December 1st, 2009
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…
Read the rest Filed under Monsters, Producers, Resin, Sculptors, Swashbucklers and buccaneers | Tags: Head Merchant | Comments Off |
November 1st, 2009
For a lot of us, the concept of setting aside childish things just because we’ve grown up is alien. We want that child inside us to be there forever. For others, those “childish things” are naturally woven into the adults we become. I think Bobby Horne is one of those guys.
Bobby is almost 43 years old, all grown up and lives in mid-Tennessee. He has been married for 21 years to the “beautiful and understanding” Jennifer. Their three kids are Kirstie, 17, William, 12, and Endora, 6.
He works as a graphic designer, “anything from sign work, computer graphics to woodworking. Years ago, I worked in a cabinet shop and never got the sawdust outta my blood.” Sort of like resin model kits, he said. “Once you start, you never really stop.”
Bobby is about two years younger than I, so I think we grew up enjoying some of the same stuff: G.I. Joe, Big Jim, that kind of thing. Maybe he read some of the same comics I did, and was just as thrilled when the Mego figures of comic characters (both Marvel and DC!) were introduced.
Today, through his Academy Art & Design, Bobby offers customized Megos, decals and plenty more. E-mail him at
aadesign@nctc.com.
Q&A WITH BOBBY HORNE
Resin the Barbarian: What’s your own personal “toy story”? Megos seem to be your particular interest. Do you remember when you became a fan, and what figure first got your attention?
Bobby: My toy story goes…
Read the rest Filed under Comics, Producers | Tags: action figure, Action Man, Big Jim, G.I. Joe, Mego | 6 Comments » |
October 23rd, 2009
Disclosure: I sell this kit and need money, so the opinions expressed herein may be tainted. Please take that into account.
My case of Moebius Frankenstein’s Monster kits arrived today. I was pleased to note that, despite a hole in the side of the shipping box, my kits are in good shape, as opposed to the beating UPS gave my case of Spider-Man kits. There was a little bit of a muddy spot on the shrink wrap of one kit, so that’s the one I kept for myself and opened up this afternoon.
Let’s not bury the lead. Plenty of people have objected to the look of this monster and I agree that it’s not the out-of-the-ballpark home run of the Mummy. This kit looks less like Karloff and is overall a bit stiff, even for the Monster. However, I still like it, and I was pleased to see how detailed the kit’s facial features are.
At first, I thought it might help to use some Aves to lengthen the face a bit. Now that I see the kit in person, though, I might instead suggest chopping a couple of millimeters off the neck to give the creature a somewhat tougher, more bull-necked look. Of course, Karloff himself was thin, but the costume’s padding hid that. I wanted to show how this new Moebius Monster looks next to the Aurora classic. Unfortunately, the only version of that kit I have handy is a Luminators with that wild translucent…
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Filed under Hobby news, Monsters, Styrene plastic | Tags: Universal | Comments Off |
October 16th, 2009
Scott McKillop of
Monarch Models shared this with me. It’s the official high-resolution photo of Sinbad, built and painted by Randy Eveleigh. Click it to see the whole image. I think Monarch still hopes to have this out before year’s end, but don’t quote me on that.
Filed under Hobby news, Styrene plastic, Swashbucklers and buccaneers | Comments Off |
October 1st, 2009
Click here for an update about the DVD specifics.
In 1966, two people took major steps toward living their dreams. One was James Bama, a New York City commercial illustrator, about 40 years old, whose portfolio included dozens of cover paintings for Doc Savage paperbacks and the box art for many of Aurora’s monster model kits. The other was Cortlandt Hull of Bristol, Conn., great-nephew of
“Werewolf of London” star Henry Hull, a 13-year-old lover of classic horror movies and builder of Aurora models.
Looking over my notes for this month’s “Resin the Barbarian” interview, recognizing the time frame of the turning points in these two men’s lives, I was fascinated to realize that Mr. Bama began to move away from the genre work that has remained popular about the same time Cortlandt embraced a life ever influenced by monsters. Cortlandt’s decision was made in part because he — like millions of others — so loved Mr. Bama’s box art. Decades later, Mr. Bama was impressed with the work Cortlandt and director Dennis Vincent did profiling artist
Basil Gogos on
“The Witch’s Dungeon: 40 Years of Chills”, so he invited them to visit his home in Wapiti, Wyo., for a rare interview that will be featured in the documentary
“Legends of Film & Fantasy”, to be available on DVD in early 2010.
Wapiti is where Mr. Bama finally settled a few years after he and his wife, Lynne, departed Manhattan, according…
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Filed under Monsters, Movie makers, Sci-Fi | Tags: Aurora, documentary, DVD, Jim Bama | 4 Comments » |
