Morbius - head

Well, that didn't quite go as planned. After severing the head, it became apparent that i couldn't get his brain out through the neck - and the only way i was going to open up the two clear hemispheres was to snap it.
And i didn't want to do that.
Looking at it, the brain itself seems an ok, quite accurate dark purple, so i'm leaving everything as is.
All i've done is repaint the wires at the rear and the eye stalks then given them all a dirty wash to darken them down and make them less toy-like.

Demoncon III Iguanodon

Maidstone's comic shop "The Grinning Demon" is having its third Demoncon convention at the end of this month.
"Stone", a comic of Maidstone's own superheroine will be launched at the event, the brainchild of Graham (shop owner) Dan Abnett (prof comic book writer and local boy) and numerous artists (all local boys) and looks to be really good.
I wanted to do something to support the event and i asked Graham if there was any monster, craft or gadget in the comic that maybe i could have a go at making?
Yup, there's a monster alright.
One of the very few positive things Maidstone is known for is the discovery of the very first Iguanodon ever found just outside the town. So, the strip has the beastie coming to life and bursting out the musuem.
So, that's what i thought i'd have a go at and initially i was going to go for a full-size head sculpt and have it mounted on a plinth, much like a stuffed trophy.
But then Graham sent me the design sketches:

and told me the scale of the fella...
Okay that's that idea nixed - far, far too big and far, far too smooth surfaced for me to be able to replicate.
Changing tack, i then thought why not buy an Iguanodon figure, adapt it, then put it into a scene to give it scale? If so, why not the comic shop? That's it then, that's what i'd do.
Trouble was, looking around for a suitable figure, the best are in the US and the clock is REALLY ticking on this one and i couldn't risk it not arriving in time.
Instead, i went for the best i could find over here, which is this one:

Not a very good pose but at least its accurate. I'd have to change that accuracy though - the comic version has a much shorter snout and a very pronounced, almost parrot-like beak.
First step was to snip off most of the snout:

Then it was to make a new beak from Green Stuff and to start to add spine fins from the same.
Here i am halfway though that and here he is in his lil' scene of distruction.
Picture frame for a base and i've used the Tamiya Wall Set to give me the remains of the shop. The shop has an alley way at the side of it and i wanted to incorperate that, so have a bit of the next building too:

Sandtrooper - underway

I'm totally indebted to two Sites, without whose info and very knowledgable Forum members i'd not be undertaking this project.
First up is the Mos Eisley Police Department:

http://www.mepd.net/

to my mind, THE US-based place for all things Sandie.
And then there's the UK Garrison, the English version:

http://www.ukgarrison.co.uk/site/

As i say, both are terrific and very supportive to anyone undertaking the quite daunting task of joining them.
It wasn't till i started researching that i realised there's quite a few types of the Sandtrooper seen in the sparse time they're seen on-screen in "A New Hope", with many variations of equipment and weapons.
Many folk choose to recreate exactly the likes of the "Stop That Ship!" or the "These Aren't The Driods We're Looking For" etc troopers, or they go their own way.
That's what i'm going to do and the MEPD has these excellent reference shots for EVERY trooper seen in the film.
Studying them, this one from the MEPD (thanks MEPD) is the closest to what i'll be doing - already have the E11 Blaster, the backpack is exactly the one i'm doing, i'm going for the orange pauldron for a bit of contrast and i really like the MP40 pouches.
But where am i right now?
Well, the frame that everything else on the backpack attaches to is done. Back in '76, when George Lucas decided at the last minute that the Sandtroopers should have some sort of survival units on their backs, a hurried rush to a Boy Scout suppliers turned up a metal frame that rucksacks could then be attached to. These are long gone but, by using overflow piping and connecting thingies, a good aprroximation can be achieved. Here it is - i've used Screwfix products as they come moulded in black, so no spraying needed, and bent the piping to a 30 degree haflway up as needed:

The toilet cistern had been cut down, primed and sprayed Satin Black:

And the radio unit now has the knobs attached, two toggle switches of the right type sourced from Maplins, and the radio dial printed out, glued in with a bit of PVA and a disc of clear plastic cut from a mylar comic sleeve glued on top of that:

Under The Influence - 7

Being an occasional series while the paint is drying, the glue is hardening or waiting for enthusiasm to come back, where i have a waffle on the things, films, books and whatnot that had a direct influence on me, getting me into this hobby or the whole SF/fantasy malarky.
Back when Star Wars had been out and Blakes 7/Battlestar Galactica/Buck Rogers was on the telly and the likes of Starlog and Starburst were putting out details on the modelwork in the above that i was so enthralled by, one publication became my bible more than any other - Fantasy Modeling.
I used to pour over and re-read each isue endlessly but i've chosen this one as THE influence for me.
I was just starting to get into fantasy metal figure painting and this guide, which showed how to make dioramas from household crap like polystyrene packing and the like, was new to me and a real eye-opener:

