July 11th, 2009
Originally published Nov. 15, 2007.
What you see below is what I was able to recover of a Moebius Models blog entry I lost when the Clubhouse moved to a new server in early October 2007. The loss of that entry isn’t the worst inconvenience the Clubhouse experienced, and at least I held onto this much. The Q&A with Frank Winspur, the most important part, is intact, and for that I’m thankful.
Please keep in mind that Moebius has continued to make announcements about its future since I wrote this entry; check the
Moebius Web site for information.
Resin the Barbarian: Why did you name your company Moebius?
Frank: The first two choices were turned down at the trademark office. I am a fan of the artist Moebius, and when I did a little more research and found out it is actually a mathematical term, I thought it would be a cool name. Its reference in mathematics is very interesting, I encourage everyone to check it out online at one of the many sites devoted to it.
RtB: As I understand it, you’re about to issue your third and fourth editions of the Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde kit. The first was the long-box version; the second was a glow-in-the-dark Wonderfest long-box; the third will be a glow version released the week of Chiller; and the fourth will be a square-box glow version. Is it safe to say, then, that the doctor has been a success?
Frank: The…
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July 11th, 2009
Originally published July 1, 2007.
Thought I’d begin with an image I was anxious to see, and I’ll bet I’m not the only one.
As 2006 drew to an end, the future of the plastic figure model kit looked grim. Polar Lights was out of business and the established model companies didn’t seem to have any interest in figure kits. Then, in the middle of a thread at the Clubhouse’s “Styrene Dreams” forum, Jeff Yagher advised members to keep an eye out for
Monarch Models.
I decided not to wait for news, but asked Jeff if he could put me in touch with the guy behind the company. He electronically introduced me to Scott McKillop, who was happy to talk about what he was up to. I wrote a news story that ran in my “Resin the Barbarian” blog during the holiday season, then I sat back and awaited updates from Scott.
A few weeks later, Frank Winspur of Doll & Hobby Shop exploded back onto the kit scene with
Moebius Models, which he was launching with a repop of the long-missed Aurora Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde, and following that up with a lot more. I was excited, but also concerned about what this apparent competition might mean. Scott, though, was just as happy as anyone.
Monarch’s first kit, Nosferatu, should be on work benches in a few weeks. Two more – the Moon Suit and the Ghost of Castel-Maré – have been announced and should be available this…
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July 11th, 2009
Originally published Nov. 28, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.
In this era of shopper mania about PlayStation 3 or TMX Elmo, it’s easy to grow nostalgic about a time three or four decades past, when the
Aurora company’s plastic monster models beckoned menacingly – but quietly – from store shelves.
Wide-eyed boys gazed at the bright artwork on those boxes, created by painters such as James Bama or Mort Kunstler, depicting the Frankenstein Monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde, the Phantom of the Opera and more. At home, they struggled with the glue and paints needed to assemble the models, then often played with their creations until they fell apart.
Scott McKillop was one of those Aurora fans, and if he has his way, plastic monster models will return to excite boys of all ages by Christmas 2007.
McKillop, 40, a doctor in London, Ontario, is dedicating one year of his salary to starting up Monarch Models, which he plans to launch late next year with a “Nosferatu” kit, based on the Max Schreck vampire, Graf Orok, in the 1922 F.W. Murnau silent film based on Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula.” The film has moved into the public domain, and thus no licensing of the character is required.
The kit, designed by artist
Gary Makatura and sculptor Jeff Yagher, and sculpted by Yagher, will be in one-eighth scale, the same as most of Aurora’s best-known monster kits, and will be “packaged to harmonize perfectly with the…
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July 11th, 2009
Originally published Sept. 27, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.
Some guys just seem to be particularly in love with this hobby of ours. Mike Rutherford, 38, of New England has long struck me as one of them. Check out his
Web site, which is stuffed not only with pictures of his own kit buildups, but with information about model kits both past and present and plenty of other genre subjects of interest to hobbyists.
Mike’s also a family man; his wife is Melanie, his kids are Michael and Madison.
MIKE RUTHERFORD AND MODEL KITS
Resin the Barbarian: You strike me as someone who truly loves this hobby and has for a long time. How long have you been involved in building kits, and what got you started?
Mike: Hello Todd, and thank you for this opportunity.
What got me started was my
Uncle Jonathan, in 1971.
When I was 4 years old and he about 10, he had both the Victim and the Frankenstein “Monster Scenes” kits. We would play with these as toys.
My grandmother had an old birdcage that we would use as a cage for the Monster to put the Victim inside of.
However, I didn’t get a model kit of my very own until a few months later. It was a glow in the dark kit called “Fiend” that was made by a company called Lindberg.
My first
Aurora monster kit was the glow version of the
“Forgotten Prisoner.”
Between the two of us, my…
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July 11th, 2009
Originally published Aug. 16, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.
“THE SALTY SEA DOGS”
Sculpted by Andy Bergholtz of
AB Sculpture Studio.
Available from
Dark Carnival.
1/4 scale, resin.
The first two “Sea Dogs” sell for $75 plus shipping; price on the Captain is $85; the set of all three is $175.
Kits in pictures painted by
Phil Sera.
The truth about pirates was ugly. They were thieves and murderers sailing the high seas, and the closest thing they probably got to taking a bath was the occasional saltwater spray from the waves. No fun at all. But the iconic images of pirates built around sources such as the Pirates of the Caribbean and Robert Louis Stevenson’s
“Treasure Island” – that’s fun.
Sculptor Andy Bergholtz celebrates those iconic images with his “Salty Sea Dogs,” a trio of buccaneers who are obviously very happy about being very bad. They’ve never had what Andy calls “official” names, but he refers to them as the Captain (the most recently introduced), Deadeye Henry and Frosty Bill.
Andy, 27, lives in St. Louis. He’s married and has kids: Lucy, 3; Andy Jr., 18 months; and a third on the way.
Norm “Kitman” Piatt wrote a terrific interview with Andy in the Spring 2004 issue of the now-defunct Modeler’s Resource. The magazine doesn’t seem to be available through the MR Web site, but it’s worth searching for you if you want a more in-depth piece about Andy. For…
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Filed under 2006 archive, Resin, Sculptors, Swashbucklers and buccaneers | Tags: Needful Things | Comments Off |
