When not bitching about politics, my day job is to sculpt
toys and collectibles. Been doonit nigh on twenny year now. Sorry, that was my ‘old
prospector’ voice. He appears every now and then. I have no control over him.
That was the first time he showed up in print, though.
Anyway, here are a few reviews for a pair of model kits I sculpted for
Fairbanx Models. The models are companion pieces to the old plastic Aurora
Model kits of the 60’s. Please buy them. The Fairbanx ones, not the Aurora
ones. I’ve already been paid for my work, so I’m not promoting the purchasing
of them for personal gain. Wouldn’t mind if you did Fairbanx a solid, though.
VICTORIA FRANKENSTEIN
Height: 9.5”
SCALE: 1/8th
Parts: 5
Material: Solid Resin
Price: U.S. $100 + S&H
Produced by: Fairbanx Models
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Reviewed in Amazing Figure Modeler issue #48 by Thad Rhodes:
I always feel terrible for the Monster in James Wales’ 1935 Bride
of Frankenstein. When tantalized with the
prospect of companionship, the only other of his kind rejects him by recoiling
and hissing with disgust, “She hate me.” I mean, I know she was supposedly
handpicked from only the finest parts, but who does she think she is? Her
would-be suitor isn’t all that bad, and she’s nothing to shake a stick or torch
at. What woman wouldn’t want a tall, dark and strong and… ok, well he was a
little scary looking. The story does not end in an explosion brought about by
improper lockout/tag-out procedures on the doomsday switch, however. As a love
story (or franchise), this tragedy never dies. Years later, a brilliant, yet
demented descendant of the original Dr. Victor Frankenstein decides herself to
play god and create a being in her own image. I bet she had a good taste in
music.
Brought
to life by (newly resurrected themselves) Fairbanx Models, Victoria
Frankenstein is instantly recognizable as a nod to the Aurora Frankenstein of
the 60’s. The base is almost identical to the original plastic kit, with the
name changed on the tombstone, of course, and the kit is also the same scale
(about 1/8th) so it will display nicely with your other Aurora
buildups. The pose is different though. This science experiment is less static
and more charged. With her 1950’s style hairdo, she is presented with a mix of
punk, metal and pin-up. She is a mish-mash of parts, you know.
Victoria
seems every bit the excellent surgeon as her predecessor, as her creation is
also covered liberally in stitches and staples. This gives the painter a great
opportunity to render each area of flesh in a different state of decay, or
perhaps just a portion of a tattoo. Along her entire spine runs some stitching,
opening up a bit at the top where you can see a section of her spinal column.
It reminds me of some piercings I’ve seen where the back is laced up like a
corset. The boots have to be my favorite part. Thick-soled, steel-toe buckle
boots are what all the fashion-conscious re-animated corpses are wearing this
fall. The details on these, as well as on the entire kit, are very clean, and
for something this size, they are nice and sharp. Excellently casted by Irish
Joe Farrell, the kit comes in 5 white resin pieces with easy clean up. Just use
a blade for the mold lines and the resin’s soft, so it’s easy to work with.
This will go together in about 1/9000th of the time it would take
you to build an Aurora kit. It also comes with a signed and numbered
certificate of authenticity, so you know you’re getting the real thing.
I
can’t wait to paint mine up and to see the inevitable and unique
myriad of buildups we will see. The box art and the buildup that were
originally done for the kit are inspiring, as painted by Eddie Wires. Eddie was
a giant in the toy industry. He passed away August 12th this year
(2010) and we are left to admire his work: Each area of patchy flesh gets its
own treatment. There are bruises, nasty veins and splotches of festering flesh,
tattoos, and a Van Halen-ish “VF” that wraps around her sleeves. Awesome. So go
check it out online, order one, and get to painting. Enjoy the throwback to
your youth combined with all you’ve learned to appreciate as an adult. Thanx
Fairbanx!