But, if my eyes were opened by that, they were peeled right back and pegged in place by the interview with Rick Overton.
Now known as an actor and writer, back here he was labelled "young writer/comedian/sf model maker" and was doing just the sort of thing that i knew Martin Bower was doing - creating craft from household items, kit bashing and converting model kits.
But where Martin was doing it for a living and using things and equipment i didn't have a clue about, Rick was, just like me, doing it for his own entertainment and buying everything from his local stores.
The fact that (A) he had a brilliant, imaginative eye, (B) actually had his models on show somewhere, was a massive influence on me.
And i studied these photos for hours and hours.
This ship, clearly inspired by 70's SF covers, i adored:

This Nautilus made from the old Romulan ship looks brilliant and also looked like something i could do:

But it was this Victorian ship that i found just stunning. Its an excellent piece of work and one i may do a riff on at some time:

As i say, hugely influential stuff. If you've never read Fantasy Modeling before, i urge you to track some down.

Six Million Dollar Ship - cockpit

So, i've been looking around for a "head" to put on the front of the ship and i had it in mind to have the "rounded, on its side shape" of the Tantive IV from "A New Hope".
Thinking best way to go about that was to find two round containers glued together, i've gone with these here one's that were only 70p each from Wilkensons.
I've chosen them as
(A) They're a nice strong plastic
(B) They have a nice ribbed detail

The return of the proper Daleks

About blummin' time too

Sandtrooper - off we go.

You may recall last year that i started on my Sandtrooper outfit with the helmet:

Happy to say that the armour will be here before long and i'm looking forward to my biggest ever build challenge.
So, in the meantime, i've started to construct the backpack essential if you're a trooper wanting to survive in the wastelands of Tatooine.
First up, the frame for the backpack. Back in '76 while filming the original, a boy scout backpack harness was used and, of course, they're long gone.
I'm following Nathan over on the UK Forum's advise and maing mine from overflow piping bought from Screwfix. They're much better quality than B&Q's version and have the added bonus of being made from black plastic, so no need for painting. Not assembled yet as i'm awaiting the super-strength glue needed:

One of the major components is a toilet cistern and here's mine, which i'm in the process of cutting down:

The Devourer - messed up

Bugger. Just gone and done a mistake that i keep doing when sculpting - focusing on one area so much that i forget to check how it looks in relation to the rest of it.
In this case i was so busy working out the arm and leg placement in the body that i didn't spot i was making him far too wide:

Not a lot i could do about it - except maybe if i widened out the "mouth" area so there'd be less meat there, it wouldn't be too pronounced.
So that's what i've done, hacking away at it with my junior hacksaw, revealing the layers of Bacofoil, card, tape and wire that i've used in the bodies construction:

Morbius - fleshy

Okay, first up was to putty all the joins and match the existing skin details:

Then primer in grey (to pull everything together), then prime in white (to make a nice bright base to work from) then a coat of GW "Bleached Bone":

The i warmed it up with "Dwarf Flesh":

and then went in and hitted the neck and joint areas with "Burnt Umber", as Morbius' skin is considerably darker in those areas:

Batman Chess Set - Catwoman & Penguin

Here's the next two then - and i'm leaving well alone.
Catwoman is pretty much perfect and an excellent sculpt, with her really only needing some lipstick. The lenses of her goggles are the only bit that's the crappy metallic, but it works on them.
Penguin has more of the metallics about him - trousers, umbrella, hat - but he's such an outlandish and garish character that they're kinda in keeping so are staying. Lovely work on the face here too.

Six Million Dollar Ship

So, off i go then and i'm strating with the underside.
As i say, i have it in mind to have these two rounded affairs running the length of the ship, with a mass of machinery between.
So you can see i've started to pile on the detail and i'll be building up and over pieces as i go to make it look all very busy.
And i've also added some of my beloved go-fasta stripes to the rounded parts just to break them up a bit.

UUUULLAAAAA! - my Martians

Done a bit of a ramble of my collection of the critters up till now:

Blast from the past - the Six Million Dollar Man ship

What you've got here are two modelling projects, seperated by about 20 years.

Project 1:
Back in the late 70's when i'd just started scratchbuilding and converting things into all sorts of SF craft and devices, i'd gotten hold of my old Six Million Dollar Man repair station/spaceship thingy with a view to making it into a spaceship. I'd gotten some way with it before losing interest and consigning it to the attic.

