NEW PRODUCT: Mr.Z: simulation animal 37th-1/6 ratio German Great Dane German Great Dane - full set of 6 colors

These animal figures are beautifully-realised as usual, but I'd be more into the idea of collecting them if they were articulated.

But then if they were articulated, they'd most probably be less beautifully-realised.

GubernatorFan wrote:I would have thought the beige one would work too, but brown looks good. Thanks for the heads up. They are my favorite dog.

The colour question is a tricky one.

A Google search for Great Dane colours brought up The Happy Puppy Site, who write:

Fawn is the most common of the Great Dane colors.

It’s also the most recognized; after all, Scooby Doo was a fawn Great Dane!

I'm not sure what was best, but the brown one is now on the way. These are Mr. Z's outdoor shots for comparison:







In Scooby Apocalypse he sometimes looks a bit paler than in his old cartoon days.






Since Scooby was atypical by design the only way to have his colours on a realistic version would be a repaint.

Brandon Cordy, Animator, Designer, Artist, Studying Filmmaker, Devotee of Film, Animation, and Music History

Updated Jan 2, 2016 · Author has 307 answers and 999.1k answer views

Scooby-Doo is a Great Dane. He's not based on anyone's pet; he was originally intended to be the sidekick to the kids until the development process (and an initial rejection from the CBS board) made it clear that the dog should be the star.

When Scooby-Doo was early in development in late 1968, co-creator Joe Ruby-  afraid Hanna-Barbera might be sued by the owners of the comic strip Marmaduke for using a Great Dane - changed Scooby (at the time named "Too Much") to be a sheepdog. This version of the show, then called Mysteries Five, was rejected by CBS daytime executive Fred Silverman, and after learning why Ruby had changed the dog to a sheepdog, producer Joseph Barbera groaned to Ruby "...just use a Great Dane!"

The character's design was inspired by a conversation character designer Iwao Takamoto had with a Hanna-Barbera studio employee, who was a breeder of Great Danes. Takamoto took notes from his colleague, and then proceeded to take all of the rules that made an award-winning Great Dane and break them: bowed legs instead of straight, a double chin instead of a strong one, a sloped back instead of a straight one, and spots instead of a smooth coat (no purebred Great Dane has spots, though Harlequin Great Danes have black mottled patches).

Interesting info, Asta. I can live with close enough for Scooby.

Stryker2011 wrote:Interesting info, Asta. I can live with close enough for Scooby.

I hadn't read Scooby's history until today, so that was all new to me.

Did you decide on a colour?


Can't find any in-hand reviews yet to see how the brown one turned out. Hopefully he matches the promotional photos and the black parts look like shading, otherwise I might be hoping I'd ordered the fawn one.

Yeah, I think I’ll go with the brindle (same as you). Though the fawn color would work just as well.

He arrived this morning.

Can't say I'm very impressed.

First off, two of his legs on one side were bent inwards. I thought that was going to be fatal, but as he's made of resin I've been able to heat them up with a hairdryer and try to reshape them. I spaced them apart with Lego and they hold the new shape when they've cooled down.

I think I have his front legs correct, but the back still need to be worked on. I got him to the point where he can stand on his own, but the legs need some 'fine tuning'. So I'm using a mug of hot water, which really softens him up fast.


Secondly, the paint/finish doesn't look that great. I've been spoiled by the dogs from Border Fine Arts, Country Artists, Sherratt & Simpson etc, plus those hyenas from Alert Line.

He has a plastic sheen when the light hits at certain angles. The black markings do look more like shading than brindle and they look good from more than a yard away, but as you get closer they look more heavy handed.


I thought Mr. Z had a good reputation for their animals, but this gives me some doubts.

The sculpting is good, I'll give them that. But the finish lets it down.

He looks better from a few feet away, which would be normal viewing distance:






But zooming in with the flash shows up the shiny, plastic texture :






Thankfully he doesn't look that bad under normal lighting! But there is still a sheen to the face. I keep seeing mention of Dullcote, and wonder whether that would be a fix.

Sorry for you disappointment, Asta. The fact you had to soften/reshape the leg is very frustrating -- I wonder if you could make a complaint about that to the seller? 

