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William Paquet’s Nosferatu

July 11th, 2009

Originally published June 1, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Paquet\'s Nosferatu

Paquet's NosferatuPAQUET “NOSFERATU” BUST
Based on the 1922 silent classic movie “Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror”
• Sculpted by William Paquet
• Produced by Tower of London, available from X-O Facto
• About 1/2 scale, 11 inches tall
• Made of two resin parts; casting by Mark Brokaw of Earthbound Studios
• Price: $120 plus shipping
• The “Nosferatu” kit pictured was painted by  Steve Riojas of Denver

Back in the silent era of movies, director F.W. Murnau turned actor Max Schreck into Graf Orlok, one of the most memorable vampires ever put on screen. Unfortunately, instead of coming up with a story of their own or paying the Bram Stoker estate for the rights to “Dracula,” the filmmakers simply swiped the story. That led to all kinds of nasty legal entanglements, and for years it was a challenge to see the movie.

These days, “Nosferatu” has moved into the public domain, and in addition to being able to find cheap DVD copies of it all over the place, it’s one of the most popular subjects for garage model kits, one of the latest being the bust pictured above.

That piece and the others pictured are the work of sculptor William Paquet. William’s name is one of the first I learned when I got interested in garage kits, because he’s the creative talent behind some of the most sought-after kits ever produced. Of course, I’ve been watching for an excuse to contact him to do an e-mail Q&A ever since I started doing these profiles.

William, 41, lives in Virginia. He’s got a wife, Laurie; daughter, Valerie; a border collie named Rex; and two cats, Clovis and Vincent. Considering the frightening nature of much of his sculpture, I had to ask if there were any tell-tale hearts beating in his home. “No corpses under the floorboards,” he told me, “but a decent collection of animal skulls, including a crocodile and a bear.”

Paquet\'s monsters

Q&A WITH WILLIAM PAQUET

Resin the Barbarian: Wasn’t the Nosferatu sculpture originally intended to be a very large, full figure piece? If so, why didn’t that work out?

William PaquetWilliam: Time. The piece as it originally was intended is about 80 percent complete, but finding the time in my schedule to complete it has been difficult,

RtB: Does this bust represent a specific moment in the silent movie “Nosferatu”? If so, what is the character doing at this moment?

William:… Read the rest

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Godzilla Ghost with T’s Facto

July 11th, 2009

Originally published May 25, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Thanks to “kiryu” and “raydrz” for the suggested questions.

Godzilla\'s Ghost by T\'s Facto

Godzilla's Ghost by T's Facto“GODZILLA GHOST”
Inspired by the original, 1954 movie “Godzilla”
• Produced by T’s Facto
• Sculpted by Takashi Yamawaki, popularly known as “T”, who also painted the piece pictured
• About 15.75 inches tall
• 51 parts (see below for a breakdown)
• Made of resin
• Price: 29,000 yen (about $260 U.S.)
• Shipping to the United States would cost about $37
• Scheduled for release in June

Frankly, the giant-monster (kaiju) movies from Japan are often pretty cheesy stuff. People dressed in rubber costumes stomp on neat scale-model buildings and fight each other. The best I’ve seen of them are fun and have some wonderful moments; only the very worst are so bad you can’t enjoy them at least a little.

Godzilla's Ghost by T's FactoFew are what I would define as truly “great” movies, although I do get a chill from post-attack scenes in the first Godzilla movie, made when the nuclear bombings in Japan were a recent memory.

Model kits based on this material are often some of the most dazzling you’ll see, and this week’s subject – “Godzilla Ghost” from T’s Facto – is the latest to floor me, coming from a sculptor whose works often make me wonder just how much I want to overheat my credit card on my hobby.

Full-time Godzilla's Ghost by T's Factosculptor and kit seller “T” (Takashi Yamawaki) is 38 years old, unmarried, and lives inSaitama prefecture, just next to Tokyo. His mastery of written English is wonderful, judging by our e-mail exchange, which is great because I couldn’t have written this entry based on my nonexistent skill with the Japanese language. For the record, I had to do some minor editing in the Q&A exchange below, but not as much as I’ve had to do with some native English speakers in more than 15 years of newspaper experience.

