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Which of these would you like to see as a plastic model kit?
Now that plastic-kit companies such as Monarch and Moebius have come onto the scene, rescuing thousands of us from the despair that hit when Polar Lights was dismantled, I thought it would be fun to revive this blog for a few weeks and ask people to help me consider potential new plastic-kit subjects.
Some things that will appeal to longtime hobbyists are obvious. We love the Universal Monsters. We love comic book heroes. We love stuff that reminds us of those.
Polar Lights branched out with some different, neat subject matter. The Headless Horseman from “Sleepy Hollow” is one of my personal favorites. I love the Three Stooges as well, and even the Drej Alien. I’ve never gone for the Beatles or Kiss kits, but I appreciate that they exist.
The poll below is built from a list of “drive-in classics” I found. I don’t think a single one of these has been turned into a plastic kit, and I think many of them have potential. There are at least two very good reasons I think plastic kit producers would consider these subjects. First, a lot of them are simply great movies many of us have enjoyed. “B” material, sure, but GOOD “B” material. Second, the licensing that would be required to produce such subjects in styrene isn’t terribly expensive.
So, what do you think? Which of the titles below would interest you? And if you want to state exactly which character in a movie (such as an anthology like “Tales of Terror”) would interest you, please use the comment feature to do it.
The poll is set up to accept your vote once a day (used to be once a week). I left five blank at the bottom in case something new comes up worth adding.
Last note: It’s possible you’ll encounter this site’s ZIP code sign-on system on this blog. Please don’t be intimidated; we’re not logging anything about your visit except the area you come from. No e-mail addresses are archived, no spam will be sent, no nothing. It’s just a tool we use in our efforts to market the site to potential advertisers.
Thanks for looking.
THE POLL
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Turn out the lights…
In case two months between updates wasn’t enough to make it clear, this blog is done, stick a fork in it. I still love the hobby, but I think it’s best to keep it separate from my job from now on. Thanks to everyone who made it fun while it lasted.
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More about Monarch
Scott McKillop of Monarch Models just sent me this:
It’s a preview of Monarch’s first ad campaign. It will start appearing in kit magazines in 2007.
Monarch gears up to become
21st century Aurora
In this era of shopper mania about PlayStation 3 or TMX Elmo, it’s easy to grow nostalgic about a time three or four decades past, when the Aurora company’s plastic monster models beckoned menacingly — but quietly — from store shelves.
Wide-eyed boys gazed at the bright artwork on those boxes, created by painters such as James Bama or Mort Kunstler, depicting the Frankenstein Monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde, the Phantom of the Opera and more. At home, they struggled with the glue and paints needed to assemble the models, then often played with their creations until they fell apart.
Scott McKillop was one of those Aurora fans, and if he has his way, plastic monster models will return to excite boys of all ages by Christmas 2007.
McKillop, 40, a doctor in London, Ontario, is dedicating one year of his salary to starting up Monarch Models, which he plans to launch late next year with a “Nosferatu” kit, based on the Max Schreck vampire, Graf Orok, in the 1922 F.W. Murnau silent film based on Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula.” The film has moved into the public domain, and thus no licensing of the character is required.
The kit, designed by artist Gary Makatura and sculptor Jeff Yagher, and sculpted by Yagher, will be in one-eighth scale, the same as most of Aurora’s best-known monster kits, and will be “packaged to harmonize perfectly with the early Aurora long boxes,” McKillop said in an e-mail interview. He hopes the kit will make “the toughest die-hard Aurora fan feel like a 10-year-old again.”
McKillop wasn’t ready to be specific about what will follow the Orlok kit, but he did say the second offering is “a gift to the sci-fi fans, and the third offering is sure to spook you.” After that, he said, Monarch will “step into the murky waters of licensed properties.”
Makatura said Monarch will aim to be true to what Aurora could have actually produced “in both substance and spirit.” He will be in charge of original kit design and box-art illustration.
Monarch also intends to reissue classic Aurora kits that have been often requested by fans, McKillop said. This will be largely determined by how easily the company can get licensing agreements, and so he couldn’t say yet which kits might be reissued.
The company’s Web site will be unveiled before Jan. 1, McKillop said. It will feature illustrations by Rod Keith, who will also be in charge of illustrations for Monarch’s print advertisements.
The company will be headquartered in London, Ontario; the kits will be produced in China, “but I am looking into bringing the work back to North American soil,” McKillop said.
The marketplace will determine the number of kits produced, McKillop said; the initial run of Nosferatus will be 5,000. They’ll be sold “through the usual outlets typical of any hobby kit company, including the Monarch online retail outlet.” McKillop said he hopes to price the kit at $24.99, with a maximum possible price of $29.99.
‘THE TIMING SOUNDED RIGHT’
Monarch is attempting to fill the Aurora void left when the Polar Lights company stopped producing figure kits after being purchased by RC2 Corp. in 2004. Polar Lights had built a dedicated following among figure-kit enthusiasts by “repopping” many of Aurora’s classic figure kits as well as creating a few original character models, but RC2 chose to end those efforts.
McKillop said he was inspired about two years ago by Aurora “What If?” paintings Makatura, 40, of Cleveland did for boxes sold by Stratten/Holland Products Co., sold in the 1990s. Makatura’s Bama-style paintings represented characters, including the Invisible Man, the Fly and the Mole Man, in Aurora box-art format. These characters were never actually offered as Aurora models.
“As one candle can light another, in March 2006, I started looking into the nuts and bolts of the plastic model industry,” McKillop said. “I learned from Dave Metzner (formerly of Polar Lights) the basic cost breakdown of taking a concept and putting it on the hobby store shelf. This sounded affordable, and more importantly, the timing sounded right.”
Owning a model manufacturing company was a dream, McKillop said. “How much money would I be willing to spend to finance a dream? My answer: One year’s salary.”
He named the company Monarch partially as an homage to the early Crown/Aurora Knights figure models, and partially because he can use a monarch butterfly as a symbol, similar to the praying mantis of Polar Lights’ parent company, Playing Mantis. Monarch will also use a logo similar to Aurora’s best-known insignia, with red lettering inside a yellow field, surrounded by a sphere of blue.
PLASTIC CHALLENGES
Yagher, who lives in Los Angeles and says he’s “over 21,” will have first nod to sculpt all of Monarch’s patterns. He has worked for a variety of producers of resin and vinyl model kits, as well as several of the larger companies that produce pre-painted statue figures, but this is the first sculpture he has done for a styrene plastic kit.
“The thing about sculpting for styrene that’s really different, and frustrating if you want to know the truth, is having to adhere to the ‘no undercut’ rule,” Yagher said in an e-mail. “Styrene kits are made from metal molds, usually in halves. Because there is no flexibility with the metal, a piece has to be fashioned to separate from the mold cleanly with no details that will catch on the metal and ruin a plastic piece. Accordingly, everything in the middle of a part’s ‘half’ must be higher than anything that radiates from the middle — sort of like a pyramid.
