Resin the Barbarian - Part 8

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Joe Simon’s Blue Boy and Neo Nazi

July 11th, 2009

Originally published June 16, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Blue Boy

“BLUE BOY”
A companion piece to the PSI “Hellboy” bust.
1/3 scale resin bust, 13 inches tall.
Nine parts.

Neo Nazi

“NEO NAZI”
1/6 scale resin model kit. About a foot tall.
Nine parts.
Both sculpted by Joe Simon and offered through 3rd Eye Design.
Price for each is $100 plus shipping.

Joe SimonJoe Simon must be one of the busier garage-kit sculptors around, judging by the number of companies he works with. In addition to the kits he makes for his own company, 3rd Eye Design, Joe works with GEOmetric Design, CultTVman, Kitbuilders Magazine, Model Giants, PSI and more. He’s the kind of sculptor who can produce more wonderful work in a year than half-talented kitbuilders like myself could actually hope to build and paint.

Joe, 33, lives in Bangkok, Thailand. He moved there from Minnesota almost four years ago after a friend invited him to Malaysia for Chinese New Year; he planned to stay a week and “see the world from a different view,” now he feels at home there.

Joe’s not married but has been with “the boss” about three years. She’s “10 years younger (and) dreams of taking over the world,” he wrote in an e-mail. “She started with me!”

Joe says he comes from a huge family and plans to leave carrying on the name to the rest of the bunch. “I never wanna stop being a kid myself, playing with clay, paint and guitars!” he wrote.

I’ve been watching for a chance to get in touch with Joe for several months now, and his new “Hellboy”-related kits gave me the perfect excuse.

Q&A WITH JOE SIMON

Resin the Barbarian: I’ve never actually read the “Hellboy” comics, but I like the movie a lot. Can I safely assume these kits represent the characters as shown in the film?

Joe: I have to honestly say I didn’t read the “Hellboy” comic either, didn’t know much about the characters till the movie came out … I was hooked instantly!

HellboyVisually the characters inspired me.. that’s why I’ve done three sculpts so far, and hope to do more. More than likely, I will stick to the movie version on those also.

RtB: These are pieces you are selling through your own company, so I guess that means no one commissioned you to make them. What drew you to this subject matter?

Joe: Originally Jerry Buchanan of PSI Kits had commissioned me to sculpt a 1/3rd scale Hellboy bust. After watching… Read the rest

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Nocturna Productions

July 11th, 2009

Originally published June 14, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Yesterday, I had a Q&A with sculptor Dave Grasso, discussing the upcoming reissue of his classic “hatted” Nosferatu kit through Nocturna Productions. Today, I have a Q&A with Cindy and David Fisher, the folks behind Nocturna.

Pretty much anyone involved with garage kits knows the background of David Fisher and his partner, Terry Webb, because most everyone involved with the kits has discovered their magazine, Amazing Figure Modeler. If you’re not familiar with it yourself, or even if you just haven’t read it before, click HERE for a fantastic write-up.

Cindy and David live in Tennessee. They met in art school and have been married for 24 “terrific” years.

Nocturna ProductionsQ&A WITH CINDY AND DAVID FISHER

Resin the Barbarian: Anyone who’s interested in the work of David Fisher finds out quickly he’s a fan of Nosferatu kits. Cindy, are you also a fan of the character?

Cindy: Most definitely, but not as obsessed David! I love silent movies in general, from Harold Lloyd to Lon Chaney. I find them fascinating as an art form and as period time capsules.

RtB: As I recall (and my memory may be failing me), Nocturna was introduced as a company run by Cindy, but plainly David is involved as well. What role do each of you take in the company, and do the products you sell reflect both of your interests?

David: Nocturna Productions is completely Cindy’s company, but I obviously help with advice and my connections to sculptors in the hobby, as well as the graphic design of ads and packaging.

I’ve also sculpted bases for kits such as the Gothic base, Skull Pit and Lab Base, which Nocturna has produced throughout the years.