“T” says he worked at International Hotel as a bartender in Singapore from the ages of 20 to 35 and learned English from his Chinese girlfriend. He moved on to sculpting three years ago.

Godzilla\'s Ghost by T\'s Facto

Q&A WITH TAKASHI YAMAWAKI, A.K.A. “T”

Resin the Barbarian: This kit represents Godzilla at the end of the first movie, when he is destroyed underwater. As I recall, the skeleton is not clearly seen in the film. What did you use as reference material?

T“T”: There was a movie in 2002, “Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla.” “The Monsters Inc.,” which is a sculpting team, made the skeleton model for this movie.… Read the rest

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Frankenstein’s Monster by Mark Newman

July 11th, 2009

Originally published May 18, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Mark Newman\'s Frankenstein Monster

Mark Newman\'s Frankenstein Monster• Produced by Mark Newman Sculpture Inc.
• Sculpted by Mark Newman, who also painted the kit in the photos
• Scale: About 1/5; the figure is 15 1/4 inches tall
• Material: Solid resin
• Number of parts: Five, including the base
• Price: $150 plus $12 shipping in the United States

Fans of monster models could fill whole shelves with the Frankenstein Monster. I should know, I’ve done it.
The Monster, first pieced together in the pages of Mary Shelley’s novel and reborn time and time again on both the big and small screen, is arguably the most popular subject for fans of figure models. This is particularly true of the Universal Studios Monster, first embodied in 1931 by Boris Karloff. A flat-headed, neck-bolted Universal Monster was the first monster model released by Aurora in 1961, and the kit was so popular that the company followed it up with more monsters that were released and re-released over the years.

Horizon Original made a great Universal Monster kit, as did Billiken, GEOmetric Design and more. MANY more.

However, the Universal Studios version of the Monster isn’t the only one to win fans. Plenty of other visions of the creature have also kept kitbuilders busy over the years. Click on the “popular subject” link above for a good sampling.

Mark Newman\'s Frankenstein MonsterSome of those monsters represent the unique visions of their creators. That can be said of this week’s subject: “Frankenstein’s Monster” by Mark Newman, 43, of Oakland, Calif.

I’ve known Mark’s name for a while now, having heard time and again from hobbyists with a longer garage-kit background than my own 4 1/2 years, who considered him one of the best sculptors in the field. They usually spoke of him in terms of someone who had moved on from GKs to other works, and on the rare occasions they came up on eBay, his kits were at the center of bidding wars.

Then, a few months ago, Mark sort of reappeared on some Internet forums, and not too long after that he started asking people about the Frankenstein sculpture he was working on. “Would you consider buying this if it were a kit?” he asked.

Of course, the answer was a loud “Bring it on!”

As one of the Frankenstein Monster’s many longtime fans, I figured I just had to e-mail the mad doctor behind this latest version.

Q&A WITH MARK NEWMAN

Resin the Barbarian: How… Read the rest

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Ultratumba’s Angry Red Spider

July 10th, 2009

Originally published May 11, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Angry Red Spider by Ultratumba Productions

Angry Red Planet“ANGRY RED SPIDER”
• Produced by Ultratumba Productions
• Sculpted by Paul Schiola of Eastlake, Colo.
• Size: 9 inches tall, 19.5 inches wide
• Material: Solid pink resin
• Number of parts: 15, including the base
• Price: $99 plus $18 domestic shipping
• Limited to 150 kits

Ultratumba\'s Angry Red SpiderFirst time I saw a picture of this new Ultratumba Productions kit, I thought, neat! I’ve never seen the movie this beastie comes from, “The Angry Red Planet,”but the model is so interesting and fun that it makes me want to.

That, I think, is a pretty common reaction to garage kits based on movies. People like me see a model kit they like, they buy it, then they go out and rent or purchase the movie that inspired it, not only because they’re curious about the film but also because they an idea of how they want to paint the kit.

