FINAL FANTASY IV
RAVEN PROJECT #648 CREATED: MAY 2020 The Raven was an aerial menace, one of the first indications observed by Cecil Harvey that the creatures of the world were becoming aggressive and dangerous. He encountered one such Raven aboard his Red Wings flagship, arguably before his true adventures had ever really begun, and would later confront the same types of creatures on the road to Mysidia. As a Dark Knight, Cecil could wield a dark sword that caused the Raven to fall to the ground, unconscious, in an instant. After his transformation to a Paladin, renouncing his dark sword, he found such encounters considerably more challenging. (The creature was instead named Zu in the original Japanese version of Final Fantasy IV. For the PlayStation Portable remake, it was called Zuu with two "u's.") To build a three-dimensional representation of the Raven (as well as the Roc, who shares the same game sprite design), I started with the now-retired Phoenix figurine manufactured by Schleich. It had basically the right head and body and wings, though I did chop off the feathered tail and replace it with the tail from an Adventure Force dragon figurine from Walmart. I also used the dragon's neck, attaching the existing head to it. I build some new teeth out of toothpicks. I dipped the talons in boiling water so I could reposition them, and I added articulated joints to the legs. In painting the toy, I used multiple shades of color to create depth, and broke out the airbrush to add the grey highlights to the wings. |
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