As for Cindy, Nocturna began as a simple business created to help Mike Hill sell his Hammer bust series in the U.S., then she commissioned a sculpture from Mike of the “Curse of the Werewolf” which was in production until just recently when the third set of molds wore out. Then she commissioned a set of silent horror super-deforms from sculptor Rick Force. Most recently she worked a deal with Staffan Linder to re-release the Swede Creations Nosferatu, and will soon release David Grasso’s Nosferatu as well.

I guess she does everything but cast the kits!

Staffan Linder's NosferatuRtB:I presume the reissue of the Swede Creations Kinski Nosferatu was a success for you; I know it generated a lot of buzz last year. Is that part of what inspired you to approach Dave Grasso? What else… Read the rest

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Nocturna’s Grasso Nosferatu

July 11th, 2009

Originally published June 16, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

David Fisher\'s Nosferatu

“COUNT ORLOCK”
Sculpted by Dave Grasso.
Phil Sera\'s NosferatuSoon to be reissued by Nocturna Productions.
1/6 scale (a little more than a foot tall), made of resin, with a piece of jeweler’s chain holding the lantern.
Price: TBD.

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, many garage-kit makers and builders love the vampire – Graf Orlock – from the silent movie “Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror.” Why should a pale, rat-toothed creature be such a draw to GK fans? I’m not certain, but I suspect it has a lot to do with two people: David Fisher of Amazing Figure Modeler and sculptor Dave Grasso, the subject of today’s e-mail Q&A.

Dave GrassoIn 2000, Fisher wrote an article in issue 21 of his magazine headlined “Nosferatu: Land of the Rats.” The piece was a look at more than two dozen Nosferatu garage kits and remains a valuable, though slightly dated, summary of the subject. In it, he said of Grasso’s “hatted” Nosferatu: “…the face captures the old man features of the character better than any other I’ve seen. The features and accuracy are incredible, and the expressive hands are exactly what is needed to cure my Orlock fever. The pose is classic, the detailing superb.”

Coming soon from Nocturna Productions, the company run by Cindy Fisher, David’s wife: A much-anticipated reissue of that Grasso Nosferatu. More about the Fishers later this week.

VampirellaNow, Dave Grasso. If you’re interested in the subject enough to have read this far, it’s a pretty good sign that you’re familiar with Dave’s work even if you don’t know it. He’s a special makeup and creature effects artist currently finishing up on thethird “Resident Evil” movie at Patrick Tatopoulos Studios. He worked at Stan Winston Studio about nine years. Other titles on Dave’s résumé include “Jurassic Park,” “Batman Returns,” “Terminator 2″ and “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

Dark Horse Invisible ManGarage-kit hobbyists will also know Dave for his first Nosferatu kit, the Invisible Man he sculpted for Dark Horse and a Vampirella based on artwork bySanjulian. He also did a few toys for Stan Winston Creatures and many maquettes for studios he’s worked with over the years.

“I’ve always wanted to get back in the garage-kit world (I’ve had other ideas for kits in the past), but was always to busy with film and toy work to pursue it,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Dave lives in California and has a wife and kids.

“My dad was and still is a great one for… Read the rest

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Batman Begins by Scott Whitworth

July 11th, 2009

Originally published June 8, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Batman Begins

Batman Begins“BATMAN BEGINS” BUST
• Sculpted by Scott Whitworth of Formation Designs.
• Produced by WebbHead Enterprises.
• 1/4 scale, about 10 inches tall.
• Two resin parts.
• The kit in the pictures was painted by Steve Riojas of Denver.

Back in my preschool days, late ’60s until about 1970, the world was all about the campy “Batman” TV series. While grown-ups were laughing at those silly “POWS!” and Robin in tights, little kids like me were taking the show dead seriously and making capes out of bath towels.

Move to my elementary school days and Batman was still an important character, but he was the Batman, a dark hero battling villains such as the maniacal Joker and the exotic Ra’s Al-Ghul.

Jump to college. Comics remained an occasional interest, but mostly as bathroom reading and the only titles that came into the house were stuff Dad found at garage sales. In 1985, I was buried in pretending to do homework and most of the fiction I read was what my teachers assigned. That’s when I happened on a story in the newspaper about Frank Miller’s “Batman: The Dark Knight Returns,” a four-issue series about the Batman coming out of retirement in his 50s. Like millions of others, I checked them out and loved them. Those comics were hugely popular, as was the follow-up “Batman: Year One,” also written by Frank Miller and presented in four issues of the ongoing “Batman” comic book.

Batman BeginsOf course, Warner Bros., owner of DC Comics, couldn’t help but notice that the Caped Crusader was more popular than ever and decided to make a movie. Tim Burton’s original “Batman” – starring Jack Nicholson as the Joker and Michael Keaton as Bats – debuted on the big screen in 1989 and generally pleased fans like me, even though the story pretty much fell apart in the last hour. It was followed up in 1992 by “Batman Returns,” featuring Michelle Pfeiffer as an interesting Catwoman and Danny DeVito as a disgusting Penguin. Fans are split on that one; I didn’t care for it and found Joel Schumacher’s follow-up – “Batman Forever” (1995), with Val Kilmer as the title hero and Chris O’Donnell as Robin – an improvement despite the forgettable villains and increased camp. However, I’ll never forgive Schumacher for the fourth movie in the series, “Batman and Robin” (1997), a film that failed so spectacularly further Bat-projects were shelved for years.

Scott WhitworthThose of us who liked Frank Miller’s vision of Batman found things to enjoy about some of these Batman movies, but… Read the rest

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William Paquet’s Nosferatu

July 11th, 2009

Originally published June 1, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Paquet\'s Nosferatu

Paquet's NosferatuPAQUET “NOSFERATU” BUST
Based on the 1922 silent classic movie “Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror”
• Sculpted by William Paquet
• Produced by Tower of London, available from X-O Facto
• About 1/2 scale, 11 inches tall
• Made of two resin parts; casting by Mark Brokaw of Earthbound Studios
• Price: $120 plus shipping
• The “Nosferatu” kit pictured was painted by  Steve Riojas of Denver

Back in the silent era of movies, director F.W. Murnau turned actor Max Schreck into Graf Orlok, one of the most memorable vampires ever put on screen. Unfortunately, instead of coming up with a story of their own or paying the Bram Stoker estate for the rights to “Dracula,” the filmmakers simply swiped the story. That led to all kinds of nasty legal entanglements, and for years it was a challenge to see the movie.

These days, “Nosferatu” has moved into the public domain, and in addition to being able to find cheap DVD copies of it all over the place, it’s one of the most popular subjects for garage model kits, one of the latest being the bust pictured above.

That piece and the others pictured are the work of sculptor William Paquet. William’s name is one of the first I learned when I got interested in garage kits, because he’s the creative talent behind some of the most sought-after kits ever produced. Of course, I’ve been watching for an excuse to contact him to do an e-mail Q&A ever since I started doing these profiles.

William, 41, lives in Virginia. He’s got a wife, Laurie; daughter, Valerie; a border collie named Rex; and two cats, Clovis and Vincent. Considering the frightening nature of much of his sculpture, I had to ask if there were any tell-tale hearts beating in his home. “No corpses under the floorboards,” he told me, “but a decent collection of animal skulls, including a crocodile and a bear.”

Paquet\'s monsters

Q&A WITH WILLIAM PAQUET

Resin the Barbarian: Wasn’t the Nosferatu sculpture originally intended to be a very large, full figure piece? If so, why didn’t that work out?

William PaquetWilliam: Time. The piece as it originally was intended is about 80 percent complete, but finding the time in my schedule to complete it has been difficult,

RtB: Does this bust represent a specific moment in the silent movie “Nosferatu”? If so, what is the character doing at this moment?

William:… Read the rest

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Godzilla Ghost with T’s Facto

July 11th, 2009

Originally published May 25, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Thanks to “kiryu” and “raydrz” for the suggested questions.

Godzilla\'s Ghost by T\'s Facto

Godzilla's Ghost by T's Facto“GODZILLA GHOST”
Inspired by the original, 1954 movie “Godzilla”
• Produced by T’s Facto
• Sculpted by Takashi Yamawaki, popularly known as “T”, who also painted the piece pictured
• About 15.75 inches tall
• 51 parts (see below for a breakdown)
• Made of resin
• Price: 29,000 yen (about $260 U.S.)
• Shipping to the United States would cost about $37
• Scheduled for release in June

Frankly, the giant-monster (kaiju) movies from Japan are often pretty cheesy stuff. People dressed in rubber costumes stomp on neat scale-model buildings and fight each other. The best I’ve seen of them are fun and have some wonderful moments; only the very worst are so bad you can’t enjoy them at least a little.

Godzilla's Ghost by T's FactoFew are what I would define as truly “great” movies, although I do get a chill from post-attack scenes in the first Godzilla movie, made when the nuclear bombings in Japan were a recent memory.

Model kits based on this material are often some of the most dazzling you’ll see, and this week’s subject – “Godzilla Ghost” from T’s Facto – is the latest to floor me, coming from a sculptor whose works often make me wonder just how much I want to overheat my credit card on my hobby.

Full-time Godzilla's Ghost by T's Factosculptor and kit seller “T” (Takashi Yamawaki) is 38 years old, unmarried, and lives inSaitama prefecture, just next to Tokyo. His mastery of written English is wonderful, judging by our e-mail exchange, which is great because I couldn’t have written this entry based on my nonexistent skill with the Japanese language. For the record, I had to do some minor editing in the Q&A exchange below, but not as much as I’ve had to do with some native English speakers in more than 15 years of newspaper experience.

“T” says he worked at International Hotel as a bartender in Singapore from the ages of 20 to 35 and learned English from his Chinese girlfriend. He moved on to sculpting three years ago.

Godzilla\'s Ghost by T\'s Facto

Q&A WITH TAKASHI YAMAWAKI, A.K.A. “T”

Resin the Barbarian: This kit represents Godzilla at the end of the first movie, when he is destroyed underwater. As I recall, the skeleton is not clearly seen in the film. What did you use as reference material?

T“T”: There was a movie in 2002, “Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla.” “The Monsters Inc.,” which is a sculpting team, made the skeleton model for this movie.… Read the rest

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Frankenstein’s Monster by Mark Newman

July 11th, 2009

Originally published May 18, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.

Mark Newman\'s Frankenstein Monster

Mark Newman\'s Frankenstein Monster• Produced by Mark Newman Sculpture Inc.
• Sculpted by Mark Newman, who also painted the kit in the photos
• Scale: About 1/5; the figure is 15 1/4 inches tall
• Material: Solid resin
• Number of parts: Five, including the base
• Price: $150 plus $12 shipping in the United States

Fans of monster models could fill whole shelves with the Frankenstein Monster. I should know, I’ve done it.
The Monster, first pieced together in the pages of Mary Shelley’s novel and reborn time and time again on both the big and small screen, is arguably the most popular subject for fans of figure models. This is particularly true of the Universal Studios Monster, first embodied in 1931 by Boris Karloff. A flat-headed, neck-bolted Universal Monster was the first monster model released by Aurora in 1961, and the kit was so popular that the company followed it up with more monsters that were released and re-released over the years.

Horizon Original made a great Universal Monster kit, as did Billiken, GEOmetric Design and more. MANY more.

However, the Universal Studios version of the Monster isn’t the only one to win fans. Plenty of other visions of the creature have also kept kitbuilders busy over the years. Click on the “popular subject” link above for a good sampling.

Mark Newman\'s Frankenstein MonsterSome of those monsters represent the unique visions of their creators. That can be said of this week’s subject: “Frankenstein’s Monster” by Mark Newman, 43, of Oakland, Calif.

I’ve known Mark’s name for a while now, having heard time and again from hobbyists with a longer garage-kit background than my own 4 1/2 years, who considered him one of the best sculptors in the field. They usually spoke of him in terms of someone who had moved on from GKs to other works, and on the rare occasions they came up on eBay, his kits were at the center of bidding wars.

Then, a few months ago, Mark sort of reappeared on some Internet forums, and not too long after that he started asking people about the Frankenstein sculpture he was working on. “Would you consider buying this if it were a kit?” he asked.

Of course, the answer was a loud “Bring it on!”

As one of the Frankenstein Monster’s many longtime fans, I figured I just had to e-mail the mad doctor behind this latest version.

Q&A WITH MARK NEWMAN

Resin the Barbarian: How… Read the rest

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