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.

The Precious Blood!

NOSFERATU by Monarch Models
Built 11/18/2018
Painted 10/21/2019

With this, I have now completed all four kits produced by the much-missed Monarch Models. In fact, I searched a long time for this elusive kit, until my friend Terry Beatty (an esteemed modeller in his own right), traded this to me. As with their other kits, this was beautifully engineered, and went together smooth as silk.

This was the "Frightening Lightning" edition, which came with some parts duplicated in glow-in-the-dark plastic. I chose not to use those parts, with the exception of the spare rats (more on this below). I also chose not to use the provided nameplate.

For the base, Monarch provided a bunch of creepy-crawlies, including spiders and centipedes, but, when I think of Nosferatu, I think of rats. I used the all of the rats in the kit (two regular plastic and two glow) and then scavenged a couple more, smaller rats from another kit (Dark Shadows' Barnabas Collins), to provide Count Orlok with a small army of rodents.

As usual, this was painted with cheap, acrylic craft paints.

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!

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.

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.

 

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.

Which way to Roswell?

ALIEN by Lindberg Models
Built 5/2016
Painted 10/16/2018

My very first fully-painted figure model kit, two years in the making!  I picked this up several years ago at the Waterville Marden's discount store for about five bucks. I assembled it in May of 2016, and finally got around to painting it this month.

A super simple kit to build and paint... but that made it a good one to start with. Most build-ups I've seen of this kit online gave the Grey a silver jumpsuit, but I went with a flecked, metallic blue. The base was primed in a dark gray, which I drybrushed with a lighter gray before hitting the whole thing with a heavy black wash.

"I come in peace...."