Lots of things have changed in the last four years. With my wife’s encouragement, I decided to take another, more professional shot at producing a kit. To my great surprise and joy, I got an opportunity to work with William Paquet, one of the very best. The result is Alma, inspired by the work of Dick Smith. Phil Sera was the first to put paint on the bust.

I hope this is the first of many kits from Dedham Pond.

Read more about it.

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 here) is our mock-up for the DVD cover. Zacherley is also doing some new wrap-arounds for us, since it was the horror hosts that originally made the classic horror movies “kid friendly” on “Shock Theatre”, across the country. This led the way to “Famous Monsters” and eventually the Aurora Monster Kits, which have inspired many makeup artists, illustrators, actors & film makers. Among the guests – Aurora cover artist, James Bama, actor & model sculptor Jeff Yagher, illustrator & model maker, Daniel Horne, from “Sideshow Collectibles” – Tom Gilliland, with Mat Falls, giving a wax sculpture demo, the artists of “Mad Geppetto”, Frank Winspur president of “Moebius Models”, master model builder & painter Mike Rutherford, and a lot more. We will include some rare photos from Thomas Graham, the author of “The Aurora Models Kits” (book by Schiffer), plus shots of Bob Burns as “Kogar” promoting the 1960′s Aurora Monster Kit Contest.

Still in production, no exact release date, except for the premiere at “Wonderfest”. Not confirmed yet, but the music score may be done by Broadway violinist & conductor, Kurt Coble.

Early preview trailer, which now is an overview of this new series, “LEGENDS OF FILM & FANTASY” -

All good wishes – Cortlandt & Dennis

First up, the Shiflett Brothers from issue 42. I confess that I cheated here, because I swiped the scan from the Shifletts’ site.

One big advantage of my family’s move to the Colorado Springs area is that we’re close to Compleat Games and Hobbies. It’s a fantastic hobby store, filled from floor to ceiling with neat stuff. Not as many garage kits as it used to have, but lots of great plastic kits.