The Ghost Who Walks!

THE PHANTOM by Atlantis Models
Built 10/29/2018
Painted 10/2019

It took just under a year from the time I built this Atlantis Models re-issue of the 60's Revell Phantom model kit to when I finally finished it. It took me a while to find just the right purple spray paint for his costume, but once I did, I faced another concern -- the kit came with a lousy, flat piece of plastic for a base. Essentially, it was just something to glue the heroe's boots to so he wouldn't topple over.

This didn't sit right with me (neither did the vaguely racist "Witch Doctor" figure included in the kit), so I put it off while I pondered what I wanted to do.

Ultimately, I decided to create a new, more scenic, diorama base from scratch. I quickly sculpted it from some Super Sculpy, baked it, and painted it. I added some moss, dried leaves and some ferns (made from the fronds of some cheap, toy palm trees), and ended up with something a little more suited to the legendary Ghost Who Walks!

A Devil Of A Dinosaur!

TYRANNOSAURUS REX by Polar Lights
Built 2/2018
Painted 10/6/2019

I've had this kit assembled for a long time, but I didn't get around to painting it, because I didn't really have a clear idea of how I wanted to paint it. But after the Gorgo build went reasonably well, I kind of wanted to paint up another big lizard, so I pulled Rex down from the shelf and hit him with some primer. I ended up basing my paint scheme for this bad boy on Jack Kirby's Devil Dinosaur comic book creation. In real life, the red skin looks a lot darker and redder, but this is the best I could get with the camera I have.

Not a lot to say here - the kit went together easy as pie, and I'm even happy with the paint job! I'm especially proud of the lava!

Flashback '78: The Long Patrol

COLONIAL VIPER by Monogram
Built: 1978

This is the first of several posts where I'll show off some of my few surviving spaceship models from my childhood. This dusty Battlestar Galactica Viper is a vintage Monogram kit, built when I was a sci-fi loving lad of only 15 years-old.

I always had trouble with cement and decals back then (and, in truth, I haven't yet tackled decals with any of my new builds yet, either). When applying the red stripes, the decals tore, so I decided to justify the mistake by making the fighter look extensively battle-damaged.  This was accomplished with some clumsy drybrush and washes, and when I was dissatisfied with those results, I actually took a Bic lighter to it!

You can see a few spots where I held the flame too long against the model, causing the styrene to melt (ah, such fumes!).

I have purchased the more recent and much more accurate Viper kit from Moebius Models, though it remains in its box in my stash until I feel that my skills have improved enough to tackle it. 

Before I take photos of any of my other vintage builds, I'll try and dust them off a bit!

The Kind From Up There!

FLYING SAUCER by Polar Lights
Built 7/21/2019
Painted 7/27/2019

My second flying saucer build in one week! This kit is a repop of a vintage 1950s Lindberg model - the first ever U.F.O. plastic kit - that has been reissued dozens of times over the last sixty years from numerous companies, including Glencoe, Atlantis, and now, Polar Lights, as a tie-in edition with Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space. Wood used several of the original Lindberg kits in that notorious film, so there is a legitimate connection.

I chose not to build it as it appeared in Plan 9 (minus the rocket motors and a painted-over dome), but as it was originally intended to be built.

Another simple build, with only a few parts, and most of the paint applied with a simple rattle can. I had originally intended for a shinier "chrome" finish, but the paint I bought - labeled as "Chrome" - was actually more of a matte finish than I hoped for, so after it dried, I hit it with a few coats of clear gloss. It's still not what I intended, but I'm satisfied with it.

The little green alien pilot and cockpit details were hand-painted.

The Saucer

THE INVADERS U.F.O. by Atlantis Models
Built & Painted 7/24/2019

"The Invaders: alien beings from a dying planet. Their destination: the Earth. Their purpose: to make it their world. David Vincent has seen them...."

This is my second attempt at building this Atlantis Models repop of the original, Sixties Aurora Invaders UFO model kit. I received one a year or so ago, but some of the pieces were damaged and my attempt at painting it went disastrously wrong!  So I used some birthday money to order a second kit, and tried again, with much better results.

Essentially it was a "one day" build - it came together quickly, mostly because I chose not to construct and paint the interior control room. Aside from not being great at fine detail paint work, I wouldn't display it open anyway. Instead, I built a custom "desert landing" diorama, inspired by the second season episode, "The Saucer."

The saucer was sprayed with a flat coat of Tamiya Aluminum (I didn't want it too shiny) with the
"fusion core" and other details on the underside of the model painted with my usual, cheap craft paints.

I sculpted the base from Super Sculpey, baked it, glued some sand down on it for texture, then primed it and painted it. Tufts of grass were added, and voila -- the foothills around Vasquez Rocks!

