Ben's Last Night, 1/8 scale resin model kit from Dedham Pond Designs, sculpted by Joe Simon. Painted and photographed by Toby Franks.

Television has been the focus of way, way too many hours of my life, especially given how little of that time I was actually happy. But I do recall a few times that I got something memorable out of watching TV.

One of those times was when I was probably 11 or 12 years old, and I sneaked out of my basement bedroom on a Friday night to watch “Shock Theater” on the tube. “Shock Theater” was the kind of weekly horror movie feature that apparently doesn’t exist on local stations anymore. I regularly broke my parents’ bedtime rules to watch it (they were upstairs and couldn’t hear me), and enjoyed a variety of flicks ranging from cheesy to mildly creepy. I saw the original “King Kong” on “Shock Theater”, “The Creeping Flesh”, “Trog” and many others.

It was all free, not even a monthly cable bill. We got our TV signal through an antenna on the roof and a slim wire carried it down to the basement. On the night I remember most clearly, the movie was “Night of the Living Dead”, released in 1968.

My “Shock Theater” history did not prepare me for what I was about to see. The films I’d watched Friday nights up to that point, by and large, were pretty mild, really. Lots of creepiness and effectively scary moments, but nothing over the top. I suspect that “Shock Theater” added “Night” to its rotation of movies despite its more gruesome content because it could do so for free. Even though it was less than 10 years old at that point, “Night of the Living Dead” had moved into the public domain because of the failure to include a copyright notice on the first prints of the film.

Anyway, the movie started. Black and white but not too old, which I initially took as kind of a bad sign. Jerk mocking his sister in a cemetery. “They’re coming to get you, Barbra. There’s one of them now!” Hm. OK.

But holy crap, the shambling dude with the white hair and black suit really was coming to get her.

My heart started racing about the time Bill Hinzman’s Cemetery Zombie attacked, and throttled up when he killed Johnny and chased Barbra to the isolated countryside house.

What? Why was he doing this? What did he want?

So, for the next couple hours or so, I was absorbed in the movie for a few minutes at a time. In between, I turned off the TV and went to bed, shaken. Then I’d be back five or 10 minutes later, wanting more even though I was afraid of it. “Night of the Living Dead” was unlike anything I’d ever seen, scary beyond anything I’d experienced in a film. And yes, pretty cheesy, too.

When my worst fears were confirmed — the zombies wanted to eat them! — I couldn’t believe anyone would dare put that on film, much less show it on TV.

Seeing “Night of the Living Dead” that night was a minor turning point for me. It wasn’t long before I recognized that I not only enjoyed it, but that I wanted more. Zombies displaced werewolves as my favorite movie monsters and now, more than three decades later, I still haven’t had enough of them.

DUANE JONES PLAYS BEN, NOTLD’S TRAGIC HERO

Any longtime fan of zombie movies recognizes NOTLD director George A. Romero as the genre’s granddaddy. He has made six zombie films to date, at least two of them masterpieces and all of them interesting at some level. If you enjoyed “Shaun of the Dead”, “Zombieland” or “The Walking Dead”, thank George Romero.

For me, Ben's lug wrench is one of the best weapons ever wielded in a movie.

When I first saw “Night”, though, the individual whose work on the film most startled and impressed me was Duane Jones, who played Ben. For those who shamefully haven’t seen the movie, Ben is the only major character to live through the night, only to be slain the next morning by the posse hunting down the ghouls.

Ben, honestly, was a shock as a hero to me. From the moment his truck’s headlights reveal him to Barbra in front of the house, Ben is the most dynamic character in the film. He’s the leader, the one with energy and the drive to start making plans. He’s wearing the kind of clothes that suggest he’s used to living in the city and eating at diners, but he’s quick to take on the tasks of beating down zombies with a lug wrench, then moving and burning the bodies.

He also butts heads with Cooper, slugs Barbra to knock her out of a hysterical fit and occasionally loses his cool with the others in the house. He’s the film’s hero, but he doesn’t always make the right choices. In fact, ironically, the film proves that the noisy, irritating Cooper was right: If the people in the house had locked themselves in the cellar, they might all have survived the night.

Duane Jones’s career, like his life, was too short. He died in 1988 at the age of 52.

DEDHAM POND PRESENTS BEN’S LAST NIGHT, SCULPTED BY JOE SIMON

Resin the Barbarian was born in early 2006, when I was blogging for a newspaper’s website. Somewhere toward the middle of that year, a few months before the birth of my youngest daughter, I decided to take a shot at producing a garage kit on my own. Basically, I was curious. All I’d done with resin model kits up to that point was paint a few; I’d never made a mold or a casting.

I fortunately ending up working with Chris Wooten, a young sculptor just getting his start. He shaped a 1/4-scale bust called “Ben”, based on “Night of the Living Dead”. As I’ve said before, and will continue to say as long as my brain works, Chris did a fantastic job on the piece. My efforts at molding and casting were amateur. I’ll never be able to thank Chris enough for his patience as my teacher during that project, which was not part of the deal but he did it anyway. I worked with Chris again about a year ago, when he sculpted my Aurora-style Phantom of the Opera replacement head for the Polar Lights Phantom kit. That replacement head is my biggest seller to date.

Ben and the zombie come with separate interlocking bases. The figures will be available as a set or sold individually.

