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.

Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) admires Adam Dougherty's sculpture of her, created for Moebius Models. The Elvira kit should reach hobbyists in 2011. Photo provided by KreatureKid.

The proper way to start this profile is to apologize. I first contacted fellow Coloradan Adam Dougherty in June 2010 to ask if he’d answer a few questions for my blog. We worked through some confusion and Adam had lots of information to me by November. Life has taken a lot of strange twists and turns since then, for both of us, in very different ways. Still, it shouldn’t have taken this long, and so for that I’m embarrassed and grateful to Adam for his patience.

ANGUS O. DOUGHERTY, FEB. 1, 1955-DEC. 12, 2010

Young Adam Dougherty with his father, Angus, photo from the 1990s. Angus died in December.

It has been interesting watching Adam grow quickly from a surprisingly talented young sculptor selling his classic-monster busts on eBay into the talent behind some wonderful resin and plastic model kits. I’ve seen all of it through my computer, checking out the photos and reading his online auctions, his postings in a few forums, and his pages on Facebook and MySpace.

Adam Dougherty of Westminster, Colo.

Adam, 20, credits his father for encouraging that growth. When his father died of cancer late last year, Adam shared the news online. He wrote:

“He was an amazing father, hell of a mechanic, and my biggest fan. He taught me how to build models in the first place, i owe it all to him.”

Adam says his father attended his first WonderFest with him, and watched proudly over the last few years while his son built his skills and reputation. He saw Adam start working with a number of small and large kit producers, notably Moebius Models.

A CONNECTION OF COLORADO MONSTER LOVERS

Adam grew up in the Denver area and now lives in Westminster, Colo. A few years ago he became acquainted with Steve Riojas, writer for Amazing Figure Modeler magazine and professional model maker.

Adam is a big fan of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. He sculpted this take on the gillman for Ultratumba Productions.

“I met Adam through my daughter, Rachel,” Steve wrote in an email. “They were good friends in school and when he came over to our house to visit he saw what I was working on in the garage and we started talking. After seeing his Creature from the Black Lagoon collection and especially his sculpting projects which showed how much talent he had in the rough, I started mentioning him to friends in the hobby. On his second trip to Wonderfest, I introduced him to kit producers, sculptors, hobby guys, and they immediately took a liking to him. Adam is a great kid, a talented sculptor, and I wish him all the best of luck.”

Today, Adam credits Steve on his MySpace page as a mentor. “Without his help I would still be doing little kits in my spare time. He has been a great help with my career and has taught me a lot.”

On MySpace, Adam also salutes Johnny Gilbert, “one of the most well-known Creature from the Black Lagoon collectors and an amazing sculptor.”

Adam loves classic movie monsters, particularly the Creature, an interest he shares with many hobbyists. The list of producers Adam has worked with grows all the time. In addition to Moebius, Adam has sculpted for Tower of London, Resin Crypt, Ultratumba Productions, the Model Mansion, Resin Pimps and more. He plans to release his own line of kits this May at WonderFest in Louisville, Ky.

ADAM HELPS MOEBIUS SHOW THE STRENGTH OF STYRENE

As the photo above shows, Adam’s work for Moebius Models includes the upcoming Elvira kit. Cassandra Peterson has every reason to be thrilled.

Moebius's upcoming Bela Lugosi kit, most of which was sculpted by Adam. Jeff Yagher sculpted the head.

Starting in 2007, Frank Winspur’s Moebius proved that the market for plastic figure kits was still healthy by selling thousands of “repops” of Aurora’s classic Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde model kit. Since then, the company has repopped many more Aurora monsters, including much of the Monster Scenes line, the Monsters of the Movies Creature from the Black Lagoon and Gigantic Frankenstein, a.k.a. “Big Frankie”.

The company is also responsible for a number of neat original figure kits, including the Mummy, Invisible Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, Iron Man, Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. The company’s fantastic Bela Lugosi as Dracula kit — most of which was sculpted by Adam, with head by Jeff Yagher — is coming soon.

Frank says Adam is working on more projects with Moebius but he isn’t ready to tell anything more yet.

Q&A WITH THE KREATUREKID

Resin the Barbarian: How are you and your family doing? I’m sure your father’s death hit all of you very hard.

Email the Headless Hearseman at Fritz@HeadlessHearseman.com for info about Adam's werewolf bust.

Adam: We’re doing good, just trying to piece everything back together and get settled down. We will be spreading his ashes in California during Monsterpalooza weekend.

RtB: Can you tell me anything about the line of kits you plan to introduce at WonderFest?

Adam: I can’t say much, all I have are my teaser pics that are on my Facebook. But they’re my original designs based on some classic monsters with some very terrified trick ’r’ treaters.

RtB: Aside from your own line, what are you working on now? Any chance Moebius will get you to do a Creature kit with the Universal license, or perhaps the Black Widow? Anything with other garage-kit producers?

Adam: After WonderFest I am getting started on a new piece for Moebius (can’t say what though), but aside from Moebius, I’d really like to start producing my own work. I’ve got a ton of ideas for new kits that I’m going to start making time for.

RtB: Classic monsters aren’t a typical interest for 20-year-olds. How did you become a fan of these beasties in general, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon in particular?

Adam: I’ve been a classic monster fan as long as I can remember and the Creature has always been my favorite. My parents were into the classic monsters and introduced the old movies to me when I was really little. I started collecting monster toys when I was 4,moved on to painting the models and entering contests when I was 10 and started sculpting when I was 12.

Adam Dougherty sculpted this lovely lady, inspired by "The Gravedancers", for Tower of London. Steve Riojas painted this one.

RtB: Do you think you’re going to be able to make a living as a sculptor?

Adam: I’m going to try lol.

Like any artist, when you have a passion for something, the goal isn’t to make a living at it, creating is just something that you have to do. If you’re lucky enough to make a living at it; that’s a bonus.

RtB: Do you have a long-term goal? Are you happy to keep sculpting miniature monsters for kit builders, or do you hope to work with one of the big statue companies? Or perhaps something entirely different?

Adam: I love what I’m doing now, but there are so many different avenues I’d like to explore in the future. I hope my work keeps improving so that new opportunities become available. I don’t have any idea what lays ahead, that’s what makes it exciting.

Another of Adam Dougherty's Creature sculptures. Adam says he once met the late Ben Chapman, who played the monster in his land appearances in "The Creature from the Black Lagoon".

