Mike Hill sculpted this garage kit of Spider-Man battling the Lizard. It was the first full resin kit Mark Mitchell built and painted.

Words from another Clubhouse co-founder: The one person I credit for the existence of the Clubhouse is Mark. He was the person that put in the hard work and dedication to create this community that survived these long nine years. He set the standards that allowed the Clubhouse to stand the test of time. He fought the battles and the Clubhouse stands as a testament to his determination. Everyone in the community owes a debt of thanks to this man. There would be a lot less styrene and resin in the world if not for Mark Mitchell. He is a generous soul. He has been and always shall be my friend.

— Harry “Spock”

“Friend” has taken on a new, sometimes peculiar meaning in the 21st century. How many of those people sharing game scores through their Facebook pages do you really know? Some of them, yes, and maybe all of them strike you as folks who’d be interesting if you could just take a little time to acquaint yourselves … which is probably never gonna happen.

Lots of people who call Mark Mitchell “friend” have never seen his face in person, never heard his voice, might not know him if they passed each other on the street. But they’re friends just the same, and they share more of their lives with each other than many of us do with our next-door neighbors.

I consider Mark my friend, part of a special group of people with whom I’ve interacted only through various hobby forums and e-mails. He used to type more words of encouragement in a week than I could read. He also pissed me off from time to time, and I know I did the same to him.

I’ve known him about seven years.

Third Clubhouse co-founder: Hi, fellow modelers,

I just want to say a few words about my old buddy Mark Mitchell. He was there in the beginning when I first started my Yahoo group Marvel Model Club back in the late ‘90s. We were a couple of superhero comic geeks! But Mark was a DC guy, so he decided to start a DC modeling group. Then the next thing you know Spock invited us to move over to his Clubhouse and as the saying goes, the rest is history (read about it here).

In those early days of the Clubhouse, Mark was an administrator and a driving force that helped turn it into a premiere modeling club. Our hobby wouldn’t be what it is today without Mark’s kindness and generosity. Mark worked his ass off for the Clubhouse. It took a tremendous amount of his time and energy, we all owe him a great debt of gratitude for it.

Mark, old friend, you truly deserve a medal for what you did and do for the hobby. I hope you enjoy the little bit of spot light you are receiving today. God bless you man!!

— Norm “Kitman” Piatt

Mark Mitchell's buildup of a Monogram repop of the Aurora Superman. Mark writes on his website: "I had the original Aurora as a child of the ’60s but like all the rest of my Aurora kits, it met its fate with a firecracker or two... What was I thinking back then??? Sheesh..."

Mark Mitchell is 51 years old and lives in Lacey, Wash. His family includes his wife, Kab Son, 53; sons Greg, 29, and David, 26; daughter Michelle, 24; grandsons Tyler, 3, and Hayden, 5; and granddaughter Emily, 10 months. He works as a UNIX Systems and database administrator.

“I support a series of IBM servers running UNIX and Windows at work,” he said via e-mail. “At home I have an HP Pavilion PC with a 21-inch monitor.”

He’s an Army veteran (1975-1995) whose tours of duty included Fort Carson, Colo., right outside Colorado Springs, which is where I spent most of my early years. Young Mark was there around the same time I was a sophomore in high school.

He spent three tours in Korea and one in Germany. He was also stationed at Fort Sill, Okla.; Fort Knox, Ky.; Fort Gordon, Ga.; and Fort Ord, Calif.

Fellow hobbyist: The only thing I really want to say about Mark is what a very good friend he has been to me (very much like yourself, Todd). I mean here are two guys who I have never met, but who have stood by me, who have complimented my work, who have always done good by the GK community. I felt a strong link with Mark probably because his “No messing” attitude was the same as mine … funny because it was also the reason we both finished with the CH. I think that link was due to Mark’s Army training and my similar fire training … by that I mean the discipline that was installed, the “cutting out the crap and getting on with it” because that was why we do those kind of jobs.

I hope Mark is on the mend, I miss those days when we were all very close in a very small community and I know those will also be the days that Mark will reflect on.

— Keith Cousins

Mark builds model kits. Check out his work on his website, godsnmonsters.org. His write-ups are interesting and informative.

He helped found the Clubhouse with Spock and Norm, and served as administrator for years.

The Gore Group's Dark Hunter, sculpted by Martin Canale and painted by Mark Mitchell.

“Harry, a.k.a. ‘Spock’, came up with the idea and laid the groundwork, he got things running and then asked Norm Piatt, a.k.a. ‘Kitman’, and myself to merge our forums, the Marvel Modeling Club and The Hero’s Emporium, with his, to sort of bring everything under one roof. Afterward, Norm and I combined our two forums into one and kept the name The Hero’s Emporium.”

Batmobile expert: Mark Mitchell is my mentor in figure kit modeling. He was the founder of the Batman Modeling Club. His patience and talent are extraordinary. He helped me with supplies, techniques, and support. Along with Mr. Spock and the other moderators, Mark played a huge part in making the Hero’s Emporium, and later the Clubhouse proper, the place(s) that they are today. Probably the biggest source of modeling info available on the Net.

Truly modest, his personal “Model Shelf” site shows just how talented a modeler he really is. Cleanly laid out with great photos, it carefully explains and shows just what this hobby is all about. Modeling has a true champion in “The Commissioner”, for sure.

On a personal note, Mark is a loyal friend, with common sense and a terrific sense of humor. He’s a patriotic American with a great family. John Wayne would like the guy. I know I do. I thank him for being one of the very first people I ever had the pleasure of “meeting” on the web.

— Chopper McGee

A LITTLE OF MARK’S HOBBY BACKGROUND

Resin the Barbarian: What’s your history with the hobby? Did you build kits as a kid and rediscover them as an adult? What got you into it in the first place, and what brought you back?

Mark: Built lots of kits as a kid, mostly the Aurora monsters and superheroes, but I also built some car kits, primarily the show rods like Tom Daniels kits and such….

Like a lot of folks I lost interest in my early teens when I started to focus on other things.

Got back into the hobby in 1999 when while checking out Toys “R” Us with my wife. We were looking for a gift for a friend’s kid, I spotted the Polar Lights Aurora monster reissues, picked up a couple, took ’em home and found the PLBB listed on the back of one of the boxes…. Started building again from there.

Polar Lights played a major role in pulling me back into the hobby. Then I discovered resin and vinyl…. GEOmetric Design, Horizon, Screamin’ and all the individual garage kit producers and companies really got me on a roll….

RtB: Roughly how many kits have you built in the last decade or so? And what happened with them after you built them?

