Miniature Animal Figure Collection

[Great Argus]

How did you get the sword-bill to stay intact while sculpting and painting it? I'd assume that it would be very fragile.

The figure itself isn't that fragile as I used a polymer clay; the hummer is extra attached to the stand via superglue to make it stronger. I used an aluminum foil support to hold it in the right place during baking and until I knew it was good to go.
The nice thing about the polymer clay is it's stronger and not likely to break or chip unless you really drop it or hit it with something heavy.

 

[Kakapo]

And now to test my patience on a very complicated paint job, on a favorite species of mine.

Since you wrote that I knew that it has to be a Great Argus pheasant

P. D. Peppermint angelfish is my most favourite member of the angelfish family, but it's too small for make it for my own collection realistically as mine should measure about 7-8 millimeters for match more or less with my other fishes

 

[Great Argus]

P. D. Peppermint angelfish is my most favourite member of the angelfish family, but it's too small for make it for my own collection realistically as mine should measure about 7-8 millimeters for match more or less with my other fishes

Yeah, scaling it wouldn't work very well with other figures, they're pretty small! I figured life-sized worked fine for me, I quite like the species and wanted to add it.

 

[Kakapo]

Three new models made this week:

 

[Kakapo]

 

[Kakapo]

 

[Great Argus]

Another batch from me as well! A few I'm not thrilled with, but it happens. Learning what to do better for next round.

Maleo


Himalayan Monal


Kagu


Roti Snake-necked Turtle


Water Opossum


Mangshan Pit Viper


Copperband Butterflyfish


Orangespotted Filefish


Trumpetfish


Flathead Perch

 

[Kakapo]

Nice selection of species! Maleo and yapok are species that I already did (the maleo was inspired by my last photo?) and kagu is in my list to "to do" (did you considered to get the kagu by Yowies?). I always wanted to do an Himalayan monal but I don't do it because I have only a metallic blue marker, I could do metallic violet by adding red, and metallic green by adding yellow, but there is no way that I can get metallic orange or copper paint for the neck.
I guess that for the viper you used a waved surface for rub the paste against it - that's a wise method for do snake skin texture, instead doing crossing lines with a pin like I did in my homemade snakes. I always avoided doing fishes with transparent fins, as I have nothing for do these fins, but the pectoral fins of your pipefish have the rays painted and maybe this is enough for doing transparent fins without rays sculpted, at least for small fishes. Maybe I should try it.
And as in the previous batch there is a species absolutely unknown to me: the flathead perch!!! Looking at it I would say it's very similar to a urchin clingfish...

 

[Great Argus]

Maleo and yapok are species that I already did (the maleo was inspired by my last photo?)

No, the Maleo was sculpted a couple weeks ago, and I only just now got around to painting it. Yours is better though, I kinda flopped on the head of mine.

and kagu is in my list to "to do" (did you considered to get the kagu by Yowies?)

I did consider Yowie's Kagu, but I'm not very impressed by it honestly, as with many of their figures. Which is unfortunate as they do many interesting species.

I always wanted to do an Himalayan monal but I don't do it because I have only a metallic blue marker, I could do metallic violet by adding red, and metallic green by adding yellow, but there is no way that I can get metallic orange or copper paint for the neck

The lack of metallic sheen is a drawback indeed, but as one of my favorite pheasant species I did want to include it.

I guess that for the viper you used a waved surface for rub the paste against it - that's a wise method for do snake skin texture, instead doing crossing lines with a pin like I did in my homemade snakes.

Yes, I got it rolled and to length, then rolled the tool over the top part that would have normal scales. I then posed the figure, resulting in a very striking appearance. Particularly after the paint it feels relatively scaly.