RtB: What came first, sculpting or your interest in the monsters?

Adam: The monsters. Sculpting grew from wanting what I couldn’t find as a collector.

RtB: I’m going to guess you’re less than half as old as most of the people drawn to your work. How do you feel about that? Do friends your age like your sculpting?

This 1/6 scale sculpture inspired by artist Mike Grell's Warlord proves Adam Dougherty can do heroes as well as monsters. Email resinpimps@bellsouth.net for more information about the piece.

Adam: That’s what’s great about model making; it appeals to all ages. I meet young kids that are just starting to get into it, and old-timers that are reliving their childhood. I don’t think age has anything to do with appreciating the classics, and that’s my one goal … to keep the classic monsters alive for future generations

RtB: My introduction to your work was through some eBay auctions a few years ago. I think you were about 17 at the time, and you were selling a handful of busts. How were you introduced to garage kits? And once you knew what they were, what did you do to create your first ones? Did you do your own molding and casting in addition to the sculpting? Do you paint your own work?

Adam: A great friend Johnny Gilbert who’s a collector and sculptor suggested I try my hand at sculpting when I was 12. He taught me each step from beginning to end.

I learned to do my own molding and casting and did the painting as well. Learning each step of the process gave me a great appreciation for the art.

RtB: Looks like your work has led to you meeting some interesting people. Care to drop any names?

Adam: Well Ben Chapman (the Creature from the Black Lagoon) was the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and I have been very fortunate to meet a lot of incredible people.

RtB: You recently moved into a new place, right? How do you like it?

Adam: Well I was in a rental house for a while but I’ve recently bought my first house so after WonderFest I’ve got to start moving again! lol But I’m very excited to be a homeowner. Finally will have room for all my stuff!

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.

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.

On his Facebook page, Troy McDevitt describes his business, The McDevitt Studio, as “a magical place. For the past several years, I’ve laid a lump of clay out on my workbench before going to bed at night and in the morning, someone has used it to sculpt a brand new statue! This is where all my cake toppers and other sculpts have come from.

“Once, my wife and I hid in the closet and we saw that it was, in fact, two adorable little elves that sneak in and create these wonderful little sculpts for us as we sleep. She suggested that, as a way of repaying them, we should make them some little pants and shirts and shoes, since they were barefoot and the clothes they wore were all dirty and tattered. It was getting very, very cold outside and she felt this was the least we could do for all that they’ve done for us.

Troy McDevitt's sculpture of the electrifying lady in "Charge!" is based on a painting by artist Aly Fell. Click for a larger view.

“I told her to keep her stupid suggestions to herself and that the cold air would help keep them awake. Call for pricing!”

Plainly, Troy approaches his work with a sense of humor and his work reflects it. Just look at one of his latest pieces, “Charge!”, a licensed 1/6 scale reproduction of a painting from British artist Aly Fell. Commissioned by Marc Havican of Space City Resin, “Charge!” is a perfect translation of the artwork into three dimensions, a wonderful sculpture that’s both sexy and funny.

The McDevitt family.

Troy, 38, lives in Concord, N.C., with his wife, Stephanie; daughter, Lexi, 8; and son Tanner, 5. Running The McDevitt Studio is his full-time job. “This is all I’ve got,” he says, “and if I can’t make it work, I’m screwed because I have no other skills.”

Most of his work until recently has been garage kits and one-of-a-kind pieces, but he has gradually been doing more prepaint statues for different companies. “I look at it as a sign that my work has improved and I’m finally able to produce the kind of work that some of the larger companies require.”

So far, Troy has worked with Bowen Designs, ARH Studios, Reel Art Studios, Resin Pimps, Dark Carnival, and several independent kit producers and private collectors.

“My primary focus is, of course, the sculpting, but I think you have to be able to do it all to survive and even prosper in this hobby,” he says. “You need to be able to mold and cast your own work and at least be a little more than proficient at painting, for one-of-a-kind pieces and paint masters for prepaint statues. Honestly though, I enjoy the end results of painting, but I wish I was able to spend 100 percent of my time sculpting. It’s what I’m passionate about and it’s the thing that pays the bills (most of the time).”

Q&A WITH TROY McDEVITT

Resin the Barbarian: You sculpt, you paint, you make molds, you make castings. What’s the history here? What came first, what led to what?

Genghis Khan, done for ARH Studios.

Troy: I played around with Super Sculpey for a few years (nothing worth showing), but professionally, I started off doing one-of-a-kind custom wedding cake toppers from 2003 to 2007. On the side I was doing my own little sculpts based on things that interested me (superheroes, sci-fi, fantasy), and I wanted to be able to make copies, so I started finding out as much as I could about molding and casting. A big portion of that came from the forums, some from misc. sources online, and the rest from Smooth-On.

RtB: You did a terrific mold-making tutorial that’s “stickied” at the Clubhouse. What’s your history as a maker of molds and castings? How did you learn it, and who have you taught?

Troy: Well, I’m pretty much self-taught, in that, I didn’t actually have someone on hand to show what to do and not to do. Advice from pros is great, but ultimately you just gotta get the equipment and jump in. The downside to this, is that you’re gonna make a LOT of mistakes, but really, that’s how you learn and continue to evolve. My early attempts were pretty horrendous, but after a lot of trial and error, I finally got the hang of it. I can’t say that I’ve specifically taught anyone, but i’ve given a lot of tips and tricks along the way, just as early on, others helped me.

RtB: You have more than 350 Facebook friends. How many have you actually met in real life?

Troy: Out of 350? Maybe one-fourth. I gotta say though, that’s no longer that important to me (meeting someone in person, I mean). I’ve made some real, honest friendships online with people I’ve only talked to on the phone or corresponded with through e-mail, and I feel just as connected with them as some of my friends that I regularly hang out with. There are things, like sculpting, that I can ONLY talk with my online friends about, and I think that’s pretty cool.

RtB: Who’s your hero?

Troy's 2008 Christmas gift to his daughter, based on the artwork of Tony Diterlizzi, illustrator for "The Spiderwick Chronicles".

Troy: Yeesh! Okay, it’s hard to name just one individual, so I’ll list the main ones: My dad for starters. We’ve got a few differences, but overall, we’re so alike it’s eerie. He’s just an awesome, fun guy and he’s really my first big artistic influence.