Mark: Built probably 75 to 80 kits in the last decade….

Some of those I built went to friends and family members as gifts… Some that looked especially bad were relegated back to the closet where they are currently awaiting a stripping, rebuild and repaint! LOL….

The Change, sculpted by Dave Lewis and produced by Keithy Boy. Mark used Delta Ceramcoat acrylic paints and pastels for this kit.

Resin expert: Mark is considered the Commish by many of us Clubhouse alumnus for a reason. He speaks his mind and has a low tolerance for childish, disrespectful antics. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and consider him a good friend. I was lucky enough to watch his love of the hobby mature from styrene to resin and rapidly increase his skills in both building and painting. Despite his gruff exterior, his encouragement and respect for his fellow modelers was always his priority. He always made time to post on everyone’s work . I consider his time moderating at the Clubhouse the good old days. Mark has always lent a helping hand to any of us who needed it and never asked for a thing in return. He has and was always an asset to this hobby and I am proud to call him a friend.

— John Diaz

HEART ATTACK AND AFTERMATH

RtB: You had a heart attack in August, followed by serious complications at the hospital. How do you feel today?

Mark: Today…. I’m feeling much better and am just about fully recovered. I managed to quit smoking, I haven’t had a cigarette since the day of the heart attack and I’ve lost a chunk of weight, about 65 pounds or so. I plan to lose a bit more as well…. Eating healthy now makes a huuuuuge difference, no more triple cheeseburgers and eating a large pizza by myself. LOL….

RtB: You’ve periodically done some kit sell-offs, explaining basically that you needed to pay some bills. You did one shortly before your heart attack, and I’ve wondered if you had an idea that you needed to get to the hospital. Did you?

Mark: Nope, no premonition about needing to go to the hospital whatsoever… Hell, I was indestructible!!! I actually did start feeling a little chest pain here and there, on and off for about two to three weeks prior to the heart attack. My wife and daughter finally convinced me to go to the ER the day after I had started a two-week vacation. My daughter drove me to the hospital with me protesting every inch of the way. If she had not forced me to go in, I probably would have been dead within 24-48 hours.

Once in the ER, the doctors told me I was having a heart attack and they were going to admit me… They took me upstairs to a room, my daughter went home to tell my wife what was going on and I woke up nine days later not knowing that I had had a triple bypass and had been knocked out on a ventilator all that time. Spent a total of two months in the hospital for the heart issues and complications.

I have sold of large chunks of my collection over the last few years in order to help pay tuition/books/etc. for college for a couple of the kids and to assist in paying unexpected bills.

RtB: What is the best thing to come of your health problems?

Locutus of Borg, produced by GEOmetric Design, sculpted by Thomas Kuntz, built and painted by Mark Mitchell.

Mark: Quitting smoking, losing some weight and having a lot of time in the hospital to think about my life in general…. I’ve made some serious lifestyle changes and have spent more time with my wife, children and grandchildren. I appreciate them all more than you can imagine and have finally decided to pay attention to the things in life that matter the most…

RtB: Anything on your workbench now?

Mark: Two kits as a matter of fact…. Wolfy’s Kits’ “Damaged Spider-Man” bust (for myself) and the Polar Lights repopped Aurora Spider-Man (for my 3-year-old grandson Tyler, who is a big Spider-Man fan)

RtB: How many models remain in your collection? And, what is your most prized kit?

Mark: Probably around 120 or so, it was up around 400 at one point. I like all that I have left and there are really none left that would command any large amounts of money were I to sell again. The few that were given to me by close friends have the most value to me and I will never part with any of them.

RtB: What kit are you most happily awaiting, or more tenaciously looking for?

Mark: No one kit in particular, but I always look forward to any new Batman or Universal Monsters kits. I have however been drawn back into styrene kits with all that Moebius has been releasing and what they have coming down the pike. Moebius has given the styrene side of the hobby a shot in the arm that it sorely needed IMO.

Model maker: I have counted mark as a good friend for many years now, going way back, to the Hobby Talk/ Polar Lights board, and the beginnings of the Clubhouse.

I always admired Mark’s, fairness and sense of purpose, when dealing with some of the more unsavory characters/incidents, that an entity like the Clubhouse can throw at you it takes a strength of character that Mark possesses in heaps, to keep things rolling, through thick and thin.

Another of Mark’s character traits, known by all his close friends, is his generosity. I have yet, to meet anyone in the hobby who is prepared to go further out of his way to help his fellow modelers. Many times, Mark has, helped me to obtain kits from the States, when less enlightened people have refused to ship outside the U.S. He has gone way past the extra yard, in both his own time, and at his own cost financially, to help out.

Mark, you are a true Gentleman and Scholar, but most importantly a good mate.

— Mark A. (Wolfy)

HOPES TO SHAKE HANDS WITH SOME FRIENDS

RtB: I suspect you’re going to cut down even more on your involvement with the stressful sides of the modeling community. True? How do you envision your future involvement in the hobby?

Mark: That is a true statement! My future? Hopefully it will be spent building more kits. My output has been pretty dismal as of late LOL….

"I'm not interested in using an airbrush at all. I find the act of using a regular ol' hand brush very satisfying and relaxing," Mark Mitchell says in his write-up about this N&T Productions Scarecrow bust.

I also plan to start making it to some shows, I really want to shake the hands of the friends I have made online over the last 10 years and to say “thank you” in person for all they have done not only for me but for the hobby as a whole.

RtB: If you knew someone who was going to become a forum moderator or administrator, what approach would you advise he or she take?

Mark: DO NOT handle things the way I did. I made more mistakes and fumbled the ball on more occasions than I care to remember.

Don’t approach every situation as if you are the “ultimate” authority … take the time to listen to others input and remember that you are there to facilitate discussions and to help keep the peace.

You are not necessarily the “Expert” in all situations nor should you attempt to be!

Develop a thick skin, don’t take things personally. Remember that most folks are genuinely decent and well-meaning by nature and deserve to be treated respectfully.

RtB: You’ve shared many interesting stories about your family over the years. I still remember laughing, almost in pain, about a particularly memorable series of mishaps with your son in about 2002. How are your wife and kids doing today?

Mark: Kids are all grown and on their own now. Every one of them is doing well, as is my wife.

RtB: You’ve made dozens, maybe even hundreds, of friends in the modeling community over the years. How many of them have you actually met in person?

Mark: In person I’ve only actually met two of them, “Qtan” and “Fluke”, which are the names they use on the Clubhouse and Hobby Talk forums…

We met at a mall one day as I was selling a few kits and since they both lived so close we thought it would be nice to just meet up somewhere halfway have a coffee and do the deal. Both were great guys and a real pleasure to meet.