“Things like nostril cavities and mouths must be filled in. It really stifles one’s ability to get ultra-realism and requires a lot of preplanning. I’ve the utmost respect for the great artists at Aurora, who turned out such memorable pieces while having to obey this condition.”
In addition to sculpting, Yagher is an actor and screenplay writer with a long list of credits to his name, including a recurring role on the ABC television series “Day Break.”
WHAT’S NEXT
Monarch’s first kit won’t be available before late 2007. In the meantime, McKillop is working with associates in China to get the tooling ready for producing the Nosferatu and preparing to start introducing the public to the kits.
His plans for 2007 include a booth at WonderFest, the premier show for figure-kit fans, in Louisville, Ky., in late May. He also plans to be at iHobby Expo late next year.
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Sneak peek: ‘Nosferatu’ from Monarch Models
Fans of plastic figure model kits have been unhappy since the buyout of the Polar Lights company led to the end of that company’s figure-kit production, but there’s hope on the horizon in the form of Monarch Models.
I’ve been in touch with Monarch’s Scott McKillop to ask about the new company, which expects to have its first offering — “Nosferatu,” designed by Gary Makatura and co-designed and sculpted by Jeff Yagher — on store shelves in about a year.
I’m slowly putting together a story to run sometime later this month, but just today I got some photos Scott said I could share now: Yagher’s sketch of the character, and his sculpture. The kit is designed to complement the classic Aurora monster models and I, as a biased reporter in this case, can’t help being impressed.
Like I said, more details coming later this month.
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Ben: The first paint job
My own casting of Ben from “Night of the Living Dead” still needs some putty work before I can even prime it, but my friend Bill Mayo has already finished his. Check it out:
Permalink | | Categories: Producing a GK: Ben from "NOTLD"
Mike Rutherford paints Retro Resin’s ‘Fly’ and more
Some guys just seem to be particularly in love with this hobby of ours. Mike Rutherford, 38, of New England has long struck me as one of them. Check out his Web site, which is stuffed not only with pictures of his own kit buildups, but with information about model kits both past and present and plenty of other genre subjects of interest to hobbyists.
Mike’s also a family man; his wife is Melanie, his kids are Michael and Madison.
MIKE RUTHERFORD AND MODEL KITS
Resin the Barbarian: You strike me as someone who truly loves this hobby and has for a long time. How long have you been involved in building kits, and what got you started?
Mike: Hello Todd, and thank you for this opportunity.
What got me started was my Uncle Jonathan, in 1971.
When I was 4 years old and he about 10, he had both the Victim and the Frank-
enstein “Monster Scenes� kits. We would play with these as toys.
My grandmother had an old birdcage that we would use as a cage for the Monster to put the Victim inside of.
However, I didn’t get a model kit of my very own until a few months later. It was a glow in the dark kit called “Fiend� that was made by a company called Lindberg.
My first Aurora monster kit was the glow version of the “Forgotten Prisoner.”
Between the two of us, my uncle and I, we had most of the Aurora monster line.
If it hadn’t been for him, I truly wouldn’t have known the love of this hobby.
I’m glad that I was able to tell him this before his unforeseen passing this past March.
RtB: Which came first, your love of classic monster subjects or love of model kits?
Mike: Actually, it happened at the same time because I really didn’t know much about the monsters until I was exposed to the Aurora monsters. (Remember, I was only 4 years old.)
Believe it or not, what really hooked me was the box art. I was just obsessed with this art, as a kid and I still am.
RtB: Have you ever NOT been involved in building model kits?
Mike: Yes and no.
There were times when I didn’t build but it wasn’t because I wanted to stop. However, I’ve been involved with the Aurora monsters at some point during each decade.
During the end of the 1970s I was forced to stop building when Aurora closed their doors and there really wasn’t much else available unless I wanted to build cars, spaceships or other vehicles and I truly wanted no part of that.
I’m a Maker of Monsters.
In the early 1980s I was hospitalized for a few weeks. During this time, my grandparents came to visit me with a couple of big boxes full of my (newly married) uncle’s old Aurora kits that he no longer had room for.
It was cool to get these at this time because they were off the market for a few years.
Because of the fact that I had absolutely no knowledge of garage or resin kits, I was away from the hobby until the birth of Polar Lights.
The funny part about this is that I didn’t even know that there was even such a company as Polar Lights until my wife and I went shopping one day with my son, who was just a baby at the time.
He was riding in the shopping cart and he threw his bottle out of the cart. When I bent down to pick up the bottle, I saw (on the bottom shelf) the Mummy box art looking back at me. My Wife wasn’t really sure what I was so excited over but I’ve stayed in the hobby ever since that day.
Todd here, with an interruption: My own rediscovery of the hobby probably happened a few years after Mike’s, but I also have my own, similar story. My wife, 1-year-old daughter and I stopped into Grand Junction’s now-defunct Toys R Us in October 2001, and there on the clearance table near the entrance was a collection of Polar Lights kits, including the one my wife talked me into buying, the Mummy.
RtB: You use the name “Trendon” (“Trend” rhymes with “end”; “on” like “un”) on various Internet model-kit forums. Why?
Mike: Trendon was the name of the first band that I played in during high school.
I use it as a handle on most message boards because I don’t even think that it’s a real word and thus, I figured that no one else would have already taken it as a user name. However, I recently discovered that there is a person that uses it on MySpace.
RtB: The kits you paint often have a very bold, bright look that still manages to fit the black-and-white, scary-movie nature of the subject matter. What approach do you take to painting a kit?
Mike: That really all depends on the kit itself.
I basically paint in two styles. The first being that I’ll paint something to look as realistic as I’m able to make it look. The second being the Aurora look where I basically try to paint something the way that I think James Bama (painter who created the majority of the Aurora monster-model box art) would have painted it with those bright, off-the-wall colors that basically represent light and dark.
The Aurora look is starting to be a trademark for me. I may start painting non-box art kits in this style. I’d love to experiment with this on a kit from the “Yagher Classics” series.
I tend to paint from light to dark but I will occasionally work backward.
I have never used an airbrush and I have no plans on doing so. People have accused me of using an airbrush because I have achieved the effect of smoothly blending one color into another but that’s all done with a flat head brush in an almost dry brush circular motion.
With every kit that I work on, I tend to use a lot of washes and drybrush effects. I’m also one of those modelers that use the cheap craft paints like Delta Ceramcoat.
RtB: You participated in my blog in August by giving me a list of suggested model kits for Halloween, and all of the kits you suggested were sculpted by Jeff Yagher. What can you tell me about the friendship or association you seem to have built with Mr. Yagher in the last couple of years?