But looking at this piece, I also figured I couldn’t afford it. I mean, it’s so big and so detailed, I thought it just had to be expensive. Then I found out the price is in the neighborhood of $100 – pretty cheap for a kit like this – and was even more impressed.

Angry Red PlanetAffordability is an important concern for Paul Schiola of Ultratumba, which means that in addition to being worth considering because they’re neat, they’re also a good option for people on a budget or who are just starting out in the hobby.

I’ve been watching for a chance to get in touch with Paul not only because I like his work, but also because he’s a fellow Coloradan. The introduction of this spider gave me the perfect excuse to e-mail him.

Paul Schiola and Bob Burns

Q&A WITH PAUL SCHIOLA

Resin the Barbarian: What can you tell me about the Angry Red Spider? Are you a fan of the movie “Angry Red Planet” or did you discover the creature another way?

Paul: I was a young boy around the age of 8 when we drove to Chicago to see some relatives. I had already been bitten by the monster bug thanks to my oldest brother, Frank, who found several issues of Famous Monsters under his desk while in his last class on a Friday afternoon. He brought them home with the intention to bring them back to the student he thought left them on Monday morning. So I spent the weekend drooling over these… Read the rest

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Ripley & Power Loader, Part III: Mike Allen

July 10th, 2009

Power Loader base

Originally posted May 4, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Some people at The Clubhouse said I ought to make the Forbidden Zone Ripley & Power Loader into a three-part entry by asking Mike Allen to share a little more about the base and decals he made for the kit. Mike was game, so why not?

Mike AllenIn addition to impressing me as the guy behind Forbidden Zone, which is putting out some of the best garage kits around, Mike got on my good side by agreeing to help me launch “Resin the Barbarian” Feb. 1. He answered a few questions about his Young Frankenstein bust without having much of an idea of what I hoped to do with his answers, and helped make it easier for me to approach everyone I’ve written about in the weeks since.

So, what follows is what Mike told me via e-mail about making a base to go along with the Ripley figure by Gabriel Marquez (part I) and the Power Loader by Tom Seiler (part II).

Q&A WITH MIKE ALLEN

Resin the Barbarian: As the person who runs Forbidden Zone, you are basically the guy in charge of the collaborative process that led to the Power Loader kit. Do you ever find it intimidating or uncomfortable giving direction/advice to people like Gabriel Marquez and Tom Seiler, who are so enviably talented?

Mike: No, not really. First of all, Tom and Gabriel are so down to earth and easy to get along with. They are very talented, but they’re open to all kinds of ideas. I mean … the machinery is what it is … Sigorney looked a certain way … it’s committed to film, so you pretty much know what you have to create.

I have to hand it to Tom; he studied screen grabs and photographs to pull all sorts of little details into it. I’ll tell you this much, I have had two individuals e-mail me that are connected to folks who created the full-size and miniature Loader for the film. They thought enough of the work on the kit to contact us and compliment it.

Now, the way I see it, the place where you have some freedom and creativity is the pose and composition of the piece. That’s where I think I can bring something to the table. I get to work with these talented guys and collectively create something we can all be proud of.

It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. I can talk to Gabriel and say something like “I want her arm as high as she can… Read the rest

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Ripley & Power Loader, Part II: Tom Seiler

July 10th, 2009

Originally published May 4, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Power Loader

This week’s subject is a big model kit, so it’s appropriate that it would require a little extra space. In the last Resin the Barbarian entry, I talked about the specifics of Forbidden Zone’s upcoming Power Loader garage kit and spoke with Gabriel Marquez, sculptor of the Ripley figure on the kit.

Tom SeilerTom Seiler is the man behind the machine on the Power Loader. Like Gabriel, Tom lives in the Houston area, about an hour away from Gabriel’s home.

