Today, I relived my childhood and acknowledged a Paleoartist.

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Whilst looking for reference material for the level of sculpt detail I wanted my puppets to have I rediscovered the brand of dinosaur toys I used to own as a kid, Invicta Plastics.
Invicta Plastics Tyrannosaurus Rex (1977) and Triceratops (1975)
Before Jurassic Park these some of the best and highly sought after dinosaur toys in museums, I can't think of a single friend I had growing up that didn't have at least one of these toys.
I also discover the person responsible for sculpting these toys was also the same person that assisted the sculpt work on Ray Harryhausen's dinosaurs for One Million years B.C and The Valley of Gwangi, Arthur Hayward. Arthur was the head of model making and taxidermy at The Natural History Museum in London.
These were mostly in 1:45 scale, hard plastic models of popular dinosaurs of the time, the line ran from 1973 until around 1993. 
As a child I owned the Triceratops and always sought after the T-Rex (many of my friends owned it and it was always my go to toy when visiting) I thing I remember most about these models was the weight, feeling like they were indestructible, much like their extinct counterparts. Due to my age however, I didn't truly appreciate the level of sculpt detail that was infused into these toys.
Arthur Hayward sculpt, Gwangi (hard rubber stand in) "Dinosaurs, Harryhausen & Me" exhibit,
Valence House, London, 2018.
Looking back at these, now with adult eyes, I can really appreciate what Arthur has achieved with these, as well as appreciated what he did on Ray's sculpts for the dinosaurs on The Valley of Gwangi and One Million Years B.C. The toys use of skin textures, their sizes and postures, is one of the reason I want to keep that "retro" feel in my Wildlife on Mars sculpts. It brings that primordial feeling, like something out of a familiar prehistory yet it resembles nothing in today's natural world. Hopefully a similar feeling to a child's impression of  seeing a dinosaur for the first time.



Observing the Triceratops I would like to try capture the posture of sculpt, with its draped tail, low forelimbs and armor plated hide. The large scales however, not so much, though I love the scale sizes on this model, I feel they would be distracting on my puppet and remove the desired effect I have in mind to give that familiar yet alien life-form. I may more likely go with something that's more akin to Rhino or Elephant skin textures and folds, rather than this classic reptile look.


When making the same studies of the Tyrannosaurus model, there are more features I wish to keep and integrate into my own design. The posture I certainly want to keep since current paleontology has updated their understanding of how theropod dinosaurs walked and used their tails for balance. The alligator skin texture is also something I want to try stay true to; I like the idea that the antagonist is much rougher in appearance compared to the protagonist, it reflects a more aggressive life style that I think will tell give opportunities for me to sculpt scars that will hopefully reflect the creatures vicious nature.


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