Mike: Really? I didn’t even realize that Jeff sculpted all my choices but that’s cool.
Funny story…
As you know, I have been a big supporter of the Aurora Box Art kits by Monsters in Motion since day one.
When the first three kits in this line were released (“The Phantom,” “Wolfman” and “Jekyll as Hyde”), I basically promoted them and gave them tons of free advertising on my Web site. I did this because I truly do LOVE this series of kits; I never expected anything to come of it.
One evening, I received this anonymous e-mail telling me that MiM now had the “Dracula” kit up on their site. The person never signed the e-mail so I just hit reply and thanked them.
Some time later, this same person sent me photos of the “King Kong” sculpt for me to post on my Web site. The first thing that I did was to check the MIM Web site and oddly enough, they didn’t even have these photos up yet.
I e-mailed this person back and told him that I wasn’t really sure about posting these photos to my Web site without permission from MIM because the last thing that I wanted was for them to be upset with me for showing off their new product before they did.
It was at that point that this person revealed their identity.
It was Jeff.
We’ve been in contact ever since.
RtB: Your Web site is a great resource. Do you have any idea how many hours per week you average working on that?
Mike: That all depends on what’s going on at the moment. If I’ve finished a kit, I’ll post the photos. If a producer or sculptor asks me to help advertise a kit, I’ll do it. If things are slow, I’ll create things like “The Library of Box Art� or the “We Remember� features to keep the viewers interested.
MIKE PAINTS AN ANGRY “FLY” WITHOUT WINGS
“THE FLY (Monsters of the Movies)”
• Sculpted by Jeff Yagher.
• Price: $50 plus shipping.
• Available from Retro Resin
• 1/12 scale, resin kit
• 19 or 20 parts, including an extra hand that gives the modeler the choice to use the hand that holds the axe.
• A continuation of the classic Aurora series of model kits from the 1970s.
• Mike’s paint job is the “official” “Fly” buildup and will will be the kit’s box art. Until the Retro Resin Web site is updated, watch Mike’s site for updates about the company’s products. Other kits that can’t be found on the site include an original “Monsters of the Movies Mummy.”
RtB: Did you help put Retro Resin in touch with Jeff Yagher?
Mike: Yes, I introduced them. Gene (Toparcean) and I used to talk about how cool it would be to have Jeff sculpt for RR but at the time, neither of us had a clue as to how to get in touch with him. So, once I had contact with Jeff…
Well, you can guess the rest.
Gene and I have been friends for five or six years and I knew that the combination of Jeff’s sculpting talents and Gene’s quality castings would be perfect together.
Like peanut butter and chocolate.
I don’t like to tease or spread rumors BUT…
There are some rumors floating around that the next project between Jeff and Retro Resin is going to be a “Monsters of the Movies Phantom of the Opera” for 2007.
If this does indeed come to pass, I’ll post the news on my Web site.
RtB: What was the most challenging aspect of building and painting this kit?
Mike: I guess the machinery.
Basically, this was just a very FUN kit. It was fun to build, fun to paint and very little aggravation. It was a very clean cast and an easy build.
Like anyone else, I do enjoy a challenge from time to time but I also like to just relax and have fun, sometimes. This kit allows the builder to do just that.
RtB: How did you get that woodgrain effect on the axe handle?
Mike: OK, first I painted the handle with a coat of “Light Chocolate� (yes, that’s the actual name of this color of paint). After it dried, I took a darker brown and watered it down (like a wash) and I painted the wood grain freehanded.
A BIG FAN OF THE AURORA BOX ART SERIES
RtB: Plainly, you use the original Aurora box art as a reference while painting these kits. How do you do that? Are pictures taped up on the wall around you, or…?
Mike: The first thing that I do (even before the kit arrives at my door) is I find a decent photo of the box art and set it as my desktop wallpaper. By doing this, I’m forced to see it every day and I’m able to study it.
Aside from that, I’ll just use the actual boxes as a guide. However, this raised a problem with the “Phantom” kit because I don’t actually own that box. I spent many hours on eBay searching for photos.
For whatever reason, the walls in the Phantom art sometimes photograph as a greenish color but other times, they look to be a grayish color. Due to the fact that the rest of these kits have bight, bold colors, I decided to go with the green.
RtB: Monsters in Motion is now using your “Dracula” pictures on its Web site, which I found an improvement over the pictures it used before. Does MiM plan to use pictures of your other buildups, past or future?
Mike: At one point, my “Phantom” was up there, also.
I’m no expert on this subject but…
The way that I understand it is that there is an inside artist for MIM (maybe even more than one) and I would assume that they would naturally want to use their own artists’ buildups because they’re paying them to build and paint these kits.
Terry (the owner of MIM) did ask me about my Bride kit and how she’s coming along.
It would be cool if they wanted to use my Bride but I guess that I’ll just have to wait and see.
Right now, I’m just waiting for the release of the clear parts for this kit so that I can finish her. After she’s finished, I’ll send some photos over to MIM and wait to see what happens.
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Ben now available
As I wrote previously, my garage-kit production effort is my own, not my employer’s, so I won’t post price information here. However, the bust is now available; in fact, I’ve already sold eight of the 12 castings I’ve made so far. Anyone interested is welcome to e-mail me for details. Thanks.
Permalink | | Categories: Producing a GK: Ben from "NOTLD"
Castings of Ben
It’s late Saturday as I write this, and I’ve been making castings of Chris Wooten’s 1/4 scale bust of Ben (Duane Jones) from “Night of the Living Dead” the last couple of nights. I have 11 of them so far; 10 are pictured above. I’m keeping casting No. 1 for myself (partially because I’d be ashamed for anyone else to have it because of the big air-bubble hole under the chin), No. 2 went to my wife, No. 3 will probably go to Chris, and two more will go to friends who bought them.
I want to have at least a dozen unspoken-for castings in hand before I set a final price and make these available, which shouldn’t be more than a day or two away. However, because I’m the one selling this bust, not my employer, I won’t post final price info here. I will say that the most I’ll probably sell castings from this mold for is $35 plus shipping. I want to keep the price fairly low, in part because I haven’t the skill to offer high-quality castings. Anyone who’s interested in knowing the final price is welcome to e-mail me sometime after Wednesday, Sept. 27.
For comparison’s sake, here’s a picture of Ben next to a couple of other 1/4 scale busts, “White Zombie” from Mad Dog Resin, left, and the Frankenstein Monster from Forbidden Zone:
And here are a couple of shots of casting No. 7, which isn’t the best I’ve done but it’s not the worst, either. This should give anyone who’s interested a good idea of the seam line on the castings; sorry about the glare in the photo, it’s the best I could do with the equipment I have at home:
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Ben: Good news and bad news
Updates on this blog have been sporadic lately; I’ve just been busy at both home and work, so I haven’t had time to do any new Q&As and I haven’t heard back from a couple of people who already had questions. But I have managed to make a little more progress on my small garage-kit production effort.
