[captainmarvel1957]

[Okay, I got started on my Community Build project! Thanks for the invitation, MonsterModelMan! Here's the progress so far ---

Okay, get a cup of coffee and a cigarette and break the seal on the box.

That wasn't that hard. I think I'll have another cup of coffee and a cigarette. Okay, I'm back, let's take the kit out of the box and see what we have.

Nicely packaged.

And here's the Amazing Figure Modeler mini-magazine. There are supposed to be some tips in there from David Fisher. Maybe we should take a look at that. I think I'll need another cup of coffee. And a cigarette.

I guess the best place to start is trimming away any flashing that's on the kit.

And start the sub-assembly. I'm using Super Glue Loctite.

The reason I started with The Monster is that I understand that there is a fairly wide seam in his lap that will need some putty work done on it. I haven't used putty on a kit in decades. I'm using Testor's Contour Putty and the narrow tube spout allows me to get right up in the gap and fill it. Then using a cheap old brush I go over the putty with 91% alcohol. The alcohol smooths out the putty nicely and no sanding is needed.

While I'm sitting here I decide to go ahead and do the rest of the sub-assembly. The kit goes together fairly quickly.

There are a few seams that could use some putty and since the big seam went okay we take care of those right away. There were a couple on the bodies of both figures and one on each side of the Bride's head. I get that done and while I'm waiting for it to dry I remember that it's been a while since I had a cup of coffee and a cigarette. After the putty dries I take the sub-assembled parts outside and give them a primer coat of Krylon Plastic Fusion paint. I use black on everything except the Bride's head and body.

Now we need to let that paint dry and cure for a while so it's time for a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Talk to you later!

And, thanks again, MonsterModelMan! I hope I do a good job on this kit because I'm having a good time so far! This is the first time that I've used putty on a kit since the late 1980s and it wasn't the problem I expected it to be.

 

[rkoenn]

It's looking good and you and me are at approximately the same points in the job. However I am not racing to get it done but it will get most of my attention for the next couple of weeks. That was a big gap in Frankie's pants wasn't it? I used Aves on mine, your method might have been a little easier.

 

[MonsterModelMan]

Looks like you are off to a great start!

With all the coffee and cigarettes you are consuming...it reminded me of this:

MMM

 

[captainmarvel1957]

Thanks, guys! I haven't seen Coffee and Cigarettes, I'll have to find it. I like everybody that's in it!

Okay, let's get started. First step is to put on a pot of coffee. Then I look at the parts that I've primed. I look at them and pay particular attention to the back wall. Around the web I've seen that some kit builders have played around with the sides of the walls on the Moebius Frankenstein and Dracula kits.

Since I found the Testor's modeling putty fairly easy to work with I decide to give it a shot. This is a fairly brave move for me. I've never altered a kit like this before. Using a hobby knife and a couple of dental tools I continue the lines of the stones around the side of the wall. Then I take the putty and place dots of it on the sides of the wall and tap them down with my finger. Having done that I brush lightly over the putty with 91% alcohol. I've been careful not to go overboard with the additional texture, I just want enough variation on the sides of the wall to give dry brushed paint something to grab onto.

Once the putty has dried I cover the edges with another coat of black paint.

Then I covered the entire back wall with a coat of medium gray paint.

And now I begin to paint to taste. Having read David Fisher's aritcle in the booklet that came with the kit I decide to throw in some tan and brown stones. I'm kinda' pleased with the scored sides of the wall and the extra texture that I added with putty. Does it look okay?

I"ve also decided not to use the nameplate that came with the kit and have sealed over the slots for it on the front of the floor. Here's the other angle.

I think continuing the stone lines around the side of the kit has made a difference in the look of the wall. I think it needs some more paint and will probably address that later. I think the grout lines need to be darker to add more contrast to the stones.

Still having fun!

 

[rkoenn]

Looking good so far. I'm not sure what I'll do as far as colors for the stones. I'll stick mainly to gray but may try some different gray shades. Yours does look good though and quite a bit like in the Fisher booklet.

 

[deadmanincfan]

Lookin' SHARP, Cap!

 

[captainmarvel1957]

Thanks, deadmanincfan!