Frazetta opened my eyes in a way that, artistically, I don’t think think anyone else has since. When they were in cowboy gear, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood were the most badass, macho guys on the planet and I wanted so bad to be just like them (still do).

This is going to sound funny but, Arnold Schwarzenegger is up there as well, but not for the reason you might think. My admiration solely stems from his attitude, perseverance and determination. You look at where he came from, and then look at what he did over the next 50 years. I think he’s a great example of goal-setting and hard work.

There are also tons of sculptors out there that I’m in absolute awe of, but I don’t want to list a bunch of names for fear of leaving out someone important. The one single person I will name though is Tony Cipriano. It’s been my great pleasure to get to know Tony fairly well over the past few years and I think they broke the mold with that guy. He’s a hell of a nice guy, honest, extremely generous with tips and advice and as far as I’m concerned, one of the best sculptors in the biz, hands down.

RtB: You’re a father, correct? I’m going by the photos of the superheroic boy on your Facebook page. Does fatherhood affect your approach to sculpting? Do you pick any projects because you figure your kid might be impressed, or reject any?

Troy: It’s so corny to say, but my kids are the greatest thing that ever happened to me. They’re absolutely awesome and they continually surprise me with their intelligence, humor and creativity. I basically made half of my studio their workspace, and the three of us work together quite a lot. I can’t say that I’ve rejected any projects because of them, but I’m definitely more keen to take on a particular subject if it happens to be something that one of them is really into.

RtB: What can you tell me about your cake toppers?

One of Troy's custom wedding cake toppers.

Troy: They were fun for a while, but gradually, couples got further away from fun, creative concepts like the karate couple where the bride is flipping the groom over her shoulder, and more into standard tux and bridal gown pieces in dull, old-hat poses. It became almost cookie-cutter after awhile, and to be honest, it was never really my interest. I did the toppers because, (A) there was plenty of business, (B) I knew it would help me become a better sculptor, and (C) I just wasn’t a good enough sculptor to do anything else at that point. Looking back, it was one of the best things, career-wise, I ever did for myself. It taught me how to work fast, hit deadlines and work with customers. That being said, the only other wedding cake toppers I plan on making will be for both of my kids’ weddings.

RtB: Not being a sculptor myself, I’m just becoming aware of the hubbub surrounding Zbrush, 3d printing and that kind of thing. How do you feel about the digital influence on sculpting? Is it something you’ve done yourself, or do you intend to? Why or why not?

Troy: Boy, this is THE question out there isn’t it? Me and my buds discuss this quite a lot, with very different opinions. Here’s my take on it. I don’t have any problem with digital sculpting and I’m attempting to learn it myself. I really look at it as a tool, and it’s all about the person wielding that tool. I’ve seen lots of digital sculptors who have the tools, and the skill to pull off a well-executed statue, but lack the creativity to do something dynamic and worthy of $100 or more.

That being said, it’s not something I’m looking forward to doing a lot of, if I can help it. Most of my life, I’ve been a graphic designer, and one of the reasons i got out of that was because I was tired of sitting in front of a keyboard all day. There’s something about having the clay in your hands and physically pushing and pulling the sculpt that you just can’t replicate with a computer. Obviously the advantages of computer sculpting are huge and I won’t go into all of them here. It’s definitely the future of sculpting, but I don’t think it’s going to completely eliminate traditional sculpting. Sure, some companies may make the switch completely, but there are lots of talented sculptors out there, and lots of people and companies who want statues and don’t really care how they’re done. If you’re good, you’ll find work for many years to come.

Actor Jorge Garcia, rear, with Troy McDevitt's sculpture of Hurley from "Lost".

RtB: The “Lost” caricatures you did for Titan Find seem to have gone over well. Are you a fan of the show? I confess I’ve never seen it.

Oh yeah, I love “Lost” (despite the fact that it’s over now). It’s a subjective thing, so not everybody is into it, but isn’t that the case with everything? I just found the characters so unique and compelling, I felt the overwhelming urge to sculpt them. I started off with Hurley and Sawyer and I’m trying to finish up Locke now. John, the owner of Titan Find, and I are hoping that, even though the show is over, once Locke comes out, there will still be enough interest to continue the line. Guess we’ll have to wait and see though!

RtB: You’ve done some unabashed caricatures and comical pieces, some hard-chiseled comic-style characters, and lots more. It’s rare that I can look at someone’s work and take note of such diverse things. For example, your Genghis Khan is just all kinds of bad. Tons of details, weapons, armor … a jaw dropper for fans like me. The Frazetta Dracula meets the Wolfman looks like the painting come to life, as does the “Charge!” Bride you recently completed. Then there’s the Clint Eastwood figure … I recognized him immediately, but I had to stare at the photo a while to appreciate how stylized the proportions are. The Hackman Lex Luthor … dunno what it is about that one, but I grin every time I look at it.

Ummm … was there a question there? Yeah, yeah, I was going to ask which of your sculptures reflects YOUR taste. What would you spend most of your time doing if you were working purely to please yourself?

By the way, I think my favorite of your pieces is the Wolverine vs. the ninjas. That giant idol base is just too cool for words.

Troy: Wow ……… what would I spend most of my time doing? To be honest, it’s all about how much the sculpt excites me, and what kind of challenge it is. Sculpting one particular type of subject, no matter what it is, sounds incredibly boring to me. For me, it’s all about improving, and as long as the sculpt I’m working on leads to that, it’s enjoyable. I’m a big fan of expressive faces, so that’s always something I try to capture. A bad face will always ruin an otherwise great sculpt in my opinion. Other than that, the things that excite me are those subjects that I haven’t really explored enough, or at all. I want to add a lot more women to my portfolio, as well as some monsters (classic and original), dinosaurs, and a lot more portraits just in general.

One of the key things I’m focusing on now is getting away from the more cartoony aspect that so many of my past sculpts have had, and working towards more realistic pieces. It’s been difficult, because I always find myself wanting to slide back into that habit, but I think the Genghis Khan piece I did for ARH Studios and the Wolfman vs. Dracula piece for ReelArt Studios was the first indication that I was heading in the right direction. I think you’ll see a lot more of that in all of my future work.

Like I said before though, I really do love superheroes, sci-fi, fantasy, monsters …….. just weird and nerdy stuff in general, so that will probably continue to dominate most of my portfolio for years to come. Thanks also for the kind words regarding the Wolverine vs. ninjas piece. It was another one of those challenges that I put before myself, and in the end, i was pretty happy with how it came out. It wasn’t by any means the greatest Wolverine statue out there, but at the very least, I felt that it was unique in the Wolverine garage kit universe.

