Sculpting completed! A closer look at the Accessory Packs and Nestlings preview
over 8 years ago – Fri, Nov 04, 2016 at 06:58:34 PM

It's been several months since the Beasts of the Mesozoic Kickstarter when all of those stretch goals were (unexpectedly) met and as you all know, I've been trying to catch up ever since. Well I'm happy to say that all sculpting for the Beasts of the Mesozoic: Raptor Series has been completed and I am now on pace to show everything by Monday, Nov. 7th as planned. A lot of you have probably been following my progress on the social media sites, but I wanted to collect the recent developments here in one place to for everyone to see.

Accessory Packs

Before I painted these, I wanted to show you all the unpainted parts and what each set will contain. I also wanted to note the intended placement of the accessories. In addition, the accessories and posing rods are designed to be modular and attach via a 3/16" ball plug-in design to allow for interchangeability and customization between all four sets..

 Nestlings

I unfortunately was not able to take many photos of the nestling sculpts due to time, but I will be receiving castings back today so expect more on these very soon. The main thing you may notice that is different from the proposed drawing is... articulation! Instead of making three unique static sculpts as I had originally planned, I decided it would be better to have three different figures that share some parts, and have articulation points at the jaw, neck, shoulders, torso, and hips. All of the proposed poses are still achievable and then some. In addition, the necks, arms and legs will be interchangeable between them. Each will also receive a standard base similar to the Accessory Pack foot bases.

 BackerKit closing date

When I extended the BackerKit this last time, my plan was to give myself a one week cushion at the end to complete the prototypes if I fell behind and was hoping to give you all at least a few days to see everything to make your final decisions. But as I half expected, the 7-day contingency cushion was necessary for me to fill as these took longer to make than anticipated and I am planning to show everything just by the lockdown date of Nov. 7th (yeah, cutting it close I know). So I wanted to ask you all, would you prefer that I leave the BackerKits open for an additional week with all completed content shown and close them on Nov. 14th, or leave the lockdown date as-is to close at the end of the day on Nov. 7th? I realize that trying to decide what to order in a few hours is probably not ideal for most so I can leave it open one more week if people would prefer. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section. I can always lock down individual surveys upon request. And for those who have already submitted your surveys or have pre-ordered: if you want to add more items, contact me and I can add items on your behalf. There is no need to make an additional pre-order and pay for extra shipping.

That's all for now. I expect to show plenty of progress this weekend so keep an eye on my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for updates as we count down to final stages of the prototypes. You all have been super patient during this process thus far and I really appreciate it- thank you.

And as always the BackerKit pre-order store will remain open until the final lock down as well.

That's all for now- back to work!

A Question for the Kickstarter Backers Regarding Exclusives
over 8 years ago – Sat, Oct 29, 2016 at 09:22:19 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Accessory Pack Raptors Photo Gallery and $100K reached in BackerKit!
over 8 years ago – Fri, Oct 21, 2016 at 07:35:01 PM

Hi everyone! For those who've been following me on social media, you've seen the latest reveals of the finished painted 6" raptors from the Accessory Packs as I've worked on them in my humble work space. Well I recently completed an extensive photo shoot of all of the Beasts of the Mesozoic Raptors on the NECA dioramas (all created by the 'Dio Master' Stefan Folkins). I'm still sorting and photo editing many of the photos now, but I'm excited to at least share these new photos of the smaller raptors with you guys, so without further ado...

Accessory Pack Raptors Photo Gallery

Buitreraptor from the Wetlands Accessory Pack

Mononykus from the Desert Accessory Pack

 Microraptor from the Forest Accessory Pack

 Troodon juvenile from the Mountains Accessory Pack

It was a great shoot and more new photos of the larger raptors will be posted as time permits.

Beasts of the Mesozoic BackerKit has reached $100,000!

 The support for this project continues as we pass the $100K mark in BackerKit add-ons and new pre-orders! If you're one of the 269 post-Kickstarter backers, I'm so glad you found this project and thank you all! And of course to those Kickstarter backers who have added to your initial pledges- again, a big thank you to you all as well! The show of support and interest in this project has been a huge motivator for me and I can not express my gratitude enough. :)

That's all for now- remember to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest project updates. And if you've recently just found out about Beasts of the Mesozoic, the BackerKit Preorder store is still open until Nov. 7th.

Until next time- have a great weekend!

