[dreamer]

It's a long shot, buit maybe someone has the movie and the knowledge of iron gates and guns...

First, the gate. The main entrance to Moreau's little compound. Can anyone show me the kind of latch that gate has? It's im[possible to make out the full detials - I need to know the area the latch slides into. Also, the gate has a runner at the top - does it have a groove in the stone beneath as well?

Second, the gun and holster. I asked about holsters once, and assumed the thing had a protective flap. Best guess, the right kind of gun for Moreau (British, 1930's, could have a military background) would be a Webley, possibly a Mk. IV. Does anyone know what was used ion the film, and recognoze the holster from the film? If not, I'll just go with a Webley and a holster w/ flap and call it good enough.

 

[tim casey a third time]

Sorry I can't help you, but I'm DYING to see why you need to know these details!

 

[dreamer]

I'm dying to know if I can pull this off! :lol:

I'll definitely post it, it'll be on the PLBB when I do...it's all in whether I can do a decent likeness of the face, but the base and body are clearer to me now.

It's one of those Big Ideas I always have that never gets done. Funny, I haven't done any building for almost a year, suddenly I'm working on, like, eight or nine different things at once - and it's amazing how easy things look that before were just stumping me! I love how that works, take time away and when you get the bug back, you discover you're better modeler than than you were before you rested from it!

 

[ChrisW]

Dreamer - I wonder if anyone ever categorized all of the pictured that were in Famous Monsters Of Filmland. Actually, I have a very old copy where a reader had started, but it only included the first 15 or so issues. Anyway, Your best bet would be a still in FMOF. I remember one article that featured the make up from the film, but I don't remember seeing much of the sets...

 

[dreamer]

Thanks for the tip, Chris! I have only a handful of issues from the mid-late Seventies, all in pretty bad shape, I'll run through those and see what I can find.

I'll also watch the movie again. Somewhere in a huge stack of papers for projects, I've got a sketch of that latch, at least part of it, from what I could make out of it on VHS. If I can figure out how it works, that's great...if not, I'll just do what Aurora did and figure it's good enough if it simply suggests the movie.

 

[The Batman]

You oughta be able to get a good likeness from the Oddjob kit.

- GJS

 

[The Batman]

Sorry, no real luck on the info you need on the set.

- GJS

 

[dreamer]

You oughta be able to get a good likeness from the Oddjob kit.
- GJS

AAh! You were paying attention on the PL board! :lol: The Batman always puts the clues together. Yep, that's why I was asking Oddjob questions. The legs seem just a little longer, but that could just be the pants. I'll have to keep an eye out for it. There are shots dring the finale where laughton finally panics and lets loose with the whip where his pose becomes more exaggerated...chopping off Oddjobs right leg, repositioning it, bending his left at the hip and knee into a pose closer to standing but still bent forward a bit, his right hand with a whip in it and his right foot up one of the risers on the steps up to that entrance gate, and he'll be closer to resembling the movie.

Hopefully the base won't be so big it overwhelms him. I really want the gate in there, but as you can see from the shot you posted that's getting pretty big - bigger than a base on an Aurora longbox kit, which I'd like this to be reminiscent of. If I do only that one side of teh entrance, there's no gate: it slides out from the other way. If I do the entire entrance with the gate, it beomes more a large showpiece, which is also good but no longer matches the Aurora lineup. Once I do the sketches and guesstimate the dimensions based on the kit, I'll do a card stock maquette first.

The challenge in the likeness is in getting an appropriate facial expression. I've done likenesses in two dimensions, I'm sure I can do one in three - but can I give it an expression and still make it resemble the target personality?? We'll see...

 

[dreamer]

Did sketches last night from the movie - sure wish I had the dvd! - and got mostr of wht I need. That Webley may not be right...the pics I've seen online have it not protruding from it's holster as much as Moreau's. Also, Moreau's holster has the button for the flap a little highter and closer to the edge than the Webley holster. That threw me off - the holster does have a flap, but Moreau always keeps it tucked behind the gun when he wears it, for a faster draw.

Otherwise, the Webley seems to have the right shape - still hard to tell as there's never a decent shot of it.


It still makes better sense for his character , though (I'm guessing???), so that's probably what I'll use. Sure, it's a Brit character, but it was a Hollywood production! Who knows what they used!

He also has a clip on his belt for his bullwhip. Anyone know what those are called? Frustratingly, I saw one online not more than three or four days ago and now can't recall what site it was at. Give me a name for that object, I can doan image search.