RtB: What degree of artistic freedom are you used to when you work on projects? I presume it varies depending on the client, but can you tell me how widely it can vary? Are you used to clients providing you with detailed illustrations and instructions? Do you get people saying “I just want a cool werewolf”?

Troy: The greatest clients in the world are the ones who are fans of your work, and are happy with whatever you come up with. They’re hard to come by, but when you find those clients, there’s nothing better and more often than not, you end up becoming friends.

The next best clients are the ones that let you know what kind of look they like, and give you a general idea of what they’re looking for, but ultimately, let you conceptualize the piece. The worst clients are the one’s that THINK they’re giving you a lot of creative freedom, but end up micro-managing the entire project throughout, which ultimately makes the sculptor lose all interest in the project and results in an inferior piece. I always us the example of hiring a famous chef for your restaurant, and then coming in the kitchen and telling him, throughout each step, how he should make his Chicken Parmesan. If you’re looking for someone to recreate a picture EXACTLY as it is, that’s totally fine, just make that clear up front. If you’re coming to me saying that you want a cool Batman statue, giving me creative freedom, and then continue to tweak it throughout the process, you’re doing yourself, and the sculptor, a big disservice.

This isn’t to say that the client shouldn’t be able to offer their opinion, or make some suggestions along the way, but in the end, let the sculptor do what he or she does best. I’ve seen many, many sculpts that started off as amazing, and, with the help of constant tweaking, ended up as complete duds.

Bowen Designs' Man-Ape, a Marvel Comics character in a crazy costume. Is that redundant?

Presumably, if you’ve hired a sculptor to do something for you, you’ve looked at his previous work. If that’s the case, you need to have some faith that he (or she) is going to do their best to create something equally as good for you, but you can only do that by stepping back and letting them work. Up-front communication, between both the sculptor and the client, is ABSOLUTELY key with any commission. I’ve had one or two control freaks along the way, but by far, the vast majority of my clients have provided me with almost total creative freedom. It’s for those people that I give 100 percent and will do everything in my power to make sure they’re satisfied in the end.

RtB: Do you ever get a commission and struggle to keep a straight face while you work on it? I ask this while looking at your photo of what I presume is a Marvel Comics character, a very angry-looking, muscular fellow wearing some kind of white ape costume. I don’t know who that is, but hoo! what an outfit!

Troy: Ha! See, that’s one of the funny things in this hobby that I love so much! I think each of us has this sacred cow mentality in terms of certain subjects that other people look at as something completely ridiculous. The piece you’re referring to is Man-Ape, a villain from Marvel Comics. Of course, he’s ludicrous, but I was first introduced to him and a universe of equally silly characters when I was a kid, and at the time, they didn’t seem ridiculous whatsoever. To a preteen, these guys make total sense, especially in the right story, but seeing them for the very first time as an adult, usually induces quite a different reaction. Look at all the monster guys who love the drive-in movie creatures from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. The vast majority of them are absolutely preposterous, but it doesn’t diminish our nostalgic love of the character. We’re still seeing it through our 10-year-old eyes.

I guess one of the other things i feel pretty strongly about as well, is the ability to take a silly, or ridiculous subject and somehow make it cool and dynamic. It’s never difficult to make a Hulk sculpt look cool ….. ’cause he’s the Hulk. Now lets see you take Ronald McDonald and make something worthwhile. That’s the real challenge! As long as the client allows me to really run with the concept and do something unique and exciting, there are very few subjects that I work on while rolling my eyes.

RtB: Would you like to add anything else?

Troy: I’d just like to thank you for this opportunity Todd, it really means a lot to me. There are so many guys out there, new and old, that absolutely blow my socks off, and being asked to do an interview is a real honor. I love this hobby, and the people in it, and there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing. I’ve been very, very lucky these past few years and the future continues to look pretty bright. You’re going to see a lot more variety from me over the next year and I appreciate all the support and encouragement I continue to get from friends and fans alike. For all the new guys looking to break in, all I can say is, make some goals, stay focused, be your own worst critic, lose the ego, and work, work, work!

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.

DEDHAM POND DESIGNS: “THE TIME HAS COME TO TELL THE TALE”

Water runs over the tub’s edge and onto the tile, but the man doesn’t care. He wants an answer from the woman lying face-down on the bed. A minute before, he had asked, “Who are you?” But when he put a hand on her back, felt the chill of her flesh, his question changed.

“What are you?”

She allows him to roll her over to face him, showing him what she is. Moments later, he’s hundreds of feet away, dead and wet and cold.

She is Alma Mobley, and thanks to movie makeup and effects pioneer Dick Smith, she’s the kind of woman who stops the heart … forever. Many of us who first saw her on the big screen when “Ghost Story” was released in 1981 recall how Alma, and Eva Galli as well, made our hearts race.

Sculptor William Paquet was one of those people. After seeing it, “I was actually afraid to go into my folks’ dark house, having to go in the back door amid the shadows and loneliness of their cavernous backyard,” he wrote in an e-mail.

“This film, is wonderful. The cast, among the most impressive lineup of heavyweights in their golden years ever seen. The flashbacks are rich in atmosphere and nostalgia, and fully flesh out the characters as young, handsome and ambitious men-about-town. To try and compare this to the book is actually silly; it must be measured on its own scale.”

William is a longtime fan of Dick Smith, famous for his work on movies such as “Amadeus”, “The Godfather” and, of course, “The Exorcist”. Smith did some of his best, scariest effects for “Ghost Story”, creating visions of Alma and Eva that have remained in William’s imagination. He had long intended to translate his own image of Alma to clay.

AN UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITY

Almost 30 years after “Ghost Story” debuted, William happened to browse the Clubhouse modeling community’s sculptors’ forum and saw I was considering my second garage-kit production. My first was a bust of Ben from “Night of the Living Dead”, sculpted in 2006 by a wonderful young artist named Chris Wooten. I wanted to do a more professional job of it this time around and was asking for advice about finding someone to work with.

William suggested the possibility of working with me, an unexpected and, yes, thrilling prospect. I’m a fan, have been a fan since becoming involved in the hobby in 2001.

