Cretaceous Courtesy

  I wonder how many people are going to read that title and think of crabs...

  Anywho, I got another paint project from the buddy that I did work for recently, only this time it was even more left-field than I realized.  I'm so used to painting GW miniatures and the odd PC for D&D that painting monsters isn't something that I even think of.  But he handed me a Tyrannosaurus Rex model and told me to make him look like 'Devil Dinosaur'.  What's a Devil Dinosaur?  

  The model this time is a Nolzur's Miniatures model of a T-Rex for those RPGs, and a damn fine model it is!  It's huge and very well detailed.  Better, the plastic is actually good plastic that holds that sharpness much better then the cheaper PVC that Bones models use.  And the model is so big that it towered over all my other painting projects- as the King of the Cretaceous should!  

  But I still needed to find out what a 'Devil Dinosaur' is.  Apparently, the powers that be in Marvel decided many eras ago that a very protective pet monster from every kid's favorite geological period would make a good character, especially against other monsters of the same era and protecting those relate-able kids.  I found out that this 'Devil Dinosaur' has protected Moon Boy and Moon Girl over the years.  Not wanting to get too deep in my research, I stopped there and got to painting.

  So here's the key take-aways:  This Devil Dinosaur guy is a big, red, T-Rex.  That's it!  His color patterns have changed from completely red to red-with-black-splotches over time.  There's no costume, no standard setting (wherever the kid goes, he's there), and nothing else to overcomplicate things.  This project is my favorite dinosaur (I know- how original!) in my favorite color with a wide open mouth full of teeth.  I think I'm going to enjoy this one!  

  

  The timeline on this project was very spread out and interrupted by other projects and even the arrival of one of my Kickstarters (that'll be another post), but it didn't really take that long.  Surprisingly, the prep of the model took up about half of the hobby time I spent on this model.  The Monday after I picked it up saw four hours just for cleaning and putty-work.  After all, mold-lines on teeth and over scales do not a convincing monster make...

  The following Tuesday saw an hour dedicated just to the basecoating of the model.  Unfortunately, the putty-work on the tail didn't meet my standards as the dried product contracted and ended up showing off the join-seam.  As I had already primed it and was not prepared to undo all the work up to this point, I had to let it go (get that Frozen song out of your head- I dare you!) and move on to the red.

  This is where I had some fun while stressing just a tad about it.  You see, scaly skin, especially at that scale, doesn't make for an easy fade in a wash-out color palette like red.  And demarcation lines for such a fade are just... unattractive.  So I went with my four typical reds (Khorne, a mix, Mephiston, and Evil Sunz) and then drenched the model in an old wash that happens to be one of my favorites- Baal Red.  If you've never used Baal Red, find it!  It's one of the best washes GW has even made and works equally well over dark and light reds, fading it all together and adding a rich depth  even over darker shades.

  So now a week passes and I get back to it on the Thursday it's actually due (did I mention the distractions?).  My first order of business is the mouth- it's going to be my favorite part!  A little pink around and some washes meant that I had that started and ready to go.  This was the 'dessert' part of this meal and I was really looking forward to it.  But the body still needed some love, so half an hour of that and I had to return to the boring ol' body...

  Now, a big red T-Rex may be cool in principle, but it's rather boring to look at on the shelf.  So I chose to use the more modern color scheme and add the black markings on his back- that would give the eye something to look at!  First, I painted the splotches that I could with big black circles.  I tried to sneak a few extra spots in there, but the model's texture wasn't really helpful in that.  I eventually decided to black wash the whole top, blending those obnoxious black spots into the pattern and adding that more natural fade to the model.  A quick drybrush of red over the top of the area really brought it back together.  I was now 'riffing' and having a ton of fun (again, a BIG, RED, T-REX!)

  After three hours of playing with that, I finally returned to the mouth.  Admittedly, it was more work than I anticipated.  Mostly it was because I didn't do a perfect job in puttying the jaw-join (barely noticeable) and the teeth had even more mold-lines hidden than I expected (and I literally went tooth-by-tooth cleaning this up!).  Oh well, it's not fun if it's not a challenge.

  I had a blast painting the mouth because of the teeth (duh- that's one of the key parts of painting Warhammer Orcs already) and even more because of the tongue.  You see, the tongue is a muscle and has textures all it's own.  And adding those textures with a fine paint brush can be therapeutic...

Got any lollipops!?!?

  Another two-and-a-half hours for all the other little details (eyes, touch-ups) and this model was done.  I dedicated another half-hour to the base, but I kept it basic as I didn't want to overpower the mono-ish-tone model with the eyes travelling downward.  And it was done!  Around 12 hours from opening the blister pack to taking the final pics and I was finally finished (even if that twelve hours took two weeks).  And I was happy because, well, BIG, RED, T-REX!

  From here, I'm just going to put a couple of pics of the finished model.  I've already turned it into the local shop, but the owner is out-of-town and hasn't seen it yet.  I can't wait to hear his opinion and find out whether it's 'Devil Dinosaur' enough for him.  Regardless, this was a fun model and certainly a welcome break between my 40k army projects...

  That's really it!  Let me know what you think below and what you've been working on.  And as Devil Dinosaur would say if he could talk (and I don't know if he can...)- 

HAPPY HOBBYING!