NEW PRODUCT: MR. Z: 58th round-Shire Horse 2.0 version full set of 5 colors

Ovy wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:

Ovy wrote:Oh I thougt this would be the thread for that new seamless horse. Is there a thread for it yet?

What new seamless horse? Share a link, perhaps....? ;p

ETA: Is it another InFlames one? All I see are listings that are 'sold out'.

Someone on another forum posted this, that's all the info I have:
https://www.hobbyfanclub.com/figure/soul-made-model-play/War-Horse-16-27-49424

Ah ok, thanks. I hadn't seen it. Looks ambitious, though I'm not sure about some of the anatomy and movement, especially the back legs.....

skywalkersaga wrote:

Ovy wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:

Ovy wrote:Oh I thougt this would be the thread for that new seamless horse. Is there a thread for it yet?

What new seamless horse? Share a link, perhaps....? ;p

ETA: Is it another InFlames one? All I see are listings that are 'sold out'.

Someone on another forum posted this, that's all the info I have:
https://www.hobbyfanclub.com/figure/soul-made-model-play/War-Horse-16-27-49424

Ah ok, thanks. I hadn't seen it. Looks ambitious, though I'm not sure about some of the anatomy and movement, especially the back legs.....

Aaargh always with you horse people, never let's us ignorant plebs enjoy a bad horse we liked!

But yeah it's ambitious, I think the reason why noone else tried it yet in that scale is the price maybe. I want to know it and at the same time, I don't.

Ovy wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:

Ovy wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:

Ovy wrote:Oh I thougt this would be the thread for that new seamless horse. Is there a thread for it yet?

What new seamless horse? Share a link, perhaps....? ;p

ETA: Is it another InFlames one? All I see are listings that are 'sold out'.

Someone on another forum posted this, that's all the info I have:
https://www.hobbyfanclub.com/figure/soul-made-model-play/War-Horse-16-27-49424

Ah ok, thanks. I hadn't seen it. Looks ambitious, though I'm not sure about some of the anatomy and movement, especially the back legs.....

Aaargh always with you horse people, never let's us ignorant plebs enjoy a bad horse we liked!

But yeah it's ambitious, I think the reason why noone else tried it yet in that scale is the price maybe. I want to know it and at the same time, I don't.

LOL, I'm sorry. I just feel I would be remiss if not mentioning inaccuracies, so that people can have better informed idea of what they are (potentially) purchasing...

Having had a look at it...it has potential, but oooft, some of those poses make me cringe. XD

Interesting seamless horse. I hope we see more of it and find out details. They are clearly trying to show off the articulation potential, and perhaps prioritized that, throwing realistic poses to the wind. The question is really whether it can assume a reasonable range of realistic poses.

GubernatorFan wrote:The question is really whether it can assume a reasonable range of realistic poses.

That's exactly my concern. If the weird poses in the promo pics are simply due to ignorance on the part of the photographer, then that's one thing. But if that is the actual range of motion, and the more realistic poses *aren't* possible, then that's a pretty big problem... ;p

skywalkersaga wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:The question is really whether it can assume a reasonable range of realistic poses.

That's exactly my concern. If the weird poses in the promo pics are simply due to ignorance on the part of the photographer, then that's one thing. But if that is the actual range of motion, and the more realistic poses *aren't* possible, then that's a pretty big problem... ;p

The "realistic" poses would be included in the ranges of motion that are demonstrated albeit in a more extreme way, so I would have no doubt the horse is capable of them, although the effect is offputting to see poses you'd never expect to see in a real horse.  Remember also it's not necessarily pure "ignorance on the part of the photographer" because probably all those "weird" poses are something a real horse could achieve, only in some bizarre extreme situation that you'd never see spending real time with horses, but maybe extreme situations in a movie.  I don't think any of those horse pics are necessarily impossible for some generally unlikely but pop-culture-possible situations.  A horse trapped in a barn on fire, trying to kick the door down.  A horse jumping off a tower into the Mediterranean with James Bond on its back (rewatched Never Say Never Again, obviously).  Surely with the shown joints you can avoid the extreme stuff, while gallop, trot, rest, etc should be just fine.  Like any seamless body tho I would avoid permanent display in anything more than a minor bend.

