September 20th, 2009
Horizon Original’s Michael Keaton Batman from “Batman Returns” may be my favorite superhero kit. Sculpted by Steve Wang, it is a wonderfully dynamic portrayal of the Dark Knight produced by a great company. Plus, it’s vinyl, and despite my “Resin” blog name, vinyl is generally my preferred medium for garage kits.
This kit was made available twice, first in a nice large box, plenty of room for the kit, with some neat images from the movie (and by the way, despite my fondness for the costume, I didn’t think much of “Batman Returns”). The second issue was in a much smaller box and the parts are stuffed in.
I heard some time back that the second issue of the kit had a somewhat better likeness of Keaton, possibly because someone, somewhere, decided to soften some of Mr. Wang’s detail before releasing the kit first time around. I glanced at them to see if I could figure out what was different, but never really examined them until today.
Here’s my conclusion: It’s true, the second version of the kit does look better. It’s hard to tell because the first one is cast in a creamy vinyl that makes it difficult to see some of the detail, while the second is in a nice primer-colored gray. But the first one does look a little softer. There’s more of a sneer to the second one, possibly because the lips are a bit more full. Some details to the jowls are more defined as…
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September 16th, 2009
It has been my privilege to write a handful of articles for Amazing Figure Modeler, although my last two were published more than a year ago. I’m going to scan all the pages of my work and post it here, although not large enough that you can actually read it. Back issues are still available through the
AFM website.
First up, the Shiflett Brothers from issue 42. I confess that I cheated here, because I swiped the scan from the
Shifletts’ site.
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September 11th, 2009
Only fair to start this off with a disclosure: I sell these kits. I bought a case of each, kept a couple for myself, and now need half a dozen or so someones to buy the rest from me so I can make money for more kits. It’d be great if some of the people who read this bought the kit from me, but if not from me, then get them somewhere else.
Because they’re terrific figures. Really, possibly the best comic model kits ever made in styrene. They have all the terrific energy of the old Toy Biz Marvel Comics kits, but without the intimidation of poor-fitting parts. Plus, the Moebius kits are bigger. I spent a little while this evening poking through the boxes, test-assembling some parts, and was pleased.
These latest releases from Moebius Models, hot on the heels of the Universal Studios Karloff Mummy figure, help establish the company as one of the top producers of fantasy figure kits ever. Amazing. Thanks in large part to Moebius, hobbyists have available to them a steady flow of new kits of this kind, whereas only a few years ago it seemed that plastic fantasy figure kits were a thing of the past.
For the most part, I’m going to let my admittedly substandard photography do the talking here, because I think these kits speak for themselves. Without further ado:
The Green Goblin is available from Resin the Barbarian for $23.50 plus shipping. The case of Spider-Man kits was…
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September 9th, 2009
One big advantage of my family’s move to the Colorado Springs area is that we’re close to
Compleat Games and Hobbies. It’s a fantastic hobby store, filled from floor to ceiling with neat stuff. Not as many garage kits as it used to have, but lots of great plastic kits.
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September 3rd, 2009
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.
Those figures include a John Barrymore Mr.…
Read the rest Filed under Monsters, Painters, Producers, Resin, Sculptors | Tags: fritz frising, jon wang, monster, monstrology, silent, william paquet | 5 Comments » |
