New Usagi Maquette (statues)

Krogu · Post by **Krogu** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:02 -0700

Have you made any other figures before?

chickrockguitar · Post by **chickrockguitar** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 18:21 -0700

OO! look good!
We will get a Lord Noriyuki? Won't we? Along with Usagi and Jotaro, he's one of my faves. (as well as Tomoe and Gen).

Otter · Post by **Otter** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 0:33 -0700

Thanks to Roel for letting me know about the progress related to this thread. Needless to say I was very excited upon learning that these works of art would be made available for the fans to collect. What really sets these apart from previously released Usagi merchandise (and has everybody so gushing in their praise), is the obvious familarity of (and love for) the characters that Roel has.

Which makes me wonder, will we see the same craftsmanship in other sculptors? Needless to say my intention is to purchase everything that is released, but capturing the characters' essence (the Zato Ino prototype appeared flawless) is what will give the line longevity... in my humble opinion.

Thanks to Roel, Stan and everybody else involved for making this happen.

Post by **Todd Shogun** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 9:38 -0700

Roel, the Tomoe Ame statue looks absolutely incredible! You not only captured Stan's design perfectly, you've captured her essence as well in the pose you chose (looks similar to the painting Stan did for me of Lady Tomoe). Even without the color it is flawless -- I looked at the full-body photo at the bottom of page 15 for about 5 minutes trying to find something -- anything -- wrong with it (my critical nature and bias towards Tomoe Ame), but failed. The first time I looked at it, visions of "Lone Rabbit and Child" immediately came to mind. Yeah, I know it sounds like I might be blowing the praise out of proportion, but the statue is THAT DAMNED GOOD, Roel....arguably your best work yet. Superb!!!!!

In the latest photo on page 15 I noticed you started getting her eyes done, any chance of a close up?? Thinking back, am sorta glad you did not use the Tomoe figurine as a reference, even for what NOT to do....while good in it's own right, it was too small and not as correctly proportioned as would be a larger figure...you used Stan's art as a basis and that is how it should have been done.

roel · Post by **roel** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 12:15 -0700

Wow, Thanks for the rave review Todd! I'm glad you noticed the subtleties that go into these statues. I have been making a conscious effort to try and capture the essence of the old and new. There's been a bit of a transition throughout the years in the art and I'm trying to blend what attracted me to Usagi all those many years ago to what he is now. I'm glad you like Tomoe since I know you're a huge fan of hers. I should have more pics of her in a few days.

The picture you posted was the one I was going to use with some modifications that I did which I thought was the perfect Tomoe. After the initial sculpt was done it looked too passive and not as strong. I changed the pose in a more balanced, natural and dynamic pose reminiscent of Tomoe's personality. This pose works the best for me since I am thinking about how she would be reacting with Noriyuki behind her as she faces uncertain danger. In all the sculpts that have been done I am trying to reflect on each characters personalities. For instance with Usagi and Jotaro, they will have the only pose with the sword down since it will be reminiscent of Katsuichi's unorthodox style. The only difference is that Usagi is stepping with his right foot to show that it more of an advanced technique in drawing the sword. Jotaro's left stance is the more basic form until he gets to the more advanced and dangerouse techniques. I wanted to show Jotaro in his innocence and smiling and happy while Usagi is stern and ready for danger. I wanted to make Katsuichi very regal, stern and powerful so I went with the very upright stance. Tomoe is in a protective mode but looks very strong with what I think would be a stance from her Falling Rain style. Anyways I'm glad you like it. I probably babbled on long enough and was probably too much information then you needed.

goandal · Post by **goandal** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 16:12 -0700

Thank you Roel for the background. This post has already grown, so going back to page one would be too much work for me to read. Ha, ha.

Keep up the great work and can't wait until they go out to the public.

Jet_Jaguar · Post by **Jet_Jaguar** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 18:34 -0700

I really want one of these statues when they become available to the public. They're quite a step up from the early Usagi action figures. I thought that the story that Stan told at STAPLE! about how the first Usagi action figure basically looked like they stuck Usagi's head on He-Man's body was really funny.

Post by **Todd Shogun** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 21:40 -0700

Thanks for providing the background info, Roel. You hit it on the nose with Tomoe's "protector" stance and that is what immediately brought me to think of Tomoe's first appearances from the old Albedo stories. Tomoe has always stood for strength, perseverance, and above all, honor in the UY stories and you have been able to capture all of her qualities quite accurately. Bottom line, you nailed it bro!

roel · Post by **roel** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 23:25 -0700

This is almost final after a couple of more small tweaks.

ShadowSamurai · Post by **ShadowSamurai** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 18:22 -0700

all i can can say cant wait till i get my hands on them!

Vagabond_Usagi · Post by **Vagabond_Usagi** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 20:50 -0700

Roel did you ever finish the Usagi with the armor? That version was looking seriously awesome. Would that feature a removable helmet as well if it were produced?

The comparison from the old vs. the new sculpt. It's just wow.

Jet_Jaguar · Post by **Jet_Jaguar** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:46 -0700

Vagabond_Usagi wrote: The comparison from the old vs. the new sculpt. It's just wow.

The one on the left looks like one of those "Usagi's head on He-Man's body" figures Stan was talking about.

When I was at STAPLE! last week, I noticed that someone brought an Usagi action figure from the TMNT line for Stan to sign, but I think it was one of the slightly better ones.

roel · Post by **roel** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:21 -0700

Vagabond_Usagi wrote:Roel did you ever finish the Usagi with the armor? That version was looking seriously awesome. Would that feature a removable helmet as well if it were produced?

The comparison from the old vs. the new sculpt. It's just wow.

Still working on it. It's on hold right now since I've been trying to get the "first series" up and running. If made, the plan is to have a removable helmet.

Lubidius · Post by **Lubidius** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 9:06 -0700

Amazing work. All of your models you've shown.

Perhaps I missed it above, but what process does it take to produce one of these prototypes? You seem to be cranking these out rather quickly. Would the ultimate end result be then molded for creating a limited run of a given model?

yee28 · Post by **yee28** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 20:54 -0700

Only need to know one thing...

When and Where to send you pictures of Dead Presidents and/or the Inventor!

Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

New Usagi Maquette (statues)

uy statues