As I’ve mentioned before and will mention again, my idea was to produce a bust of Ben (played by Duane Jones) in the original “Night of the Living Dead.” I’ve been working with a wonderful young sculptor named Chris Wooten, who sculpted the piece in 1/4 scale. The original sculpture and a bronze casting arrived at my home last week and I set about making a mold a solid month sooner than I’d hoped to be able to do it.
Next, I’ll say that I finished the mold the day before yesterday. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s going to work OK. It looks like this:
That’s the good news. The bad news is that Chris’ sculpture now looks like this:
I’d heard from plenty of garage-kit producers that the sculptures suffer during the mold-making process, but this is still kind of a bummer. Heck, one of the first things I did while I was packing the piece in clay before pouring the first half of the mold was crack the poor thing’s head off. I was able to work around that and don’t think it will show much in the final pieces. Two more pieces broke off when I was demolding it, one from the collar and one from the lapel.
Despite the “bummer” aspect of seeing the original sculpture in this condition, my project remains ahead of schedule and I may even have castings available soon. Also, Chris tells me I should be able to glue the sculpture back together, so I’ll probably give that a shot, and either use the repaired sculpture or Chris’ bronze casting if I need to make another mold.
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Ben, bronzed
Sculptor Chris Wooten has made a bonded bronze casting of the bust I commissioned from him, Ben (Duane Jones) from the original “Night of the Living Dead.” The face needs some buffing to get the small particles off, Chris says, but otherwise I think it looks great and wanted to share his pictures.
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Ben, almost complete
Found some more pictures from sculptor Chris Wooten in my e-mail this morning. The garage kit Chris is sculpting for me — Ben from the original “Night of the Living Dead” — is about “99 percent done,” Chris says. All that remains is some sanding and any final tweaks I may ask for.
I don’t think I’m going to ask for any changes, although I want to do some photo comparisons later today. If you have an opinion, please don’t hesitate to share.
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R.S.V.P. Invaders from Mars, Part 4
Looks like this is probably as far as I’m going to get on the TerrorForm “Invaders from Mars” plaque for a couple of weeks, unless I manage to get to my work desk to finish it tonight. All that’s left to finish is the name plate, but that’s going to take awhile.
Permalink | | Categories: R.S.V.P. (Resin, Styrene, Vinyl Progress)
Latest pics of Ben from
‘Night of the Living Dead’
The latest photos from sculptor Chris Wooten of the bust of Ben from the original “Night of the Living Dead.” Chris is sculpting the piece for me, and I hope to make it available as a garage kit later this year.
“I haven’t worked much on the shirt or name plate, mainly the face,” Chris wrote in an e-mail. “I did tuck the collar in more, but it looks like it still needs to come in some more.
“As far as the face, let me know what you think about the likeness. Everything still needs little refinements and polishing. The ears and hair still need a lot of work, but I roughed in the general volumes of the hair just to give you an idea.”
Permalink | | Categories: Producing a GK: Ben from "NOTLD"
Some model-kit picks for Halloween
Yes, it’s still August, but if you hope to have a model kit in your hands, built and painted in time for Halloween, now’s the time to think about it.
Movie monster models have long been my favorite, so Halloween is when I tend to enjoy them most. I thought it might be mildly interesting to suggest a list of five currently available kit recommendations, then decided it would be a lot more fun to also ask some Internet friends to put together lists of their own. So that’s what I did.
The lists aren’t necessarily arranged according to preference, and I’m sure all of us could provide at least twice as many suggestions with no problem. Stated prices don’t include shipping.
SUGGESTIONS FROM TODD POWELL,
GRAND JUNCTION, COLO.
1. “Cemetery Zombie” from “Night of the Living Dead” by GEOmetric Design. Sculpted by Joe Simon, 1/8 scale resin kit, retails for $100. This zombie was the subject of two “Resin the Barbarian” entries, one in March and one in June.
2. “Yagher Classics, Vol. 11” from Tower of London, available from X-O Facto. Sculpted by Jeff Yagher, 1/6 scale resin kit, sells for $150. Check out my “Yagher Classics” blog entry for more info.
3. “The Monster 1931” from Forbidden Zone. Sculpted by Mike Hill, 1/4 scale resin bust, sells for $55. I haven’t written specifically about this kit, but my first entry was about another 1/4 scale bust from the Zone, and I also did a three-parter about the company’s upcoming Power Loader.
4. “Timeless Terrors — Nosferatu” from Model Giants. Sculpted by Jeff Yagher, 1/2 scale resin bust, sells for $130. Check out the new “Blairstein” while you’re at the Model Giants site, a near-miss for my list.
5. “Angry Red Spider” from Ultratumba Productions. Sculpted by Paul Schiola, 9 inches tall and 19.5 inches wide, resin, sells for $75. Check out my May blog entry for more info.
__________
SUGGESTIONS FROM MARK MITCHELL
OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST
1. “Cemetery Zombie” by GEOmetric Design, $100.
“Night of the Living Dead” was one of the films I first saw growing up in the ’60s and ’70s that really scared daylights out of me. And one of the most frightening images that has stuck with me all these years is that of Bill Heinzman as the zombie encountered in the cemetery by Barbra and her brother during the first part of the film.
The GEOmetric Designskit is a great-looking tribute to that scene and to Mr. Heinzman’s performance… Not to mention I can look at it and be reminded of what really scared me all those years ago!
2. “The Scarecrow” by N&T Productions, $66.20.
While this is a kit of an established character in the Batman universe, it still lends itself to being a favorite Halloween kit of mine… In my opinion It stands on it’s own as a very creepy rendition of a Scarecrow come to life… It’s easy to look at the painted kit and imagine it to be so!
One of my favorite films to watch on Halloween is Universal’s “The Wolfman.” It’s a tradition at my house… The Wolfman is also one of my favorite kitbuilding subjects. So it should be no surprise the next two kits are based on that film…
3. “Maleva, the Old Gypsy Woman” by Resin Realities, $90 with base shown.
This is a perfect likeness to Maria Ouspenskaya, the actress who portrays Maleva in the film. Her performance in the movie is tightly woven around that of Lon Chaney Jr’s as the tortured Larry Talbot, aka The Wolfman.
While managing to be an almost Mmother type figure to Larry, she lends an air creepiness to it all … Making this kit of her another great kit to work on for the holiday…
4. “Yagher Classics, Vol. 3” by Tower of London, available from X-O Facto, $240.
The second of my Wolfman kit choices is the excellent “Yagher Classics, Vol. 3,” being the third in a series of kits revolving around the stable of Universal Monsters from the ’30s and ’40s.