Regarding the finish -- I guess the glossy finish is not something that surprises me, since their horses also have a rather prominent sheen to them. I have always presumed this is a protective layer to prevent scratches, but I could be wrong. Currently, I only own two Mr. Z horses, so I don't have direct experience with their other animals. It's hard to tell from your pics if the shine is 'too much', but to me it looks ok. : )

skywalkersaga wrote:Sorry for you disappointment, Asta. The fact you had to soften/reshape the leg is very frustrating -- I wonder if you could make a complaint about that to the seller? 

Regarding the finish -- I guess the glossy finish is not something that surprises me, since their horses also have a rather prominent sheen to them. I have always presumed this is a protective layer to prevent scratches, but I could be wrong. Currently, I only own two Mr. Z horses, so I don't have direct experience with their other animals. It's hard to tell from your pics if the shine is 'too much', but to me it looks ok. : )

He looks all right as long as he's not under bright lights. The shine surprised me as I was expecting him to be more like Alert Line's hyenas, where up close with the flash the only really shiny parts are the ones that are meat to be - the eyes and nose:






But they're a harder material, like polystone as with most of my 1/6 dogs. The Great Dane is the only one I have that's resin, though at least it meant I was able to rescue his legs and avoid the fuss of a return and exchange.


Here he is raised to the level of the oval bases for height reference:



Though I'll keep him like this:

Hmmm, you’re right. Looks okay at a distance, but the brindle application is somewhat disappointing. Now I’m debating the fawn color — as I still haven’t made my purchase.

I have quite a few Mr. Z animals, and this is the first I’ve noticed a sheen like that — or to that extent. I wonder if they changed their paints...

I do agree the stripes on the brindle coat seem poorly painted. Maybe it’s just cause I’m on my phone, but I can’t tell how bad the shine is from the pics, since the use of flash makes it even more pronounced, though of course I take your word for it. Wonder how it holds up being photographed in natural light?

ETA: For what it’s worth, despite the issues, he still looks nice next to your figures. : )

Stryker2011 wrote:Hmmm, you’re right. Looks okay at a distance, but the brindle application is somewhat disappointing. Now I’m debating the fawn color — as I still haven’t made my purchase.

I have quite a few Mr. Z animals, and this is the first I’ve noticed a sheen like that — or to that extent. I wonder if they changed their paints...

Judging how the brown turned out the fawn is going to be pretty light.

The shininess is really apparent in Mr. Z's photo of the black and white:




Apart from the sculpt I'm not really happy with it. The only thing that might save it is a fully Scooby-Doo repaint.

A repaint could turn out really nice — I recall seeing some repaints of the Mr. Z horses on a German forum, and they looked quite good.

But still, very sorry for your disappointment. </3

skywalkersaga wrote:A repaint could turn out really nice — I recall seeing some repaints of the Mr. Z horses on a German forum, and they looked quite good.

I'm going to have a think about it, and try to imagine how he'd look in plain brown with the five black patches.




Somebody did it to a real Great Dane!

skywalkersaga wrote:But still, very sorry for your disappointment. </3

Thank you.

That’s a great photo of the real dog. What a patient animal.

Despite the disappointments and the corrective action, he looks pretty good. I broke down and went for one -- the beige (fawn?). My fond childhood memories were of a harlequin Great Dane owned by a friend, but I wasn't sure I wanted to chance it with the application of the spotting.

GubernatorFan wrote:Despite the disappointments and the corrective action, he looks pretty good. I broke down and went for one -- the beige (fawn?). My fond childhood memories were of a harlequin Great Dane owned by a friend, but I wasn't sure I wanted to chance it with the application of the spotting.

Since ordering him I'd been wondering whether I should have gone for Fawn.

I looked at him again this morning, and moved him round the collection room to see how light and position changed his appearance. I realised he was better at eye level or below. Where he was before, on a high shelf with one of the ceiling lights angled in his direction, wasn't doing him any favours. He was looking washed out and pale.

I found another spot for him along with Daphne and Velma in one of the display cases. Lower down and out of direct light he improves, and the brindle that resembles shading appears a little more blended.

However, when I look at him after turning on the extra lamp at that end of the room, I get the urge to repaint him again!

