Monarch Models - ϯ Jan. 2016

Just to show how much I've been "out of it" this year, I have just discovered that Scott McKillop, full-time physician and professor, and part-time model manufacturer, announced over the New Year weekend that he was taking down the Monarch shingle.

Scott is a long-time Aurora fan. Monarch was launched with the intention of filling some of the void left by the closing of Polar Lights in 2006, occupying the erstwhile "Aurora niche". In late 2007, Monarch released Nosferatu. And for the next few years, things appeared to be steadily moving along. By 2010, however, the momentum was waning, and the realities of this hobby came home to roost. . . There would be but three more releases from 2011-2015, including our favourite Junior, Gorgo.

Scott and Monarch have been described as a "styrene garage-kit company", and I think that is quite appropriate. Thank you, good sir, and Godspeed! Your passion and your products will be missed. 

2016 has gotten off to a very rough start. . .

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Daredevil - Prep (4)

This is where the two sub-preps converge and I am able to proceed with a unit. . . 

The 'perch' has been finalized. While I have been reshaping the toe boxes of DD's boots all along, the final adjustment required relatively extensive reworking of the left toe box: this is still in-pro- gress. On the other hand, all enhancements to the upper-half of the angelic monument have been roughed-in.

All that remains now is the final prepwork of both components of the piece:

• Funerary monument: assembly UPDATE 24.02.16 - DONE! and distressing the sur- face/weathering.
• Daredevil: assembly and clean-up (including finishing the left toe box, and re-working the mask seams and neck musculature).

As I said some years back. . . This is coming together quite nicely!

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

The Scarlet Swashbuckler returns - to the bench, that is. . .

In the hope of finding a project that would get me out of the doldrums, I have returned Daredevil to the bench after a nearly three-year hiatus. Unlike most of my shelved projects, this one regret- tably held no surprises vis-à-vis the extent of progress made at the time of "retirement". . . 

First thing: finalize the subject's perch on the angel's wings. I thought that this was essentially a fait accompli, but upon critical review, I am 2-3 sessions away from that. Once that is done, I can then move-on to the finishing of the prepwork. . .

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

REFERENCES - AK Interactive's Learning Series

By way of follow-up to my review of Metallics , vol. 2, I would like to point out that AK Interac- tive's Learning Series are some of the best modelling references it has ever been my pleasure to own and use. As of this writing, I have all but no. 2: Panzer Crew Uniforms.

The real strength behind these most useful guides is that they do not merely focus on the "how- to". Rather, the material is presented in the context of "what could be". What can be achieved is thus left entirely in the modelling reader's hands! And that is decidedly a breath of fresh air!!

And when you consider that they are little more than the cost of an Osprey book--or an issue of an imported magazine!--it's virtually a win-win situation.

ENJOY!

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Metallics vol. 2 (AK Learning Series #5)

Last year, AK Interactive announced the release of a 2 vol. set of references in their Learning Series dealing with Metallics. Vol. 1, released in the Fall, was an excellent introduction to metals, the mediums available to reproduce optimal effects, and how they are rendered in miniature, specifically scale models.

Vol.2 has just made it across the Pond, and its focus is figures. It can certainly be read as a stand-alone entry, and most who are strictly figure-centric will appreciate this. This is by far the most enlightening and revealing treatise on the subject that I have ever encountered--and this coming from someone who has been peeling this delightful onion for over 35 years! If there was ever a turn-to reference on metallics this is it!! And for an old-timer like myself, it is worth the price of admission for the lucid presentation on how to work NMMs (Non-Metallic Metallics), especially as a complement to--and in combination with--more traditional approaches.

Admittedly, as with any reference, your mileage may vary--depending on your experience, pre- ferred medium/s, etc. Personally, I am not exactly taken with the ever-increasing use of the air- brush as a means to apply paint on figures. . . of any scale! However, that is the dinosaur in me speaking: you can argue with anything about it save [some of] the results!!

This is an invaluable reference, and one that I HIGHLY recommend!

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Daryl Dixon - Eaglemoss' TWD

It has been a very difficult fortnight, and the bench has been gathering dust (not the good kind!) for the entire month of February. Slowly, but surely, I am making my way back, and though I don't expect things to return to a semblance of normalcy for quite some time, life must go on. . . 

Tomorrow night will mark the return of The Walking Dead from its mid-season hiatus, and I can't wait for any number of reasons! So while work needs to resume on the Eaglemoss Rick Grimes, I  decided to "warm-up" and refamiliarize myself with the bench on its companion piece of Daryl Dixon. 

Overall, this figure is not quite up to what was seen with Rick. . . if only because of the crossbow. The figure is comprised of 11(?) total pieces (3 resin; 3 white metal; 1 steel [the bolt]; plus the 3(?) pcs. base), and the overall casting quality of the resin is, as with Rick, VG+. 

As alluded to above, the "gorilla" on this piece is the crossbow: this is a "D-" effort--and I am be- ing generous! Whatever refinements might have been evident on the painted prototype are no- where to be found on the production piece. To make matters worse, the scale and proportions are completely off! Save for the bolt and the portion of the stock en suite with the arm, the cross- bow and accessories will have to be essentially rebuilt from scratch.    

In addition to making a 'new' crossbow package,  I intend to:

• Reposition the arms, rework the left hand, etc.
• Rework the seams on the garments where necessary
• Sharpen detail where required
• Add any items that might have been overlooked

This is a L-O-N-G term project, but one that I am perversely looking forward to. . . for now!

Stay tuned!

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003

Moebius' rendition of a Frazetta CLASSIC!

The latest on this much-anticipated release can be found here. . . including an image of the approved master. Polystyrene and ~1/10th scale. TBR: Fall 2016??? . . .

Whaddaya think???

“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003