Burger's Customs

Burgerenby wrote:

Something from early January, a repainted Papo Megaloceros.
Normally I take photos on a wooden plank that is part of my desk, the Spinosaurus was just too large for that, thus the photos on my bed.
The colours for this giant deer are based on cave paintings.

It is very interresting, which cave painting ? It doesn't looks like the Lascaux one.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Thank you, the Egyptian oryx isn't that old however, it's not even prehistoric, after all it was around during ancient Egypt and zebras and such have been around for much longer.
Bush elephants, Nile crocodiles and cheetahs can all be seen in ancient Egyptian art, cheetahs were even pets at that time.
Zebras were living in this region long before the pyramids, as the desert was spreading more and more large mammals vanished from the region.
The "modern" wildlife we see today is in the end what is left over of the Pleistocene.
This oryx is thus more comparable to thylacines and passenger pigeons.
The only animal that wouldn't have met it in real life is of course the dinosaur.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I have answered that question when I posted the Megarachne.

Burgerenby wrote:

 [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I have answered that question when I posted the Megarachne.

 My mistake  So my question is: is there some publication which explain why the Chauvet and Cougnac paintings are more valid than the Lascaux one ? It really interrest me.

By the way, I'm sorry i didn't commented your posts. I like your custom and repaints and I also like very much your idea to bring back to life some newly extinct species. Thank you for that

I don't know where this question is coming from, there are two separate sources that indicate such a colouration as opposed to Lascaux being one single instance where all that is depicted is a silhouette that doesn't indicate anything besides the animal's shape.
Regarding publications there are "The evolution of the giant deer, Megaloceros giganteus" by Lister 1994 and "The Nature of Paleolithic Art" by Guthrie 2006.

Amazing customs again! I like this snout variation on the Macrauchenia, very interesting! But my favorite got to be the Thylacosmilus, just brilliant!

And, oh my a naked Megatherium   That's a groundbreakin idea! I like it

Burgerenby wrote:

Thank you, I hope to reach your level of skill one day, your repaints are so impressive and inspiring, the colour transition on your horses is so soft and I am especially in love with your cats.

Thanks so much! I think your skill level is already very high and you have your unique style and some great ideas!
For the soft color transitions, you may like to try shading with dry pigments and pastels. It is a bit tricky technique but helps create very smooth transitions.

I am very fond of extinct mammals and I realy enjoy watching on your very beautiful and interesting repaints!

With its new appearance, the macrochenia looks a little a camelid! You saved these poor Schleich Smilodon and Geoworld Thylacosmilus with your skill    

.. but what did you do to this poor Bully Megatherium?.. and Why?..

On one side, I always wished for a hairless Megatherium figure, I feel like that would be right up CollectA's alley at least, but since that likely won't happen for a long time I took it into my own hands.
Midway through I came to the horrible realization that it would also require nipples and other such anatomical details that would otherwise be hidden under fur, so I researched how that works and looks on sloths and I am so glad it's not the primate-like configuration we got on elephants but instead they got them located in their armpits.
I don't know if I'd do something like this again, I got my fingers cut from carving all the fur off, but it's fun to have some variation on the shelf and for now I am satisfied with one horror sloth.

OK I see.. but save your skilful fingers! :)

I realy love most of your projects, especially the Egyptian ones. All of them have something special, from subtle changes to radical giant sloths. I love many of the pictures and the pair of sloths is genial.

Yes, each one of these are just beautiful, you have so much talent and creativity!!

Wonderful job on every each of them !
The Macrauchenia looks really nice and interesting like that.
And the Bullyland Megatherium, showes especially, that you have very good skills also in sculpting !
Well done !

You are very talented! I absolutely love the sea scorpion- and its resin(?) cousin.

This time I got some fish, both of these are a bit older from November 2020.

First a Helicoprion, it was created from a Schleich great white shark by cutting its head, claspers and some of its fins off, the remaining fins were reshaped and a new head was sculpted from scratch.

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Next I got this Dunkleosteus, another Schleich custom, I reshaped its fins, added lips to the upper jaw and Meckel's cartilage to the lower jaw.

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These customs are again really great and surely a good idea with the shark. However, I find it always better when it is with figures we find in lots in a poor shape but if it was the case, it wouldn't be easy to find a Dunkleosteus.

The shark was new because at the time the grocery store chain Edeka was offering Schleich figures for a low price so I got the shark twice and repainted the one which had worse paint application.
The Dunkleosteus was second hand off eBay for only 6 €, I don't want to pay the full price for a sculpt I don't like, I'm not swimming in money.
I also don't see a problem with repainting something that is still in production, I'd be more hesitant if it is something that is retired and rare unless there are still ones out there in better condition in other people's collections.