Pretty sad that I haven’t personally met more folks in person, but my work and home life over the last several years definitely played a big part in not being able to do so

RtB: Anything you’d like to add?

Mark: Just to thank you for the honor of being a part of your column. Hopefully I haven’t bored anyone to tears or put anyone to sleep … LOL.

Hope you keep this thing going Todd, I always enjoy reading it….

The WWI iron cross Fritz Frising is wearing in this 2005 photo belonged to the husband of his "adopt-a-grandma". He was a Danish soldier in the German Army in 1916. "We took this old lady on as family — she had no relatives in the U.S.A."

The impression I get is that Fritz Frising, “The Headless Hearseman”, could happily start his day watching his 4-year-old son, Andi, put Band-Aids on his monster models’ ouchies, move on to a comfortable tea-time chat with a WWII veteran’s 88-year-old widow, then finish up late discussing deathrock icons in the heart of a group most men in their early 40s would go out of their way to avoid.

A blend of past and present, courtesy and peril, elegance and roughness, plus a healthy dose of talent, that’s how Fritz strikes me … much like Monstrology Models, which Fritz has resurrected.

Monstrology originally rose in the 1990s under founder Jon Wang. “I was a huge horror movie fan and Aurora monster model builder since I was a little kid,” Jon said in an e-mail interview. “At the Fangoria and Chiller shows of the late ’80s and early ’90s I saw incredible sculptures by guys like John Dennett, Thomas Kuntz, Yagher and Bowen and of course the Billiken stuff — and was inspired to start sculpting.

“I hadn’t really planned on starting a company, but things just spiraled and eventually Monstrology was born — the idea being the ‘study’ of these horror characters through sculpture.”

The company produced more than its share of early garage-kit classics, particularly a handful of figures sculpted by William Paquet, “who did what I consider to be some of his best work for Monstrology,” Fritz said via e-mail.

Monstrology Models' Edison Frankenstein Monster, painted by Charlie Coleman. The figure was sculpted by William Paquet.

Those figures include a John Barrymore Mr. Hyde, based on the 1920 movie “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”; Vincent Price as Nicholas Medina in 1961’s “The Pit and the Pendulum”; and Charles Ogle as the Monster from Edison Studios’s 1910 production of “Frankenstein”. Jon also sculpted his share of great figures, including the ape man from a lost 1927 film called “The Wizard” and Glenn Strange as Petro from 1942’s “The Mad Monster”.

Miss Shock, sculpted by Jon Wang and painted by Rainer Engel.

“It was satisfying to bring a project from something in one’s imagination to something 3D and all that went along with that as far as marketing and advertising — box art, instructions, etc.,” Jon said. “And it was fun to work with all the people involved in creating those projects — people like mold maker MP Stehlik, of course master sculptor William Paquet and graphic artist Rich Hilliard — who were most involved at least early on. Of course Fritz as well, who was initially a great supporter of Monstrology and then by way of our friendship and similar artistic visions became a collaborator — he’s also a huge Lugosi fan and that’s a passion we both share.”

Many of the characters were monsters — rough, slouching beasts of demented or evil intent — yet they were so artistically created that they helped set the high standard against which all so-called “garage” kits would be measured from then on.

Monstrology shut down about a decade ago, and Jon, a medical doctor, kept very busy. The kits grew ever more collectible, commanding big prices on the rare occasions they were available.

“I had fallen out of touch with the hobby and sadly most of my friends involved with it,” Jon said. “By way of the Internet and AFM my interests were rekindled and I suppose you could say I was bitten by the garage kit bug again. I ended up getting back in touch with Fritz and we basically picked up where we left off — since he was still involved in the hobby we decided to bring some of the Monstrology line back to life and Fritz has just released Paquet’s legendary Edison Frankenstein kit. This never would have happened without Fritz’s hard work and dedication to the hobby.”

So now, Fritz said, “I am at the helm of Monstrology. Call me nostalgic. Call me proud. I want to give something back to Monstrology, to Jon Wang, for the good memories, the great sculptures; the enjoyment of sitting with a wonderful casting of Glenn Strange, John Barrymore, Charles Ogle, or Wilfred Walter. Of making a monster and saying ‘life is good!’ ”

EDISON’S FRANKENSTEIN THE FIRST TO RISE AGAIN

Dr. Frankenstein’s creation was brought to life on film in the early 20th century, in a silent movie written and directed by J. Searle Dawley and starring Charles Ogle as the Monster. Never seen it? It’s not quite 13 minutes long and you can watch it free online, check it out if you have a few minutes.

Thomas Edison’s “Frankenstein” can seem ridiculous to the modern eye, jaded by bloody excesses of modern horror, but viewers with some imagination will find much about it to appreciate. The scenes in which the Monster is brought to life in a smoking vat while the mad doctor watches is a wonderful early special effects sequence. It’s so easy to figure out how it was accomplished: Dawley — who reportedly directed 149 films between 1907 and 1926 — set a mannequin on fire and filmed it while its “flesh” burned off, revealing a skeleton underneath. Then he reversed the film for the movie. A skeletal arm was yanked up and down with a wire, adding to the effect.

Again, yes, if you watch that scene with the intent of scoffing at it, it’s funny. But consider that it was done a century ago, before anyone had attempted anything like it, and you’ll appreciate it more.

Bill Harrison of Monsterscene magazine painted this Monstrology Frankenstein Monster.

William Paquet’s Edison Frankenstein model kit, one of the more collectible Monstrology figures, was the first Fritz Frising reintroduced to the market.

“It’s always nice to see interest in older projects,” Paquet wrote in an e-mail. “I’m often surprised at the degree of interest in my older work, because for me once the work is done it’s in the past. It’s cool, though, to see the legacy of what I have done and see people still appreciate some of it.”

Charles Ogle's Frankenstein Monster was the first celluloid version of the creature. Monstrology kit painted by Bill Harrison.

William’s Monster, like so many of his works, is striking. The figure’s hair is wild, eyebrows painted on, his expression so over-the-top, and the clothing … let’s be honest, the creature’s costume is ridiculous! Or, it should be, anyway. I mean, he’s wearing what looks like a ragged shirt that hangs about as long as a miniskirt, with a rope wrapped around his shoulder and waist. Bandages wound up his legs look like nylons. The bandage on his head. It shouldn’t work.

But it does. It really, really does. Why? Is it the character’s posture? The way he’s holding his hands? The pathos showing through that crazy expression? Probably all that and more.

I asked William how he thinks his Monstrology sculptures compare with his more recent works.