Anyway, I’ve learned a lot about molding and casting since starting up Dedham Pond in 2010, thanks in large part to generous long-distance advice from friends in the hobby and in slightly larger part to almost a year doing the work professionally in a paleo lab. My (so far fruitless) efforts to produce a vinyl model kit led to me working with sculptor Joe Simon last year, and I’ve been thrilled with the work Joe did on Dedham Pond’s Mr. Hyde and Nosferatu.

I knew I wanted to produce another kit based on “Night of the Living Dead”. Thinking about it, I decided I wanted to take another shot at Ben, the character who so struck me when I first watched him on television when I was young, portrayed by an actor I suspect wasn’t appreciated enough. Joe was game, and he started to work.

Ben’s Last Night is 1/8 scale, resin. Sale details coming soon.

A LAST FUN LITTLE DETAIL

Chris Wooten's Ben bust, produced by Resin the Barbarian in 2006. Painted and photographed by Toby Franks.

I’ve seen and enjoyed a number of paint jobs on the 2006 Ben bust, a couple of which particularly stood out at me. One of them was done by Toby Franks, a longtime hobbyist who calls himself “FromBeyond138″ at the Clubhouse. I don’t know how Toby discovered “Night of the Living Dead”, but he’s another big fan of the film. When he did the bust, he added a base that included Ben’s famous lug wrench.

Part of the fun of being a garage-kit producer is to see what a painter who likes the kit does with it. I thought Toby got a bigger kick out of the first model than anyone else, and he’s also a terrific painter. So, soon after getting the first work-in-progress photos from Joe, I got in touch with Toby to ask him if he’d like to paint the first kit and photograph it for the box art.

Toby was all over it. Cool.

One of my frequent requests for Joe is sort of vague: Include some kind of interesting animal on the base. For Mr. Hyde, it was a centipede. For Nosferatu, naturally, rats. I think I hinted at bugs for Ben’s Last Night, but didn’t have any specific idea. Soon after I confirmed that Toby would be the painter, Joe suggested putting a cat on the base.

Anyone who is familiar with Toby Franks for a while — and I’ve known him through forums for about a decade and even met him in person once at WonderFest a few years ago — knows he’s nuts about cats. In fact, “nuts” is probably too frivolous a word for it. Toby is dedicated to them, and works hard to take care of them.

I took that as a sign, of sorts, and greenlit the cat. I don’t think there is a feline anywhere in the actual film, but I love it on the base.

A final word about Joe Simon. His work has always been fun, often eye-catching. But these last couple of years in particular, I’d argue, Joe’s output has been amazing. The work he has done with Black Heart, Three Kings, Six Strings, Dedham Pond and more has repeatedly delighted me. It’s a privilege to work with him.

Watch for the next Dedham Pond kit from Joe Simon later this year.

Charlie Coleman painted and photographed the first Eva bust for Dedham Pond Designs. The kit was sculpted by William Paquet, inspired by Dick Smith's makeup effects for the 1981 movie "Ghost Story".

William Paquet's photo of Eva, left, and Alma together shortly after he completed both busts in February 2010. Alma has been available from Dedham Pond Designs since 2010; Eva just joined the kit catalog.

Dedham Pond Designs was created in early 2010, shortly after sculptor William Paquet first contacted me with an offer to work together on a project that turned out to be a bust called “Alma”, inspired by the effects work Dick Smith did on the 1981 movie “Ghost Story”. Here’s how I told the story:

We started discussing possible projects. I said in an e-mail that I enjoy the over-the-top ghosts I’ve seen in some movies and attached a few photos, including a collage of Smith’s work on “Ghost Story”. William, a very busy guy, read my message and replied quickly, before looking at the photos.

“Ghosts … funny you mentioned them because one of the things I have always wanted to sculpt and one of the things than came to mind for you was a bust of Alma Mobley/Eva Galli from ‘Ghost Story’. The half-rotten stunning work by Dick Smith. Very creepy, and the kind of thing that’s fun to paint.”

Attached to the e-mail was the exact same collage of Smith’s work. Oh yeah, this project had to happen.

We agreed that William would sculpt a bust inspired by actress Alice Krige’s Alma Mobley, as she appeared in a heart-stopping scene early in “Ghost Story”.

William kept me regularly updated on his progress with the Alma bust. Somewhere along the line, he said he was going to go ahead and do another sculpture inspired by the same film, this one of the ghost of Eva Galli as she appears to Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in the moments before his character’s death. That scene has haunted me for years, ever since I first sat in a theater and watched it in 1981.

So, Alma would launch Dedham Pond while William would, eventually, produce Eva himself. However, lucky for me, William Paquet is a busy guy. Very, very busy. Check out some of what he’s doing for Quarantine Studio to get an idea of how busy he is.

A couple of months ago, William unexpectedly offered a deal to make Eva part of the Dedham Pond catalog. Much as she frightens me, I quickly took him up on the offer. After another masterful paint job by Charlie Coleman — whose skills have also introduced Dedham Pond’s Mr. Hyde and Nosferatu — she’s now ready to haunt hobbyists.

ORDERING INFO: Eva and Alma are both 1/4 scale, one-piece resin kits. They sell for $45 apiece plus shipping for a 1.5-pound package. The price for both is $80 plus shipping for a 2-pound package. If interested, please email todd.powell@resinbarbarian.com. Please include your ZIP code so I can figure shipping.

