Doctor Doom -- Home Stretch. . .

Just something to tide those who are following this thread over 'til the weekend. . .

THE THRONE IS DONE!!! Anyone who is intimately familiar with the kit knows that the kit is now dry-assembled. I might have a few tweaks remaining here and there, but for all intents and purposes, it is done!

All that remains to be done is finishing the lames on the right sabaton; heel plates and "besagews" on both sabatons; and attaching the right leg to the body. I hope to have all this done over the weekend; but I have a feeling priming will have to wait until sometime next week.

Almost there. . .

Ragin' Cajun. . .

. . . is on the front burner once again. Updates will now follow on a more regular basis.

Doctor Doom (III)

BENCHNOTES (3) 26.11.10 When we last left off, the critical areas remaining to be finished were the gauntlets and the sabatons.

Since then, I have finished all the prepwork on both sides of the throne/cape, and all but completed the left sabaton--still have the heel cap to do. The gauntlets are about 70% done, give or take; but they shouldn't take longer than a weekend to finish.

If I can get the left leg and the right sabaton completed this weekend, I should have this piece ready for priming in 2-3 weeks.

FOLLOW-UP. . . The head has been permanently attached, and the figure clean-up is all but done. The final fitting and filling of the back of the throne, a most critical step considering that the back will have to be painted--at least undercoated--as a separate piece is well underway: I will hopefully have this completed before the end of the day tomorrow.

FOLLOW-UP (2) 28.11.10. . . The turning point of this project occurred earlier this afternoon: the back of the throne was permanently attached to the figure! It now "works": major sub- assemblies are reduced to three (plus the two arms), and all are inherently stand-alone stable.

As to my earlier statement that the back would "have to be painted--at least undercoated--as a separate piece", there is no doubt that in an ideal world that would be the indicated call; how- ever, given the problematic design and fit of this piece, I'd rather face some careful painting (conveniently calling for essentially self-shading complementary colours!) than the potential mishaps of post-painting assembly, etc.

The next posting should be graphic update of the assembled--and disassembled--piece, before and after priming.

Until then. . .

ATLANTA 2011--FANTASY CATEGORY: Update (2)-AWARDS

Just received this from Dave Wiggins, the Show's PR Chairman, and unofficial "Fantasy Category Coordinator":

AMFS works on the Open System - so each participant has an opportunity to win a certificate, bronze, silver, or gold on their best judged work in each category entered. Additionally, an exhibitor may win a specialty award.

Fantasy Specialty Awards that have been added for this year's show are:

• Phoenix Award - best of category award - sponsored by Reaper.
• Horror Award - best judged modern or classic figure(s) or bust.
• Super Award - best judged hero, villain, heroine, villainess, or combination
• Reaper Award - best judged stock or modified Reaper figure(s)
• Games Workshop Award - best judged stock or modified figure(s) or model(s) - sponsored by Games Workshop

In honor of AMFS creating Fantasy as a separate category, Reaper will be awarding each of the first 200 participants a 3 pack of their award winning Reaper paints ($1600 value) as well as sponsoring the best of category, Phoenix Award. Games Workshop will be awarding an Emperor's Fist Tank Company ($300 value) and 3 Golden Demon tickets! AMFS is grateful for the strong support showed by these two fantasy giants.

As always, I would direct you to the Club/Show site for all the latest news, but this is a bit of a "scoop", and the Show site will not be updated for a week or so. So in the meantime, spread the good word, and. . . get to work!!!

Kelley Jones' Vampire Bat

"The Many Faces of the Bat" is a very limited series commissioned by a private collector of 1/9th scale busts sculpted by Jim Maddox depicting the "Dark Knight" in five of his more famous—or infamous— guises, including my favourite—and the subject of this review and project—the Kelley Jones' Vampire Bat(man) from Crimson Mist, the third installment in the “Vampire Trilogy”.

The kit is comprised of four pieces: bust, two ears, and the pedestal base. It is cast in a high- grade, buff-coloured PUR—think Ft. Duquesne or UEM!—that is a dream to work. The casting quality is a solid A: the only reason it did not receive an A+ was due to a slight mold-shift along the right side of the bust. In the interest of thoroughness and full disclosure, I found but a single air bubble of any kind: this was at the base of one of the ears, hardly worth mentioning as it will not be seen once the ears are attached [MODELLING NOTE: despite its hidden nature, it should definitely be filled prior to mounting.]