“It’s impossible to be objective about this,” he said. “I can say truthfully that were I to sculpt these figures today, that the work would be a lot better, but that’s because more than a decade has passed since I sculpted them, and they were done very early in my career. However, even though I can look at them now and see where there are things I would do differently, they hold up better than I would expect them to after all this time.”

I first interviewed William for Resin the Barbarian in summer 2006, shortly after his Nosferatu bust became available from Tower of London. Another silent-era classic. Is he still interested in similar subject matter?

“Yes. The problem with any of this stuff is time. I would love to tackle much more from the era than I have, but I also have other subjects I like and other things to do. As well, Thomas Kuntz has done such a stellar job on the pieces he has rendered that it would be hard to top his efforts. I would like to tackle ‘The Man Who Laughs’ someday, but the bar is so high with Tom’s that it’s almost pointless.”

John Barrymore as Mr. Hyde, a highly prized, newly reissued Monstrology kit sculpted by William Paquet. This is Rainer Engel's buildup.

MORE MONSTROLOGY FIGURES ON THE WAY, PLUS A NEW BASE

Black Cat Resin's door base was sculpted by John Comito. It measures about 20 inches tall, 14 inches wide, 8 inches deep.

Now that the Edison Frankenstein is reaching hobbyists, Fritz is rolling out the ape man from “The Wizard” and taking preorders for the Barrymore Hyde, with a new door base by Fritz’s “Brooklyn buddy” John Comito.

What comes next? Will Fritz be able to reissue the entire Monstrology series?

“Three of the old kits were sold to Vin Bordagna,” he said. “Zacherley, Prince Randian and Paquet’s zombie rising from the grave. These remain property of Vin’s company, Resin Crypt. I am speaking to Vin about getting Zacherley back into the fold. To me it is important that all Jon Wang’s classic horror sculptures are part of Monstrology.

“There were a few ideas that never saw fruition, and only time will tell if a 1:6 scale bust by Wang, or a full figure of one of our beloved iconic characters, will be added to the line.

“As far as a timeline, there is none. Those kits that have molds can be made available fairly easily. I am using the sales of these kits to fund the molds on the reissues.”

Fritz isn’t working on this alone; he has help from an old friend.

“I am involved with the hobby in a minor support role for Fritz in helping to bring back some of the Monstrology line,” said Jon, Monstrology’s founder. ‘I have started sculpting again, which has been satisfying, but have no firm plans to
release anything at the moment — time will tell.”

Fritz Frising "bronzed" this casting of The Wizard himself. The Monstrology kit, sculpted by Jon Wang, is available again.

LET’S RECAP A FEW POINTS

Writing about the Monstrology kits is easy. All I had to do to focus myself was scribble a few bullet points. Why do I like the kits?

The Ape Man, sculpted by Jon Wang and painted by Rainer Engel.

— They’re extremely well sculpted, with terrific likenesses of people I know little about, and wonderfully posed.

— While I’m not always familiar with the specific subjects, I’m very familiar with many of the characters. It’s not Boris Karloff or Fredric March, but the images of Charles Ogle’s Monster and John Barrymore’s Jekyll/Hyde have been reflected in countless movies since.

— Until recently, the Monstrology kits have been scarce. And given that few garage kits ever reach really large runs, they’ll someday be scarce again.

— My favorite Monstrology kits speak of a simpler, purer form of creativity. There’s no CGI in these films, most aren’t even in color. The silent-movie characters in particular reflect an art form that existed for only a few years, and then was gone. Kind of like many garage kits.

Yep, it’s easy for a hobbyist like me to write about Monstrology. But Fritz Frising … he’s a challenge. Why? Because he’s much too interesting, and so it’s impossible to encapsulate all the interesting points in a hurry.

Fritz and his son, Andi, in October 2006. "I had no idea just how much joy he would bring into my life," Fritz says. "He has a great wit, charm, and he’s polite!"

FRITZ FRISING, A.K.A. ‘THE HEADLESS HEARSEMAN’

Fritz is a 42-year-old resident of Suffolk County, Long Island. He’s divorced and has a 4-year-old son. In addition to “The Headless Hearseman”, he’s also known as “Boiling Mad” (one of the “Mad Geppettos”), “Fritz die Spinne” (mostly in music collecting circles) and some may still recall his earliest incarnation, “Vampir Unlimited”.

His day job is with S.E.T., distributing silicone, epoxies, resin and related items to electronics, artists, prototyping and modeling industries.

“Because of the hobby I secured a part-time job with my resin distributor a few years back,” he said. “It turned full time and has been a great learning experience. I’ve learned a lot from my customers, and have been able to turn a lot of that back into the hobby. I enjoy what I do there, and often get to see artwork, molds, castings, and an array of materials in use when I deliver to various studios.”

In real life, it's unlikely you'd find an armadillo wandering a Transylvanian vampire's castle.

The Monstrology revival is his latest effort at producing garage kits, but it isn’t his first. He has, in fact, made quite a few things over the years and more is in the works. Check out his website for information about those. I get a particular kick out of a 1/6 scale armadillo he offers as a Dracula kit add-on, a nod to the armadillos seen lurking in the Lugosi Dracula’s castle in Tod Browning’s 1931 film.

Fritz's Janus Dracula was pictured on the cover of the Fall 1999 issue of Kitbuilders.

Fritz is a big fan of Bela Lugosi, as evidenced by his article about Lugosi figures in the Fall 1999, No. 32, issue of Kitbuilders Magazine. Fritz’s buildup of Janus’s deluxe Dracula kit also graces that magazine’s cover, and he wrote an additional article about the history of Janus for that issue.

The Headless Hearseman has a great reputation for his name plates to fit a range of subjects. Anyone interested in a plate to fit a classic horror kit, or just about any other fantasy kit, should check Fritz’s site to see if he has one already. If he doesn’t, he might be willing to make one.

There’s so much more about him to know, so I’m going to try to let Fritz tell some of it himself:

Resin the Barbarian: Would you please summarize your experience as a kit hobbyist, then as a kit producer?

Fritz: Where to start? I guess I am an Aurora kid who got started on kits at age 5 with my older sister and my dad. The classic horror films such as “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” impressed my dad in their initial run in 1931; we watched all manner of classic films on rainy days when I was a lad.

By age 12, collecting WWI and WWII memorabilia from family and friends had helped lay monsters to rest, somewhat, and I am a music-obsessed punk rocker through most of my mid- to late teens, which diversified my interests somewhat.

Faces of Fritz: These are some photos of himself that Fritz shares on his MySpace page. Fritz enjoys MySpace, he says, because he can share his love of music there.