The scene depicted is towrds the end of the film where Sir John Talbot (Larry’s father) encounters his son in his Wolfman mode attacking Gwen (Larry’s love interest in the film) and attempts to stop him. The Wolfman drops Gwen and leaps towards his father…
It’s one of my favorite Wolfman kits…and fits right in with the Halloween holiday.
5. “White Zombie” from Mad Dog Resin, $45.
Mad Dog Resin’s “White Zombie” is a great little bust of Bela Lugosi from one of his early and creepiest roles as the zombie master/witch doctor “Murder” Legendre in the film “White Zombie.”
The likness to the character is dead on (no pun intended) and really looks disturbing, dark and creepy once painted and sitting on your shelf… Again, a perfect kit for the season!
_________
SUGGESTIONS FROM MIKE RUTHERFORD
OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
1. “Timeless Terrors — Nosferatu” from Model Giants, $130.
2. “The Wolfman,” 1941 version, by Six String Productions.
3. “Yagher Classics, Vol. 10,” by Tower Of London, available from X-O Facto, $160.
4. “The Fly (Monsters of the Movies)” by Retro Resin, $50.
5. “Aurora Box Art Dracula” by Monsters in Motion, $149.99.
_________
SUGGESTIONS FROM TOBY FRANKS
OF LOUISVILLE, OHIO
1. “Bub” from “Day of the Dead,” by Alternative Images, might be out of production but it can’t hurt to ask.
For me, many different things come to mind when I think of Halloween. One of the first things to pop into my head are zombies. Romero’s “Dead” trilogy is must-see TV during the season. I’ve got a special fondness for Bub from “Day of the Dead.”
Another part of Halloween is the festive, fun, party atmosphere of the season. So some cheesy Mexi-monster flicks are on my to-watch list too. Two kits from Ultratumba that are very fun, festive and scary:
2. “Aztec Mummy” from Ultratumba Productions, $20.
3. “El Baron” from Ultratumba Productions, $20.
I feel nostalgic around Halloween too. I get the urge to glue together some good old styrene. Polar Lights is long gone, but its kits pop up on eBay all the time. Its not Aurora but it’s the next best thing. Two Polar Lights kits that are perfect for Halloween are their “Halloween” (Michael Myers) and “Sleepy Hollow.”
4. Michael Myers from “Halloween,” by Polar Lights. This plastic kit is out of production but can be found fairly easily on eBay or on the shelves at some local hobby shops.
5. “Sleepy Hollow” by Polar Lights. Also out of production, but check eBay or local hobby stores.
_________
SUGGESTIONS FROM STEVE PARKE
OF BALTIMORE
1. “Curse of the Werewolf Big Head” by Earthbound Studios, $150.
I like to have larger stuff for Halloween so I can put in in my window and light it up really cool - so I favor 1:1 scale stuff for Halloween. I particularly like any of the classics, including Hammer and Universal. To represent Hammer I have to give it to Jeff Yagher and Earthbound Studios for their 2/3 scale “Curse of the Werewolf” Big Head. Throw some light across that fur and … yikes!! … creeeeeepy.
2. “Mole Man Big Head” by Earthbound Studios, $150.
Sculpted by Mike Falcigno, another lesser known critter to most kids. That giant claw and buggy eyes will really give ’em something to dream about.
3. “Frankenstein Monster” from “Bride of Frankenstein” by Howard S. Studios.
Karloff — monster — what else needs to be said?
4. “Edgar Allen Poe” by Mark Newman.
For a smaller, more intimate gathering of friends you really have two ways to go — esoteric and highbrow, original and surprising, or just plain nasty. For that literary goth feel I recommend Mark Newman’s Poe bust. It’s cool, can be bronzed very nicely and will fit in with your hip furniture and down-tempo cd collection. Trés chic!
5. “Boris the Zombie” from Resin Realities, $80.
Lastly - if you want to make people lose all the snacks and drinks you’ve been stuffing into them all night, Resin Realities’ “Boris the Zombie” certainly turns my stomach. I think it’s Wayne the Dane’s attention to bone-shattering detail. That ankle just grosses me out.
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SUGGESTIONS FROM JOHN PETIK
OF BARTLETT, ILL.
I tried to focus on larger kits which would be more noticeable … plus, the larger-size kit will have kids’ eyes wide open in awe.
1. “Curse of the Demon” from Alternative Images.
2. “Becoming” by Bad Childhood, $300.
3. “Angry Red Spider” from Ultratumba Productions, $75.
4. “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein” by Earthbound Studios, $150.
5. “Timeless Terrors — Nosferatu” from Model Giants, $130.
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An update on my garage-kit production project
Sculptor Chris Wooten sent me some updated photos of the Duane Jones (“Ben”) “Night of the Living Dead” bust he’s making for me and I thought I’d share them.
Before showing the pictures, I’ll pass along part of the message from Chris:
“I am running into a bit of trouble with the reference pics. Some pics his head is very narrow and slender and young looking. Other pics he older and has a rounder face. If you could go through the pics and let me know which ones you want him to resemble the most that would help. I am finding that he has two looks in all the pics, which is either because the pics are from two different times or one set has been distorted in some way.”
Looking over the stills, I see what Chris means. Check out the way Duane looks in these two pictures…
So, I agree that Chris might be correct about some of the stills being distorted, but I also seem to remember reading that there was a long break in the filming of “Night of the Living Dead” while George A. Romero raised some money to finish making the movie, so perhaps Duane put on a little weight during that time.
Chris also said this about his work so far:
“Currently, the lower jaw is protruding too much, putting the lips and chin too far forward. That’s the only major change besides all the little refinements and tweaking that need to be done with all the features.”
Finally, the pictures…
I like where Chris is going with this. He’s got the head angled in a way that suggests the character is considering looking out the window, but not angled so much that you can’t see the features. He’s still got the name plate on the side, and it looks like that’s going to work out as well. My main suggestion was to put the tips of the collar closer to his neck, because it looks very tight, possibly buttoned, in the stills.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Producing a GK: Ben from "NOTLD"
Andy Bergholtz creates
the Salty Sea Dogs
“THE SALTY SEA DOGS”
Sculpted by Andy Bergholtz of AB Sculpture Studio.
Available from Dark Carnival.
1/4 scale, resin.
The first two “Sea Dogs” sell for $75 plus shipping; price on the Captain is $85; the set of all three is $175.
Kits in pictures painted by Phil Sera.
The truth about pirates was ugly. They were thieves and murderers sailing the high seas, and the closest thing they probably got to taking a bath was the occasional saltwater spray from the waves. No fun at all. But the iconic images of pirates built around sources such as the Pirates of the Caribbean and Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” — that’s fun.