By way of follow-up (20.11.10) the bust is now assembled, filled (business-as-usual fairing of the joins where the ears attach to the cowl), and in final finishing and clean-up. . . of which there is very little. In fact, I could very well have this ready for priming by the end of the weekend, but I prefer to let it "simmer" for a few days and then reassess. [UPDATE 28.11.10--Now ready for priming!]

So. . . have I reworked the kit in any way? No. . .and yes. I have not made any changes whatso- ever to the bust itself; however, I have reworked the pedestal base considerably. The base would work fine as is IF one accepted that it would serve as the display base as well. And that is unac- ceptable. Thus, the overall height of the base was reduced by at least a third and somewhat "squared" to fit on a 2 x 2 x 2 1/2 stained burl display pedestal. I also had to adjust the fit of the bust to its base. As provided, the bust was looking down: it was marginally acceptable using the base as it was; once reduced in height, the face was effectively hidden from view and in profile-- so what was the Bat looking at? I corrected this by reworking the attachment join of bust to base, effectively slightly repositioning the bust.

And that about wraps this up! THIS is what figure prepwork should be: short and sweet. My next posting will launch the painting of this piece, with before-and-after-priming images. Until then. . .

Red Skull--Update

With a little over three months to the Atlanta Show, it is time to start finalizing projects (i.e., getting them to priming stage)--or putting them away until next year. . .

The Red Skull is one of the "finalists", and he is all but done. The skull handle on the swordstick has been modeled and is awaiting final finishing. The right hand has been pegged and fitted, and is awaiting finishing and the cigarette holder. In fact, the latter, along with the reworking of insignia and decorations, and the detailing of the reworked boots, is all the remains to be done before priming.

Maybe another 3-4 weeks before priming?

FOLLOW-UP. . . The cigarette/cigarette holder is now all but done: I "machined" it in one piece out of brass rod with a 1mm tapered burr on a cordless Dremel. I have also all-but-finished the right hand, including fitting the cigarette holder.

ATLANTA 2011--Pre-registration Form

The 2011 Show pre-registration form is now available on-line.

While the Atlanta Show's registration process has undergone dramatic improvement over the years, registration remains the most tedious aspect of any show. Hence, I would strongly recommend taking advantage of this service.

Not sure of how many figures you will be bringing? Not a problem. Order a few (operative word, f-e-w) extras.

Any questions, etc. may be directed to the Show Chairman, who will forward them to the Registration Chairman.

Olog-hai

This will be the last project I initiate this year, and its completion deadline is the Atlanta Show in February. More to follow in the days to come, including a full review of the base polystyrene kit; however, in hopes of whetting interest, reanimation is all but done, and assembly is now about 60% complete.

FOLLOW-UP. . . Just completed filling the body with PUR. The repositioning of the head and left (shield) arm requires are more secure anchor than PS pegs into a hollow cavity. No biggie--all in a day's work!

FOLLOW-UP (2) . . . All the "loose" pieces, save for the shield, have now been pegged. And the joins have been filled, though the pieces have not been permanently attached yet. This just about concludes Phase 1 preparations. . .

UPDATE . . . After serious consideration over the weekend, the list of pieces I hope to take to Atlanta has been finalized, and this piece, by virtue of the amount of work left to do, did not make the cut. Still, you never know. . . In any event, this project will be resumed in earnest after the Show.

Doctor Doom (II)

BENCHNOTES (2) 06.11.10 The raw putty work has been virtually completed. The critical areas remaining to be finished are the gauntlets, the sabatons, and the right poleyn: everything else is 80% complete or better.

The throne has been squared, and the back finished. Painting strategy vis-à-vis assembly has yet to be finalized.

I estimate an additional 7-10 days of work before the figure can be considered ready for priming.

Smart Max has gone BIG!

Our favourite purveyor of steampunk has just announced the release of their first two figures in 1/12th scale (150mm). As you can see, these are in their Mauser Earth range--in fact Captain-Deacon Zaitseva is an up-scaled version of their earlier 1/35th scale release.

Will there be similarly sized offerings in their Smog 1888 range. . . ?

ATLANTA 2011--FANTASY CATEGORY: AFM Update

Just in from the Fantasy Coordinator:

"Our initial ad is at the bottom of page 68. . . "

I've yet to see it, but he adds: ". . . They doctored it up from what we sent in. "

Can't wait!

FOLLOW-UP. . . And here it is, courtesy of my good friend and colleague, Rich. . .
AFM #48, p. 68