I recently finished building these two at work and thought I’d share them here. They’re resin castings of Ichthyornis, from a fossil dug up in western Kansas. My employer’s website says the molds were made from the most complete Ichthyornis skeleton ever found. It measures about 8 inches long. The website says these birds were probably similar to modern seagulls, except of course that gulls (like all other birds today) don’t have teeth.

To be honest, it would have been easier to build these things out of matchsticks. The molds were tiny, the castings difficult to trim and assemble. Plus, I’m a poor welder and so I had a hard time making the bases look decent.

Both are on their way to a new home at a museum in Korea.

Joe Simon's 1/8 scale Nosferatu, painted by Charlie Coleman and produced by Dedham Pond Designs. The resin model kit is now available.

For about two years, I fairly often caught myself shaking my head and wishing I had more guts. I came to realize that I had entertained a small dream — really, a small one — and just assumed it was out of my reach so I didn’t check it out. Several other guys weren’t so afraid, and now they’re living my dream.

My dream was to make a business of manufacturing model kits. Specifically, plastic model kits like the classic monsters, heroes, swashbucklers and the like Aurora used to make and which I loved so much when I was little. Polar Lights, the company whose reissues and repops of Aurora kits enticed me back into the model-building hobby in 2001, had been purchased by Round 2 and was quickly all but shut down. Round 2, it seemed, wasn’t interested in making figure kits because the market for them had gotten so small that they weren’t worth the effort.

I was dismayed. Yeah, OK, so there were only thousands of people building those models instead of millions. Thousands of people wouldn’t pony up enough money to make the effort worthwhile? Sure they would. I knew it, but instead of at least considering whether that was a market I could hope to serve myself, I just accepted that plastic figure kits were pretty much gone.

Then I found out about Monarch and, through emails, got to know its founder, Scott McKillop. Then Frank Winspur let hobbyists know what he was up to with Moebius and started making all kinds of figure kits. A few years later, the Megahobby boys introduced us to Atlantis. Thanks to all of them, plus a revived Polar Lights and more reissues from Revell-Monogram, plastic figure kits are all over the place. And how did it happen? Some people not so different from me, but also not so afraid, checked out a few things and decided to go for it.

The story of Graf Orlok, played by Max Schreck, was largely swiped from Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula". This kit was painted by Charlie Coleman, who also provided the photos.

Could I have been a “player” in this market? Eh, who knows. It’s expensive to make plastic model kits and there’s a steep learning curve. I just wish I’d at least done a little research.

Roughly a year and a half ago, when I was again shaking my head, I got to thinking about vinyl model kits. Plastic kits are what I built when I was a kid and they’re what drew me back to the hobby as an adult. But in 2001, it took me only a few weeks of involvement to move from mass-produced plastic kits to the less common garage kits. Of the garage-kit companies I started learning about, GEOmetric Design was one of my favorites, because GEO offered great-looking kits of characters I enjoyed at prices I could afford.

Many of those kits were made of vinyl, which is sort of a step between styrene plastic and resin. Vinyl kits are made from electroformed metal molds which last much longer than the silicone molds of resin kits. Molds for vinyl kits are much more expensive than silicone, but much less than the steel molds plastic kits require.

GEO was sold in 2003 and remains a great company, but it doesn’t do vinyl anymore. In fact, until fairly recently, very few companies doing business in the United States offered vinyl models. Lots of hobbyists, including myself, wanted to see them make a comeback but few people on the production side of things seemed interested.

I thought, “Oh!” I was sure a market still existed, although smaller than it used to be. And I enjoy vinyl kits. Why not try to produce some?

I started throwing out questions to everyone I could think of, particularly George Stephenson, founder of the original GEO who launched Black Heart in 2009. How much would it cost? What considerations should I take into account? How much would it cost? Where could I get it done? How much would it cost? Could I make my own vinyl casting facility? How much would it cost? Where would the molds be made? And most importantly, how much would it cost?

The figure and base for this kit are inspired by a scene in "Nosferatu" in which the character Hutter cuts his finger while dining with Orlok late on the night he arrives at the vampire's castle. Seeing his visitor's blood awakens Orlok's thirst.

I kept asking questions, kept trying to come up with the cash I’d need. In the meantime, I started up Dedham Pond Designs and stared working on my skills as a resin mold-maker and caster, figuring that it was smart to make resin kits available as well, and also much less expensive to get rolling. I started trading messages with sculptor Joe Simon, who lives in Thailand where I might be able to connect with a factory that could manufacture my kits for me.

See, I figured on having the first kit or two manufactured for me, and hope to make enough off that to build my own vinyl casting facility. Joe started getting in touch with people, asking questions for me and passing on the answers.

Weeks passed and I made plans. I decided that my first vinyl kit would be Graf Orlok from Nosferatu, figuring that it was a reliably popular character that might help take some of the edge off the risks I planned to take. However, since answers were so slow to come, I went ahead and commissioned Joe to sculpt Mr. Hyde, based on John Barrymore’s silent-era Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I was thrilled with the job he did on that one.

Anyway, blah blah blah. Through all kinds of twists and turns, Joe got connected with a Thai factory that said it would do the work, quoting a price that I figured was acceptable. Extremely chancy for me given that it would cost many times what it takes to produce a kit in resin, but I thought I could at least make back my investment and probably pad it a little.

So, Nosferatu was a go. The pose Joe and I went with was designed for vinyl, to keep the number of expensive molds to a minimum. The small base and probably the hands would be cast in resin, by me. The sculpture was complete around early November 2010 and Joe got back in touch with the factory.