Mean Green Mother

GORGO by Monarch Models
Built 1/7/2018
Painted 7/19/2019

"One of London's oldest landmarks smashed like matchwood! Nothing has stopped this beast so far, nothing!"

This one's been sitting on the shelf waiting for me to finish it for a long time! Another excellent kit from the deeply-missed Monarch Models, Gorgo - from the 1961 film of the same name - went together fairly easily, though I screwed up and had to use some putty to fill a gap on her head. I also did a little putty work on her neck/chest as the model had an indent there that looked odd to me.

Very basic paint job - just a flat dark green base, with various shades of lighter greens dry-brushed over that. Finally, a dark wash to bring out some of the surface details. After I was done, it occurred to me to check the movie on Blu-ray and it turned out that Mama Gorgo - like Godzilla - is actually a charcoal gray in color, not green. Oh well... let's just say that I painted her like the Charlton Comics version!

The Golden Voyager

SINBAD by Monarch Models
Built 1/18/2018
Painted 7/2019

"Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel!"

 One of my all-time favorite figures from fiction is the Arabian Nights' Sinbad the Sailor. This terrific and exquisitely-designed kit from the late, lamented Monarch Models - clearly "inspired" by John Phillip Law's portrayal of the character in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad - was a joy to build. Like all Monarch kits, it went together easily and smoothly. I put off painting it for a long time as I was, quite frankly, concerned that I'd mess it up.

As it turned out, it's not exactly how I wanted it to look, but, being only my second "human" figure kit, it's not terrible. I definitely used the wrong paint on his shirt, though; it was too glossy, and trying to mute it with a gray wash didn't work so well.

I put an awful lot of extra work into the diorama base. The "ferns" didn't come with the kit; I bought some cheap little plastic palm trees, stripped off the leaves, and added them to the base. I feel it gives a little more life to the scene.

The kit came with several details I chose not to use, such as a tropical lizard on a branch, a severed monster arm, and a tarantula. I intended to use the spider, but after my other modifications, it was unnecessary... and a bit excessive. Instead of the monster arm, I took a leftover skull from another kit, had my sculptress wife add horns and fangs to it, and used it to dress up the base instead.

Venus Or Bust!

COSMOSTRATOR by Pegasus Models
Built 2/2018
Painted 9/10/2018
Completed 11/7/2018

Another terrific, easy-build & paint (just silver from a rattle can) classic sci-fi spaceship, from the 1960 Crown-International Picture, First Spaceship on Venus. I admit, I've only watched the movie all the way through once - it's badly-dubbed from German, and all available prints look like crap - but I love the design of the Cosmostrator ship.

The base was hand-sculpted from Super Sculpey (no tools), baked, and painted over a few hours. I gave it a base coat of a greenish-black, then drybrushed lighter layers of green over that, finishing with highlights of "neon" green for an otherworldly look. Finished it off with some green sand from the dollar store. 

The Spirit Is Wailing

THE GHOST OF CASTEL-MARE by Monarch Models
Built 10/28/2018  
Painted 11/3/2018

"The Ghost of Castel-Mare" is one of a handful of terrific original kits released by Monarch Models during its few years of existence, intended as a companion kit to the classic Aurora "Prisoner of Castel-Mare." I'm a big fan of Monarch's line, so when I got the opportunity to pick this one up at a reasonable price, I couldn't resist.

The paint job is a little rough - as usual, I rushed it - but it turned out okay. It's not exactly how I had it pictured in my head (I wanted the Ghost to look more spectral), but I'm pretty pleased with the painted "glow" and lighting effects on the wall, which was all done with layer after layer of dry-brushing and washes with cheap craft paints from Michael's. No glow-in-the-dark paint was used - it's all just simulated.

 

Have Rocket - Will Travel

ROCKETSHIP X-M by Pegasus Models
Built 12/2017
Painted 9/10/2018
Base 10/31/2018

I bought this kit last Christmas as a gift for myself because Rocketship X-M is one of my favorite 1950s sci-fi movies, and I love its design. It was the first new model kit I'd built in a couple of years. 

A very simple kit, simple paint job - but technically the first spaceship model that I ever properly painted. Did a bit of putty & sanding on the seams, and a little black paint on the windows and rocket exhaust (which you can't see here.) 

The base was my first attempt at creating a custom base for a model kit. I sculpted it entirely by hand (no tools) from Super Sculpey, baked it, and painted it in a few hours. Because the movie has the ship landing on Mars (despite setting out for the Moon!), I went with a reddish-brown wash on the ground (with some faint black scorch marks under the X-M's exhaust), and added a little bit of scenic grass. 

I'm very pleased with how it all came out.

Glorious Black & White