Sculptor Andy Bergholtz celebrates those iconic images with his “Salty Sea Dogs,” a trio of buccaneers who are obviously very happy about being very bad. They’ve never had what Andy calls “official” names, but he refers to them as the Captain (the most recently introduced), Deadeye Henry and Frosty Bill.
Andy, 27, lives in St. Louis. He’s married and has kids: Lucy, 3; Andy Jr., 18 months; and a third on the way.
Norm “Kitman” Piatt wrote a terrific interview with Andy in the Spring 2004 issue of the now-defunct Modeler’s Resource. The magazine doesn’t seem to be available through the MR Web site, but it’s worth searching for you if you want a more in-depth piece about Andy. For now, I’ll share what he told me through e-mail.
Q&A WITH ANDY BERGHOLTZ
Resin the Barbarian: Were the Sea Dogs based on some kind of illustration?
Andy: I didn’t use any illustrations as a basis for the designs, they are all original. I was heavily inspired by imagery from the Pirates of the Caribbean Disneyland attraction, which has always been an obsession of mine. Old-school Disneyana is kind of a hobby for me, I’m a huge fan of anything related to the Pirates or Haunted Mansion, etc. These busts are in large part an homage to the old greats like Marc Davis and Blaine Gibson.
RtB: The first two “Salty Sea Dogs” have been around for more than a year; the Captain is new. How long, roughly, did it take from the first, “let’s do this” step when you (and Robb, I resume) decided to do this until now, when all three are ready?
Andy: Well, the first two busts were not planned, they were just clay sketches I had done for my personal collection at the time. They got such great feedback on the forums, etc, and I began to get all kinds of requests to turn them into kits… I’m not much of a kit producer myself, but I knew my buddy Robb (Rotondi of Dark Carnival) was a huge pirate fan, so I pitched it to him and he picked them up to produce.
I had always intended to do a third pirate, which we decided would be the Captain, to finish off the set. That piece took considerably longer to complete, partly because he’s a little more complex than the others but mainly due to scheduling.
RtB: How many hours a day do you sculpt? And WHAT hours of the day?
Andy: I work anywhere from 8 to 12 hours a day on average. I typically begin the work day around 8 or 8:30 am, stop working at 5 p.m. to have dinner with the family and spend time with the kids, etc. Most days I’ll go back to work after the kids go to bed, from about 7:30 until 10 or 11 p.m., but I’m trying to cut back on the “overtime.” :)
RtB: I would suppose that, as sculptors go, you are doing well. Would you say sculpting pays well, or do you have to worry a lot about where the next job is coming from?
Andy: I’m blessed to be in a situation currently where I don’t worry about where the next job is coming from, although it wasn’t always that way.
Like most artists I spent my fair share of time struggling with work and living off beans and Kool-Aid. The industry has been good to me over the years, though, and I’m constantly surprised and humbled by my level of success.
It’s hard to answer the question “does sculpting pay well,” simply because the sculpting industry is so broad, the answer is vastly different for every artist. My income is currently healthier than it’s ever been, but the money I make is directly related to how much work I can get done. God knows I’ve seen my share of overdrawn bank accounts over the years of freelancing, though, so I think it all balances out. :)
RtB: You sculpt many well-known characters, including comic-book heroes, movie monsters, etc. Do you consider yourself in a sort of good-spirited competition with other sculptors to “top” each other’s work? Do you ever look at “Mr. X’s” newest version of the Frankenstein Monster and try to “beat” that?
Andy: One thing I love about this line of work is the great amount of respect the artists have for each other. It really is a small industry, almost everyone knows each other in some capacity. There’s a great level of camaraderie, which in my personal experience has always outweighed the sense of “competition.”
That’s not to say there aren’t many sculptors out there who aren’t competitive … Some of them can be downright cutthroat when it comes to competing for work. But the sculptors I’m closest with (whose work spans the entire industry), it’s all very positive and kind-spirited.
I wouldn’t say that I consciously try to “top” other sculptors’ work, but I’m always amazed when artists create a piece that raises the bar of expectation, and it definitely inspires me to do my best with each new piece.
RtB: What can fans expect from you as 2006 progresses? Do you have any in-progress works you can tell me about, maybe share a photo or 20?
Andy: Unfortunately I can’t be too specific due to the nature of the licensed work … But I can say there will be a bit more variety in my portfolio in the coming months.
I recently entered the freelance market again and am no longer exclusive with Sideshow Collectibles, which has opened up many opportunities to expand the types of work I do. I’m still working on a great deal of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings pieces for Sideshow, but I’ve also got some projects for DC Comics in the works, and even Disney.
One piece I can share is the 1/4 scale Incredible Hulk that was recently announced by Sideshow. The sculpture is a couple years old, but I’m still fairly fond of it.
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R.S.V.P. Invaders from Mars, Part 3
This photo isn’t very good — snapped it in a hurry in bad light, then used my home computer’s poor photo program to enhance it — but it shows my latest progress on the “Invaders from Mars” plaque. It’s actually looked like this for almost a week, so I haven’t done much. Basically, I just basecoated most of the ooze in a dark pink; I’ve still got some more to cover, then I’ll wash on some reds, purples and maybe some yellows. Hopefully later this week.
Permalink | | Categories: R.S.V.P. (Resin, Styrene, Vinyl Progress)
Making a model kit
After considering it on and off for a couple of years, I recently decided to go ahead and try to commission a sculpture and sell a garage kit of my own. And I mean a true garage kit. I found an energetic, talented young sculptor, Chris Wooten, who was happy to work with me, and he’s also given me some great advice as I start teaching myself the basics of resin casting. When I’m ready to start producing the piece — hopefully before the holidays, but I doubt I’ll make it before Halloween (too bad) — I’ll probably do most of the work in my garage. I’m doing it for fun, and I’m not much worried that I’ll lose a little money on it. Now, losing a LOT of money, that would be a problem.
My subject comes from one of my favorite horror movies, George A. Romero’s original “Night of the Living Dead” (1968). The male hero in that is a fellow named Ben, played by the late Duane Jones, who survives a night of constant attacks from cannibalistic zombies only to be mistaken for a zombie himself and get shot between the eyes when the sun comes up. The movie scared the daylights out of me in grade school, when I sneaked out of my room at night to watch it on “Shock Theater,” and despite its cheesiness it can still make my heart race.
Anyway, when I put out my call for sculptors, I said I’d like to produce a piece that suggests the moment right before Ben is shot at the end of the movie. Here’s what that looks like on film:
I even concocted an illustration of what I proposed, which further demonstrates what an amateur I am:
Chris got in touch and I agreed that he’d be a great person to do the job. I wanted someone who could make a good likeness of Duane Jones and the Web site on Chris’ gallery shows he has a talent for likenesses. He also had some good suggestions, and I need all of those we can get. One thing we decided right off is that he probably shouldn’t angle the head quite so much because we don’t want people to have to pick up the piece to see its face.
