Erik, the Opera Ghost--Ouverture

I underwent a root canal on Thursday, and while the procedure was remarkably pain-free, the aftermath has been somewhat uncomfortable and draining; in other words, I was in no condition to engage in precision, delicate work. But as I am not one to squander an otherwise perfectly good opportunity to get some work done by laying about trying to guess when the next wave of pain would hit, I decided to break into a kit that I've had for nearly a decade.

Back in the day, Polar Lights released some remarkable kits. First and foremost, in this modeller's opinion, was their Phantom of the Opera. This wasn't a re-pop of the venerable Aurora release, but an entirely new tooling (#5027) that included the organ! This kit was a self-contained diorama the likes of which had never been seen in the styrene world!! (Perhaps a bit of an overstatement, but not by much. . . )



PLUSES:
1) Excellent styrene! Immediately responsive to liquid cement, albeit somewhat softer than I'd like. [NOTE: Care should be taken when using "hotter" putties/fillers (incl. RGP): apply and build-up using thin layers; DO NOT use liquid cement as a thinner; and let dry at least 24 hrs. before working the surface!]
2) Positive lock fit. This is as close to a snap-together kit as I have ever seen! By way of illustration, the organ has been assembled without a single drop of cement and without benefit of blue-tack.



MINUSES:
1) Engineering of the subject figure leaves much to be desired. The bane of this figure is the two-part right front panel of the "cloak".
2) Sculpting shortcuts and simply poor sculpture and design abound (e.g., the cravat, the head (horrible likeness! And not in a "good" sense!!), the shoes, the jacket, etc.).

To summarize, this figure is a modeller's figure--an advanced modeller's figure. This is not a weekend project if you want to realize all this figure has to offer. Fortunately, I'm in no hurry. . .