Hail [Monster] Caesar!!! Tars Tarkas bust

In my June installment of "Notable Acquisitions", I mentioned that I had Monster Caesar Studios' bust of Tars Tarkas of Thark, Green Martian of Barsoom (aka Mars), sculpted and produced by Andrew Martin, on order.

Unfortunately, this was just about the time that the Canadian Postal Strike was hitting its peak, so a delay was not entirely unanticipated. What turned-out to be a four-week in-transit time was! But all's well that ends well--and it did!--and I can say with no reservation whatsoever that it was well worth the wait!!

Before moving on to a brief review, let me just say that Andrew is a consummate professional--not only as a very talented sculptor, but as a businessman. I contacted him yesterday (of course!) about my concerns re: the seemingly inordinate delay, and he was very forthcoming and accommodating. I can't recommend him highly enough!

To the matter hand. I don't feel a need to post images as what you see in the link above is what you get. This is certainly the most convincing, "realistic", and faithful depiction of a Green Martian I have ever seen. A two-piece casting-- bust and pedestal, it is the embodiment of perfection. Truly amazing!

Some might argue that it is a somewhat minimalistic rendition of the powerful warrior. And I would agree--to a point. But in so doing, Andrew, much as Burroughs in his literary creation, has given us enough latitude to let our imagination flourish, and personalize our depiction as we would like--and our skills allow. I plan to make a few mods to mine: the most obvious will be the addition of a Barsoomian war harness, virtually the only article of clothing on Martian warriors.

Before closing, I would just point out that there are no less than four Green Martian "hordes" on Barsoom, so we can certainly go above and beyond and depict a Warhoon or a Torquasian. BTW, for the curious, this is an approximately 1/8th scale bust!

I just received this piece, so rest assured more to follow shortly. Until then. . .

PS--Clean-up and pegging to pedestal. . . < 15 mins.!

White Ape of Barsoom--Prepwork: Phase (1)--cont.

The figure has been assembled, "filled", and the integrating musculature roughed in. The only pieces left to attach permanently are the head (though it has been pegged and fitted) and the upper set of forearms.

This in effect concludes Phase (1). Phase (2), aside from repositioning the right hand [DONE!] , will involve:

• creating a plausible, aesthetically pleasing overall muscular conformation.
• removing any remaining traces of clothing.
  
• reworking the head slightly: repositioning ears, reworking the canines [DONE!], and adding hair.

I'd like to think that the worst is over. . .

FOLLOW-UP . . .

• conforming the musculature underway.
• canines removed and tapped.
• right supporting intermediary arm pegged.
  

White Ape of Barsoom--Prepwork: Phase (1)

Let the cutting begin!!!

• Fig. 1: I first assembled the two-part torso (dorsal half [with arms] and body; nb--forearms cast attached to the lamppost). I then bisected the torso at the terminal edge of the vest before setting the upper torso aside.
• Fig. 2: Dorsal half of the torso set aside for safekeeping. Upper section of the body then reduced to the mid-pecs, more or less. Fig. 1 was then pegged to Fig. 2.
• Head: No major work done to this point, save grinding off the pince-nez, the collar and bow-tie.

A very promising start. . .

FOLLOW-UP . . .

• Fig. 2: Dorsal half of the torso has been sectioned vertically, and the arms roughly fitted to the pegged compound figure.
• The assembled intermediary left limb has been straightened and permanently attached to Fig. 1 (note: the upper third of the body [the primary shoulder girdle]    can still be removed from the rest of the actual body).

Coming together very nicely. . .

What can one do with Mister Honk?

Mister Honk, by virtue of its x-treme pose, is a figure that you either love right away. . . or you relegate it to the B-list.

I was one of the latter. Great subject, and certainly a great sculpt. . . but when it was all said and done, "What do you do with it?"

Well, a couple of thoughts immediately come to mind. For fans of the DCU, there is the makings of a pretty neat, if leaner, Gorilla Grodd, or his benevolent counterpart, Solovar. Obviously, those more ambitious miniaturists can try their hand at one of the PotA's militant gorillas. Me? Well, one of my favourite Martian species in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoomian series is the Great White Apes of Barsoom, and I thought I'd take a stab at it before the market gets inundated with figurines from next year's cinematic release.

The challenge facing any miniaturist wishing to do a Barsoomian White Ape is much the same as one wishing to model a Green Martian: integrating a second set of arms/legs in a convincing and anatomically plausible fashion. White Apes and Green Martians had a pair of arms and a pair of legs--and in-between a pair of limbs that could serve as legs and/or arms! To this end, I acquired two kits of the rampaging primate.

