold as finished models – obviously not the same quality than a finished resin model like e.g. the Sideshow Dinosauria pieces but on the other hand these pre made vinyls are usually cheaper than a finished resin model (provided they are still in production). But they do show that they are still mass products. With a little effort those seams could be puttied away but of course the model would have to be completely repainted afterwards. I suppose there are two reasons for the seams being especially visible in this case. First, this is the first model in this line that represents an extant animal and second, the smooth surface of such a rorqual makes it difficult to hide necessary seams in skin folds. Their second Mega Sofubi Advance animal release, the African Elephant, has much less obvious seams only because the many folds in the wrinkly skin made it very easy to let the seams almost disappear. Besides, sometimes I'd really love to know the opinion oft he original sculptor who made the prototype but the mass production oft he final product is always out of her or his control. I can imagine that in this case the sculptor may have wanted less obvious seams, too.

[sphyrna18]

I finally got one of my Holy Grails - the MSA Blue Whale - a figure I've dreamed about since I was a little boy has actually been made reality and I have it in my possession!  But my excitement has been dampened slightly by the fact that it looks like it's been squished - I don't get the impression from anyone else's photos that it is super flat, so I was hoping others who have it could chime in and let me know if theirs looks like this, too.

As you can see, it's tail end is very robust, but its front end looks quite skinny


Very wide across the back (there is the vexing, although characteristic for this figure, back dimple)


A better view of the throat and stomach. You can see how it looks caved in between the pectoral fins






I tried using a hairdryer on it briefly and squeezing the sides to pop the throat out, but I got some nasty looking creases along the side of the figure and decided that before I continue I should find out what others' figures look like.  Maybe everyone's is flat like this but they photograph them better haha.  Does the throat need to pop back out or is that how it's supposed to look?  It seems awfully slender  between those pectoral fins to me.  Should I just keep using the hairdryer until the throat pops back out? Any other suggestions?  I was thinking of heating it with a hairdryer then carefully inserting a wire and pulling the vinyl back out; again, though, I'm not sure it's even supposed to be different.

Thanks for any help or advice you guys can provide.

[sphyrna18]

After several more unsuccessful attempts to "fatten" up the figure's throat, I'm giving up.  It's an amazing figure regardless and I'm very grateful to Brett, who got it for me at a pretty great price and quickly as well.  I decided that I had waited long enough to display my Monterey Bay Aquarium whales, along with a few choice cetaceans from other lines, with this behemoth.  I was about 10 years old when I first started collecting the Monterey Bay Aquarium figures - eons ago - and hoped and prayed that someone would make a 1:40 scale Blue Whale to accompany them... Kaiyodo answered those prayers last year, and the minute I saw this bad boy I knew I had to have it.  So without further ado, I grabbed my MBA and other figures out of storage and threw them on an old tv stand for an impromptu photo session.  I think they all look amazing, but I'm biased!







I can't wait to get these set up into a proper glass display.... along with dozens of other 1:40 scale figures haha!!

[sphyrna18]

Update:

Never one to admit defeat, I went back to work on the blue whale with renewed vigor - and it is paying off!  It isn't perfect by any stretch yet, but the throat IS starting to reinflate.  I think the problem may be related to shipping.  When shipped via airplane, the temperature differential may be what is causing the figure to "contract", thus leaving it with these strange dents.  It's the only thing I've come up with for how the figure could have gotten this way.  Once I had heated the throat area with a hairdryer, I took the smallest safety pin I could find and inserted it at an angle into the vinyl and pulled out, popping the heat-softened vinyl out with it.  Not the best fix, but it is starting to work, and I have most of the throat reinflated.  It has helped to put pressure on the sides of the figure, but too much pressure causes a deep crinkle in in the side of the whale behind the pectoral fins, which appears to mar the vinyl and paint.  Bummer.  But a little pressure on the rear or the figure on it's sides had helped to push air forward to reinflate the throat evenly. 


Before:

After:

[brontodocus]

Hi Chad, sorry to see you received a deformed one - I can confirm that this huge depression at the throat should not be there.  My figure's throat doesn't have it and the few other people I know who have one never complained about this (but I'm sure they would have). I think changing temperatures during transport (or storage) may really be the reason why the throat deformed so much. It's good to see you found a way to fix it.  I know that many model builders fill vinyl kits with plaster or something else to make the models less prone to warping but I don't believe this is an option for a completed vinyl model.

[Jetoar]

Wonderful family photograph  .