At this point I pulled out the Bride dvd and hunted around for some images on the net. This is a good starting point ---

We take a look at this photo and see that the stone wall does have different values, but the chaise lounge and the platform that it's sitting on do not. The actual piece of furniture and the platform appear to me to be one piece of furniture. The founder of Universal Studios, Carl Laemmle, was a German immigrant and would make lengthy trips back home to Germany and would travel extensively throughout Europe. When he did travel he would hunt for unique items that he would ship back to Universal to use in the movies. This chaise lounge could very well have been one of those items. So the first step was to paint the leather section with a burgundy paint and then paint the base with a brown that had some hint of reds in it. The color I chose for that was called maple syrup.

With the base coats in place I start to play around with it. I'm taking these photos with my cell phone and the burgundy is much darker than what you're seeing here. I take the same maple syrup color that I used on the wood and apply a wash over the burgundy to give it a worn and leathery look. Then I go over the base of the chaise and the platform with washes of burnt umber and black.

I go back and add some more black washes around the designs in the woodwork and then dry brushed over the designs with a tannish brown called teddy bear. The dry brushing is to give the indication of wear on the wood's finish.

Setting the base pieces aside I work on the bodies of the two figures coating the Bride with white and The Monster with black. I dry brush over The Monster with some medium gray and burnt umber to show some wear and tear on his clothing.

I coat The Monster's head and hands with a coat of light gray as seen in the background of this photo. I put the partial figures on the chaise lounge and see something very disturbing. The figures do not fit on the base. As good as this kit is Moebius has done it a disservice by recycling the floor base from their Frankenstein kit. Even with the chaise pushed all the way back to the wall the Bride's dress hangs over the edge of the base by a quarter inch or more. Looking at the promo photos of the kit that David Fisher painted it becomes pretty obvious that either Fisher wasn't working from an actual kit or that the kit was creatively posed in sections to give it more depth and to give the back wall some more height.

Looking at the above photo we see that the floor in the movie is actually stone. I know that Moebius is selling a resin base for this kit and now I know why. But they should have known that the recycled Frankenstein floor would detract from an otherwise stellar model kit. I'm wondering if the same kind of problem might not be present in the upcoming Deluxe Dracula kit. I'm also thinking that I just might break out the Super Sculpey and try to create a deeper base that will hold both figures and also raise the back wall a couple of inches. Stay tuned!

Now I'm going to hunt around the forum and see what everybody else is doing!

 

[MonsterModelMan]

You are doing a GREAT job so far!

You also raise an interesting dilemma that I too have to consider. I finally cracked open the box on my BoF and after reading the mini AFM mag and getting ideas on how to paint it and now reading this post of yours...I may have to consider a different approach as well for the base. Not sure yet but I'll figure something out!

MMM

 

[captainmarvel1957]

Thanks, MonsterModelMan!

Hmmmm --- where is your thread in this forum? Will you be building The Bride kit as well? I thought that's what you said when you put the Community Build together.

And, yep, if you look at the promo pictures of David Fisher's build up of this kit you can easily see that the floor section is deeper and the back wall is a full two blocks above The Bride's shoulder. It was posed in sections for more depth and height. That exhibits that Moebius knew that the kit, as is, didn't look right. Not nice.

While it's going to be fun to customize the kit it is only due to corners being cut. I doubt that doing it right would have added that much cost to the price of the model. I doubt that the additonal few dollars added to the retail price would have had an impact on the sales of this masterpiece.

Having said that, since I'm going to use all the pieces except the floor base, and since they aren't a 100% representation of the scene from the movie, I do feel like I can take a bit of creative license with what I'll do.

 

[MonsterModelMan]

My CB 2012 WIP BoF thread hasn't been started yet as I really haven't started...I'm gathering info and ideas at this point...but I will start a thread non-the-less!

If you look at the back page of the instruction sheet, clearly, the bottles on the shelf behind the bride are lower as you mention...compared to Dave Fishers promo build-up. Hmmm may check into the replacement base and drop even more $$ on this kit! Yes...the kit is that good!

MMM

 

[captainmarvel1957]

Okay, I pulled out a sketch pad and looked at the below shot from the movie and pulled a couple of screen captures from the dvd. The floor isn't really that clearly seen in any of the shots. The best I could do is this ---

Which would look approximately like this ---

I want to not only add depth to the base, but also add height to the wall. To begin with, who puts a shelf two or three feet off of the floor? So the height will be something like it is seen here. Anything lower creates a tangent in the design with the top of The Monster's head.

