Phantom of the Opera - Bust by Silver Screen Icons

Silver Screen Icons released this nice bust in 2008 based on Lon Chaneys apperance as »Phantom of the Opera« from the Silent Screen Classic. It was sculpted by Mark VanTine and was followed by a Chaney Hunchback bust a year later ( you can find my build up here). I only wished they would made it as a full figure kit.....

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...)

Classic Plastic Part four: Mr. Spock vs the Three-Headed Snake

This box is a kind of an childhood trauma to me. Standing in shop window in 1976 with the exorbitant pricetag of 14,95 German Marks it seemed so near. But for an 9-year-old with an biweekly allowance of 2,50 Marks it was far away as China. Not to mention my mother would never give permission for a purchase that high back in that days.

Fast forward to the year 1995. I finally tracked down an already build up Spock kit in a shop in Berlin, swallowed my pride and paid a whopping 150,- German Marks to own it. Ten-times the original price of that kit in 1976! Alas, it was before Ebay....

Well, long story short: I restored it over the years bit by bit (a tedious task getting rid of the seams) and finally finished it painting recently. I used very bright colors, reminiscent to the old, artificial TV-Series look.

This kit was available from AMT and AURORA as well. AMT sold it in the late 60ties in the USA, Aurora got permission to sell it in the UK and Europe from 1972. AMT used a more colorful boxart than AURORA....

Round two recently reissued the kit in an collector's tin box and a regular edition as well. So if you want to sniff some glue and throw some paint on Mr. Spock yourself, you can order it from here....