“I don’t call what I do ‘sculpting,’” Tom wrote in an e-mail. “Don’t put me in the same category as someone like Gabriel, as I’m not worthy! I will answer to ‘fabricator’ or ‘scratchbuilder,’ though, as I assemble bits of sheet styrene, plastic tubing, plumber’s epoxy and lots of putty and primer into master parts.

“I break a project into subassemblies and then make a model of each bit. The closest I come to sculpting is creating a transition or fillet here and there. I like to break objects down to their basic shapes, like the Loader foot is a rectangular solid with a half-cylinder on top of it.”

Read on for more of Tom’s description of assembling the Loader.

TOM SEILER ON MAKING THE POWER LOADER

Resin the Barbarian: Would you like to say anything about creating the Power Loader? I know that project was quite some time from conception to completion, so I’m sure you spent many hours working on it and I can’t imagine how much you focused on details.

Power LoaderTom: I did spend many an hour on it, many a month, many a year. We were really lucky to get some great help from folks with invaluable Loader reference photos. Frame grabs from the DVD were helpful, too.

I’m also very lucky to live in Houston because of the great scratchbuilding resource we have here. G&G Model Shop near Rice University keeps nearly the entire Plastruct and Evergreen plastic inventory in stock for the models built by students of engineering and architecture. There is nothing like being able to pop into their shop and pick up anything you need in sheet, strip, rod, domed, tube or textured plastic!

For my starting point, I used the Halcyon kit, since the folks that made it had good references, at least as far as the scaling and proportions. I took one of their parts, laid it in my scanner, blew it up 150 percent, and PC-drafted plans of that, adding details Halcyon omitted, and correcting much of it.… Read the rest

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Ripley & Power Loader, Part I: Gabriel Marquez

July 10th, 2009

Originally published May 4, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Ripley and Power Loader

• “RIPLEY & POWER LOADER”
• Produced by Forbidden Zone
Ripley and Power Loader• Created by Tom Seiler (machinery), Gabriel Marquez (Ellen Ripley) and Mike Allen (base, decals and instructions).
• Casting by Mark Brokaw of Earthbound Studios.
• Scale: 1/8, roughly 16 inches tall.
• Material: Mostly resin, but it will include rubber tubing for the hydraulic hoses, metal mesh for the roll cage over the figure’s head, styrene rod for some details on the Loader. It will also have a clear, vacu-formed dome for the emergency beacon on the top.
• Number of parts: “I think it’s around 30,” Mike says, “but that may change once it’s molded.”
• Price: TBD, probably in the $250-$275 range.
• Date of availability: TBD, sometime in 2007. Contact Mike Allen through the Forbidden Zone Web site if you’re interested in an update.

“Get away from her, you bitch!”

Man, that’s one of the best uses of a naughty word in a movie and I wish I could let it rip here, in text, even half as effectively as Sigourney Weaver delivered it before the climactic battle in Jim Cameron’s 1986 movie “Aliens.” You’ve seen the movie, haven’t you? You know about the big fight between Ripley in the Power Loader and the nasty Alien Queen, right?

If you’re one of the few who managed to miss that one, it’s time to put it on your “must-see” list. Heck, you could probably pick up a cheap secondhand VHS copy on eBay for less than the price of a rental.

Forbidden Zone’s Mike Allen of Halfmoon, N.Y., is plainly a fan of the movie, and sometime back he helped set in motion a project that’s got model-kit lovers interested: a remarkably detailed kit of Ripley in the Power Loader, created by some extremely talented people.

Ripley and Power LoaderOne of the fun things about doing these weekly GK entries is that I don’t have to be ashamed of getting in touch with some of these talented people and ask all kinds of stupid fanboy questions. Gabriel Marquez has been impressing hobbyists for about a decade, and he’s the person who generously let me pester him this week with a Q&A (below).

Lifelong Houston resident Gabriel is a sculptor, 37 years old, married to Terri. He started off working semi-professionally as a sculptor 10 years ago and earned enough respect for his work that he was able to become a full-time professional in 1998. In his Web-site biography, he says his interest in art stems from an early love for fantasy and… Read the rest

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