Therizinosaurus. A philosophical question.....

[artdecovampire]

If I was working on a conversion with a mind to designing and releasing a kit which uses a Revell Allosaurus as a doner. You could buy the conversion and use the Allosaurus body halves and a tail section. I would supply the legs, head, tail tip and arms. Its a biggish dinosaur so I'd be trying to avoid the expense of casting a body. The dinosaur I'm looking at is usually depicted with a coat of feathers or at least plumage on its limbs and tail. With the original kits being 1970s design and feathers hardly featuring beyond Archeopteryx my question is....
1. Do I just ignore the feathers and go totally retro even though the dinosaur wasn't discovered/identified in 1972 and go down the dragon style road of the Allosaurus kit.
2. Partially feather the kit on its limbs and tail end and make it look as Aurora PS as possible.
3. Go big with the feathers and maybe recast a body with feathers as well.

It goes without saying it would have a nice retro base, foliage etc and a name plate I'm just interested in keeping it within accepted style parameters.

[TAY666]

Not knowing what exactly you are working on, I say you really only have 2 choices.
A - if you are going to use the allo body and do a PS style kit, then you need to ignore the feathers.
B - if you really want to keep the feathers, then do the whole sculpt

[scooke123]

I say in keeping with the style of the PS kits ignore the feathers. Back in the 70's when we first had these kits we wouldn't dream of a dinosaur having feathers- that wouldn't be cool at all in our minds!! Since you would be using the body and tail of the Allo I think we could overlook the feathers. If you really wanted them you could add them yourself. I think an affordable kit with a nice base would be more to most of our liking, at least for me anyway. I would rather it look more at home with the PS theme of kits than complete accuracy.
Steve

[artdecovampire]

Thanks Guys. I was thinking about a Therizanosuarus. I'm happy to ignore the feathers. My gut feeling about dinosaurs with feathers is they look like rabid chickens. A lot of the add on kits like the Iguanodon have a classic look about them and look like the illustrations from classic books like Burian's dinosaurs. I think I'll scrap the feathers and do some fancy scales and emphasis the other parts a bit. I like William Stouts illustrations and he's the only one that's added feathers that look right. His Therianosaurs in his updated book The New Dinosaurs don't have feathers, but his oviraptor does. He makes them look like fringes of thin scales more than making them look like fluff.

So far I've extended the forearms, added and modeled new four toed feet and modeled an end to the tail which will only use the first big section. Looking pretty good up until now. I'll put some pictures on pinterest as soon as it starts to look recognizable.

[scooke123]

Sounds pretty cool so far---
Steve

[TAY666]

That sounds cool.
And I agree with your assessment, it's the retro style that makes it a PS kit.
That is where Mike made a few wrong turns in my personal opinion. Some of his add-ons just don't have the feel because they are too realistic.

[prescenes2]

I agree, Leave off the feathers!!!

About time someone did a Therizinosaurus. I had one planned out since 2008 but nobody wanted to touch it or sculpt it. You'd be the man if it did get done! Best of luck in the endeavors.

[artdecovampire]

Modeling a four toed foot and mating it to the Allosaurus leg was actually enjoyable. Extending the arms with rods and adding muscles was also easy enough and the texture went on quite happily using cling film and a cocktail stick. The overall problem I'm having is trying to make it look unlike a Plateosaurus with big claws. If anyone has an idea for 'features' I could work in now I've rightfully ditched the feathers I'd be happy for any input.

I wanted to keep the cost of the kit down if it actually comes to fruition and goes in to production and as we all know its an if. Big kits are expensive just to mould. That's the idea of using the Allosaurus parts. Casting a bulky object like a new body would push the price of the kit up. I've got to get it featureful with a head and neck, tail end, arms and legs. The body and big tail section need to stay the same.

I'm hoping the base will feature a nest and a tree, but that's the least of my problems. I dare say I feel guilt about all the Allosaurus parts that sceners will have lying around! LOL!

[artdecovampire]

May 15, 2016 10:17:29 GMT -5 TAY666 said:

.
it's the retro style that makes it a PS kit.

One thing I can promise about the WoderFest kit Mark has ready is that its unmistakably PS. It couldn't be anything else. Its genetic.

[artdecovampire]

uk.pinterest.com/voycestog/therizinosaurus/

Link to kit prototype pictures so far.

[prescenes2]

I've seen the Theri in the background of some of your FB posts. Are you still working on it or is he put on hold for a time?

[artdecovampire]

I'm hoping it will be. I just need to work on the neck and some more work on the base. Its up to Mark when it gets cast in the end. We've done some expensive kits recently and we thought this might be the opportunity to release a mid priced/cheaper kit which will look quite spectacular. It does require a donor body and tail section so it will leave people with the dilema of using up a Revell Allosaurus. I heard a whisper that there might be a similar kit being developed elsewhere. That's not a problem, if somebody gets there first then that's just the luck of the draw and I'll just keep hold of the parts. Bill.

[scottbanks]

Got in on this late... I would say FEATHERS on limbs. Or as Aurora often did, the option for either.