Chris explained his sculpting process to me in an e-mail. “In terms of sculpting it will probably take me a couple of hours to rough out the sculpt in castilene,” he wrote. “Then I will transfer the sculpt to wax (make a cheap mold and pour a wax copy). Because of the way hot wax shrinks when cooling, I will not be making the original very detailed (the details would get distorted in the wax cooling stage). It will just have the basic proportions of the actor and may not resemble him. So don’t be alarmed when I send you the first photos. These will simply be for you to approve the location of the head, the direction it is turned, the size of the sculpt, etc.”
On Thursday, Chris showed me what he’d come up with during a couple hours of roughing out the figure. Now, just to make sure it’s clear, I’ll say again: this represents only a couple hours of work, it’s a long way from finished. However, what I saw as I looked at the pictures is that Chris has gotten the right shape of the face and features. We swapped a couple messages about where to place the name plate and the angle of the head.
This process so interests me that, with Chris’ blessing, I thought I’d share the progress photos as he sends them.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Producing a GK: Ben from "NOTLD"
Kingdom Come Superman
from MikeTek
“KINGDOM COME SUPERMAN BUST”
First in a series of busts inspired by the artwork of Alex Ross.
Produced by MikeTek.
1/4 scale, resin, one piece.
Price: $50, including shipping inside the United States.
Ten years ago, comic books were pretty much over for me. Not entirely over, I’d pick up a title every now and then, but for the most part the writers were putting out stories I’d read before, the artists drawing the same muscle-popping heroes. I stopped in at Comics Odyssey on North Avenue (like most comics shops I know of, it folded years ago) and browsed once a month or so, but only when I was bored.
During one of those stops, I happened to see a promo poster for the upcoming four-part series “Kingdom Come” by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, neither of whom I’d heard of. I wasn’t interested. But then the shop’s owner pointed it out and said it would be good, so I figured I had little to lose and bought the first issue when it was available.
It was wonderful. Best comic I’d seen in years, since Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” and Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” in the ’80s, and better than anything I’ve seen since.
Like “Watchmen” and “Dark Knight,” “Kingdom Come” is set in the future, when the children of the original superheroes are wreaking chaos around the world. They’ve grown up in a society that values revenge over justice; their leader is a ruthless superhuman vigilante called Magog, whose popularity so disgusted Superman years before that he retired to his arctic Fortress of Solitude.
The young superhumans’ carelessness climaxes in a battle with a villain called the Parasite. In a desperate moment, the Parasite manages to split open the nuclear-powered Captain Atom, which causes a blast large enough to kill a million people and destroy the farmlands of Kansas.
Seeing how much things have deteriorated during his years of isolation, Superman comes out of retirement, wearing an “S” shield with a black background that I presume was inspired by the 1940s Fleischer cartoons. The Man of Steel reforms the Justice League, and…
Well, stop by a bookstore and pick up the graphic novel collection of all four issues if you want to know the rest. Believe me, if it sounds stupid, it’s probably because I simply can’t properly explain it. Mark Waid is generally a good writer and this is probably his best; more importantly, Alex Ross’ artwork is nothing short of amazing. He paints the familiar characters — Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Captain Marvel and more — in a way that maintains their “mythological” feel while also making them look like real human beings. It’s wonderful stuff.
The garage-kit fan behind MikeTek is Mike Blankenship, 32, of Olathe, Kan. Mike works as a network engineer for CIO Inc., which means he does information technology consulting and installs and troubleshoots IT infrastructure such as servers, switches and routers. Mike’s been married for 11 years, no kids; aside from models, his hobbies include customizing 12-inch action figures and woodworking. He’s putting together a Web site which he hopes to have ready in a few months.
Q&A WITH MIKE BLANKENSHIP
Resin the Barbarian: You and I met briefly at WonderFest 2005, in the hotel’s restaurant, and you told me you were taking some steps toward becoming a garage-kit producer. Now you’re apparently getting well into the swing of it. How do you like it so far?
Mike: I love it! I really enjoy contributing to the hobby. I’m on pins and needles waiting to see some paint-ups of the piece.
RtB: Can you give me an idea of how much self-education was involved in becoming a kit producer, and what equipment you had to buy? Did buying the equipment put a serious dent in your kit-buying budget?
Mike: I used several tutorials from the Web and relied on some sound advice from others in the hobby.
I got my start in resin producing 1/6 custom heads for the 12-inch action figure hobby. I had commissioned a custom head sculpt and it arrived and I pretty much jumped right in, made a mold and started producing copies.Through a little trial and error, I soon had clean casts and started to offer them for sale.
I had started without any equipment at all and was frustrated with bubbles and voids. I almost immediately purchased a pressure tank and air compressor. I since have added a vacuum pump also to help with eliminating the RTV bubbles. While the equipment is somewhat pricey for a person only doing one or two casts once in a while, I’ve found that if you want to produce casts for sale, it is absolutely necessary to have some good tools.
RtB: What drew you to producing this Superman bust?
Mike: I have always been a huge fan of Ross’s work as well as a huge Superman fanatic. I have always liked the Kingdom Come “S shield�? style and color scheme.
RtB: Does it represent a specific panel in the “Kingdom Come�? series? If so, what’s happening at the moment Superman is depicted?
Mike: It’s based more on some of the supporting artwork than from a specific panel. The composition of the bust was chosen by the sculptor. I couldn’t be happier with it; I feel it’s a very powerful pose that suits this type of bust well.
RtB: Will all the busts in this series be inspired by “Kingdom Come�? in particular or just Alex Ross in general?
Mike: They are not limited to the “Kingdome Come�? storyline. The next few in the series are Batman, Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter. These are based mostly on the current “Justice�? comic series as well as the line of oosters that Ross did for DC. Also in the works are Hawkman and the Joker.
RtB: Have you ever met the sculptor face to face?
Mike: Yes I have. It’s great to meet someone that you work so closely with face to face. I was attending a convention for a different hobby that put me within visiting distance of the sculptor so we planned a meet-up. He is truly an extremely talented person, and it was great to see him in his element surrounded by works in progress.
RtB: Would you like to add anything else?
Mike: Yes, while the Superman kit is my first big step in selling kits to the hobby, I have several commissions that are still sitting on my shelf waiting to be offered for sale. Some are waiting for my skill level in casting to increase so that I can do them justice and some are waiting for bases and final touch type of things.
A couple of pieces that are awaiting the kit treatment are a 1/6 Wolverine and a 1/8 original sci-fi type character that was actually named by someone at the Clubhouse as “Thud�? (pictured above). It’s really a great piece that I would love to get kitted up soon.
I also have at least six more commissions on sculptors’ workbenches right now.