 | ||
| Original 1960's Frankenstein Aurora kit |
SHE CREATURE
Height: 8.75”
SCALE: 1/8th
Parts: 5
Material: Solid Resin
Price: U.S. $100 + S&H
Produced by: Fairbanx Models
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Reviewed in Amazing Figure Modeler issue #48 by Mike
Falcigno:
It is with great pleasure that I am reviewing the debut kit
from the newly resurrected Fairbanx Models. For those unaware, many moons ago
Fairbanx produced a slew of quality resin kits with the Monster Mates being
their most popular line. Celebrated for both stellar customer service and high
quality products, the company has changed hands to the previous owner’s nephew,
Jason Cummings, who has continued to provide the same great service, and better
still, he is continuing the Monster Mates line-up!
The
piece that sits before me is just that – a brand new Monster Mate in the scaly
form of a female creature from the Black Lagoon. Aptly titled She Creature,
this 1/8th scale kit is perfectly sized to fit in with the classic
Aurora kits of old, and BOY does she fit in! The 8” figure is superbly rendered
by sculptor Bill Mancuso and really needs to be seen in person to fully
appreciate all the work that went into this amphibious dame. Even still, I’ll
try to spotlight the most impressive areas in print. I’ve seen plenty of female
variations on the Creature From The Black Lagoon and though most are pretty
cool, they always seem to sport one or two major shortcomings – that is, until
now! The Fairbanx She Creature is an absolutely gorgeous hybrid of humanoid
female and prehistoric reptile – no small feat when you consider the many
potential design problems the concept poses. Mancuso’s She Creature presents an
incredibly well-placed scale pattern juxtaposed by various smooth, fleshy areas
necessary to amp up the female areas of the sculpt. The She Creature’s classic
fish skin has been tailored to fit her like a Victorian-era corset. This is
continued down to the mid-thigh and runs the length of both arms. Her lower
legs are finished smooth as silk, much closer to a human female, then the
design elegantly switches back to fish-like at the feet, looking very much like
a pair of ornate high-heeled shoes. My favorite alteration is the complete lack
of nipples on her ample breasts. Considering this is an amphibian, she would
most likely lay eggs, and therefore not breast-feed. I realize I may be reading
too much real biology into a fantasy creature, but it seems to me that the
Fairbanx crew may have been thinking along the same lines while designing the
kit (besides, it makes for a more “general audience” friendly final product).
What makes the sculpture so impressive to me overall is that Mancuso managed to
impart the figure with a “pin-up” style elegance while rendering all the detail
in a style that is truly faithful to the old Aurora acetate carvings of the
past. Granted, the detail levels are a bit more nuanced and finely tuned, but
unlike SO MANY Aurora inspired aftermarket/companion kits, the Fairbanx She
Creature really FEELS like an Aurora kit, minus all the pesky seam lines of
course!
Just
as one would expect, this lovely She Creature includes a subterranean grotto of
her very own and it’s equally top notch in design and execution. Honestly
folks, the sculpture can’t really be much better and the same verdict goes for
“Irish Joe” Farrell’s slick castings! In a clamshell… the 3-piece figure is a
snap to build with the 2 break lines (at the shoulders) being hidden and not a
mold line to be found – ANYWHERE on the kit! The She Creature keys tightly into
the 2-part base and after pinning the arms in place, it’s as simple as washing
and priming this brine-soaked denizen of the deep for her big paint date with
Mr. Creature! Congrats to the second coming of Fairbanx because they’ve hit a
monstrous home run in my finicky opinion.
In
memory of our friend and fellow modeler, Eddie Wires, who beautifully painted
the original box art kit for the She Creature. For interested parties, sculptor
Bill Mancuso’s touching remembrance of Mr. Wires can be viewed here:
 |
| Original 1960's Creature Aurora kit |
Click HERE for the YouTube review by Monster Model Review. It's cool and scary!
Here’s the website where I got the original Creature and
Frankenstein pictures from. I ended that sentence with a preposition because I
wanted to. Just like that one. Check out the site. It has a cool retrospective on
the 13 original Aurora monster model kits from the 1960’s. The Original Aurora 13
Good day.
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