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

Don't Fear the Reaper

THE GRIM REAPER by Moebius Models
Built 1/2018 
Painted 10/26/2018

I'm really happy with how this turned out - the paint, the scenics on the base  - it's exactly how I hoped it would look.

I've seen some build-ups of this kit online where the modellers went way overboard with adding scenic foliage to the base, but I figured, this is the Grim Reaper, so everything should be dead, right? So I covered the ground with dead leaves (imported from China!) and tufts of dead grass. The cobweb in the tree was a single strand of simple, cheap Halloween webbing. 

Gordon's Alive!

FLASH GORDON by Atlantis Models
Built 2/2018 
Painted 10/26/2018

"Pathetic Earthlings. Who will save you now?"

This is the Atlantis Models re-issue of the 1965 Revell Flash Gordon and the Martian kit. I chose not to build and include the goofy little Martian, nor attach the clear plastic space helmet.

This is my first human figure paint-up. I chose not to follow the paint scheme on the box, which was a simple white spacesuit, in favor of more Flash-y colors. The paint job is a little rough - I had a devil of a time getting a smooth even coat with the red and yellow paints, neither of which covered the gray primer very well. Further, I found my hand a little unsteady when it came to detail work like the yellow stripes on his sleeves and pant legs, the belt, straps, etc.  I also have a  long way to go before I master painting faces.

While I was painting it, I was convinced that it was a disaster, but while it's not the perfect, pro paint job I had in my head, it's not terrible. I have to learn patience - both while painting (I tend to rush) and with my own learning curve. If I stick with it, I'll improve over time.

Curse of Kharis

THE MUMMY by Polar Lights
Built 9/8/2018
Painted 10/21/2018

"For who shall defile the temples of the ancient gods, a cruel and violent death shall be his fate, and never shall his soul find rest unto eternity. Such is the curse of Amon-Ra, king of all the gods. "

This is the Polar Lights re-issue of the legendary 60's Aurora Mummy kit, from around 2000. I bought it at the Toys 'R' Us in Boca Raton, Florida... and then it sat in storage until this year. 

My first classic Aurora monster. I didn't putty/sand the seams since I worried that I'd lose too much of the bandage detail... and, well,  it would be a hell of a lot of  frustrating work. I sprayed the base with a base coat of camouflage tan and the Kharis figure with a flat white, then hit both with multiple washes of brown and black. 

I think I slightly overdid the wash on the wrappings and I wish I'd spent a little more time on the face, but the real white sand I added to the base worked out well.

Glorious Black & White

You Damn Dirty Ape!

CORNELIUS by Polar Lights
Built 5/2016
Painted 10/21/2018

This is a 2000 Polar Lights/Aurora re-issue of the 1975 Addar kit.  

I tried to match the colors to the Planet of the Apes film costume closely. I applied some tufts of scenic grass and some moss to liven up the base, but I didn't want to go overboard with the detailing. Overall, I like the way this turned out.

I had the original Addar kit as a kid, but never painted it.