Have you ever been grateful to someone for lighting a fire under your sorry rear end to get you moving on something you say you want to do, but don’t really know if you mean it? I’m grateful to William Paquet for that. Within minutes of getting his first message, I knew I was going to be a garage-kit producer again.

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.

So, green light on what we were doing. William put Alma on his “to do” list, I started checking into molding and casting. My intention was to hire out those chores this time around because I wanted to make sure it was done correctly. Still, I did hope to eventually do the work, so I put up another posting at the Clubhouse asking for advice.

William read that, too, and offered to help me do the job properly myself. He took photos of the mold he made of Alma, spoke with me on the phone about the process, and even ended up selling me the mold he’d made. In doing so, he once again lit that fire under me, and once again I’m grateful for it.

I’d only had a handful of contacts with William Paquet before the last several months, and so I can’t adequately express my surprise and thanks for all he’s done to help me out. And he did it with a fascinating combination of courtesy, intelligence and humor unlike anything I’ve ever encountered.

WHO SHOULD PAINT THE FIRST ONE?

My new GK company is called Dedham Pond Designs in honor of the body of water where the movie’s Chowder Society unwittingly submerges a still-living Eva Galli.

Given that Alma was shaped by a sculptor whose work has long amazed me, I figured she deserved the best possible introduction to my fellow hobbyists. Phil Sera’s skill as a painter simply floors me, so I asked him if he’d paint the bust of Alma I would use for the box art and any other publicity. He agreed, and did a spectacular job in a short time. He also provided high-quality photos, which I used for the box art.

Phil’s contribution puts it over the top for me, making Alma the best time I’ve had with this hobby in years.

— Todd Powell

The Head Merchant, an original sculpture by Kent Kidwell. The kit is still available through Kidwell Concepts.

The Head Merchant. What a name for a character. When he lumbered onto the garage-kit scene a couple years ago, I was struck by both his originality and his familiarity. The character is a cheerful but deadly, axe-toting barbarian on the back of a … whatever that horned creature is, packing a bouncing supply of severed heads. If someone told me this was an image that flowed from the paintbrushes of Frank Frazetta, I would have believed it.

But it’s not Frazetta’s work. It was created by sculptor Kent Kidwell, and for many hobbyists it was a memorable introduction.

Kent Kidwell, 40, lives in Florence, Ariz. He’s married to Linda and has four kids, Chessa, 4, Gabriel, 6, Kaleb, 14, and Samantha, 17. His business is Kidwell Concepts, which offers sculpting, mold-making, casting, design and multimedia. Running his business is a full-time endeavor for Kent; he says it’s all he knows how to do.

“Sadly, almost 20 years of sculpting, mold making and casting has made me unqualified for normal employment,” he said. “I would get fired at Taco Bell, I would get caught making a zombie bust made of beans and that would be it.”

The majority of his clients are private buyers who want unique fine art for home use, some office, but he has done work for larger companies as well.

“Being so young in the resin kit industry, I have just focused on releasing original kits,” he said. He’d like to do familiar characters such as the Hulk or Batman. “For some reason, I haven‘t been pursued for that genre much, not sure why. But I’m pretty sure I will be doing some comic characters soon, I hope.”

Shadow Host General of the Undead, available from Kidwell Concepts.

For now, the garage kits available directly from Kent are the Head Merchant, Pod Creature and Shadow Host General of the Undead.

I always ask the subjects of these interviews to share photos of themselves. Kent declined, but suggested readers envision him as “Quasimodo meets Uncle Fester, with charm.”

Q&A WITH KENT KIDWELL

Resin the Barbarian: You sort of burst onto the garage-kit scene a couple of years ago with your Head Merchant kit. Since then, what have you most enjoyed about being involved in the hobby?

Kent: Before I answer that, Todd, I just wanted to thank you for the chance to meet your readers. This is my first interview based on this hobby so I’m flattered.

To your question, I think there are two parts for me I enjoy. The first is the original kits side of things. I sincerely love the creative process of doing something that is uniquely your own, and being free to expand on that idea in whatever direction your imagination leads you. Freelancing can be creative but is more challenging in that you have to stay within the confines of the person or persons’ vision of what they want. I really enjoy that challenge but have sort of bottled myself in a bit in that I think producers see me as an original kit producer and not a for-hire sculptor, so few come a’knocking. But I stay busy doing whatever comes to mind.

RtB: Does the Head Merchant have a story? Is he a good guy or bad guy?

Head Merchant 2, a work in progress by Kent Kidwell.

Kent: It’s funny you should ask that, I’m in the process of putting together a graphic novel with this character. But I would describe him more as an unhinged and vengeful good guy gone bad. Without getting too far into plot, he was a powerful leader/king that was violently dethroned, his family butchered. He sets himself on a mad course to collect the heads of those that betrayed him and regain his throne. There is a lot more to the idea than this but hopefully it will be an interesting graphic novel.

Heron, top, and eagle by Kent Kidwell.

RtB: I’ve spent some time looking at your online galleries and have been interested in the variety of sculpture you’ve done. A lot of what you show is monsters, warriors and the like that are of interest to garage-kit hobbyists. But you also did a blue heron and bald eagle for a wildlife society, and a wonderful bronze bench. What kind of sculptural work are you called upon most to do? What do you enjoy most?

Kent: Well, I like all forms of art. I really appreciate classic art. If I had to devote my life to one form it would likely be classic monumental figurative work depicting scenes from the Scriptures. I realize that makes me sound like a zealot but really, I love history ,I love figurative work, and I love classic themes that dwell on a higher, more inspirational plane.

It’s difficult to find modern themes to sculpt that have the artistic impact of the classic or historical perspective. An example would be if a modern character was visited by angels — how would I make a baseball cap and blue jeans work in a classic medium like bronze? Also figurative themes are hard to find in today’s society, biblical subjects are always semi-dressed allowing for some nice anatomy details. The modern person is usually dressed to cover their form.

This bronze bench is another of Kent Kidwell's works.

RtB: As mentioned above, you have sculpted animals, original-creation creatures (inspired by artists such as Frank Frazetta) and interpretations of commercial characters such as the Predator and a character from the “Lord of the Rings” movies. Do you have to bring different skills to these different kinds of work? I mean, is there more freedom to play around a bit with pieces such as the Head Merchant, whereas you need to be true to the physical makeup of a heron, or fulfill a Predator fan’s expectations?

