Hi all! It took some time, but I just finished uploading my largest batch ever. For years I have an image in my mind of an immense diorama based on the great migration. Once a year a few million herbivores migrate from the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara on the border of Tanzania and Kenya. The main obstacle on the way is the Mara river. Herds of Wildebeest, Zebra, Topi and Thomson’s Gazelle merge together and have to cross this river full of hungry Crocodiles waiting for this big event. I guess everyone have seen some images of this in nature documentaries. I hear the voice of David Attenborough already.



This batch is just the first one, cause I want to raise the number of unique models for this diorama to at least 100 pieces.


In an earlier upload session, I already updated my old Nile Crocodile model and now I also updated the Wildebeest and Zebra for this diorama. To see the difference, here is a before and after of both species:









In this batch, I uploaded one new pose for the Zebra:


And most of the new models (22 of them) are Wildebeests. I made some to descend or tumbling down the steep river bank and of course swimming and jumping. Also I added the new juvenile model. This model matches by the age of the calves, during this river crossing, normally in the beginning of July. The complete herd of Wildebeests gives birth around February in another part of the Serengeti. Here are several of the new poses and you can find the rest of them is of course on my Shapeways page: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/mininature

I also added 7 new poses for the Nile Crocodile. This time I also created 2 different size stages. To see a difference, here a 2 of them, the larger and smaller individual:



And also the other poses:






Next to the 22 Wildebeests and 7 Crocodiles, I also have 3 new combined models, in which the Wildebeest isn’t as lucky :




And I named the species before, the Topi is also part of this migration and it’s a complete new species for my collection. I created 6 poses and here are 3 of them:




And to add some more life in the river, you can place these 2 Serrated Hinged Terrapins on a log, watching the whole event while sunbathing :



This new species I also uploaded. A male Springbok. It only doesn’t match with the river crossing diorama, cause this species only can be find in Southern Africa. But want to share it too of course:



It took some time, but loved the whole process. And hopefully the result is loved by more than me alone!

Count me in as one who loves them

The idea of the great crossing of all those is amazing and will look stunning. Even a smaller grouping of 6 or so will be something to see (and more the scale of undertaking that I can envisage for us mere mortals)

It's great to see these being developed (my mind is already thinking of one of the pairings in the churned up water so that you can see the waiting croc below the surface . . . .
Cheers
Paul

Double post (I was so excited!)

Very fine sculpting. Each one is a work of art.

Someone must have been watching a lot of David Attenborough films to come up with such superbly posed animals!

Mike

I love your work. The new zebra is my favourite. My wish list on shapeways is going to get longer.
-Gerald

Great work!

Just beautiful pieces!!!

Gorgeous sculpts with fantastic animation.

Nice stuff.
Where can they be bought?
Michael

https://paintedheroes.blogspot.com/

They can be found on shapeways.

Thank you guys! Great that they are appreciated!

Thanks Paul! I think they will fit great too in the smaller groups. Certainly for the largest scales it can become a bit too expensive and expansive I'm planning to do something with the whole collection in 1/87, but very interesting what others will do with them.

Haha, yes, I think I've seen them all

Thanks Michael! Like Henk said, indeed on Shapeways. Here is my actual page: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/mininature. And it's also interesting to take a look in all the other shops in Shapeways' community. A lot of other hobby miniature creators, with all their own expertises, from vehicles to furniture and from human figures to fantasy, if you are looking for something, chances are you can find it.

Beautiful depiction of nature. The Crocodile and Wildebeest will look very dramatic in a splashing water scene, lovely work.

Any chance of doing some hunting dogs?

Africanis

Thank you guys!

Love to do them and they are definitely on my to do list, but I thin I won't succeed doing them this year. First want to complete the river crossing collection and I want to do some smaller sets of different ecosystems. I think this fall we can see some models from the arctic, rain forest and mountains too.

Thanks Nap! Really appreciate it. And would love to know if Sir David has seen them, but I guess he didn't. Maybe some day