Accessory Pack Raptors- final sculpts, and Build-A-Raptor parts update
over 8 years ago – Wed, Oct 12, 2016 at 07:03:08 PM

As I move forward sculpting the accessory pack bases, I wanted to take a moment to show you all the final sculpts for the Accessory Pack Raptors. A note on the foot bases- the ones shown here are not final. My plan is to make the foot bases compatible with both small posing rods or a removable foot peg. Using the foot peg will be a great way to take photos of your small raptors, but for long term display, the posing rod would be more ideal, so I feel both have their merits. Anyway- on to the photos!

Accessory Pack Raptor sculpts

Buitreraptor g.- from the Wetlands Accessory Pack

Mononykus o. from the Desert Accessory Pack

Microraptor g. from the Forest Accessory Pack

 Troodon f. (juvenile) from the Mountains Accessory Pack

Build-A-Raptor Parts Assortments- Updated

Now that all of the parts for the main raptor figures are completed and the parts map is finalized, I can also finalize the Build-A-Raptor sets. The main difference from how I had them previously is that the Atrociraptor set will now feature the more feathered body like Dromaeosaurus. Some of the heads are arranged differently now as well. My goal here was to make the two sets as different as possible while still being able to build appropriate versions of the raptors based on the heads included. BackerKit images have now been updated as well.

And here are all of the production parts for main raptor figures. I am currently in the process of preparing them for mass production tooling.

 That will do it for now- remember to follow my progress on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for regular updates nearly every day. And of course the Beasts of the Mesozoic BackerKit Preorder store will remain open until Nov. 7th.

Until next time!

BackerKit Lockdown Final Extension- now Nov. 7th. Plus new raptors sculpts!
over 8 years ago – Wed, Sep 28, 2016 at 07:41:30 PM

Hi all,

As October 7th looms closer, it has become apparent that I will need more time to complete all of the Beasts of the Mesozoic prototypes in order to meet the high standard that has already been set. I estimate an additional month is needed to complete the sculpting process for the remaining items, which sets the new BackerKit lock down date at Nov. 7th 2016. My sincere apologies for the delay. Currently I am looking to finish up all four accessory pack raptors within the next week and then right on to bases, nestlings and environment accessories. Here's a quick progress update on the new raptors:

It's a learning process

It is obvious to me now that I began my Kickstarter with way too little product prepared. The huge response caught me off guard as it really grew into something much bigger than I could have anticipated. (not to sound like I'm complaining however)

So now it's nearly October and I'm about one month away from getting back on track. This time I have a timetable laid out, detailing my plan to finish the remaining products showing exactly how I plan to execute the remaining pieces. I also worked in an extra week at the end in case I fall behind again. Rest assured, I am taking notes along the way on how to run things more efficiently on the next go around. But there was no way to learn until I dove in and did it, so here we are, and honestly it's been a great experience so far.

Why not close the BackerKit surveys anyway?

So far 15% of backers still have yet to complete their surveys and I can only imagine this is because you all want to see all of the product before making your final decisions. During the Kickstarter campaign, I made a promise that I wouldn’t close the BackerKits until I showed ALL of the product, and I feel that I need to stand by this.

Another extension?

Yes this is the second extension now, but please know that I wouldn’t set the schedule back unless it were absolutely necessary and for the benefit of the products. I am very much looking forward to having these toys in-hand as much as anyone. But how does this effect the outcome of the project? Let's take a look.

Pros:

-Backers will be able to make informed decisions about what they are ordering by seeing the final prototypes.

-Prototypes will be as good as possible due to the development process not being compromised.

-Backers will have more time to complete their surveys if they choose.

Cons:

-A delay at this point could effect the final estimated ship date for the action figures.

-Printed materials will be delayed by one more month.

-Surveys and pre-orders will not charge automatically on Oct. 7th for those expecting it. All BackerKit orders will now be charged on Nov. 7th instead.

For those who ordered calendars and other printed materials, they will still ship in time for the holiday season this year. I now estimate shipping for these items will begin in mid to late November.

And as with the previous extension, if you need me to charge and close your order, it's no problem at all. Just send me a message here on Kickstarter or email me at [email protected]. I realize that you all have schedules of your own to keep, and I wouldn’t want to complicate that so I can lock down your order at any time by request.

Also, if you have submitted your survey and you decide that you want to add an additional item or items, I can reset your survey or add items for you, just let me know. (this has actually happened several times recently).

Okay okay, one more month then

I will continue to update progress here on Kickstarter periodically, but for the day-to-day Beasts of the Mesozoic news, please follow my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.

And the pre-order store will remain open until the lock down date as well. Please help me spread the word to those who may miss this message and feel free to copy and re-post the image below if you'd like. Thank you all for your continued support and patience- I look forward to showing you more progress soon.