Geospiza fortis' Animal Models

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Only thing I see a little wrong (since you want to represent it off of a specific individual not just the species in general) is the hindquarters look a little short, I would put a little more muscling onto the back. Then the stomach doesn't lineup with the neck beard, the hair on the beard surpasses the depth of the "barrel" (stomach area) on a bison. Otherwise, its a splendid figure and I can't wait to see it done.

Those are exactly my words    

Glad I could help Geospiza.
4U:   I just know my N.A. wildlife, Yellowstone National Park is fairly close to where I live so we go fairly often and the bison are probably the icon of the park. One in particular (we named him Presley after Elvis since he had a lot of hair down to his ankles making him look a little like the guy) used to clog traffic when he would make semiannual travels down the West Road... he would just strut right down the median and not a single truck bothered him, he never charged one, and he just walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and... well you get the idea.

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Glad I could help Geospiza.
4U:   I just know my N.A. wildlife, Yellowstone National Park is fairly close to where I live so we go fairly often and the bison are probably the icon of the park. One in particular (we named him Presley after Elvis since he had a lot of hair down to his ankles making him look a little like the guy) used to clog traffic when he would make semiannual travels down the West Road... he would just strut right down the median and not a single truck bothered him, he never charged one, and he just walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and... well you get the idea.

   Sounds like a lot of fun!

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Glad I could help Geospiza.
4U:   I just know my N.A. wildlife, Yellowstone National Park is fairly close to where I live so we go fairly often and the bison are probably the icon of the park. One in particular (we named him Presley after Elvis since he had a lot of hair down to his ankles making him look a little like the guy) used to clog traffic when he would make semiannual travels down the West Road... he would just strut right down the median and not a single truck bothered him, he never charged one, and he just walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and... well you get the idea.

I think I remember hearing from someone a similar story. Perhaps it was the same one. By the way, you are so lucky to live in such proximity to this amazing American landmark.

It's been a while, but I just started a gorilla. What do you think of it?
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(Sorry again for the consecutive posting)

Good start - you seem busy with lots of projects. It's great to see!

Thanks- and yes I am busy with lots. It keeps me from becoming bored with any one particular piece.

Nice and peaceful gorilla   

Also great figurine    

Looks good! I like it, good pose!  

Thank you^^^

The pose is based off of the big male at the Smithsonian National Zoo when I saw him.

Very nice gorilla!  

Thank you, Zelvik.

I have just tonight finished painting the penguins. Here they are, male, with his neck extended upwards, and female:
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I had also modified my female bison as was suggested, here she is:
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Lastly, I am almost finished with my black rhino. Before I texture him, I was wondering if there are any details I need to correct, or if there is anything anyone thinks I should change him in any way:
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Perhaps I should make a Sir David Attenborough figure to accompany all of my animals?  

SO many wonderful models ! WOW   

I am sure Sir Attenborough would be honoured to join them   

So many great sculpts! I LOVE those penguins!

They're turning out wonderful, great job!

Wonderful      

Very nice models. My one suggestion would be that the bison cow is to blocky and large. That model looks very well suited for a bull, but a bison cow has a slightly more slender body, a less pronounced hump, and sometimes no beard at all. These are just suggestions. Keep up the great work.      

Thank you all for your comments.
As for what you said, Cattlecollector, I do agree, the typical female bison looks a lot like this:
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[Not my image]
It has the characteristics you mentioned. The bison I am modeling this after lived in a zoo, so that might be the reason she looked different. I think she was 14 or 15 when she died.
There aren't many pictures on the 'net, but I linked to one earlier:
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Esther (which is her name) is on the farthest right. I thank you, though for your feedback.   
I do, however, think I see some areas which do need thinning out.

Everything looks great. I love the penguins and the gorilla. However, I do have some suggestions for the Rhino. First the shoulder should be moved back. Also the each pair of legs are too far apart, for instance the front leg pair is too far apart. Another issue with the legs is that the calves and knees need to be moved forward. Lastly the stomach droops a little too low near the front legs. Otherwise the rhino looks great.

kudu11 wrote:

First the shoulder should be moved back.

Thank you, I the photo I was using for the pose was at an angle- I'll fix that easily.

kudu11 wrote:

Also the each pair of legs are too far apart, for instance the front leg pair is too far apart.

I'm a bit apprehensive about fixing that, but I might if I feel confident enough one of these days. About how much narrower do you think they have to be?

kudu11 wrote:

Another issue with the legs is that the calves and knees need to be moved forward.

Noted- I'll take care of that.

kudu11 wrote:

the stomach droops a little too low near the front legs.

I'll look into that as well.

Thanks for the anatomy tips. I'm sure I'll do more this time than I did with my reindeer, even if it takes me another few months. Joking aside, I started this in October or November of last year. But I will be sure to attempt to fix my errors. Thanks again.

EDIT: Hey, Ethan, I did a quick slice-n'-dice with his front legs only. Is this more what you meant:
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Looks good, yeah that is what I meant with the front legs. I made a black rhino my self, this is a link to the page https://sts-forum.forumieren.de/t8495p15-black-rhino-update , Harriet post some great front view pictures of a rhino that I think could be helpful to you on page 2. Sorry I am currently just too busy with exams to post the pictures here myself.

Congratuation for your penguins   

kudu11 wrote:

Looks good, yeah that is what I meant with the front legs. I made a black rhino my self, this is a link to the page https://sts-forum.forumieren.de/t8495p15-black-rhino-update , Harriet post some great front view pictures of a rhino that I think could be helpful to you on page 2. Sorry I am currently just too busy with exams to post the pictures here myself.

Here they are    I hope it help.

The penguins have a good paint job! And the rhino is amazing! Well done!

Thanks, I'll be sure to use the images.

I did a little as shown in the images, I'm not completely finished with the modifications, but I just wanted to share a few pictures.
Rhino:
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Frontal:
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I also made progress on my Western Gorilla:
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I also started a Komodo Dragon, next to his Schleich counterpart:
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He's going to be standing a little more erect in the front, I'm not sure about making his mouth open.  
Thanks again for all of the advice, positive comments, and reference pictures throughout my thread, I appreciate it a lot.