u/BornGorn

Production Log: It’s been a 4-year voyage with new discoveries yet to be revealed…

The Balena sofubi is based on the sea monster from Olaus Magnus’ 16th-century map, The Carta Marina. On it, and in several incarnations since, she is featured spouting torrents of water (affectionately called her “spoots”). Originally we had hoped to pull these as one piece. However that was deemed impossible as they would have had to be removed from the mold base-first, and the top curls of the torrents would simply not escape the narrow passage of the base.

Sacrifices were thus made to Poseidon for favorable pulls.

Version 1 of the spouts was divided into two pieces and joined together. The factory opted for glue on some runs. This was not ideal. A cutting method was developed (thanks to Kaiju Canvas) that allowed for a more “traditional” joining sans the glue. This method, while functional, was still time consuming. The bases of version 1 of the spouts were also difficult to seat into The Balena’s blowholes.

A second version was made. Thanks to the ingenuity and initiative of the factory in Japan, version 2 of the spouts was developed and molded. These now join at the top with no glue and seat more securely with a satisfying “plop” thanks to a plug at the base.

The first run of these version 2 spouts, pulled in clear vinyl and stuffed with tinsel, will be made available for FREE to those that purchased one of the first two runs.

The listing is on eBay. I understand having it in-hand is the definitive way to tell. It just looked a little off to me...Thanks for any tips or advice. I'm trying to find my first 8 Reales from the 1500s.

This legendary creature was the ultimate nightmare for early seafarers navigating uncharted waters… The Balena relied on brute force and was armed with twin blowholes atop its head. The leviathan was said to swim alongside galleons and unleash crushing torrents of water to swamp the decks and sink the vessels. Combined with fearsome tusks and its sheer gargantuan size, the Balena perfectly represented the untamed and unpredictable dangers of the deep ocean.

Looking for an artist who can draw animals as if in the style of an artist from the medieval ages who only had descriptions to work off of.

Think of those historical illuminated manuscripts or bestiaries where exotic animals look slightly awkward, imposing, and anatomically incorrect because the illustrator had never actually seen one in person.
If you have experience mimicking this specific, quirky historical aesthetic (like ink engraving, woodcut, or parchment styles), please reply with a link to your portfolio and your current rates!

The Balena (or Physeter) is one of the most iconic sea monsters from Renaissance-era cartography. Sailors claimed its skin was so rough and covered in sand and stone that they mistook the beast for an island.

The Balena is often shown with two distinct blowholes on its head that act more like water cannons. The Balena didn't just smash ships but would also purposefully swim alongside them and rain down torrents of water through its pipes with such force that it would swamp the deck and sink vessels under the crushing weight.

It was frequently described as having massive tusks and eyes that glowed with a terrifying intensity. Olaus Magnus once described the Balena as being so large that a man could stand inside its mouth and be "no more than a tooth in its jaw."

In 1539 Swedish cartographer Olaus Magnus published the Carta Marina, a map charting the treacherous northern seas. In order to capture the terrifying reality of early exploration he populated the waters with mythological beasts from sailors' tales. Amongst the greatest of these was the Balena, a kaiju-sized, ship crushing leviathan that embodied an ultimate nightmare of 16th-century mariners… now on soft vinyl!

This sofubi was sculpted by Liz Johnson and pulled and painted in Japan.