And the factory gave me an unpleasant lesson by more than doubling its price to mold and cast the piece.

Dedham Pond's Mr. Hyde and Graf Orlok side by side. Both were sculpted by Joe Simon and painted by Charlie Coleman.

The factory’s price estimate for producing a 1/8 scale vinyl monster model was based on photos of Joe’s Barrymore Hyde. The factory representative told Joe that the Nosferatu was more complicated and would require more molds to manufacture.

Really? Well, look at the photo and judge for yourself. To be kindly blunt, I think the guy fibbed. I suspect they either decided my project was too small to be worth their time and so they set a price they knew would scare me away, or they just took a chance at finding out if I was stupid enough to spend that much. No matter what the truth, there’s no way I believed it could cost more than twice as much.

I also knew that my little project that had a chance of making a little money, was now a project that stood to lose thousands of dollars. No way.

So, now Nosferatu is available in resin and even though he’s not in vinyl, it’s a neat kit. I’m very pleased with it, and hope I can continue working with Joe for a long time. Look for the next Dedham Pond offering from Joe before too long.

As for vinyl models, I still have it in my sights but it’s much farther away than it seemed late last year. All it took was a few unexpected expenses to deplete the fund to pretty much nothing. However, my work on Dedham Pond led to a job last summer molding and casting dinosaur fossils, so my skills in that area have grown dramatically.

Nosferatu has six parts, sculpted, molded and cast by Joe Simon.

My little dream hasn’t taken exactly the road I thought I was steering toward, but it’s definitely going somewhere.

Insert flier for Dedham Pond's Mr. Hyde resin model kit.

MR. HYDE
1/8 scale, resin model kit
Sculpted by Joe Simon
Inspired by “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1920), starring John Barrymore
$75 plus shipping for a 2.5-pound package. Payment by check, money order or PayPal. If interested, e-mail todd.powell@resinbarbarian.com.

Mr. Hyde box art designed by Rainer Engel, with buildup photo by Charlie Coleman.

Sir George Carew taunts Henry Jekyll for his nobility. “Your really strong man fears nothing,” he says. “It is the weak one who is afraid of experience. A man cannot destroy the savage in him by denying its impulses. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. With your youth, you should live — as I have lived. I have memories. What will you have at my age?”

Carew, the father of Jekyll’s fiancée, Millicent, provokes in the younger man a desire “to yield to every evil impulse — yet leave the soul untouched!” His search for a way to do this leads to his creation of a potion that turns saintly Dr. Jekyll … into the despicable Edward Hyde.

Ironically, Hyde so disgusts Carew that he demands Jekyll explain his relationship with the monster. He threatens to object to Jekyll marrying Millicent. This agitates Jekyll into transforming into Mr. Hyde without the potion.

Smiling hugely, laughing through his teeth, Hyde crouches to attack. Carew flees to the courtyard of Jekyll’s house, but Hyde quickly catches up and exuberantly clubs him to death with his walking stick.

Hyde pauses to bask in the moment, gleeful, then delivers a final blow before slinking away.

An Aurora-style Phantom of the Opera replacement head for the Polar Lights Phantom kit.

Here’s a project I’ve wanted to do for a long time: A James Bama-style Phantom replacement head for the Polar Lights model kit. Basically, what we end up with is the Aurora Phantom at a different moment in his tale, shortly after being unmasked.

Sculpted by Chris Wooten. Now available from Dedham Pond Designs. The replacement head sells for $20 counting postage in the United States, or $15 plus postage to other countries. Please e-mail todd.powell@resinbarbarian.com if you’re interested.

Norman Meyers says a virus is responsible for this creature's misery.

Check out this creepazoid. He (?) is called the S.L.E. Creature, and once I get over being freaked out, I feel really bad for … it. Poor thing, you look at it and just know this is someone who’s had a really serious problem.

The S.L.E. Creature is a new release from Artist Proof Studio, sculpted by Norman Meyers, 32, of Santa Monica, Calif. Here’s how Norm describes the creature’s origin:

“A strange virus takes over its host mutating them into a twisted deformed being.

“During the mutation process, the virus allows the host’s face to appear and look at its new body, the virus being proud of its work.

“When the host/victim inevitably freaks out, the head is re-absorbed and the virus gets to work creating an even more horrifying mutation. It’s an endless cycle.”

What bothers and impresses me when I look at some of Norm’s work is that I can see the person underneath all that weirdness, maybe someone who didn’t deserve to end up how he is.

Paul Komoda's Elephant Man.

You can say similar things about some of the pieces by Paul Komoda, Norm’s partner in Artist Proof Studio, who created an Elephant Man bust slated for release soon.

Norm’s mother and sister are established fine artist figure painters who regularly have solo shows throughout Los Angeles and galleries on the East Coast. Check out their work online at www.neilahmeyers.com and www.pattimeyers.com.

His father enjoyed sculpting, mostly figurative, working in water clay, bronze and stone.

“Growing up in a family of artists, it was common to come home and find a nude model in the living room. Needless to say, I had many friends always wanting to come over after school!”

Norm works for Cinemaquette / Toynami, a toy and statue company in Van Nuys, Calif. “I do a large variety of jobs there, from quality control, customer service, shipping and receiving, project managing along with sculpting. It’s a small company so there’s always tons to do.”