In 1992 I am reintroduced to model kits after seeing them displayed by a friend’s brother, a former Hollywood SFX artist. I watch German silent horror and Universal films in this period, in part because many of these images are used by gothic bands like Bauhaus and The Screaming Tribesmen. The move into the monster hobby and model kits is a natural move because of this. I tend to think of myself as the first true goth at the Chiller shows, before the mid-’90s flood of goth into mainstream youth culture.

Fritz's Goth Fink, a self-portrait.

My love of the silent horror and gothic themes, the early Janus Co., Resin from the Grave, Jeff Yagher, Necronomi, Artomic and other kits of the time paved my way for friendships with people like John Ulakovic, John Dennett, and Thomas Kuntz (I have No. 13 of some of his most notable horror figures like Vampira, Man Who Laughs, and others). I’ll presume most people can pair up a few kits to these names, or even their respective company names, so I won’t babble further.

I also became friends with a fellow who was producing garage kits of subjects that fit right in with Chiller Expo and the Artomic Creations kits I own. Jon Wang is a medical doctor with a passion for the classic actors, and his releases under the banner Monstrology Models really spoke to me. Jon was sculpting figures of really cool-looking horror characters I’d never heard about. He made me want to dig deeper into the unknown and ofttimes unnoticed characters from “Poverty Row” films. At this time even a VHS tape of many of these films is a hard-to-find commodity.

Around 1993 the Monstrology connection starts to unfold.

Early on I started painting for other collectors, and even companies like Janus. Sometimes I’d do a custom base if the kit did not come with one. I have some paint-ups in the Ron Chaney home; Sara Karloff and Bela Lugosi Jr. also have kits I painted. Some big collectors (I won’t bother with more name dropping) have anywhere from one to a dozen kits I’ve painted. A Hollywood writer and collector has dozens of Chaney and Karloff kits that I have built for him, as well as the early Artomic models and, once again, Monstrology.

When Jon did the Human Monster kit, he asked me to sculpt one of my custom bases to help give a setting for the blind henchman, Jake. That was my first involvement in doing something for a garage kit that would be produced and sold.

Soon after, I was making some bases for another friend’s company, Supporting Castings. Simple but effective renderings of floors, steps and the like. I guess I have tweaked a few of the sculptures produced by SC, which was a rigid fan-driven endeavor by collector Bob Wallets. This was all circa 1997-2000, commingling with some projects of my own.

RtB: You were not active as a kit producer for a while, perhaps a few years, although I don’t think you ever stopped making nameplates. Recently you’ve revived some of your old kits and have started working on some new originals, plus you’re reviving the beloved Monstrology line. What made you decide to jump back into production with such gusto?

Fritz: Well, first off I dabbled under what I now consider to be a poorly chosen name that first served me as a kit painter — Vampir Unlimited — with a set of Dracula diorama accessories (bats, an armadillo and name plate) and a couple of 1:4 scale busts circa 1998-1999.

By the early 2000s I had a scale doorway base reproduced in resin for 120mm figures. And I started doing some assorted nameplates just because I needed them for some stuff I had, and my local Brooklyn buddy John Comito would get me fired up to do a plate for his latest diorama. Eventually I just started offering more and more of these to model collectors. Plates sort of became “my thing” since 2004 or so… They were something I could design, have etched, and easily mold up.

I think the nameplates are great because they give folks a chance to tell more of a story if they wish. Make their model appear like a lobby card or poster. And best of all I get to contribute to some amazing work by my favorite sculptors just because a collector decides one of my nameplates would finish off a figure display that they make.

For Zacherley's 90th birthday in 2008, "Mad Geppettos" Scott Whipple ("Mad One") and Fritz Frising ("Boiling Mad") presented Zach with a Mad Geppetto Creation. The figure was very well received, with Zach saying it is "the best figure" he has seen done of himself. He quite liked the coat and pants, complete with grave dirt. He looked forward to dressing in character and walking up and down his street with the figure, claiming it was his child. Photo from madgeppetto.com.

RtB: Your creative endeavors have apparently put you in contact with many interesting people over the years. I found a photo of you with Zacherley on the Mad Geppetto site. Can you name some others?

Fritz: I could list guests of Chiller and other shows, amazing musicians few would know or care about. Perhaps the most influential there would be Deathrock icon Rozz Williams. But to me the most interesting people come from the hobby.

A short, favorite story involves one of my best friends — Nightmares In Plastic’s Rainer Engel. This is at a Chiller Expo with several of his traveling countrymen in the early 2000s. I was speaking with him in the lobby on Saturday night, surrounded by the likes of Robb Rotondi, David Grant, Mike and Danya Parks, Sean Nagle, Danny Sirocco, John Diaz — you get the idea. Rainer turns to his friends and me with some awe in his voice, says “Look at this — Ve are in the presence of American Garage Kit Royalty!” naming the names, and even including me in his praise.

The fact that I take all these folks for friends and my association for granted (in a good way) is what matters. Despite distance and lengthy silence at times, I count Thomas Kuntz a great friend, and John Dennett, who has been MIA in the hobby for some years. There are many others, but I feel the more I mention the more I will leave out…

Fritz in the Old Dutch Church Burying Ground. Sleepy Hollow, October 2004. Photo by Jörg Buttgereit, German filmmaker.

RtB: What about places you’ve visited? The photo you seem to use most often was taken in Sleepy Hollow?

Fritz: Ah, my favorite area is along the Hudson River heading up higher into New York. One day I hope to live up that way, and maybe open a shop.

I guess I’ve lived and traveled a lot of Long Island up to about age 33, and spent almost six years living in Brooklyn. I’m back on Long Island after an unsuccessful relocation to Virginia that lasted 11 months, but am glad to put that chapter of my life behind me.

As a history buff, I find almost anyplace interesting. My job takes me around a lot of Brooklyn and Queens to art studios. As a 12- and 14-year-old my mom took me on a few trips to Europe, seeing parts of Hungary where her family hails from, as well as Romania, what was then Yugoslavia, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.

RtB: The character color guide from your old Vampir Unlimited site has been cited again and again as a valuable resource for painters trying to interpret black-and-white subjects in color. How long did it take you to put that together? What sources did you use?

Fritz: So much of my original notes on that are gone — I wish I’d kept them. Basically a few assorted fact-finding missions starting around 1993 when I got my Billiken Dracula and knew I’d seen his eye color in a questionnaire in an old Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. Made sense I should go the same route doing eyes on other characters, and much of what I have on my web page is just expanded upon five or six years of collected data.

