January 1st, 2010
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.
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 the creative people involved in GEOmetric and have interviewed some of them for Resin the Barbarian. George … well, I briefly met him twice, once at Imagine-Nation…
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October 1st, 2009
Click here for an update about the DVD specifics.
In 1966, two people took major steps toward living their dreams. One was James Bama, a New York City commercial illustrator, about 40 years old, whose portfolio included dozens of cover paintings for Doc Savage paperbacks and the box art for many of Aurora’s monster model kits. The other was Cortlandt Hull of Bristol, Conn., great-nephew of
“Werewolf of London” star Henry Hull, a 13-year-old lover of classic horror movies and builder of Aurora models.
Looking over my notes for this month’s “Resin the Barbarian” interview, recognizing the time frame of the turning points in these two men’s lives, I was fascinated to realize that Mr. Bama began to move away from the genre work that has remained popular about the same time Cortlandt embraced a life ever influenced by monsters. Cortlandt’s decision was made in part because he — like millions of others — so loved Mr. Bama’s box art. Decades later, Mr. Bama was impressed with the work Cortlandt and director Dennis Vincent did profiling artist
Basil Gogos on
“The Witch’s Dungeon: 40 Years of Chills”, so he invited them to visit his home in Wapiti, Wyo., for a rare interview that will be featured in the documentary
“Legends of Film & Fantasy”, to be available on DVD in early 2010.
Wapiti is where Mr. Bama finally settled a few years after he and his wife, Lynne, departed Manhattan, according…
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Filed under Monsters, Movie makers, Sci-Fi | Tags: Aurora, documentary, DVD, Jim Bama | 4 Comments » |
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 13, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.
“GALACTIC RAIDER”
Inspired by the Cylon Raider from the Sci Fi Channel series
“Battlestar Galactica.”
Master by Alfred Wong.
Produced by
Fantastic Plastic Models.
Scale: 1:48. Dimensions: 7 inches x 4.5 inches.
Solid-cast resin; 11 pieces. Casting and scribing by BLAP! Models.
The display stand does NOT come with the model. It must be ordered separately.
Price: $75 plus shipping. Display stand is $7.
The display model pictured painted by Allen B. Ury.
In 1978, “Battlestar Galactica” was a network TV show with great (albeit frequently recycled) special effects, wonderful sets and generally bad writing and acting. As I recall, it got off to a roaring start and then crash-landed at the end of the season. Two years later, after hearing from a lot of fans begging to give it another chance, ABC debuted “Galactica 1980″; the cancellation of that one was a mercy killing.
Fast-forward to the 21st century. The call to give “Galactica” another shot was again building; I wasn’t one of the people all that concerned about it, but I knew of a couple of groups trying to revive the show. It was the Sci Fi Channel that finally did it with a 2003 miniseries, which led to a continuing series that quickly became bigger and better than its predecessor.
*Sigh.* OK, it’s confession time: I saw the 2003 “Galactica” miniseries and was IMpressed, but also DEpressed. A show about a…
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July 10th, 2009
Originally published May 11, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.
“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
First 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.
Affordability 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…
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Filed under 2006 archive, Monsters, Producers, Resin, Sci-Fi, Sculptors | Tags: Ultratumba Productions | Comments Off |