SHAPING A MONSTER MAKER, NORM’S OWN WORDS

Norman Meyers works on a collaborative sculpt at Monsterpalooza. Do you think he can really use all those tools at once? Other sculptors who worked on the piece include Paul Komoda, Toi Oguynoku, Jarrod Shiflett, Simon Lee, Damon Bard and Jordu Schell.

I’ve always been fascinated/obsessed with horror movies, creatures and special effects. I started sculpting when I was 11 years old and was determined to get into the special effects world. I tracked down every back issue of Fangoria magazine and went to every convention I could find that was horror related.

When I was 15 I put together a portfolio of my sculptures and sent it to Stan Winston with a letter saying I wanted to work for him. Many months later to my surprise, I got a phone call from him, inviting me to work at his studio for free as an intern.

It was an amazing experience! I came into the studio after Jurassic Park, and worked on the resin dinosaur maquettes that would eventually become the Horizon vinyl kits (cleaning up seams, puttying with milliput, etc.).

I was also there for Michael Jackson’s “Ghosts” music video and “Interview with the Vampire”.

While there, two artists told me about the first Mad Model Party

Show and said I should check it out. I’d already discovered Terry Webb’s garage kit books, but this show was huge for me, exciting me even more about garage kits.

Around that time I started a small garage kit company with a friend called A Clockwork Resin. We sculpted a handful of kits from “The Dark Crystal”. I sculpted a Mystic and Pod Slave and my friend sculpted a Skeksis and Land Strider. The only two that were released were the ones I sculpted. The kits were sold at Kit Kraft and Creature Features.

I moved onto filmmaking in my late teens, focusing on writing and directing. I made a bunch of short films, designing the creatures and doing the special effects. After high school I went to NYU film school to study writing and directing. I made a few more short films and upon graduating moved back to Los Angeles.

When I got back to LA I ended up writing a bunch of commercials and music videos. My first big break was with director Brett Ratner, who hired me to write a music video for Michael Jackson’s song “Unbreakable”. Sadly this video was never filmed because of Michael calling the head of the record label a racist and white devil. I’ve done quite a few music video gigs since, working with Mariah Carey and the Black Eyed Peas among others.

Fat Zombie Mini-Bust, sculpted by Norman Meyers.

Back to the sculpting thing – I’ve also been creating maquettes for a variety of low-budget horror films for the last few years. Working as a freelance writer, I do a lot of script doctoring (rewriting) of scripts. Many of these are horror or exploitation creature projects that I’ve ended up doing maquettes for, when the producer finds out I also sculpt.

Back to garage kits, I’ve been collecting them since the early ’90s.

When I started working at Toynami / Cinemaquette I met Toi Oguynoku Jr., a super-talented sculptor who’s sculpted two classic garage kits: Little Big Man from “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” and Mondoshiwan from “The Fifth Element”. Toi came over and saw my shelves filled with sculptures and said I needed to start posting images immediately. That’s when I started posting on the Clubhouse and other forums.

MORE ABOUT ARTIST PROOF STUDIO

Artist Proof Studio is, as Norm describes it, “a collective of like-minded creature designers, sculptors and illustrators, hell-bent on releasing all the stuff we’ve always wanted to see.

APS formed a little more than two years ago. Norm and Paul were hanging out at Jordu Schell’s studio nearly every weekend, “working on our stuff, and tons of incredible artists were always coming by. Bill Basso, Norman Cabrera, Erick Sosa, Bruce Fuller, Michael Norman, Toi, etc.  Really just a staggering amount of insanely talented artists.”

“APS came together organically with the Death Corps Zombie bust, just wanting to release a few castings and the whole thing exploded.

“At the same time Erick started his Chelonian Warrior sculpt and it was a no-brainer that it needed to be released under the APS banner.”

Monsterpalooza 2009 was their first show as a company.

Norm and Paul Komoda are the core of Artist Proof Studio. They collaborate with other artists who release their work under the APS banner.

Norm handles many of the day-to-day duties, picking up castings, shipping, updating the blog and “generally coordinating releases and promotion.”

“A great deal of who handles what is constantly changing and shifting due to everyone’s hectic work schedule,” Norm said.

“Jordu has been incredibly supportive of what we’re doing, constantly contributing ideas and thoughts,” Norm said. “He’s also a huge garage kit fan. We just released an original bust by Jordu called Demon Dog and two creature busts by Aris Kolokontes.”

From left, Norman Meyers, Paul Komoda and Steve Wang. "Steve hopes to get into the f/x industry as a sculptor/designer," Norm writes in his Facebook photo album. "We told him his work showed promise, but he really needs to practice his painting... Steve Wang Rocks!!"

Q&A WITH NORMAN MEYERS, SCULPTOR AND GK PRODUCER

Resin the Barbarian: How did you come up with the name Artist Proof Studio?

Jordu Schell's Demon Dog, an upcoming release from Artist Proof Studio.

Norm: In the collectible statue world, an Artist Proof edition is a highly sought-after piece by collectors. You can find artist proof editions in nearly every aspect of the art world — from prints to sculptures. In the mass-produced collectible statue world, it’s supposed to be something that’s produced before a full production run, so that the artist can sign off on it and approve it for production.

What’s been happening with a lot of the statue companies out there currently, are that the A/P editions aren’t produced until the very end of the production run. Most of the time, these pieces are given to the sculptors and people involved in the project and rarely make it out to the general public.