I always avoided doing fishes with transparent fins, as I have nothing for do these fins, but the pectoral fins of your pipefish have the rays painted and maybe this is enough for doing transparent fins without rays sculpted, at least for small fishes. Maybe I should try it

A bit squiggly lined (something I hope to improve in the future), but it does work fairly nicely for translucent fins. I may try a fine point Sharpie or other pen next try, if it holds the same it would be much easier to space and get a straighter line. The fins are thin plastic, cut out and then attached with superglue. Unfortunately the baking heat would cause issues sticking them into the clay itself, but putting a small dent to set the base into later worked quite well.

And as in the previous batch there is a species absolutely unknown to me: the flathead perch!!! Looking at it I would say it's very similar to a urchin clingfish...

Similar in appearance but much larger, and relatively uncommon. They retail for US $5,000 on the rare occasion they reach our shores! A very interesting fish that I hope to see someday.

 

[Kakapo]

Recently I realized how inaccurate the paintjob of the face of Bullyland Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) was. The face is all tan, and only the muzzle should be. So I corrected it today, as well as did a more eye-pleasing shaped crescent on the chest.

And as I was customizing bears, I also took my Mojo Fun sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), this time the face have the perfect hues but the crescent of chest is very bad: very simplistic, too thin, just a wide open U. It should be more polygonal, wider and more closed. Many individuals even have it completely closed, leaving an isolated black spot in the middle. So I took my acrylics and did that:

 

[Kakapo]

New one! Whooping crane. I like how it resulted, pose, sculpt, etc... but... I realized, too late, that it was a bit tiny!

 

[Kakapo]

Two new homemades sculpted last thursday and painted yesterday.

1. The golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus). The figure number 34 from my 100 "to do" list. My boyfriend already chose the 85, that resulted in the whooping crane. And the 94 is done too. So still I have 97 figures pending to do

I absolutely loved how it resulted. Quite satisfactory. It may be a very common species that most small roadside zoos have and can be seen even in garden centers and pet shops, but still is one of the most atonishingly beautiful birds of the words, and in animal figurines I appreciate beautiful species with fabulous colours.

With other Chinese pals:

2. the ribbon moray (Rhinomuraena quaesita), figure number 94 in my "to do" list. And my 99th homemade figure. For the 100th figure I tought in something very special, a more elaborated model, dedicated with fondness for one of the most active members in this thread. That's all you will know for now.

Back into the moray. Despite having only two colours, it resulted almost as difficult to paint than the multicolor golden pheasant, because one must paint inside very closed curves almost hidden under other other sections of the body.

I know a japanese brand (I think Colorata) already did one, but I find it too big for my taste, so I made a smaller one. Ribbon morays are small morays (at least those I've seen in aquaria).

With other tropical reef dwellers:

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

@Kakapo These are quite good, I especially like the babirusa and sulawesi crested macaque.

 

[Kakapo]

Thanks tough these two you mention are branded ones, the babirusa is from CollectA and the macaque from Mojo Fun. I put them here only for comparison with the Draco spilonotus which I made (and the maleo too) as all these animals are endemic to Sulawesi. Like I do in most other posts of this thread, puting my homemade animals together with geographically consistent branded animals, that allows size comparison for those who have the latter ones in their collections.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Thanks tough these two you mention are branded ones, the babirusa is from CollectA and the macaque from Mojo Fun. I put them here only for comparison with the Draco spilonotus which I made (and the maleo too) as all these animals are endemic to Sulawesi. Like I do in most other posts of this thread, puting my homemade animals together with geographically consistent branded animals, that allows size comparison for those who have the latter ones in their collections.

Well I certainly think you have a good eye for detail and colour in the models that you make and I think it sounds like an excellent and very creative hobby indeed !