Fritz produced this Elephant Man statue on behalf of a friend. The intention is to market it prepainted, but it is currently sold as a kit.

I did get to talk to people who knew some of the actors, had color photos, or had seen some costumes. Actor bios and knowledge of costume helped flesh out more. There you have it.

RtB: From what I can tell through various sources, in addition to classic fantasy and horror, you are interested in WWI and WWII insignia, patches, movies in general and “Night of the Hunter” in particular, and of course music. I’m not sure if you’re a big reader, but I see that “Dracula” and “All Quiet on the Western Front” are your favorite books. Which of these interests would say occupies you most?

Dracula's Daughter, a bust produced by The Headless Hearseman.

Fritz: Among my best friends are twins and their older brother — we are family. Our military collection was a common bond, and when I had to move into a small flat I merged my sizable collection with theirs. Like all friendships, diverse interests broadened horizons. To varying degrees among us we shared Rat Finks, vintage cars, movies, superhero kit conversions, home repair, new wave clubbing, record collecting, and all manner of fun that just played a big part in all our lives.

I haven’t the time to read what I’d like, but I have a sizable collection of bios and books about horror actors and films. I might not think to read much on WWII anymore, but if I see a book on Pete’s shelf and he says I’d like it, I’ll read it. If Tim and his wife are enjoying surf music, I’ll hunker down with some new sounds, and find some new surf music for them. And when I go by the family homestead, Charlie Sr. and Marjorie — my second parents — are yet another pair of grandparents to my son.

Boy, did that not answer your question! I guess I’m as interested in Rat Rods these days as I once loved to read about U.S. paratroops. Or a bio on silent film star Gloria Swanson as opposed to the latest “sequel” written to “Dracula”.

I guess at different times I have reread “Dracula” every year or two, and “All Quiet on the Western Front” has caught me four to five times since age 12. I have first German and American editions of it, and have been an avid book collector for years. I must have 60 editions of “Dracula”, mostly pre-1950 hardcovers, and some foreign editions. Oh yeah — I love horror photoplays and have nearly all the major Universal horror film book editions, “King Kong”, “Faust”, assorted Lugosi film tie-ins, and then some.

I don’t think I focus more on one hobby or collection than the next. Though I guess music is always a constant — it can be played almost anywhere and any time I want, and I am always learning about a great band that I missed 20 years ago! I have a few hundred LPs left at this point, and well over 4,000 CDs.

Fritz's son, Andi, 4, was concerned about the wound on a Frankenstein Monster model's forehead. While Andi ran for the Band-Aids, Fritz grabbed his camera.

RtB: You have a 4-year-old son who is plainly very important to you. How do you share your interests with him? What interests has he shared with you?

Fritz: My Andi is amazing! I had no idea just how much joy he would bring into my life. He has a great wit, charm, and he’s polite!

“Please Plesiosaurus” he asks when he wants something — an avid dinosaur fan for over a year now. Here was my chance to introduce him to kits, which he loves. Reissues of the same kits I built with my dad. He even took a liking to a Frankenstein kit — he learned the main monster characters in a matter of days after asking just once looking at my autographs on the walls. He now points them out when he sees a similar kit or photo elsewhere.

I’ve put some of his drawings of Transformers and volcanoes over the scarier characters on my walls, but he seems more afraid of some “normal” stuff that he has seen on TV — including kid shows like “Dora”.

I won’t push my interest on him, but I’ll show him the way if he expresses interest. I’m just thrilled to be a father, and the fact that my son wants to do things that I did with my dad makes me endlessly happy.

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 uncle and I, we had most of the Aurora monster line.

If it hadn’t been for him, I truly wouldn’t have known the love of this hobby.

I’m glad that I was able to tell him this before his unforeseen passing this past March.

RtB: Which came first, your love of classic monster subjects or love of model kits?

Mike: Actually, it happened at the same time because I really didn’t know much about the monsters until I was exposed to the Aurora monsters. (Remember, I was only 4 years old.)

Believe it or not, what really hooked me was the box art. I was just obsessed with this art, as a kid and I still am.

RtB: Have you ever NOT been involved in building model kits?

Mike: Yes and no.

There were times when I didn’t build but it wasn’t because I wanted to stop. However, I’ve been involved with the Aurora monsters at some point during each decade.

During the end of the 1970s I was forced to stop building when Aurora closed their doors and there really wasn’t much else available unless I wanted to build cars, spaceships or other vehicles and I truly wanted no part of that.

I’m a Maker of Monsters.

In the early 1980s I was hospitalized for a few weeks. During this time, my grandparents came to visit me with a couple of big boxes full of my (newly married) uncle’s old Aurora kits that he no longer had room for.

It was cool to get these at this time because they were off the market for a few years.

Because of the fact that I had absolutely no knowledge of garage or resin kits, I was away from the hobby until the birth of Polar Lights.

The funny part about this is that I didn’t even know that there was even such a company as Polar Lights until my wife and I went shopping one day with my son, who was just a baby at the time.

He was riding in the shopping cart and he threw his bottle out of the cart. When I bent down to pick up the bottle, I saw (on the bottom shelf) the Mummy box art looking back at me. My wife wasn’t really sure what I was so excited over but I’ve stayed in the hobby ever since that day.
Todd here, with an interruption: My own rediscovery of the hobby probably happened a few years after Mike’s, but I also have my own, similar story. My wife, 1-year-old daughter and I stopped into Grand Junction’s now-defunct Toys R Us in October 2001, and there on the clearance table near the entrance was a collection of Polar Lights kits, including the one my wife talked me into buying, the Mummy.
RtB: You use the name “Trendon” (“Trend” rhymes with “end”; “on” like “un”) on various Internet model-kit forums. Why?

Mike: Trendon was the name of the first band that I played in during high school.

I use it as a handle on most message boards because I don’t even think that it’s a real word and thus, I figured that no one else would have already taken it as a user name. However, I recently discovered that there is a person that uses it on MySpace.

RtB: The kits you paint often have a very bold, bright look that still manages to fit the black-and-white, scary-movie nature of the subject matter. What approach do you take to painting a kit?

Mike: That really all depends on the kit itself.

I basically paint in two styles. The first being that I’ll paint something to look as realistic as I’m able to make it look. The second being the Aurora look where I basically try to paint something the way that I think James Bama (painter who created the majority of the Aurora monster-model box art) would have painted it with those bright, off-the-wall colors that basically represent light and dark.

The Aurora look is starting to be a trademark for me. I may start painting non-box art kits in this style. I’d love to experiment with this on a kit from the “Yagher Classics” series.

I tend to paint from light to dark but I will occasionally work backward.

