Venom

Back in the day, if one wanted a superhero--or villain--figure that transcended the polystyrene predecessors of the 60s, there was but one source: Horizon Original Models. Based in the US, but with strong ties to Japan, it afforded itself of the immense creative and productive talent in Japan. Within 5 years of its premier launch (Horizon's first generation of Universal Monsters), it had expanded its coverage to DC and Marvel protagonists, and the rest, as they say. . .

If you are a "regular" on this site (THANK YOU!), you well know that I am a HUGE fan of the Spidey villains. Well, sometime in the mid-90s, I acquired Horizon's Venom (©1992), a 1/6th scale, 10-piece vinyl kit sculpted by Taishiro Kiya (Kiya-san also sculpted Horizon #056, argu- ably the best Joker model kit ever, released a year later in 1993). As a bit of meaningful trivia, Venom was still Horizon's best-selling kit of all time in 1997, a year after it had been disconti- nued!

So much for the introductory background. Later this week, Sony will release the long-awaited cinematic showcase of the alien symbiote--we'll ignore the deplorable screen debut of the sym- biote in the mess that was Spider-man 3 (2007). Since I'm working on Spidey, why not comme- morate the release of Venom?

I would have preferred an in-scale version of the symbiote, but the KM entry of Venom is nearly impossible to find, and is cast in resin--and we all know what in-all-likelihood that means. . . Toy Biz released a 1/12th scale, polystyrene, Level-1 Venom in the late 90s, but it did nothing for me. Which left me with the only model kit of Venom worth having: the Horizon entry!

The only drawback to this superbly designed and sculpted kit is its size: the piece is over a foot tall sans base, and massive! Since I have neither the room to display such a beast--nor the incli- nation to build it, the full figure is now a fully-assembled bust! (nb: in spite of many a gripe, this is one of the better designed, engineered, and cast Horizon kits, which--if properly prepped, will virtually assemble itself!)

I am now in the filling stage of the prep. Save for some annoying trapped "subcutaneous" bubbles (less than 30), which most modelers would either overlook or ignore, the only filling required are the arm joins. And if you are patient and careful, you should not have to concern yourself with any post-filling finishing. . .

Stay tuned!

UPDATE 04.10.2018. . . The arm joins are now filled and mostly finished (not really necessary), and I am working my way through the bubbles. 

I have also pegged the bust and mounted it on its temporary work base. I have a special thematic pedestal in mind that could potentially extend the benchtime of the prepwork, but it will be well worth it if I can work out the dynamics. . . 

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