The idea of calling our company APS was a way of saying that every piece we produce is approved by the artist involved and that all our pieces are Artist Proofs so to speak. Some of our limited editions are numbered, but you will never see something that says 1 of 25 A/P editions, etc.

It’s also sort of tongue in cheek, there are a lot of people that take themselves way too seriously. I think it also sounds cool.

All of the pieces we produce are sculptures that we want to see. Stuff that we sculpt to please ourselves first. It’s been rewarding knowing that there’s a group of collectors out there that share our taste.

RtB: You have some seriously talented people involved. How has business been?

Norm: Most of our releases are original designs. They are not characters that people recognize, like comic book or film characters. Because of this, we try our best to create a story behind each release in hopes of people connecting with them.

The OctoApe, sculpted by Aris Kolokontes, is a new release from Artist Proof Studio.

Most of our releases have been a slow but steady stream of purchases, word of mouth from other collectors really help get the kits out there. It’s also satisfying to see the pieces built and painted by the collectors.

One of the most challenging things about sculpting and producing garage kits, is the fact that you’re relying on other people to complete your work. When you buy a prepaint statue, what you see is what you get. You remove it from the package, place it on your shelf and enjoy. When you buy a garage kit, you hold a sculpture in your hands and it’s up to you to paint it. It’s a great collaboration…..

As far as duds, there have been some pieces that have done really well and exceeded our expectations and there have been certain pieces that we thought would do great because we were so excited about them, but took a little longer to get out there and gather steam.

It’s really all about getting the pieces out there and getting people to see them and take notice and have a true reaction good or bad.

RtB: How do things work? Is Artist Proof Studio a collaborative effort or do the partners work mostly independently?

Norm: As for the sculpts themselves, each sculptor works independently on their own schedule designing and sculpting their pieces. Everyone involved in APS makes their living designing and sculpting creatures for film, etc.

The collaborative part comes organically where we give each other comments on the pieces, sometimes just simple encouragement, other times hard critiques and advice when a person asks.

The collaboration is most apparent in the way the pieces are presented, boxart, instructions, etc.

The sculptor works with our graphic designer tweaking the images until everyone is happy. Also, we try whenever possible to include bonus pieces from the artists involved. For example, my Fat Zombie kit comes with a Fat Zombie art print designed and illustrated by Paul Komoda. Other pieces include bonus sculpts, etc.

There is no bigger thrill for me, than seeing a new Paul Komoda sculpt or drawing. Or seeing a new piece by Jordu or any number of artists that I admire.  That’s the coolest thing for me personally.

RtB: You’ve been doing a lot of one-of-a-kind sculptures and selling them through Artist Proof. Are those going over well?

Norm: That’s been a lot of fun to do – I finished up a bunch of them before this past Monsterpalooza. I was worried I wouldn’t have enough pieces at the table, and pulled out these little 1/3 scale Super Sculpey heads I’d been working on.

Jordu taught me a few years ago about mixing colored flocking into Super Sculpey — it really adds a lot of life to the sculpt. One of the most challenging things for me has been sculpting human faces. These heads came from my desire to get better at sculpting portraits.

I really enjoy feeling out a character with these one-off pieces. The one complaint I’ve received from other artists/producers is that I’m selling these pieces for far too cheap.

I think anytime you can bring the collectors into the process of creating a sculpture it’s a good thing. I think having a one-of-a-kind piece in your hands is something special and unique. The first 15 castings of the S.L.E. Syndrome bust include a one-of-a-kind Super Sculpey head. When I was thinking about what to include as a bonus, I thought what would I love to see, what would get me super excited?

The idea of having something that’s the only one in the world is pretty cool, so that’s where the idea came from.

RtB: What can you tell me about the N.E.R.D.cast? Are you still involved in doing those?

Works in progress by Norman Meyers. Most were slated to be sold as one-of-a-kind sculptures. Norm regularly posts photos such as this on Artist Proof Studio's blog, /artistproofstudio.blogspot.com.

Norm: Absolutely! In fact we just recorded one yesterday afternoon.

We started off discussing prepaint statues and collectibles, but that quickly transitioned into conspiracy theories, and bad horror tattoos.

N.E.R.D.cast started when Jordu, Paul, Michael Norman and myself were hanging out at Jordu’s studio talking about a wide array of different things — from monsters, to movies, the industry, you name it. We thought it would be a cool idea to record it and get it down just for fun. It’s really turned into a cool thing, a lot of people come up to me at different conventions saying they listen.

At first it was really challenging, because whenever we’d start talking off mic, one of us would scream, “No, stop, save it for N.E.R.D.cast!” So there were a few awkward silent moments in the studio – which is very rare. Ask anyone who’s hung out with us and they’ll tell you, it’s crazy, non-stop stories, impressions, etc.

I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

RtB: You’ve designed many memorable creatures. Should I take this as proof that you genuinely enjoy creating those, or do you simply have a talent at it? What’s the background there?

Norm: I love creatures. Nothing gets me going more than seeing a new monster – something new and original from someone’s imagination. Whether it’s in a film, someone’s sketchbook, a sculpture, whatever, it excites me beyond end.

I love being able to sit down and create something out of nothing.

One-of-a-kind sculptures Norm made for Monsterpalooza.