I have never used an airbrush and I have no plans on doing so. People have accused me of using an airbrush because I have achieved the effect of smoothly blending one color into another but that’s all done with a flat head brush in an almost drybrush circular motion.

With every kit that I work on, I tend to use a lot of washes and drybrush effects. I’m also one of those modelers that use the cheap craft paints like Delta Ceramcoat.

RtB: You participated in my blog in August by giving me a list of suggested model kits for Halloween, and all of the kits you suggested were sculpted by Jeff Yagher. What can you tell me about the friendship or association you seem to have built with Mr. Yagher in the last couple of years?

Mike: Really? I didn’t even realize that Jeff sculpted all my choices but that’s cool.

As you know, I have been a big supporter of the Aurora Box Art kits by Monsters in Motion since day one.

When the first three kits in this line were released (“The Phantom,” “Wolfman” and “Jekyll as Hyde”), I basically promoted them and gave them tons of free advertising on my Web site. I did this because I truly do LOVE this series of kits; I never expected anything to come of it.

One evening, I received this anonymous e-mail telling me that MiM now had the “Dracula” kit up on their site. The person never signed the e-mail so I just hit reply and thanked them.

Some time later, this same person sent me photos of the “King Kong” sculpt for me to post on my Web site. The first thing that I did was to check the MIM Web site and oddly enough, they didn’t even have these photos up yet.

I e-mailed this person back and told him that I wasn’t really sure about posting these photos to my Web site without permission from MIM because the last thing that I wanted was for them to be upset with me for showing off their new product before they did.

It was at that point that this person revealed their identity.

It was Jeff.

We’ve been in contact ever since.

RtB: Your Web site is a great resource. Do you have any idea how many hours per week you average working on that?

Mike: That all depends on what’s going on at the moment. If I’ve finished a kit, I’ll post the photos. If a producer or sculptor asks me to help advertise a kit, I’ll do it. If things are slow, I’ll create things like “The Library of Box Art” or the “We Remember” features to keep the viewers interested.

MIKE PAINTS AN ANGRY “FLY” WITHOUT WINGS

“THE FLY (Monsters of the Movies)”
• Sculpted by Jeff Yagher.
• Price: $50 plus shipping.
• Available from Retro Resin.
• 1/12 scale, resin kit
• 19 or 20 parts, including an extra hand that gives the modeler the choice to use the hand that holds the axe.
• A continuation of the classic Aurora series of model kits from the 1970s.
• Mike’s paint job is the “official” “Fly” buildup and will will be the kit’s box art. Until the Retro Resin Web site is updated, watch Mike’s site for updates about the company’s products. Other kits that can’t be found on the site include an original “Monsters of the Movies Mummy.”

RtB: Did you help put Retro Resin in touch with Jeff Yagher?

Mike: Yes, I introduced them. Gene (Toparcean) and I used to talk about how cool it would be to have Jeff sculpt for RR but at the time, neither of us had a clue as to how to get in touch with him. So, once I had contact with Jeff…

Well, you can guess the rest.

Gene and I have been friends for five or six years and I knew that the combination of Jeff’s sculpting talents and Gene’s quality castings would be perfect together.

Like peanut butter and chocolate.

I don’t like to tease or spread rumors BUT…

There are some rumors floating around that the next project between Jeff and Retro Resin is going to be a “Monsters of the Movies Phantom of the Opera” for 2007.

If this does indeed come to pass, I’ll post the news on my Web site.

RtB: What was the most challenging aspect of building and painting this kit?

Mike: I guess the machinery.

Basically, this was just a very FUN kit. It was fun to build, fun to paint and very little aggravation. It was a very clean cast and an easy build.

Like anyone else, I do enjoy a challenge from time to time but I also like to just relax and have fun, sometimes. This kit allows the builder to do just that.

RtB: How did you get that woodgrain effect on the axe handle?

Mike: OK, first I painted the handle with a coat of “Light Chocolate” (yes, that’s the actual name of this color of paint). After it dried, I took a darker brown and watered it down (like a wash) and I painted the wood grain freehanded.

A BIG FAN OF THE AURORA BOX ART SERIES

RtB: Plainly, you use the original Aurora box art as a reference while painting these kits. How do you do that? Are pictures taped up on the wall around you, or…?

Mike: The first thing that I do (even before the kit arrives at my door) is I find a decent photo of the box art and set it as my desktop wallpaper. By doing this, I’m forced to see it every day and I’m able to study it.

Aside from that, I’ll just use the actual boxes as a guide. However, this raised a problem with the “Phantom” kit because I don’t actually own that box. I spent many hours on eBay searching for photos.

For whatever reason, the walls in the Phantom art sometimes photograph as a greenish color but other times, they look to be a grayish color. Due to the fact that the rest of these kits have bight, bold colors, I decided to go with the green.

RtB: Monsters in Motion is now using your “Dracula” pictures on its Web site, which I found an improvement over the pictures it used before. Does MiM plan to use pictures of your other buildups, past or future?

Mike: At one point, my “Phantom” was up there, also.

I’m no expert on this subject but…

The way that I understand it is that there is an inside artist for MIM (maybe even more than one) and I would assume that they would naturally want to use their own artists’ buildups because they’re paying them to build and paint these kits.

Terry (the owner of MIM) did ask me about my Bride kit and how she’s coming along.

It would be cool if they wanted to use my Bride but I guess that I’ll just have to wait and see.

Right now, I’m just waiting for the release of the clear parts for this kit so that I can finish her. After she’s finished, I’ll send some photos over to MIM and wait to see what happens.

Imagine you’ve got a kit that looks wonderful before you even start working on it. Something created by Jeff Yagher, a sculptor who is so talented and well-respected by garage-kit fans that the kit is named after him instead of the character it depicts. A kit that would look great if you just set the unpainted piece on a shelf.

Something like this:

If you’re like me, you might get intimidated and let the thing sit in its box, gathering dust until you feel you’ve gotten “good enough” to subject it to your talents. Or maybe you’d go ahead and slap some paint on it and figure, who cares that it’ll look worse when I’m finished than it did when I started? I’m doing this for fun.

If you’re Steve Riojas, paints are the tools you use to bring out the details and reveal the sculpture in a new light.

Take another look, side by side:

“YAGHER CLASSICS VOLS. 1-12″
Sculpted by Jeff Yagher.
All 1/6 scale, resin.
Produced in limited numbers by Tower of London.
Available from X-O Facto.
Prices range from $150 to $250 plus shipping; check the X-O Facto Web site for specifics.

