The week of 8/3. . .

1) "Bride's head Revisited". I can't take credit for this brilliant pun: dear friend and colleague--and lurker!--Rich cracked me up with this inspired comment in an email today. But yes, the work on the BoF's head progresses, and I believe I'm just about at the turning point of the exercise. I'll know more in a few hours. I'll try to get photos up in the next week or so. . .

2) After much going back and forth, I broke down and ordered Monarch's 1/8th scale Nosferatu. This kit has been the rave of the Aurora-philes and has been touted as the "true" successor of the Aurora Monsters series. Personally, I don't know if this is a compliment or not; but the kit has obvious potential, and since it appears that it may not be readily available for much longer (and prices for the original release are already beyond the 100% markup), I decided to add it to the styrene army.

PS--Item received today (10/08/09). With the collectible glamour firmly in place in the original release, I went for the "Frightening Lightning" glow-in-the-dark version of the kit. And why wouldn't I? No, I never liked the glow-in-the-dark versions of ANY kit. . . (collective gasp), BUT in this instance, one gets a full kit with select duplicate parts in glow-styrene. The best of both worlds AND an at-hand supply of spare parts! Full review to follow in the days to come. . .

3) Ordered Sideshow Collectibles' second rendition of Schlitzie the Pinhead from the Tod Browning classic, Freaks (1932). This is a long OP kit (released in 1998) that is a classic in GK-dom. Of the two, this is a vastly superior likeness of this gentle soul.

PS--Item received today (08/08/09). Though the casting as a whole was somewhat less than I had anticipated, my experience with bonded porcelain/marble should make short work of most of the shortcomings. All in all, I am very pleased and very happy to add this piece to my collection. Once the corrections and touch-ups are completed, this will be my first selection for a pure painting project.

4) Dusted off (literally!) my IP, 1/10 portrait bust of Filippo Buondelmonte degli Scolari, better known as "Pippo Spano". The historical midges are beginning to swarm and this is a near-perfect subject to bridge my current interests.

And that wraps it up for what has been a trying and draining fortnight. Hopefully things will normalize soon, and I can return to regular sessions at the bench.