Coming from an artistic family, creating art, expressing oneself is something I just always did. It was always around me and I’m grateful for that. I was always encouraged by my family to create and do what makes me happy. Growing up, my bedroom was filled with creatures of all kinds, horror movie posters on the walls. Any free wall space was covered with my creature drawings. I would paint right on the walls. As long as it stayed inside my room, and not on the outside of the door, it was all good.

Sculpting has always been very satisfying to me. I love being able to hold a sculpt in my hands and look at it from all angles. There’s a moment when working on a sculpt where everything comes together and you can see the forms clearly and the character, and that’s a wonderful feeling.

I also enjoy telling stories, and creating new creatures gives me an opportunity to create the world that it lives in.

RtB: I’d like to focus for a minute on the S.L.E. Syndrome Creature Bust, which is probably my favorite of your works. What’s the background of this specific piece? How did it start taking shape, when did you come up with a background story, that kind of thing? Basically, I’m curious how you take such a creature from concept to final execution. Is it basically the same every time, or does it vary a lot?

Norm: Thanks Todd, I’m glad you like it. The S.L.E. bust was one of those pieces I wasn’t sure if people would connect with.

I have a sketchbook that’s filled with drawings, short stories, dreams, garage kit ideas, etc.

The S.L.E. bust came from a drawing I did years ago. The story was something I was playing with on and off for a while and when elements of the story started coming together, I jumped into sculpting the bust.

The piece went together rather quickly, I started it in Super Sculpey and skinned it in wax. Once I got far enough, the story behind it really came together, pushing me to finish it.

Norman Meyers built this maquette for the director of "Animal", an independent horror film.

I would say that my process does vary quite a bit. Certain sculpts I do just to warm up and have fun, can often end up having stories behind them. It’s just a blast to create the worlds these creatures live in.

Other times, the story comes first, followed by the sculpture.

RtB: A lot of what’s coming from Artist Proof are original creations. What do you think, are hobbyists open to subjects they don’t know from other media? How often do you come up with “stories” for these pieces?

Norm: Absolutely! I think collectors are definitely open to new subjects.

This hobby was founded on established characters from film, TV, etc. And that’s what brought most people into it. The first resin kit I ever bought was William Paquet’s “Bub” kit from “Day of the Dead”. It blew my mind! I couldn’t believe that someone could create such a wonderful sculpt from one of my favorite films, and I could hold it and stare at it, enjoy it. A large chunk of my early garage kit collection was based on film related characters, mostly horror. But as I continued to collect, over time, my tastes changed to the point where now, most if not all of the kits I pick up are original designs. If you look at my shelves, you’d see original works by Jordu Schell, Paul Komoda, Simon Lee, The Shiflett Bros. William Paquet and many others.

I think as the hobby continues to move forward and more artists create original designs and continue to push their creativity, we’ll see more and more companies producing original works.

It’s tough though, with originals it’s up to the artist to create the mood and emotion of a piece and hope it resonates with the collector. With a film character or creature, you’ve watched him for 90 minutes fight a creature or terrorize the people. So when you see a Predator, or Alien garage kit, the excitement and nostalgia is already there for the collector. I think there’s definitely room for both.

RtB: What can we look forward to from Artist Proof in the second half of 2010?

Paul Komoda's La Pestilencia

Norm: We’ve got quite a few kit releases very close to being announced.

More pieces from myself, Paul, Jordu and other artists we’re thrilled to be working with.

RtB: Would you like to add anything?

Norm: Todd, thanks so much for allowing me to participate in your site and share my thoughts with the community.

Most of my closest friends are in the garage kit scene and the amount of amazing people I’ve met and continue to  meet is at times staggering.

I’d like to give a quick thank you to those people behind the scenes who support Artist Proof Studio in too many ways to mention here.

First off, Nitai Kearney, our fearless and talented graphic designer, responsible for our boxart, instructions and more. Nitai always delivers on time regardless of how crazy the deadline is we put in front of him. He’s a super talent we’re thrilled to have on board.

Jason Tarpley, a talented painter and writer for Amazing Figure Modeler who has painted nearly all our kits. He continues to surprise and amaze us with his skills and never ending support of what we do.

Lastly Jordu Schell, for being an endless well of inspiration and constantly pushing creature design to new and exciting places.

Artist Proof Studio’s blog is at artistproofstudio.blogspot.com. Contact Norm by e-mail at zombiejesus11@gmail.com.

Check out these happy faces shaped by Robert Blair: Jack the Ripper, Crookneck, Alice and the Demon of the Harvest.

Robert Blair's version of the little wooden liar.

Look at the faces on some of these characters. Demon of the Harvest. Crookneck. Jack the Ripper. Even little Alice, concealing silverware as she awaits Humpty Dumpty’s fall. The characters look so happy, and they’re all obviously so nasty.

Welcome to the worlds of Robert Blair, a sculptor who knows our childhood fantasies are only a breath away from our childhood nightmares.

The Cheshire Cat.

A craftsman shapes wood into a boy, and that creation magically comes to life. Would this child be the sweet but musically mischievous rascal Walt Disney envisioned, or would he be Robert Blair’s creaky, splintery, grasping monster? I liked the cartoon version when I was younger, but now I get a bigger kick out of the chiller Robert calls Gepetto’s Nightmare.

Robert’s work is so familiar, yet so different. His Garden Gnome has the beard, tall hat and outfit you expect, but this little guy is dangerous. His Nosferatu shares the bald pate, long nails and robe of all Max Schrek figures, but it creaks with extra age, malice, and long, weird arms. You wish his Cheshire Cat would turn invisible so you wouldn’t have to look at that nasty, wrinkled thing.

