His Mother Was The Lightning!

FRANKENSTEIN by Polar Lights
Built 1/2018
Painted 10/30/2019

"It's alive. It's alive... alive!"

It must be the season, because I felt compelled to finish up another monster kit - the fourth this month! Here's my Polar Lights 90s repop of the classic Aurora Frankenstein. As with the Aurora Godzilla, I gave Frankie the traditional green skin. The only real customization here was the addition of some scenic foliage to the base.


As usual, this was painted with 100% cheap craft store acrylics by hand.

 

Grotto of the Gill-Man!

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON by Polar Lights
Built 1/2018
Painted 10/24/2019

Another classic Aurora Monster kit (in this case, another Polar Lights repop from the later 90s) gets finished. I never had these models as a kid, so it's nice to finally build them.

Between this and the Nosferatu kit, I feel like I'm finally getting the sort results that I want.  Because paints made specifically for modellers are usually pricey, I work exclusively with cheap acrylic craft paints from Michael's. To get the gold shimmer on Creech's scales, I used a very light wash of what's called "color-shift" paint, which changes color depending on how the light hits it -  in this case, from green to gold. I used a little on the lizard, too, which is why the pics show a bit of an aqua shift on the otherwise red reptile.

The base is covered with real sand, lightly washed in brown and tan paints. I filled the little cave behind Creech with some dried reindeer moss from the craft store, just to add a little Amazonian foliage to the scene.

Up From The Depths!

GODZILLA by Polar Lights
Built 1/5/2018
Painted 10/16/2019

This was the first of the classic Aurora Monster Models (in this case, a late-90s repop from Polar Lights) I assembled back when I first started getting back into model building, and it's sat on a shelf ever since. But after Gorgo and the T-Rex, I felt a lot more confident about painting giant lizards, so I pulled it down off the shelf and slapped some paint on it.

As this is "Aurora Godzilla" - as opposed to any of the Toho Films Godzillas... or the "Hanna-Barbara Godzilla"... or the "Marvel Comics Godzilla"... you get the idea - I decided to paint him the way this kit has traditionally been painted, i.e. green. I have two other Godzilla kits that are more Toho-accurate, so I'll probably paint those movie charcoal gray when I get to them. 

I didn't do a lot of gradients or anything fancy with this one, but I did give the whole guy a pretty heavy black wash, and then highlighted the fins and forehead with some drybrushed olive green.

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!

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.