This real life Scooby repaint kept the melanistic mask:




EDIT:

I painted his collar in an attempt to sell the illusion that he's Scooby.




The photo had to be taken with the flash, but I took it from a way back to mitigate it's affect.

I'll give him an 'SD' dog tag when I find something I can make it from.

The blue collar has already gone a long way toward the illusion. ;’)

skywalkersaga wrote:The blue collar has already gone a long way toward the illusion. ;’)

It actually is starting to convince me.


Started on his dog tag.

A 1x1 Lego tile is just right. But so tiny when trying to get the 'SD' into the blue square. I used to spend hours painting wargaming miniatures right down to their eyeballs, but this is harder.

I used a white tile and painted the turquoise square, then the yellow surround. And messed it up with the letters in the middle.

I think I ought to use a yellow tile and just paint the turquoise bits in the middle instead.  

Nice effect with the collar. I agree the further the light is away from him, the better it looks. Since Scooby isn’t based on any real dog, or it’s coloring, the effect (without a full repaint) will always be “close enough”, so I think adding that little bit is a nice touch. Daphne and Velma look very different from their animated counterparts, so it only stands to reason Scooby would too.


When I was a little kid (4 or 5), family friends had a big black GD, that their kids, my brother, and I were able to ride like a horse — such a good, gentle dog. Then one really, REALLY hot day, I kept bugging him when he didn’t want to be bothered, so he got up and bit me in the face — I have a small scar on the bottom of my chin, and at the edge of my hair-line — he could almost fit my entire stupid head in his mouth. I forgave him, of course, but I learned my lesson not to bug him when he didn’t want to be bothered. I still have fond memories of that dog, despite my one F-up.

Aww, I'm glad you weren't too traumatized by that, Stryker. But yes, it's so true... even the gentlest animals have their limits! It's probably a good lesson to have learned as a kid....

A lucky escape, Stryker!

Stryker2011 wrote:Nice effect with the collar. I agree the further the light is away from him, the better it looks. Since Scooby isn’t based on any real dog, or it’s coloring, the effect (without a full repaint) will always be “close enough”, so I think adding that little bit is a nice touch. Daphne and Velma look very different from their animated counterparts, so it only stands to reason Scooby would too.

I've finished his dog tag now too.



You're right, I think he'll pass without a full repaint - which is something I didn't really want to have to do. His identity now lies in his collar and his tag.

Oh, wow, that really does the trick! If you hadn't already mentioned who he was supposed it be, it would be perfectly clear now, just with that addition. Excellent job.

That looks awesome. Nice job on the tag. Works perfectly.

skywalkersaga wrote:Oh, wow, that really does the trick! If you hadn't already mentioned who he was supposed it be, it would be perfectly clear now, just with that addition. Excellent job.

Stryker2011 wrote:That looks awesome. Nice job on the tag. Works perfectly.

Thanks.

Now he knows who he is!

Stryker2011 wrote:I definitely need to do what you did and change out the Daphne head — not sure why Flirty girl used the same head for both of them.

I've never been happy with the Flirty Girl sculpt as there's something a bit creepy about it.

Always been on the lookout for something better for Velma, though nothing seemed to fit the bill. Then yesterday I wondered if the answer had been staring at me for the past few weeks.

This is the unpainted second Hasbro Qi'ra sculpt with Hot Toys' Jim Gordon glasses, which slide under the hair on either side:



The hairstyle is similar to Scooby Apocalypse Velma, albeit pushed behind one ear, and the stock colour is already chestnut brown. The sculpt is also more youthful and chubbier than Flirty Girl's.

Nice adaptation, Asta. I have two heads coming to swap out for both Daphne and Velma, and I received my Great Dane a week ago — I tried to get the Brindle one, but the eBay seller told me it was sold out — so I ended up getting the Fawn — though in hand it seems a bit darker than the prototype pics, which is fine. Now I need to paint his collar and figure out how to make a tag like you did.

Which heads did you go for?

The DAM IDF girl sculpt I used was something I already had, and the closest thing to quickly dispense with the Flirty Girl. I've been looking for a better alternative.

I don’t know if either of mine are better, but I chose these two (at this point, anything is better than the fugly ones Flirty Girl went with):