Robert Blair, 53, lives in Aylmer, Quebec, a small town just outside Ottawa. He worked as a hairstylist for 32 years, but retired from that. In addition to sculpting, he molds and casts, and produces his works, available to fans through his website, blairsculpture.ca. He has also painted most of his own pieces.

To date, Robert has primarily sculpted horror and comic kits. “I can proudly say most of my works are original concepts or my own takes on comic book characters,” he says.

His wife created and maintains his website.

Q&A WITH ROBERT BLAIR

Resin the Barbarian: Are you as fascinated with the macabre and the humorous as your work suggests? If so, could you say how this came about?

Robert: Well, I suppose you could say I have a certain fondness for the dark side. I’ve always found it a lot more interesting. I particularly enjoy sculpting pieces like Gepetto’s Nightmare or the Alice figures because I suppose I get a certain sick pleasure in taking children’s fairy tale characters and twisting them into murderous psychopaths.

Robert Blair and his wife plan to travel from their home near Ottawa to Louisville, Ky., for this year's WonderFest.

RtB: Many of your creations strike me as thoroughly evil yet very happy characters. Demon of the Harvest and Crookneck are good examples, as are the Demons of Dance I wrote about in 2006. I get the idea that these are folks who enjoy a good joke. Is this something you do intentionally?

Robert: Yes. I feel there is nothing creepier than a creature with a sinister smile. You just know there is evil lurking behind that smile.

RtB: The sculptures that capture my eye are usually very stylized. Even if the character is familiar, the execution isn’t what I conventionally expect, which is part of why I admire it so. Would you say that this is helpful or a hindrance to your efforts to expand your career as a sculptor?

Robert: Well in one way it is a hindrance as far as making a living at it. I am very well aware that “original” concepts do not sell as well as movie figures or comic characters. On the flipside it is very helpful to me because I can create my own characters or sculpt well-known comic and movie characters with my own twist to them. I find it far more gratifying to sculpt what interests me. I work much better that way, and I am a lot happier for it. In the past, when I tried to sculpt figures that other people wanted, but that I was not really interested in doing, it wasn’t fun anymore. It was more like a job, and if I’m going to sculpt, I have to have creative freedom in order to enjoy it, or what’s the point?

RtB: I know little of sculpting and even less about styling hair, so please forgive me if this is particularly ignorant. To me, the image of a salon (correct term?) is bright and chatty, while sculpting is solitary and, your work often suggests, fairly dark. Is this a fair characterization? Are any similar skills required to succeed at both?

Robert: Well, I suppose you could say that they are both artistic, so they both employ the same side of the brain. Both involve working with your hands and your eyes. But yes, a salon is a much more sociable work environment. However, while my sculpting may be dark, I feel there’s also a lot of humour in my sculptures, and I don’t take things too seriously.

Robert Blair's Mr. Hyde.

RtB: Am I correct in seeing a hint of Fredric March in your Mr. Hyde sculpture? Or is that just something I brought to it myself?

Jack the Ripper, painted by Jim Capone.

Robert: To be honest with you I have never seen the Fredric March Hyde movie. My Hyde is something I came up with on my own.

RtB: Did anyone serve as the “model” for your Jack the Ripper?

Robert: No, I just referenced some old late 1800s photos for him.

RtB: When you decide to do an original creation, what creative impulse would you say is the one that drives you most? What do you hope you’ll end up with, and what impression do you hope it gives others?

Robert: That depends on the piece. With Gepetto’s Nightmare what I wanted was something exactly the opposite of the popular Disney version. I believe the original story was actually a lot darker. But instead of Pinocchio the good little wooden boy created by Gepetto, I wanted this Pinocchio-gone-wrong. Here Gepetto is whittling away creating a wooden boy out of a small log, but the Pinocchio is totally twisted and very sinister, not only in his appearance but his body language as well. I like to give my pieces a dark sinister appeal with a twist of humour thrown in.

With knife and fork concealed behind her back, Robert Blair's version of Alice seems to have more sinister motives than Lewis Carroll depicted in "Through the Looking Glass".

RtB: You seem to enjoy creating your own versions of very familiar characters. In addition to Hyde and the Ripper, you’ve done the Blairstein, Pinocchio and a fun depiction of Humpty Dumpty and Alice in Wonderland. Could you say what Robert Blair’s version of Dracula would look like? Or perhaps Robert Blair’s Fairy Godmother?

A Symphony of Horror, Robert Blair's Nosferatu.

Robert: I have never given either of those characters any thought, to tell you the truth. I really couldn’t tell you right now.

RtB: Do you have any other major occupations or interests?

Robert: Well I like hockey, NFL football and I fish as much as I can. I love old movies, especially the old Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce), Mr Moto, Mr Wong and The Thin Man series.

RtB: Who would you say is your biggest fan, and why?

Robert: Well, I’d like to say my mother…but she’s dead. My dog, maybe?

RtB: WonderFest approaches. Do you attend that or other shows?

Robert: As a matter of fact my wife and I are going to WonderFest this year for the first time. We are really looking forward to meeting fellow sculptors and people in the industry, as well as the three or four fans I’ve acquired over the decade. Thanks guys — you ROCK!

RtB: Anything you want to add?

Robert: Nope. Just thanks for the interview and your interest in my work.

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.