The economics of this must be terrifying tho.  TBL got to amortize the cost of developing its seamless human body over 100+ products, making fixes and improvements along the way.  And if it was TBL or Jaiou that was making a seamless horse, they'd be starting from an existing foundation of expertise.  A seamless horse is likely more complex than a human one with likely way less ROI. Not sure if this is the same Soul-Made that I see makes "artisan crafted products" like jewelry, or it's a new company, but the challenge they have taken on is huge physically and financially.

Good points, MBAM. I do hope you're right, and that it can be posed in more convincing ways too. I also hope it has a good metal armature, because the hidden joints (or even "bones") of the Inflames semi-seamless horses were subject to the same accidental breaking as the plastic-skeleton early Phicen seamless bodies.

GubernatorFan wrote:Good points, MBAM. I do hope you're right, and that it can be posed in more convincing ways too. I also hope it has a good metal armature, because the hidden joints (or even "bones") of the Inflames semi-seamless horses were subject to the same accidental breaking as the plastic-skeleton early Phicen seamless bodies.

Totally legitimate concerns. I never dealt with those Inflames, but I can see that. I wish Soul-Made good luck but this is not the route I would have predicted to getting a seamless horse. The path I would more likely have predicted is that TBL might have gone for a 1/12 seamless horse first -- existing TBL expertise, but 1/12 size bringing lower costs, and easier engineering with less weight and stress. And they're remaking the Death Dealer in 1/12 so that would have been perfect. Once a TBL 1/12 seamless horse was a success it could have been the foundation for tackling a 1/6 one. One way or another, we should have a seamless 1/6 horse eventually.

It’s less about the poses themselves and more about them being anatomically possible with that model. At a glance they’re ok, but the apparent inflexibility of the fetlocks stands out immediately and simply due to the limitations of the sculpture, the hindquarters obviously can’t move freely, so that’s why the rearing looks odd.

Horses are beautiful and majestic creatures, but they do often forget how to horse. XD

Welsh Ponies by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

LOL @ at the pic, Lynkhart

And yes, thank you, that's what I was trying to get at. I noticed the hooves/fetlocks seemed too stiff and unable to go into a realistic pose, and likewise the rear hocks do not seem to lift or bend at the correct angle to get the legs underneath the horse in the proper position.

(I could nitpick a bunch of other things about it as well, but I'm trying to keep it to myself for Ovy's sake. )

All in all it’s a good effort though, and I think it’d look good in more neutral poses.

And now I know what fetlocks and hocks are! Who said our hobby can't be educational? Thanks Christine, and Sky.

Yes, I do think it's a positive step. But then I'm not really invested in the idea of a fully articulated 1/6 horse like some people are. I'm perfectly contented with static model horses. ;p

skywalkersaga wrote:LOL @ at the pic, Lynkhart

And yes, thank you, that's what I was trying to get at. I noticed the hooves/fetlocks seemed too stiff and unable to go into a realistic pose, and likewise the rear hocks do not seem to lift or bend at the correct angle to get the legs underneath the horse in the proper position.

(I could nitpick a bunch of other things about it as well, but I'm trying to keep it to myself for Ovy's sake. )

With this specific explanation, I fully concede that I was wrong to conclude the possible realistic poses would have been "included" in the range of motion shown in the photographs.  I stand corrected.

skywalkersaga wrote:Yes, I do think it's a positive step. But then I'm not really invested in the idea of a fully articulated 1/6 horse like some people are. I'm perfectly contented with static model horses. ;p

Being myself inclined more to photoshoots rather than shelf display, the problem I have with static horses is that they look silly in any photosequence where stuff is happening around him but the horse is a statue. Full articulation would be great, but what they could easily do that could go a long way (and I haven't seen done for horses) is the technique they use for some statues, where you get a couple of magnet swappable pieces for open/closed mouth, or bent/unbent foreleg.  At least then you could vary it up a bit, without insanely added cost.

Moonbase Alpha Male wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:Yes, I do think it's a positive step. But then I'm not really invested in the idea of a fully articulated 1/6 horse like some people are. I'm perfectly contented with static model horses. ;p

Being myself inclined more to photoshoots rather than shelf display, the problem I have with static horses is that they look silly in any photosequence where stuff is happening around him but the horse is a statue. Full articulation would be great, but what they could easily do that could go a long way (and I haven't seen done for horses) is the technique they use for some statues, where you get a couple of magnet swappable pieces for open/closed mouth, or bent/unbent foreleg.  At least then you could vary it up a bit, without insanely added cost.