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Pirate Captain by H2Creative
“PIRATE CAPTAIN”
Sculpted by Jim Maddox.
Produced by H2Creative.
1/6th scale resin bust in six parts.
$75 plus shipping.
Something about Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” connected with me right from the start — and I don’t mean the movies, I mean the characters from the rides at Disneyland and Disney World, which I discovered when Johnny Depp was probably a year or two ahead of me in grade school. I’m pretty sure it’s because I was fascinated with the idea of “living” skeletons sailing the seas.
Like so many of the entertainment things I’ve loved in my life, I was introduced to the Pirates through model kits. Specifically, a series of kits from the company MPC, heavily advertised in comics in the early to mid-’70s. I remember staring at displays of those kits every time Mom took us to Kmart.
I’m not positive, but I think I did end up getting one of those kits — one of the skeleton ones, I’m not sure which — and made such a discouraging mess of putting it together that I quit bugging my parents to buy me more. Now I’m hoping someone will repop the kits for today’s kids (and grown-ups) the way Polar Lights did for the classic Aurora monsters, because I’m not willing to pay eBay prices for 30-year-old boxes of plastic.
For the moment, however, corporate America doesn’t seem interested in the relatively small but thriving community dedicated to figure model kits, even though the financial success of the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie and even greater financial success of its current sequel (which recently became Disney’s all-time-biggest money maker) would seem to indicate that repopping the old kits would make a little money for someone. Oh, well. Fortunately, hobbyists such as myself can turn to garage-kit producers for some wonderful stuff, particularly the “Pirate Captain” recently introduced by H2Creative. Inspired by the character of Davy Jones in “Dead Man’s Chest,” this pirate has been shivering the timbers of many a GK fan recently.
Family man Lonnie Hale, 38, of Atlanta is the man behind H2Creative. He has mostly worked at producing resin model kits — “literally dozens” — for other people’s companies and he also produces “a lot of movie prop stuff for people.” One of the biggest things he produces is a line of 1/6 scale “Hero Heads” and he sells once a month on eBay under the member name “TK570.”
“I really specialize in very small run stuff and/or prototypes and specialty materials,” Lonnie told me in an e-mail. ” I do a lot of stuff that requires glow in the dark colors, clear or translucent material, rubber, soft and hard foam cast product or simulated special effects in mold like tortoise shell, ivory, jade, etc.”
Q&A WITH LONNIE HALE
Resin the Barbarian: I know you recently had surgery, although I’m not sure why. You feeling OK?
Lonnie: I had surgery recently on a muscle in my upper thigh. Fine now, thanks.
RtB: The second “Pirates of the Caribbean� has only been in theaters a few weeks. When did you and/or Jim start working on this bust? Whose idea was it to create this sculpture?
Lonnie: As a big fan of the first POC film, I had created a custom figure of Captain Jack several years ago complete with a custom head of Depp, etc. This was very popular with people, so I knew there would be some renewed interest in the subject matter when the second film was to come out.
As pre-production on DMC got under way, some pictures from the art department got out and showed the character of Davy Jones. I read the script to determine his level of appearance in the film and decided he would be a great project.
Planning started on him around the first of the year and figure studies for pose were developed by early February. Some other projects got in the way for a while, but then it got back on track and was finalized by May.
RtB: What’s your history of working with Jim Maddox?
Lonnie: I have been working with Jim for about six years now on a wide variety of
projects that cover everything from heads and busts both large and small to props and toys. It really is a good partnership on a lot of things.
Jim is such a remarkable talent. His ability to create a likeness is truly unrivaled even by those scan capture technologies.
RtB: I’ve never done resin casting, but I know enough about it to look at this kit and see it has a thousand small details that could be lost without extra care. What particular challenges did casting this sculpture present?
Lonnie: This project presents some chalenges in both molding and casting. I have never shied away from a project due to a challenge of detail and I often encourage Jim in pieces that “I’ll find a way to do that” when it gets to the casting end.
Jim and I usually talk the details out with respect to how a piece will be cut or designed for casting. This helps for the work later if you plan it well before any sculpting is done. Planning where sprues or vents are to be placed, how to hide a seam or even if there is to be one, etc.
In the specific case of the “Captain,” there were a ton of mold locks created by his tentacles and several small and delicate coral protrusions on his surface. This was all going to be unavoidable so I knew going into the molding that it had to be right the first time since the master would get destroyed in removing it from the mold.
I usually don’t tell how I mold things or my casting techniques, but I will say that he does take six molds
for his six parts and with the exception of the hat, all of the molds are one-piece molds and they are pressure molded silicone.
The creation of the torso cast is the tricky one as I opted for a two-stage pressure-casting process instead of adding a ton of vents to his front. The piece has to be slush filled on the front and then pressurized, followed by the addition of the remaining volume and additional pressure for completion.
The other parts are cast pretty much as you see them in one piece molds and the hat is a two-part mold with traditional venting.
RtB: Do you do your resin castings in your own home? If so, is it hard to clear out the smell?
Lonnie: I work with very high-quality resins and there is no smell in them. A lot of people use resin that has that hideous smell and the pieces turn a dark amber color with a little age. I never liked getting kits made in that stuff because the smell never went away. Knowing that, I decided to
never offer anything but premium stuff. It costs more, but it’s so worth it to me.
I vent all sprays, release agents, and chemicals when I use them.
RtB: Do you have any further new kits coming soon?
Lonnie: I usually stick to producing kits for other people, but if the “Captain” kit does well and is popular with people then I think you could see more kits directly from me in the near future.
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Latest comments
The poll is closed! Thanks to everyone for playing. Keep watching the ever-more-interesting styrene horizon; perhaps a few of these characters will come lumbering your way someday.
... read the full comment by Todd P. | Comment on Which of these would you like to see as a plastic model kit? Read Which of these would you like to see as a plastic model kit?
My second vote was for a model kit based on Tales of Terror. I was thinking that a nice kit could be made of the “Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” vignette in that film. It could have two figures: Basil Rathbone being throttled by
... read the full comment by Mark McGovern | Comment on Which of these would you like to see as a plastic model kit? Read Which of these would you like to see as a plastic model kit?
Dr. Phibes is a natural, but I’ll restate my suggestion for teenage frankenstein /werewolf. The Poe pics would make great dioramas with multiple figures.
... read the full comment by mrmurph | Comment on Which of these would you like to see as a plastic model kit? Read Which of these would you like to see as a plastic model kit?
I too would buy multiples of any kit on the list, though I’d probably have to hold my nose when purchasing some of them.
Phibes would definitely be my first choice, and I’ll repeat my suggestion from modelers’ forum for a teenaged
... read the full comment by mrmurph | Comment on Which of these would you like to see as a plastic model kit? Read Which of these would you like to see as a plastic model kit?