Stuff from the hard drive part 4 of 4: Miscellaneous...

Here is the last installment of the stuff that inhabited my hard drive. They're were all painted by me. Enjoy!

Resin Chef Godzilla 1973

Resin Chef Megalon, second version.

Billiken Predator

Billiken Cyclops, two horned version.

Dimensional Designs Kraken from »Clash of the Titans«

Glenn Strange bust by William Paquet/Gothic House Designs

Resin from the Grave Igor together with Billiken Frankenstein Monster

The above with some Photoshop added.

Mike Hill's Horror Mount Rushmore

Aurora Plastic's Phantom of the Opera

Billiken Dracula

Billiken Phantom of the Opera

Resin from the Grave Werewolf of London

Juniper Model's Diana Rigg of »The Avengers«

Needful Things Yoda

Stuff from the hard drive, Part 2 of 4: Nosferatu!

Now a whole lotta Nosferatu images, one of my favourite characters and modelling subjects ever.

The first entry is Dave Grasso's first take on Max Schreck, 1:6 scale resin kit. A little Photoshop composite added based on the image Mr. Grasso used as reference.

Sculptor Jeff Yeagher used the final death scene in the movie as template for his awesome Nosferatu kit, released by the "Tower of London" company. Again, resin, 1:6 scale and a little Photoshopping.

From Great Britain comes Mooncrest Models 1:5 scale bust of Count Orlock, sculpted by Gary Hilliard.

Mike Good did this 1:5 scale bust for Jaguar Models.

My customized version of Monarch Models first release: Nosferatu! I added the hat, a few centimeters to the legs and reworked the nameplate. It's an Aurora 1:8 scale styrene plastic model kit.

Again, a ”Tower of London" release of William Paquet's terrific 1:3 scale resin bust of the count.

And finally, a bad picture of Amazing Figure Modeller Magazine's Nosferatu kit sculpted by Staffan Lindner of Sweden. 1:8 scale resin kit.

More to come!

»The Aurora Monsters-The Model Craze That Gripped The World«

The annual Rondo Awards 2010 has been given away and the DVD »The Aurora Monsters-The Model Craze That Gripped The World« won »Best Documentary«. Well deserved in my opinion (in fact I voted for it), it's a passionate tribute to the classic AURORA Monster Kits and the talented people responsible for bringing them to life during the »Monster Craze« of the 1960s.

The documentary is written, produced and co-directed by Cortlandt Hull (who is also the man behind the wax museum called the »The Witch’s Dungeon«) and puppeteer Bill Diamond (of »Fraggles« fame). Congratulations! Their labor of love is available on DVD through his own website. Here you can see Mr. Hull with his old fiend Zenobia ....

Narrated by the legendary TV horror host Zacherly the Cool Ghoul, the highly-visual, two-hour documentary features in-depth interviews, a wax-sculpture demonstration, rare photos, sketches and promotional material related to AURORA and the »Monster Craze« of the 1960s.

The documentary features insights into the sculpting, production and marketing of the classic AURORA kits from some of the people who originally worked on them as well as memories from such fans as artist Daniel Horne, Sideshow Collectibles sculptor Mat Falls, actor/sculptor Jeff Yeagher and Moebius Models owner Frank Winspur on how the kits inspired them until today.

One highlight of the documentary is an interview with famous illustrator/artist James Bama, who created the vivid and color dripping box art for the monster model kits back then.

Now get your Paypal ready and order yours today! And the other good news is ... there is a sequel on the way already! Stay tuned!

All pictures © 2010 Cortlandt Hull/ Bill Diamond

Classic Plastic Part five: Aurora/ Moebius Gigantic Frankenstein

Sorry for not posting so long, the last link in a chain of events slowing me down in the past three months was breaking my right hands wrist. But I'm at least back on track in the web (while still not able to draw and paint) and delivering the last installment of my Classic Plastic series: Gigantic Frankenstein.

Once the holy grail of AURORAphiles, mainly because of the hefty pricetag back in the 60ties. For $4.95 you could buy 5 regular AURORA monster models or tons of candy. So most kids skip it, resulting in poor sales. Big Frankie disappeared quickly from the catalog and store shelves within a year and haunted the minds of Baby Boomersever since.

Demanding up to $2.000 on Ebay for a complete kit in the past decade Moebius Models finally reissued the kit in 2008 after Polar Lights passed the bucket before, making it available to modellers who couldn't afford the Original.

Build up Frankies dropped in price once the re-pop was available, but the original box is still a sought-after collectible if in pristine condition and basically impossible to find. Part of the magic is the sensational artwork by James Bama depicting Glenn Strange in the classic Karloff makeup.

Building the kit is a challenge indeed due to the size. Handling isn't easy while painting - I subassembled most of the parts and put them together after painting, but some major gaps needed putty and repainting. I removed the chain and stone, mainly because I don't like them to begin with. He is a great, humorous addition to the Frankenstein collection. So go, make a friend and build the friendliest Monster in town yourself! (You can get one here...)