I should probably also add a bit of regional context.
In Germany eBay, Shpock, eBay-kleinanzeigen and flea markets are flooded with Schleich, it is still relatively easy to come by Replica Saurus models even and when I go on eBay-kleinanzeigen right now I can see ten listings for the Schleich Dunkleosteus between 6 € and 10 €, note that it costs 15 € when bought new.

Very interesting customs!

Burgerenby wrote:

I should probably also add a bit of regional context.
In Germany eBay, Shpock, eBay-kleinanzeigen and flea markets are flooded with Schleich, it is still relatively easy to come by Replica Saurus models even and when I go on eBay-kleinanzeigen right now I can see ten listings for the Schleich Dunkleosteus between 6 € and 10 €, note that it costs 15 € when bought new.

Yes, you are right. It is never a problem that one decides to customize a figure even if it is new or unavailable. It is always a personal decision. It is however even more fantastic when someone can give a new life to a figure that is in poor shape. I wished I could do it myself.

I repaint figures that are in poor shape most of the time so I don't know why you seem so upset about this over one single figure that I didn't even buy new, it had a previous owner and was used for its primary purpose as a toy.
I should be allowed to do what I want to with the figures I buy.
Sometimes I want to customize a specific figure however and can't find it used so then in those rare cases I buy a figure new to customize it such as the Safari Macrauchenia, Germany is Schleich territory, Safari isn't as widespread here and it is harder to come by used Safari figures that are still in production, I was lucky with that only three times so far.
I mostly repaint models that have had a lot of paint wear so I don't know why you make it seem like I only buy new ones to repaint them.
I feel like you are accusing me of things and it makes me uncomfortable.

Burgerenby wrote:

I repaint figures that are in poor shape most of the time so I don't know why you seem so upset about this over one single figure that I didn't even buy new, it had a previous owner and was used for its primary purpose as a toy.
I should be allowed to do what I want to with the figures I buy.
Sometimes I want to customize a specific figure however and can't find it used so then in those rare cases I buy a figure new to customize it such as the Safari Macrauchenia, Germany is Schleich territory, Safari isn't as widespread here and it is harder to come by used Safari figures that are still in production, I was lucky with that only three times so far.
I mostly repaint models that have had a lot of paint wear so I don't know why you make it seem like I only buy new ones to repaint them.
I feel like you are accusing me of things and it makes me uncomfortable.

Everyone is being very kind with you and appreciating your work. The only person who mentioned something about using new figures for customs it was myself and obviously without any kind of accusatory purpose. Actually I am so surprised with your reaction that I checked all posts to be sure I was understanding. I want you to feel confortable on forum and if you read our posts, you will find that there is a friendly atmosphere in this community. Please keep enjoying. :)

I am absolutelly shure, Roger didn`t want to make you feel like you feld, with his comment in any way.
He just shared what many collectors things in general :) I also repaint a lot and of course we can do what we want with our models , also with new ones, even with more rare ones ... As long this makes us happy :)
And I am absolutelly shure that Roger is very honest, when he said that he really like your works ,
and I really like them too :)
Your shark has really cool colours and the Dunkleosteus looks amazing like that. Well done ! :)
Roger is really gentle and wonderful man, you will see this in the future for sure

I am not used to kindness and I don't know anyone here yet, forgive my defensive reaction.

Awesome customs again! I'm a big fan! I really enjoy your topics and I hope you keep posting and customizing. You are very creative and it's great to see how you transform ordinary toys into artworks. And you have very fresh ideas for the prehistoric creatures' depictions.

Burgerenby wrote:

I repaint figures that are in poor shape most of the time so I don't know why you seem so upset about this over one single figure that I didn't even buy new, it had a previous owner and was used for its primary purpose as a toy.
I should be allowed to do what I want to with the figures I buy.
Sometimes I want to customize a specific figure however and can't find it used so then in those rare cases I buy a figure new to customize it such as the Safari Macrauchenia, Germany is Schleich territory, Safari isn't as widespread here and it is harder to come by used Safari figures that are still in production, I was lucky with that only three times so far.
I mostly repaint models that have had a lot of paint wear so I don't know why you make it seem like I only buy new ones to repaint them.
I feel like you are accusing me of things and it makes me uncomfortable.

From my point of view as a fellow painter and customizer, I think my only criteria when choosing a model to repaint, or/and customize is if the sculpt is good and inspiring, and also if I can afford it. The rarity of the item plays a very little role for me, especially if I own the model already. If I can offer a piece of advice it would be: always choose for the best possible sculpt, if you are to invest your precious time and skills to repaint it. In my view, by re-painting or re-sculpting a model you always add to it its value, you create something unique! And most importantly you celebrate the hobby the way you like it. This is the creative side of our hobby and it is my favorite!