While I've made an attempt to present the floor as seen in the film the design of the back wall and shelves aren't the way they appear in the film so that gives us a bit of creative license in what the final look of the base will be.

What do you think?

 

[deadmanincfan]

I reiterate...lookin' SHARP, Cap!

 

[Spockr]

Lovin your 'set' design! I like this kit a lot but think the floorplan is a little cramped. Looks like you are opening it up which will help with improving the proportions. :thumbsup:

Regards,
MattL

 

[Universalrocks]

This may help you its a still from the movie, very good shot of the floor. It looks like they simply painted the stones on the floor. Very shiny floor they must of waxed it. lol

 

[captainmarvel1957]

Thanks, guys!

You can see the floor in the shot you've attached, UniversalRocks, but it's not the floor around the chaise lounge. But the shot you've provided does suggest that the floor would have two distinctly different colors. Some are darker and some are lighter. Grays and blue grays? And it ALSO shows the grouting in the stones much clearer than the shots I was using. Thank you!

These are the two shots I used to try to piece together the flooring. The first one I attached here earlier ---

And this screen capture from the dvd which shows the stones on the left side of the chaise by Karloff's knee ---

I've got the armature that I'm going to use and I'll take some shots and post them in a bit.

Thanks again, guys! And, UniversalRocks, aren't you going to join the Community Build?

 

[captainmarvel1957]

So I went to my parents' house last night. My father has just about every saw and tool known to man. He's not a contractor but has actually built a house before. So I poked around and found some half inch plywood that will work good for my armature. I have poked around online and have read that wood will be okay to use. It's combustion rate is higher than Sculpey so it shouldn't be a fire hazard. I've read that guys that use wood as a base to attach a metal armature to will put the entire wooden base and metal armature in the oven. Also, when I use Super Sculpey I don't bake it as instructed on the box. Having read other tips online I've found out that the problems I've had with Sculpey in the past were the result of following those instructions. Instead of baking at 275 for twenty minutes I'll bake my pieces at 170 for an hour to an hour and a half. This prevents scorching of the Sculpey. And never take the piece out of the oven while it is hot. Let it cool down with the oven. This prevents cracking.

So here are the parts ---

The placement of the parts pre-Super Sculpey ---

And here we have an estimation of what the figures will look like in their new environment.

I'm looking at the photos from the movie again and I see that I may have a line or two in my floor plan that doesn't exist in the movie. But I think those additional lines will work better for the base design so I'm going to leave them in. The other thing I've noticed in the photo that UniversalRocks provided is that the floor appears to have just been a painted and sealed soundstage floor.

Anyway, do you think this will work?

 

[Universalrocks]

Hey just a suggestion, I used sculpey for my bass also and did not ruff up the wood and it is starting to come lose, and I'm having to super glue some of it back down so you might want to ruff up your wooden base so it will stick.

 

[captainmarvel1957]

It's funny that you mentioned that, UR, because I had just had that thought. I had thought the surface of the wood should be scored to give the clay something to grab onto.

Did you use it on a base for this kit? Is there a thread or are photos posted?

 

[captainmarvel1957]

Whoa! Universal Rocks! I've seen your Bride kit! You posted your progress at The Clubhouse. That's AMAZING work. The shelving unit behind the figures, the sculpted and cast bottles, and on top of that is the addition you made to the width of the wall. I was talking about that with a buddy a few nights ago. I thought the amazing thing about your wall was how accurately you were able to ape the style of the original piece. If the new section wasn't a different color you wouldn't be able to distinguish where the original wall ended and your addition began. And when it's painted I don't think you will be able to distinguish the difference.

Looking at what you're doing and what I'm attempting to do makes me feel like Wayne and Garth kneeling before Alice Cooper!

Anyway, I put a thin skin of Sculpey over the base floor and turned the oven off about an hour ago. We'll see if it comes out okay. If so I'll start laying down some stones.

Again, the work you're doing on your kit is wonderful! I can't wait to see it completed!

 

[captainmarvel1957]

Universal Rocks, I PM'd you --- since I'm new here it's the first I've sent. Hope you got it!