 

[DaLilFishie]

I'm not a big collector of figurines but I do have these.
Little Penguin


Bluefin Tuna


Goblin Shark

 

[DaLilFishie]

And since we're sharing homemade models, here are some I've made. All are made from polymer clay. I started making these last year since I had some free time on my hands and I've made quite a few, still make them sometimes but not as much as I used to. Too many to show all here so these are just the good ones (some of the early ones aren't fantastic)

Sloan's Viperfish


Opisthoteuthis depressa


Mackerel Icefish (I made the base too small for it to stand up by itself, so it needs to have a wad of blu tack underneath to keep it upright)


Whale Shark


Gold Nugget Pleco (decided to get fancy with the base)


Giant Oarfish (this one doesn't have a base since I couldn't figure out how to make it stay upright without toppling over or using an absurd amount of clay for the base)


Epaulette Shark


Not pictured
- Reaper Cuttlefish
- Betta
- Cownose Ray
- African Dwarf Frog
- White-Eyed Moray
- Tiger Puffer
- Japanese Horse Mackerel
- Ocellaris Clownfish
- Red Leg Hermit Crab
- Olive Flounder
- Moon Jelly
- Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker
- Copepod
- Limacina helicina
- Clione
- Faceless Cusk
- Spotted Ratfish
- Firefly Squid
- Fangtooth
- Splendid Alfonsino
- Barreleye
- Chambered Nautilus
- Red Handfish
- Gigantocypris
- Big Red Jelly
- Ebinania brephocephala
- Acanthephyra purpurea
- Coffinfish
- Atlantic Footballfish

If you'd like me to post pics of any of these ones let me know, I just didn't want this to be a wall of images

 

[Kakapo]

Quite interesting, DaLilFishie! It's amazing to see that all your figures are aquatic animals and most are fishes. You live up to your nickname
Also interesting to see that you use paste instead paint for making the colours.
I suppose that you're aware that many of the figures you do exist in brands (mostly Japanese), so maybe you can add them for company

And now my turn:
As most of you know, I discovered a new world when I acquired my first sculpting paste, then being able to do species I like that are not represented in any brand.

Slowly I was approaching the number 100 of my homemade models. I'm a bit silly with numbers but, as I wanted that my 100th figure would be something very special: my first homemade, I also wanted that my 100th homemade is something special: a more elaborated and difficult and more splendid model. So after thinking it what could be, I've chosen the Great Argus Pheasant (Argusianus argus). Mainly because of the user @Great Argus as he's the most active member on this thread and always likes my posts. So I wanted to honour him. (And much later, he also had the same idea of doing this species, tough he chose a relaxed pose).

First, I present you raw, unpainted. Well, once I saw images in the internet and compared with my result, I found it quite unpleasant. It don't have the correct shape or position of wings. Only taxidermized argus pheasants can be like that. A real displaying argus should have more rounded, higher wings that overlaps in the top. I passed some time deciding what to do. So much work done for coming back. I planned to break the wings and put it higher, but it's a very risky operation. Finally I decided to keep it this way. It's not so shocking after all and one can be used to this. Anyway this pheasant is not making a courtship display, because then it would have the head hidden instead screaming. So I finally left as a "crazy argus pheasant in a position that will not impress any female"

And now, the final result, painted!

The detail of the head is maybe what I get best. I sculpted the muscles, the wrinkles around eyes and the ears, and remarked them in a lighter blue. This is the "good side" as the other side is more hidden by the wing due to the position of head.

And of course, for finish, my classic comparison shot, with my bunch of Bornean/Sumatran pals!

 

[Kakapo]

And this is the list of species of homemade models that I did, in chronological order:

1. Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)
2. African pygmy goose (Nettapus auritus)
3. Rajah Brooke's birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana)
4. Fea's viper (Azemiops feae)
5. Ornate butterflyfish (Chaetodon ornatissimus)
6. Giant freshwater stingray (Himantura polylepis)
7. Pacarana (Dinomys branickii)
8. Blue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis)
9. Jabiru (Jabiru mycteria)
10. Bay cat (Catopuma badia)
11. James's flamingo (Phoenicoparrus jamesi)
12. Jentink's duiker (Cephalophus jentinki)
13. Olm (Proteus anguinus)
14. Annamite striped rabbit (Nesolagus timminsi)
15. Wilson's bird of paradise (Cicinnurus respublica)
16. European hamster (Cricetus cricetus)
17. Red goliath beetle (Goliathus goliathus)
18. Helmeted hornbill (Rhinoplax vigil)
19. Giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus)
20. Grey fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
21. Ashy-faced owl (Tyto glaucops)
22. Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus)
23. Prevost's squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii)
24. Blue-cheeked butterflyfish (Chaetodon semilarvatus)
25. Meyer's butterflyfish (Chaetodon meyeri)
26. Eyed torpedo ray (Torpedo torpedo)
27. Vulturine guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum)
28. Marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna)
29. Four-horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis)
30. White-necked rockfowl (Picathartes gymnocephalus)
31. Green spoon worm (Bonellia viridis)
32. Silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus)
33. Baler volute (Melo melo)
34. Pink-headed duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea)
35. Mandarin ratsnake (Elaphe mandarina)
36. Pacific blue starfish (Linckia laevigata)
37. Great bustard (Otis tarda)
38. Red-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix nemaeus)
39. Mosaic stafish (Plectaster decanus)
40. Pyramid butterflyfish (Hemitaurichthys polylepis)
41. Red-necked avocet (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae)
42. Zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra)
43. Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius)
44. Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis)
45. Arabian butterflyfish (Chaetodon melapterus)
46. Grandala (Grandala coelicolor)
47. Bulwer's pheasant (Lophura bulweri)
48. Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus)
49. Maleo (Macrocephalon maleo)
50. Yapok (Chironectes minimus)
51. Superb starling (Lamprotornis superbus)
52. Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria)
53. Drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus)
54. Bowfin (Amia calva)
55. Red-necked goose (Branta ruficollis)
56. Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus)
57. Marbled cone (Conus marmoreus)
58. Splendid toadfish (Sanopus splendidus)
59. Flame bowerbird (Sericulus ardens)
60. Flagtail characin (Semaprochilodus insignis)
61. Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
62. Standard-winged nightjar (Macrodipteryx longipennis)
63. Slender sunfish (Ranzania laevis)
64. Asian green mussel (Perna viridis)
65. Red-headed partridge (Haematortyx sanguiniceps)
66. Russell's viper (Daboia russelli)
67. Clown knifefish (Chitala chitala)
68. Marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata)
69. Congo peafowl (Afropavo congensis)
70. Agami heron (Agamia agami)
71. Saddle butterflyfish (Chaetodon ephippium)
72. Scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber)
73. Eastern fiddler ray (Trygonorrhina fasciata)
74. Common death's hawk moth (Acherontia atropos)
75. Epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum)
76. Eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius)
77. Owston's palm civet (Chrotogale owstoni)
78. Horned guan (Oreophasis derbianus)
79. Snow pigeon (Columba leuconota)
80. Twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella)
81. Marsupial mole (Notoryctes typhlops)
82. Common hoopoe (Upupa epops)
83. Northern screamer (Chauna chavaria)
84. Atlas moth (Attacus atlas)
85. Winghead shark (Eusphyra blochii)
86. Spanish moon moth (Actias isabellae)
87. Pink giant African silkmoth (Eudaemonia argus)
88. Dingiso (Dendrolagus mbaiso)
89. Kokako (Callaeas cinerea)
90. Regal angelfish (Pygoplites diacanthus)
91. Black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus)
92. Torrent duck (Merganetta armata)
93. Rhetenor blue morpho (Morpho rhetenor)
94. Red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa)
95. Sulawesi flying dragon (Draco spilonotus)
96. Whooping crane (Grus americana)
97. Golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus)
98. Ribbon moray (Rhinomuraena quaesita)
99. Manghsan pitviper (Protobothrops manghsanensis)
100. Great Argus pheasant (Argusianus argus)

 

[TNT]

I was lucky enough to get a few models for my birthday:
- Black Jaguar
- Snow Leopard
- Wombat
- Quokka
- Chamois
- Golden lion Tamarin (still on the way).