You know what I did when I first saw “Yagher Classics Vol. 1″? I cursed Tower of London. It was getting close to Christmas and I needed to spend my money on things other than model kits, but I saw that piece and reacted to it the same way I did to the neatest toys as a kid: “I want it!” I was well entrenched in the garage-kit hobby by then and was familiar with Jeff Yagher’s name, but I had no idea that “Vol. 1″ represented the beginning of one of the best series of kits ever produced.

I thought, “I’ll resist. It’s a model kit, I don’t HAVE to have it.” But all I’d seen up to then was a black-and-white picture of the raw sculpture. A few weeks later I saw full-color pictures of Steve Riojas’ paint-up and I knew where a chunk of my Christmas bonus was going.

Steve Riojas, 50, has lived in Denver his whole life and loves it. He’s been married for 16 years to Lori; he has a daughter, Rachel, and two stepdaughters, Crystal and Jennifer.

Steve worked at a factory for 28 years; “when the company decided to shut its doors for greener pastures in Mexico, I ended up a happy art bum,” he wrote in an e-mail. Part of being this kind of “bum” is regularly contributing to Amazing Figure Modelermagazine.

If the pictures and my own endorsement aren’t enough, how about a quick word from the guy who gave these “Classics” their name?

“I love Steve’s painting,” Jeff told me through e-mail. “He uses great subtletly and finesse to bring the characters to life. His work is clean and precise and makes me look good.”

(Pssst – Since I was contacting him anyway, I asked Jeff if he’d spill the beans on what’s coming next in the series. His answer was, “I think the next one in the ‘Yagher Classics’ line is Mr. Hyde.”)

As a hobbyist, I value Steve’s painting not only because it’s so impressive and gives me something to aspire to. Sometimes, it also helps me figure out or confirm what I’m looking at. Take this “Classic” for instance:

If you hadn’t seen the movie “Dracula’s Daughter,” would you know that was fire on the ground? A quick look at a picture of Steve’s paint job would show you.

Plainly, Steve keeps busy. A look back through a few months of “Resin the Barbarian” entries reveals he painted the Paquet “Nosferatu” bust I wrote about June 1 and the “Batman Begins” from June 8. I’ve seen a sneak preview of his paint job on Earthbound Studios’ “Mole Man Big Head” and it’s wonderful; unfortunately, I can’t share those pictures yet, but watch for them in an upcoming issue of AFM. Steve has also done some amazing work on life-size dinosaurs such as the one pictured below.

Q&A WITH STEVE RIOJAS

Resin the Barbarian: You’re one of the few people I know who seems to do a steady business of painting model kits and other subjects, as opposed to the vast majority of us who simply do it in our spare time as a hobby. Did you set out to make this happen, or is it something that evolved from your interest in kitbuilding?

Steve: It just evolved. When I first got into this hobby, I quickly realized I’d never be able to afford all the cool stuff I had to have so I needed to find another way. After doing fairly well in local collectible shows and Star Trek convention contests, I found I was able to trade buildups for kits and it took off from there. If you told me then I’d end up actually making money doing this, I wouldn’t have believed it.

I still do trade now and then, especially kit producers such as X-O Facto, because I love kits and feel these guys spend enough money producing a kit and don’t need to be paying out for a paint job.

RtB: When and where do you do your work? How many hours in a day or week? What tools do you use most frequently?

Steve: I work out of my garage, an unheated one-car that’s a lot of fun in the middle of January, but I needed the large door opening to bring in smaller 1/1 dinosaur models when I was involved with CM Studio. That plus storing supplies, boxes, etc., it made sense to stay there.

I pretty much work every day, usually 10 to 12 hours, unless it’s close to show time, then it’s day and night.

My main tool would be the airbrush, probably 90 percent of everything I do, but I’ll use whatever it takes for the job at hand.

RtB: The “Yagher Classics” series launched more than a year and a half ago, and you’ve painted what I guess you’d call the “masters” for all of them. Do you have a favorite among the “Classics”? If so, which one and why?

Steve: Man, that’s a tough one. I really do like the entire line for two reasons: I love the Universal Monsters and mainly, I am and have always been a Jeff Yagher fan. To me, his work is “garage kit” in the classic sense, he’s like the godfather and to work on this line is an offer I could not refuse.

Seriously, I really do feel lucky to be able to paint these beautiful sculptures.

RtB: You have painted all of these kits in full color, yet they all come from black-and-white source material. The colors you end up with usually just seem to make sense, but every now and then I wonder at your choices. The Phantom in a red coat? Never occurred to me, but I like it. The lining of Dracula’s cape is periodically debated; you chose red.

Who decides what colors will be used on each kit? And, are they chosen because they’re believed to be “authentic” in some way to the source material, or because they’re visually appealing?

Steve: Like everyone else, I have an idea in my mind of what these characters should look like, no doubt influenced by countless images going back to when I was a kid in the ’60s ingesting anything monster, to what we have today.

I usually stay pretty conservative with my color choices unless a customer would like to see something different, which I am happy to give them. John Tucky wanted to see more color on the Phantom and suggested a burgundy coat, which I think worked very well. The same with Dracula’s cape; the red lining gives a shot of color to an otherwise black and white paint scheme, plus, I think it also has that classic look from the old days.

John leaves most of the color choices to me, but think it’s a good thing to go over the paint jobs together as well as asking Jeff what he’d like to see on his sculpts. You can’t go wrong getting as many ideas as you can to make the best presentation possible, plus make a deadline. So in the end I guess it’s be authentic and pretty at the same time.

RtB: Which of the “Yagher Classics” was the easiest to build and paint, and why? Which was the most challenging, and why?

Steve: I guess the easiest of the classics to do is Frankenstein. His look is textbook, dirty black clothes are a snap. I tend to go with the gray/green flesh as opposed to the healthier look you see a lot of these days but I suppose that’s a sign of my age.

As far as most challenging, the Phantom was a bit more intense because I really wanted it to look good and I stressed on it more trying to get the girl’s clothing realistic.

RtB: What kinds of reactions have you gotten from sculptors after they see your paint on their pieces?

Steve: The reactions have been positive, at least no one has said anything otherwise! It really is a thrill when a sculptor gives a nod on a paint job. The sculpting talent in this hobby is truly amazing and it’s an honor if they like my presentation of their work.

RtB: Would you like to say anything else?

Steve: Well, I’d like to say thanks to everyone involved with making this hobby and the collectible business what it is. It would be impossible if not for the main ingredient, that all of us love this stuff. I’ve made some great friendships and it’s fantastic to be able to work on some of the coolest stuff ever. To be 50 and 10 years old at the same time … beautiful!