Resin the Barbarian

Clubhouse co-founder Mark Mitchell helped glue together a strong modeling community of friends who’ve never met

February 1st, 2010

Mike Hill sculpted this garage kit of Spider-Man battling the Lizard. It was the first full resin kit Mark Mitchell built and painted.

Words from another Clubhouse co-founder: The one person I credit for the existence of the Clubhouse is Mark. He was the person that put in the hard work and dedication to create this community that survived these long nine years. He set the standards that allowed the Clubhouse to stand the test of time. He fought the battles and the Clubhouse stands as a testament to his determination. Everyone in the community owes a debt of thanks to this man. There would be a lot less styrene and resin in the world if not for Mark Mitchell. He is a generous soul. He has been and always shall be my friend.

— Harry “Spock”

“Friend” has taken on a new, sometimes peculiar meaning in the 21st century. How many of those people sharing game scores through their Facebook pages do you really know? Some of them, yes, and maybe all of them strike you as folks who’d be interesting if you could just take a little time to acquaint yourselves … which is probably never gonna happen.

Lots of people who call Mark Mitchell “friend” have never seen his face in person, never heard his voice, might not know him if they passed each other on the street. But they’re friends just the same, and they share more of their lives with each other than many of us do with our next-door…

Filed under Painters | Tags: , , | 7 Comments » |

The Black Heart of George Stephenson: GEOmetric founder reunites with Earthbound, Simon, returns to GK production

January 1st, 2010

Black Heart Enterprises owner George Stephenson at WonderFest with his new company's first kits, Medusa and Mr. Hyde. George is the founder and former owner of GEOmetric Design.

Some people like pro football, so they pay attention to NFL players, and not just when the players are on the field. Same goes for fans of every other sport, or movies, books, daytime television … whatever. If something interests us we study it, and the people involved, with more enthusiasm than anything our social studies teachers could have dragged out of us.

I like model kits and have learned a lot about the people who make them. One fellow I’ve always wondered about is George Stephenson, founder and former owner of GEOmetric Design.

Al Matrone now runs GEOmetric Design.

GEO was one of the first big garage-kit companies I became aware of after re-entering the hobby in late 2001 and its models quickly captured my attention. They were wonderful, affordable kits sculpted by some of the most talented people in the hobby, including William Paquet, Mike Hill, Jeff Yagher, Joe Simon, Thomas Kuntz and Takayuki Takeya.

It didn’t take long to figure out George was the man who ran GEOmetric. It also didn’t take long to figure out George was quitting the business and slowly shutting down GEO.

Bad, bad news for this budding middle-aged hobbyist. It was a relief when Phoenix Comics owner Al Matrone made a deal to buy GEOmetric in 2003 and continue the company.

In the years since, I’ve crossed paths with many of…

Filed under Monsters, Producers, Resin, Sci-Fi, Swashbucklers and buccaneers | 4 Comments » |

A DVD update from Cortlandt Hull and Dennis Vincent

December 2nd, 2009
This is the new DVD cover mock-up (not final version) — first volume on the series.

This is the new DVD cover mock-up (not final version) — first volume on the series.

Pasted below is a message from Cortlandt Hull and Dennis Vincent, whose interview with James Bama was the subject of Resin the Barbarian’s October entry.

Our new documentary, “LEGENDS OF FILM & FANTASY”, will now be a multi-part series, this we just decided less than a month ago. Our very first volume will be “THE AURORA MONSTERS – THE MODEL CRAZE THAT GRIPPED THE WORLD!” (co written & co-directed by Dennis Vincent & Cortlandt Hull). The DVD should be ready this spring. It will make it’s official premiere at “Wonderfest” in Louisville, KY., on May 15 to 16, in 2010.

We re-thought our documentary, originally it was planned to be a four-hour, two-disc film, covering way too much material. Plus, we have almost 50 interviews, it seemed a shame to waste it, as the raw footage of each interview ran well over an hour for each guest. So, we are planning to produce two themed documentaries a year, but shorter – between 60 to 90 min. and about $10.00 each. The series will all be under the banner of “Legends Of Film & Fantasy”. This way, we can use more of the material we have shot. Mainly, this new format allows us to concentrate on each subject, rather than just a brief over-view. Dennis & I are very excited about our new series. We just put a write up on the “Home” page of our website – www.preservehollywood.org

(Pictured…

Filed under Hobby news, Movie makers | Comments Off |

Page 1 of 1712345»10...Last »