I've yet to decide how I am going to tackle this. Needless to say, I've dug-up and dusted-off my primate anatomy books that were my constant companion for 2 academic quarters many moons ago. I'm surrounded by at least four legal-size xeroxes of a gorilla skeleton. And while I am no closer to a solution, I am having a ball!!!

More to follow. . .

Batwoman (Eaglemoss)

What with work, some lingering health issues, and the unbearable heat, it's been a rather rough Summer benchwise. And the "dog days" are yet to come! Still, it has not been entirely unproductive, though little worthwhile to show for it. . .

As you might have read, I stripped the Bowen Designs' retro Iron Man bust yesterday. While I was at it, I threw my latest addition to the Eaglemoss grey army, Batwoman (#81) into the acetone. This project, along with the bust, is tentatively scheduled for next year, so no expectations please; but I might as well start chronicling things from Day 1.

By way of prologue, what I received--the finished piece--was a serious disappointment. As I mentioned in my review of this piece, this has become a rather alarming trend of late with Eaglemoss. Nonetheless, I still consider these some of the best values on the market. . . provided the miniaturist is willing to hold up his/her end of the bargain.

The figure is now stripped and awaiting repackaging to be stored. Stripping revealed the breakdown of the piece, a surprising 5(!) pieces: main body, cape, rt. boot, and gauntlets/forearms (x2). It also revealed a wealth of detail and subtlety that had been largely obscured by the heavy-handed application of heavy-bodied paint!

The figure will be done largely stock, though I intend to redetail the gauntlets, and replace the batarangs, which were little more than scallop-edged rectangles. The rest of the work will involve reworking the cape to effect a seamless attachment to the body.

More to follow. . .

Iron Lantern (Bust) – Introduction

Some of the last comic books I read back in the 20th c. were from an ad-hoc publisher, a regrettably short-lived collaborative effort between DC and Marvel that went by the name Amalgam Comics. Unfortunately, there were but 24 issues published from 1996 through 1997.

Amalgam Comics provided us with some of the most memorable superheroes in comic book history. Dark Claw (Logan Wayne//Batman/Wolverine); Dr. StrangeFate (Charles Xavier//Dr. Strange/Dr. Fate— admittedly not the most imaginative of names); and the subject of this homage to Amalgam, Hal Stark, aka Iron Lantern (Hal Jordan/ Tony Stark//Green Lantern/Iron Man).

The base figure—bust—is the “Retro” Iron Man, part of the Group 2 Iron Man mini-bust (mb) 3-pak (Phase III - #2485/2500) offered by Bowen Designs, and sculpted by the Kucharek Brothers. While the now-classic Silver Age Iron Man mb (Phase I) is in some ways a better “fit”, the Retro mb eked out the Silver Age candidate given what I have in mind and the palette.

So how do we go about transforming Tony Stark/Iron Man into Hal Stark/Iron Lantern? The first step is to strip the bust down to the cold-cast porcelain, and disassemble as much as I can—if at all. [FU-16/07/11: DONE! AOTW, the gauntlets have been removed and the bust separated from the pedestal. While I am still examining potential joins, it appears as if this was the extent of the "break-down".] Second comes the actual mods to the original sculpt. These are relatively easy (including the addition of the Lantern insignia) save for the enhancements required on the helmet. Finally, the painting. I will be venturing into uncharted waters when I get to this point. . .

NO FEAR. . . Corps ASSEMBLE!

Notable Acquisitions June 2011

KITS
Toy Biz kit of Wolverine (Shiflett Bros., 1/12th scale)
Tsukuda kit of Cyberdyne T-800 Endoskeleton - T2-JD (???, 1/9th scale - deluxe plated version)
Monster Caesar Studios bust of Tars Tarkas (Andrew Martin, ~1/8th scale)

PAINTS, TOOLS & SUPPLIES
Selection of finishing abrasives from Resin Bench Models [Excellent products and service!]

Red Skull (Bust)--Prepwork: Phase (4)--UPDATE (III)

The cigarette holder--with cigarette--is done! Now I can proceed with completing the hand. . . hopefully, any repositioning of fingers can be kept to a minimum.

Almost there. . .

FOLLOW-UP - 23.06.11. . . At the risk of being perhaps a bit premature, the hand is [essentially] done! Now comes the finishing... of the hand and the rest of the bust!! I wish I could post images this weekend, but any graphic updates will have to wait until after month end.

Until then. . .

X-Force: Wolverine - Entr'acte

The right leg is now essentially done--still rough, but the final lines are evident, albeit continuing to emerge. The left leg will be perma- nently attached once I decide on the final conformation of the muscu- lature, and the mounting stump for the boot is finalized: the left boot will be the only separate piece in the lower half of the body.

I would say the head is about 70% done: still a bit more work to do on balancing the cat-eye "wings".