Kent Kidwell's 1/6 scale Wolf.

Kent: Yeah, it’s funny, the Pred piece was very challenging in that Pred fans are very exacting. All the way down to the smallest detail. The heron and eagle had to go through three very detailed inspections for accuracy even going so far as to count the primary feathers, that’s frustrating but challenging too.

I would much prefer to just go my own way with things but that would certainly stop my freelance career in its tracks. It’s like in any business, the client comes first.

The Head Merchant was easy piece to sculpt because his character was so outrageous to me and what he was doing made for an interesting scene. Original subjects are half as challenging.

RtB: I’m a father and am interested in the ways our kids view what we do. You say in your online bio that your kids aren’t interested in your work. How much of it do you offer to share with them? Are they always welcome to see what you’ve done, or does some of it strike you as “not for kids”?

Kent: Well, I was exposed to some great artwork at a very young age. My elder brother Rod, five years my elder, was very interested in fantasy art, Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, even more expressive graphic novels like Heavy Metal magazine. Honestly very racy stuff I would never read today. I would never let my kids see something like that. I keep the scary stuff away from them and gore, nudity that stuff was a little too available when I was a kid so I do the filter thing.

My youngest boy, Gabriel, has taken an interest in sculpture and has an affinity for it, he loves monsters.

Kent Kidwell's Pod Creature, available from Kidwell Concepts. The website also includes a tutorial on sculpting the creature. Click the photo to see it.

RtB: You say your wife supports your work. In what ways?

Kent: As a freelancer, you never know where your next check will come from. Having a traditional job, collecting a stable paycheck, is a dream I never get, sometimes I get paid on a 30, 60, 90 net basis (the number of days until the full balance is paid), so she has been able to fill the dead spots with her work.

She is also a talented musician, so we have a mutual respect for each other’s desire to pursue our art. I have seen other spouses really degrade an artist into quitting. Money is often a marriage-defining element. Artists are notoriously broke. Not always, but in today’s economy art is not the highest priority of buyers, its kind of weeded out those that need more practice.

RtB: Of all your works, what is your wife’s favorite?

Kent: I never asked but I believe it would be the Head Merchant.

RtB: Reading through your materials, I get the impression that your church is important to you. True?

Kent: I have done a few faith-based figures and I would do more, but it’s more an issue of time. Sadly, there is also a financial trade off for it as well. I really can’t invest a lot of time in things that don’t pay. Maybe someday I will be independently wealthy and could afford the up-front costs involved in marketing Christian based subjects to the world.

RtB: Are any of your works intended as a celebration of your faith?

Kent: I have only ever done a few LDS pieces. Captain Moroni and the title if liberty, and Lihi and the Liahona. These were done with the intent of selling a product and religious appreciation, I guess.

RtB: How does your faith help shape your perspective as you do your work?

Kent: Well, I would say I’m like any that have a belief system, mine keeps me from road rage and overthrowing our current government.

RtB: Do you think some of them might be viewed as being at odds with your church’s beliefs?

Kent: I think there is a line between porn and beauty. I try and stay away from sexual subjects in my work, this is a very touchy subject for sure, but I will do my best to answer.

I believe all mankind must work within the confines of one’s own conscience. I think without question the female form is the pinnacle of beauty on earth, at least for me. Artists have been trying to capture its beauty for millennia. For me to say that a naked woman isn’t art would be in effect spitting on every great masterpiece that has ever shown a breast or buttock.

I have had to draw a line where my conscience dictates, and here is what I formulated for me. I will never use nudity to express sexual behavior. Any pose or expression I am trying to get across will not in any way degrade women or put them in any light other than powerful, beautiful, mysterious, etc., which to me they are.

I might dabble in sensual or even sexy but never openly sexual. So for me it’s not how much skin is involved but the nature of its use.

I was once offered a sizable commission to do ladies of porn in various sexual poses. It would have been great financially, but in the end I would still have to look at myself in the morning.

"Calling Down Dragons" by Kent Kidwell.

RtB: Obviously, I’m more familiar with your sculptural work than your illustration. Have you had comparable success as an illustrator?

Kent: No, not as an illustrator. Luckily I learned very early on that my skill was sculpture, so I shifted my focus around 18 years old. I use illustration a lot, however, in showing people ideas and concepts without having to sculpt an entire maquette to get my point across. For me it’s a work tool and a fun hobby.

I have dabbled in oil painting. In fact, my first and only real oil painting was on a large board, called “Calling Down Dragons”. It was fun doing but I have no plans to revisit the frustrations of oil painting, at least for now.

Soul Keeper, coming soon from Kent Kidwell.

RtB: Back in April, you posted something at the Clubhouse stating you hadn’t been able to paint one of your own kits yet. Is that still so? What do you think of the build ups of your kits that you’ve seen?

Kent: Yeah, sad but true. It’s mostly a time issue. Right now I have four more kits on the way and production of my other kits. I really struggle to find time.

Luckily, I have had some amazing artists do that for me. I get a lot out of it, especially with original kits. I honestly search the web for anyone doing my work, altering it, just showing their take of it, is very exiting to me. It’s like seeing the subject in a new way every time.

RtB: What are you working on now? Your website mentions carnival classics “Perry Winkle” the clown and “Carni Val” as coming soon. Did I miss those? If not, how are they progressing? How about Head Merchant 2?

Bigfoot by Kent Kidwell.

Kent: The head merch 2 is almost finished. I am doing a commission of a warlike gorilla. The vampire bust (Fallen Bride) and I hope to finish one called Wind Witch. After these I will be doing a few life size pieces and then back to doing kits again.

The two zombie clowns are a month away likely.

RtB: Would you like to add anything else?

Kent: Only thanks again for the chance to meet your readers.

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.

Two faces by Mike Hill: Oliver Reed in "Curse of the Werewolf" (Mike's favorite sculpting subject) and Boris Karloff as Ardeth Bay in "The Mummy". Photos courtesy of Mike Hill.

Rick Baker, from left, American Werewolf, Mike Hill and John Landis. Photo from mikehillart.com.

Elsa Lanchester as "The Bride of Frankenstein". Can't you just picture this head jerking around, birdlike, before seeing the Monster for the first time? Photo courtesy of Mike Hill.

Anyone with more than a passing familiarity with garage kits knows the work of Mike Hill. His hands have shaped some of the hobby’s most respected figure kits, including the characters in my personal all-time favorite, Janus’s incredible Dracula and Bride deluxe combo.

Read any “grail” list in an online forum and you’ll find Mike’s works cited repeatedly. If not the Janus kit, then perhaps one of his wonderful “Curse of the Werewolf” pieces, or a Universal Frankenstein Monster, or a Spider-Man, or … well, the list goes on.

The Janus Dracula. Photo from mikehillart.com.

The kits — Mike guesses there are more than four dozen of them — have been offered by a range of producers including Killer Kits, Janus, Forbidden Zone, 5th Sense, GEOmetric Design, G-Force, Creatures Unlimited, Jayco, Zotz and, of course, his own company, Shapeshifters, which he ran from about 1992 until 2000.

Then there are his other works. To quote his biography from Mike’s website, mikehillart.com, “his career to date has included figure kit sculpting, wax figures, creature designing, prosthetic makeup, and creating hyper-real character statues.”

Mike has done amazing life-size sculptures, including full-size versions of painter Alex Ross’s Superman and Batman for Ross himself. He’s done wax figures for Madame Tussaud’s and recently visited online forums to share photos of an astounding life-size sculpture of Boris Karloff being made up as the Monster.

He has also worked in movies, including the current “Wolfman” remake with makeup legend Rick Baker.

“I am in the process of developing my own movie projects with my own production company, Pure at Heart,” Mike wrote in an e-mail interview.

Rick Baker, Alex Ross, Hugh Hefner and more own pieces of Mike’s work.

Maleva the gypsy, left, work in progress by Mike Hill (note the clay eyebrows!). Maria Ouspenskaya played Maleva, featured in "The Wolfman" and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman". In the middle is Bela Lugosi as Dracula from the 1931 movie. At right is one of Mike's favorites of his own work, Boris Karloff in the makeup chair for "Frankenstein". Photos courtesy of Mike Hill.

Mike Hill was born in Cheshire, England, and now resides in Los Angeles. He recently celebrated his 40th birthday with his wife, Jessica, and his two sons, Colum and Connah.

A young Mike Hill as Peter Parker. "I would ask myself and others crazy questions," he says in the biography at mikehillart.com. "What did King Kong do all day, when he’s not fighting dinosaurs and wouldn't he be scarred from head to toe, with all those prehistoric creatures he had to battle? And really puzzling details like, how come we can’t see Spider-Man’s web shooters beneath his costume, or his ears … or his underwear? Or stuff that still bugs me to this day, when a werewolf turns back to a man where does all the fur go? Does he lose his teeth fillings? People looked at me as if to say, 'Son, you've really got problems.'"

He goes by “mickkk1969” in various online forums, a moniker he says originated with a difficulty he had selecting a username. “I was having problems with my log-ins so I typed something real fast. ‘mick1969’ … didn’t work. ‘mickk1969’ … didn’t work. ‘mickkk1969’ did. Groan —  stupid answer I know. I really need to change it.”

His lifelong love of fantastic subjects, nicely illustrated on his website, helped inspire him to become a sculptor. “I messed with clay as a kid, I used to dig it up from the riverbank and sculpt various renditions of Kong and his dinosaurs, but I guess I took it more serious around 17.”

MIKE HILL’S WORK WEEK AND TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Resin the Barbarian: What kind of work do you do most? And, what kind of work do you most enjoy doing?

Mike: At the moment I seem to be doing life-size heads more than anything. But it can change daily. I’m hoping to get an exhibition in the near future which may also be an auction. My wife is really my biggest fan and champion … she seems to think I’m worth a lot more than I do! Seriously, it’s about time I busted my ass and put together a collection.

RtB: Is the bulk of your work done on your own, or with others around?

Mike: Usually by myself. But I’ll often get guys in to help out on a deadline, etc.

RtB: What hours of the day do you work? And how many days a week?

Christopher Lee as the Mummy, 1/4 scale. Originally produced by Shapeshifters, Mike Hill's own company. Photo from mikehillart.com.

Mike: Ha, ha! This is like a grilling! Usually after 10 in the morning, sometimes into the evening, depends on the project and my level of enthusiasm for it. And of course deadlines.

RtB: What balance of your work is done on commission/for hire as opposed to personal projects?

Mike: Prob 75 percent to 25 percent in personal projects’ favor.

RtB: What material(s) do you sculpt with?

Mike: Smaller, Super Sculpey. Larger, WED clay. WED is great for larger stuff but dries out if you are not careful.

RtB: What’s your single favorite sculpting tool?

Mike: Probably a small steel dental blade. Sharp at one end, kinda spoon-shaped at the other. I lose them all the time so I buy four at once.

RtB: You’re also terrific at finishing figures, not just painting them, but clothing them, applying hair … everything it takes to make them look like real, living people. Any tricks of the trade you can share?

Mike: Thank you. I’m not sure if there are any tricks to it. If anyone reading this has specific questions I’ll be glad to answer. My stuff is far from perfect, and every aspect needs improvement.

GEOmetric Design's 1/4-scale Ghost of Frankenstein bust, featuring Lon Chaney Jr. as the Monster. Photo from mikehillart.com.

RtB: I read online that you are putting together an instructional DVD. How is that progressing?

Mike: Y’know it’s almost complete … but it seems every time I get back to it, someone brings out a conflicting one. It’s also been a constant strain to not make it a “look what I can do” thing.

SHAMELESS FANBOY QUESTIONS

RtB: What projects currently occupy your attention? Any chance that anything you’re doing will someday end up as a figure kit?

Mike: Actually, I’m working on a kit right now. Classic characters, of course. Let’s just say one of the characters is hairy. It’s a piece I’ve wanted to do in real bronze for the longest time, but I will do a resin version for the folks who like my stuff but can’t afford a bronze.

Mike Hill's Bride of Frankenstein.

RtB: You have done a range of figures that appeal to hobbyists, including superheroes, King Kong and other monsters, various other heroes and villains. I’d guess you’re particularly well known for your werewolves, especially the Wolfman and Curse of the Werewolf; Alex Ross-style comic characters; and other monsters from Universal and Hammer movies. Do you enjoy sculpting these subjects as much as ever? Would you label any of them your very favorites?

Mike: Oh yes, I love the classic monsters and the superheroes, I never get bored, I guess it’s a nostalgia thing.