Aw, yes, I do understand the need for changing poses for a photoshoot. And of course I'd welcome a fully anatomically correct poseable seamless horse, but I guess I'm just realistic about how difficult it will be to come by (and afford) something like that even if it were to exist. For me, the realism/accuracy of the horse (anatomy, coat colouring, etc) is more important than the articulation, which is why I am ok with the 'statues' for the time being. But I do agree that having some swappable heads for these, or even just swappable ears (the position of a horses ears can definitely alter their whole mood/expression) would be very welcome.

Oh I really like that seamless horse! And the... ankles seem to have quite a bit of articulation, too. Maybe that awkward stance was just due to them not taking the time to pose it right.

But as usual, I'd prefer it in 1/12 for the reduced price tag and the reduced space it takes up. And those INFLAMES horses are just prohibitive in pricing.

Seamless horse is definately great! I don't care too much about realism as long as it looks like a horse to me, but having a horse that can move for photography is great, like MBA already said.

MBAM's idea of swappable limbs is a very interesting one, but it does have two potential limitations: seams where the attachable limbs would attach to the body, and ensuring balance -- obviously not every combination of posed limbs would be viable, but even reasonable combinations may turn out incapable of keeping the horse standing.

I think the swappable limbs could be doable if the joints “locked” in similar to how they do so on mannequins. That way the joints wouldn’t slip once in place. (It would require the horse be mostly hollow for weight support, and maybe the legs could then be solid and weighted).

Stryker2011 wrote:I think the swappable limbs could be doable if the joints “locked” in similar to how they do so on mannequins. That way the joints wouldn’t slip once in place. (It would require the horse be mostly hollow for weight support, and maybe the legs could then be solid and weighted).

True, except maybe for those legs that are posed so as not to touch the ground.

One of the reasons I'm POing this Shire 2.0 is because I already have the previous Mr.Z Shire, but the  galloping pose meant it could only be used for specific action scenes. I liked the fact that this one was a bit more neutral. Likewise, the previous model had sculpted mane and tail, which was also permanently in 'motion'. So this new version seemed like a good second option to have for less action-y scenes. I'm getting it in the same coat colour in hopes I can use it as the same horse in different contexts. While the sculpts/molds look quite different, I sort of view it similarly to how they use horses in films -- very often, there will be multiple horses all playing the same horse. ;')

So aside from non-US sites, has this gone up anywhere else?

GubernatorFan wrote:

Stryker2011 wrote:I think the swappable limbs could be doable if the joints “locked” in similar to how they do so on mannequins. That way the joints wouldn’t slip once in place. (It would require the horse be mostly hollow for weight support, and maybe the legs could then be solid and weighted).

True, except maybe for those legs that are posed so as not to touch the ground.

I suspect for balance, the rule of thumb will be that any poses where three legs touch the ground should be stable (while two legs rearing will always need support). The caveat will be that this assumes a flat surface -- posing on some rough 3D diorama terrain is unlikely without a full articulation horse. but then the price to be paid is greater instability and visible joints. Of course merely a swappable head, or just swappable/movable ears as Skywalkersaga wisely suggests, do not raise balance issues.

As to the earlier point about the seams of swappable limbs, there is no issue if the swappable is done right because a simple swappable seam (unlike a movable joint) doesn't create an "air gap," but just an imperceptible line. A rare earth magnet is ideal to keep swappable parts tight and minimize the separation being visible. The statue guys at Sideshow etc find it totally acceptable visually for swapped heads and variant limbs, and believe me, they are way fussier than you and me.

Stryker2011 wrote:So aside from non-US sites, has this gone up anywhere else?

where to buy? I don't want to miss this like before

Did anyone else end up PO'ing this one? I just messaged SPACE asking about it, and they are giving an estimate of about March for its arrival. But that could just be specifically for them, not sure if that applies across the board.

I was going to, but passed. I hope you get yours soon.

Stryker2011 wrote:I was going to, but passed. I hope you get yours soon.

Aw, bummer. But I can understand, since I guess it doesn't fit into your Western theme as well as some of the other horses.

This is probably the Mr. Z horse I've been looking forward to the most out of all of them so far (at least, out of the ones I've actually pre-ordered... we won't speak of the elusive Ili ). Thankfully, I already paid the full price for it, so whenever it decides to show up it will be a pleasant surprise, rather than a 'oh (censored) I gotta afford that' surprise.

I’m still tempted. As I could possibly use it as a fantasy warhorse. Emphasis on fantasy.