And that's about it for now. Hopefully I'll have some time this week- end to post some ip shots.

X-Force: Wolverine - The first tentative steps

While I wait for my Alumilite to arrive--not a bad thing as it gives me more time to acquire some intimacy with the subject, the model. . . AND the conversion!--I decided to start playing with some putty. To this end, I have roughed-in a very tentative right wing of the mask; filled-in the claw locator slots on the gauntlets; and worked on the top of the right boot. I've also begun to detail the mouth, beginning with grinding off the front teeth.

I have also paused to reconsider the reanimation of the legs. I did not like the pose as provided--it just didn't work for me. I then saw a build-up of the kit by the gentlemen who designed it! Same figure, same pose. . . but relocated on the base and at a different angle.

WOW! I'm not saying I am not going to proceed with my original "design"; however, once the figure is filled and pegged, I am going to have to play around with the pose to see if I can capture some of the same dynamics as the Shiflett Bros.

More to follow. . .

UPDATE - 08.06.11. . . The Alumilite arrived today--excellent service straight from the source!--and the torso, arms, and pelvic girdle are now filled. . .

FOLLOW-UP - 09.06.11. . . The figure is now completely filled. Let the fun begin!!!

UPDATE - 11.06.11. . . This really should be a new post, but there are still some loose ends to address before breaking out the camera. The figure is now reanimated, based on what the Shiflett Bros. did with theirs. It will require a bit more work before everything is in sync, but I am very pleased with what is now before me.

X-Force: Wolverine - Planning the conversion

I thought I would get a head-start on planning the major issues to be addressed in converting Toy Biz's 1/12th scale X-Men Wolverine to his X-Force persona. To date. . .

1. Repositioning of the left leg, and to a lesser extent the right leg and arms. This will include the resculpting of the left half of the pelvic girdle [see update here].
   
2. Elimination of shoulder wings; reworking of musculature of the arms.
   
3. Conversion of boots (nb: bilateral "wings" already removed).
4. Conversion of gauntlets, including reworking of "claws".
5. Head (including resculpture of dentition).
   

Search widget not working

Just a head's up that the usually reliable and thorough Blog Search widget is not working at this time. Apparently this is something that happens about once a year, when apps and the like are updated, etc.

In the meantime, if you need to find something but cannot remember the thread or the subject of the posting, you might want to try: http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch/advanced_blog_search. Paste the blog url (http://augiemefecit.blogspot.com/) in the "In blogs. . . at this url" field, and type in your search terms. This will provide you the results you are looking for.

FOLLOW-UP - 07.06.11. . . The search widget is kaput. I am going to delete the option from the sidebar: it is, after all, useless. While the above workaround is still very effective, there is an even easier one: use the search function on the navbar at the top of your page (far left, next to the Blogger icon). I've tried it several times, and it is just as thorough--and fast!--as the widget.

UPDATE - 19.06.11. . . You might have noticed that I have replaced the search widget, thanks to a fellow blogger who devised a very useful and seamless work-around. It is working perfectly--for now. Keeping my fingers crossed!

X-Force: Wolverine

I can not say I am a huge X-Men fan. And my favourites have always been what I would call "sup- porting cast": Angel/Archangel, Gambit, Nightcrawler, etc. Having said that, Hugh Jackman's por- trayal of James Howlett/"Logan", bka Wolverine, amongst others, on the Silver Screen has been a refreshing and pleasant refamiliarization with old acquaintances.

X-Force is the X-Men's "black ops" strike team, and has been led by Wolverine since its reincar- nation in 2008. X-Force is gritty and "dark", and Wolverine is in his element: it's an intriguing sub- ject.

The main hurdle is the base figure: where would one start? There are three potential candidates, all OOP. Two are 1/6th scale vinyl kits from Horizon. While well done and eminently workable, the scale is way too large for my tastes and display capacity. That leaves the 1/12th scale, polysty- rene offering by Toy Biz, sculpted by the Shiflett Bros., which is fortunately relatively easy to ac- quire--and affordable!--on eBay.


Spectacular build-up by CH colleague Ben Edwards. More views here.
The kit is comprised of 27 pieces: 24 pieces for the subject; 3 pieces for the scenic base. Wol- verine is generally considered one of the poorer TB efforts, and while there are fit problems, it is nowhere near as bad as proclaimed. There are only a few spots that require gap-filling; and this is easily accomplished with liquid cement and the fluffy shavings generated by a Dremel burr. As with the Rhino, the plastic takes to file and burr as well--or better!--than most.

All subassemblies have been completed, awaiting to be filled with PUR. Once it is filled, the reanimation of the figure and the conversion to the X-Force uniform will begin in earnest. . .

To be continued. . .