I really like making these things real “in the flesh”, so to speak. I recently finished a Bride of Frankenstein, actually she’s watching me type right now(!) and it’s an odd but cool feeling to see her, this iconic character looking at me like she’s real. I’m very proud of her.

COTW is my favorite character, always will be. I can’t shake my admiration for the character’s image. I recently spent some time in Ireland with Oliver Reed’s family, which meant a lot to me. I know dear Ollie was watching down on us with a beer in his hand.

Mike Hill recently completed this life-size piece of Boris Karloff being made up as the Frankenstein Monster. Mike says it may be his favorite of his own works, "Though I’m working on a life-size Oliver Reed now that I’m hoping will satisfy my longing to have one … famous last words." Photo courtesy of Mike Hill.

RtB: Of all you’ve sculpted, what particularly pleases you? I don’t mean only figure kits, but any work you’ve done. If you had to call one specific sculpture your “masterpiece”, which would it be?

Mike: I feel the question is hard to answer without sounded conceited … but I really like my recent life-size Karloff in the makeup chair. Though I’m working on a life-size Oliver Reed now that I’m hoping will satisfy my longing to have one … famous last words. Oh, and I really like the new Bride piece.

RtB: My own sculpting skills are unimpressive, my training nonexistent. Can you tell someone like me how you create a likeness in clay? How do you make an assortment of features shared by all human beings look like, say, Boris Karloff? Or Bela Lugosi? Oliver Reed?

Does this make sense? I wouldn’t even know where to start. Does anything in particular leap out at you as the place to begin, or do you wait until you have a chunk of work done and then start shaping things more specifically?

Mike: Very hard question to answer in print, far easier by demonstration. Knowing your character is one of the most overlooked aspects. Their subtle expressions and quirks.

I usually start with the eyes and work from there, concentrating on the face. There is just so much, the folds, the rounds, the profile, the soul even … it’s not easy to get a likeness but you give it your best shot.

Biggest tip: Keep looking at the piece in the mirror!

RtB: Here’s a question most of the sculptors I contact prefer not to answer, but I’m always curious so I ask: Let’s say I would like to commission a 1/6 scale sculpture from you. Perhaps Max Schreck as Graf Orlok, standing on a small flagstone base. If such a project appealed to you, how much would it cost me?

Mike: Your first-born child. Seriously, it’s subject to a lot of factors. Time, material, detail are just a few elements you have to consider.

No, that's not really Superman standing between Mike Hill, left, and painter Alex Ross. It's a life-size statue of the Man of Steel that Mike created, and based on Alex's artwork. Photo from mikehillart.com.

RtB: On your website, you describe Alex Ross as a friend. I presume you met him through work and mutual interests. I see you’ve also met Rick Baker and John Landis. Anyone else who would be of particular interest to fanboys like me?

The Batman statue Mike Hill made for Alex Ross. On his website, Mike calls Alex one of his "greatest inspirations." Photo from mikehillart.com.

Mike: Well Alex Ross is definitely a good friend and also one of my biggest inspirations. I still to this day get lost in his work. I pick up his book “Mythology” and I just absorb it. On top of that, Alex has been a good client for me and a good reason my name got known outside the garage field. I owe him.

Rick Baker is also my good friend, and HUGE inspiration. I’m just one of hundreds of artists he has inspired. I went to lunch with Rick a few weeks ago and took along my son, Connah, to meet him. My son wore a T-shirt with “An American Werewolf in London” image on it. My son said, “Do you think this is OK, not too fanboy-ish?” Only to find Rick was wearing the exact same shirt!

I worked for Rick recently on “The Wolfman” remake, that was two dreams in one. Thing is, the first day I was real nervous, but almost right away  he made me feel at ease, he was very complimentary and fantastic to work with. I kept telling him this wasn’t work, it was like a paid dream come true. Not sure he believed me. We hang out occasionally and talk Universal Monsters a lot!

Rick Baker, left, and Mike Hill's son Connah, right, recently showed up for lunch wearing the same "An American Werewolf in London" T-shirt. Photo courtesy of Mike Hill.

Also on “Wolfman” I worked with Steve Wang, who besides his incredible talent is extremely humble and just a riot to be around! He loved my impression of Harryhausen’s Cylcops. Actually, I do a hell of a Steve Wang impression also…

And last but not least David Fisher (of Amazing Figure Modeler), my favorite painter and one of my most trusted friends.

All of the above above artists have what I refer to as “The Eye”, they can see what others can’t. I’m proud to have worked alongside all of them.

RtB: Do you enjoy seeing the various things painters of different skill levels do with your figure kits? Would you say anyone in particular, besides yourself, is gifted at painting your works?

Mike: Of course it’s fun to see others’ interpretations … sometimes they are not always flattering technique-wise, but these kits are for fun, regardless of your skill level.

As for the second part of the question, the immediate answer is David Fisher. I’ve never seen him paint anything that I haven’t marveled at.

RtB: I know recasters have been particularly vexing for you. Would you like to say anything about that? And, is recasting an aggravation you encounter only with figure kits, and not with other works?

Mike: So far just with kits, I really don’t want to go into it, they don’t deserve either of our time.

More monsters by Mike Hill, from left: Oliver Reed in a Shapeshifters Curse of the Werewolf bust; GEOmetric Design's Mr. Hyde; Christopher Lee in a Shapeshifters Dracula; a Dynamic Forces Hulk; and Mike's own take on a battle-scarred King Kong for Shapeshifters. Photos from mikehillart.com.

Mike Hill molded the hands of a local DJ for his Alex Ross Superman sculpture. Photo from mikehillart.com.

RtB: You are the sculptor of many treasured figure kits. Some are out of production, including the Janus Dracula and Bride (your figures) and a Shapeshifters Curse of the Werewolf. Do you know what, if any, future those figures have?

Mike: I’m hoping they will be remembered. That’s all an artist can ask.

RtB: Would you like to add anything else?

A self-portrait of Mike Hill, which is among the photos in the gallery at mikehillart.com.

Mike: Just a thank you to anyone who is interested or ever collected any of my work. I owe each and every one of you.

Being in the garage kit trade actually opened my horizons, not just in the work area but in all other aspects. I now live in L.A., I have friends now in Texas, New York, New Jersey, Japan … New York cops, judges, Academy Award-winning artists … all because of garage kits. Not bad for a little hobby.

Oh, and Todd, thanks for asking to interview me, it means a lot.

Best.

MH