Project 2:
Fast forward to a couple of years ago when i discover the long-forgotten project while up in my Mum's attic.
Dusting it off, i thought i'd give it a bit more of a go.
First up, i remove some of the pretty clunky detail i'd put on and replace the cereal box cardboard i'd used in places for Plasticard. And then i started adding new pieces.
Looking at the above photo it goes, left to right:
New Plasticard strips in that recessed area,
the next raised slightly section is original, hand painted in Humbrol Matt Grey (!) and 2 years ago i've added bits to cover it up,
new panelling and bits immediately below that,
another original grey section,
more new panels,
the raised area next and the rest of the ship has parts from the X Wing, which i'd put on in the seventies,
and finally, the colourful part at the end is a bit from a toy submarine that i'd put on 2 years ago.
You can also see everywhere orange marking, which are the remnants of the glue where i'd removed things.
I'd kept the bottom blank back at Project 1, but at Project 2 you can see i've started adding detail:

And that's what it was like two years ago until - Groundhog Day! - i lost interest and put it in a new attic.
But found it today and it got me to thinking:

New Project:
To start this up again. Its in the bath right now having a soak and when dry i intend to first cover up all those orangy bits with panels and continue with the detailing.
I'm not quite sure, but i'm thinking the insperation when i first started this was the Rag-Tag Fleet in "Battlestar Galactica" and was looking to have something in that style.
Can still see that now, but something about it is saying "Star Wars" - held at some angles, its got the look of the Blockade Runner about it.
Whatever, it'll be needing some sort of cockpit at the front there, so am keeping 'em peeled.

Morbius

You may remember how a while back i puttied and repainted that classic Who creature, the Zygon?
I like the idea of having a whole bunch of the good Doctors in the same scale, so have just bought Morbius up cheap off the 'Bay.
Looking at it, the joints are even gappier than on the Zygon, but it should be no probs.
I also want to try and prise the dome apart so i can get inside and repaint the Timelords brain, along with all the machinery in there.

Batman Chess Set - Joker done

Okay, that's him done and here he is with the other two.
Something that's becoming noticble is the variance in sizes - compare Batman's tiny face to Robin and Joker.

Blade Runner Spinner - all done

Here she is then, decals on and those tiny metal "Spinner" badges glued on.
I've also closed up the wheels into the flying mode - it can't fly 'cause there ain't anyone in there, but its ready to, just as soon he gets in.

R.I.P. Moebius

What a rotten week.
Another SF visionary leaves us and, again, one who's left an indelible print on fantasy filmwork.
Aside from the aborted "Dune" project, Moebius is well known for being a massive influence on Ridley Scott for the hardware look of "Alien" and you can see here with his pre-production work, Ridely sure stuck to it.
Besides that, of course, he was a brilliant draughtsman and comic book illustrator, a truely unique talent.
Such a loss.

Batman Chess Set - Robin done

Here he is then and this is what i did/didn't do:
Hair and face left as is,
mask as is,
all the uniform done,
badge as is, staff as is.
Real pleased how he's come out and he's a truly accurate Frank Quitely version of Robin - even down to the skinny neck:

Blade Runner Spinner - assembled

Here she is then, the cockup with the canopy sorted and the final parts on.
You're given a choice of flying or driving mode and i much prefer the flying mode, thinking the front wheels here like this look silly.
But i don't want to have it on a flying stand, so went with the driving version, that way i could set it in a curbside scene.
But now thinking: why not have those pieces in the flyinf position and still have it on the ground - it could've just lowered them down ready for take-off.

R.I.P. Ralph McQuarrie

SO, so sorry to hear of Ralph's passing.
A true visionary, who's contribution to SF concept work was invaluable.
He'll be missed.

Batman Chess Set - Joker & Robin - white

Okay, this is my prep stage.
The Joker's shirt and Robin's everything-but-the-dark-bits get a sloppy coat of white.
That's to make the red and yellow i'll be using that much brighter.
I'll be redoing the green of the Joker's hair and the green bits of Robin's outfit but green always goes on nicely - so no need for a white basecoat first.

Batman Chess Set - Joker & Robin.

Oh dear, oh dear. Know now why Eaglemoss are labelling the line "metallic resin" - they're gonna everything to make it look like its cast in metal.
A daft, daft idea that makes things end up looking like they're prizes from a fairground stall.
Can understand it with any objects on the figure but...
metallic green for the Joker's hair????
metallic shirt and suit?
A metal cape for Robin?
Bizarre.
Having said that though, the sculpts are excellent (altough Robin is almost adult-sized) and, again, my respect for the poor sods on the production line is hug - just look at the detail on the Joker's cards.
I was gonna prime and start all over again with the Joker, but those cards and the face not being too bad has made me change tack.
So this is what i'll be doing:
Joker:
New hair, leave the eyes as is (they're green mettalic but gleam nicely), new shirt, new suit.
Robin:
the mask is metaalic and therefore not right but i'm leaving it as there's no way i'd be able to do as good a job, all the outfit repainted

Dragon's Domain derelict ship

I think i detailed this waaaaaay back in the early days of this Blog and seem to remember it was hard to show things clearly as it was just too darn big to fit into one shot.
So, with me now putting things on Youtube, thought i'd look back on it there: