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

“THE SALTY SEA DOGS”
Sculpted by Andy Bergholtz of AB Sculpture Studio.
Available from Dark Carnival.
1/4 scale, resin.
The first two “Sea Dogs” sell for $75 plus shipping; price on the Captain is $85; the set of all three is $175.
Kits in pictures painted by Phil Sera.

The truth about pirates was ugly. They were thieves and murderers sailing the high seas, and the closest thing they probably got to taking a bath was the occasional saltwater spray from the waves. No fun at all. But the iconic images of pirates built around sources such as the Pirates of the Caribbean and Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” – that’s fun.

Sculptor Andy Bergholtz celebrates those iconic images with his “Salty Sea Dogs,” a trio of buccaneers who are obviously very happy about being very bad. They’ve never had what Andy calls “official” names, but he refers to them as the Captain (the most recently introduced), Deadeye Henry and Frosty Bill.

Andy, 27, lives in St. Louis. He’s married and has kids: Lucy, 3; Andy Jr., 18 months; and a third on the way.

Norm “Kitman” Piatt wrote a terrific interview with Andy in the Spring 2004 issue of the now-defunct Modeler’s Resource. The magazine doesn’t seem to be available through the MR Web site, but it’s worth searching for you if you want a more in-depth piece about Andy. For now, I’ll share what he told me through e-mail.

Q&A WITH ANDY BERGHOLTZ

Resin the Barbarian: Were the Sea Dogs based on some kind of illustration?

Andy: I didn’t use any illustrations as a basis for the designs, they are all original. I was heavily inspired by imagery from the Pirates of the Caribbean Disneyland attraction, which has always been an obsession of mine. Old-school Disneyana is kind of a hobby for me, I’m a huge fan of anything related to the Pirates or Haunted Mansion, etc. These busts are in large part an homage to the old greats like Marc Davis and Blaine Gibson.

RtB: The first two “Salty Sea Dogs” have been around for more than a year; the Captain is new. How long, roughly, did it take from the first, “let’s do this” step when you (and Robb, I resume) decided to do this until now, when all three are ready?

Andy: Well, the first two busts were not planned, they were just clay sketches… Read the rest