Ooops...forgot to mention heating the branding iron, otherwise it would brand very well

I guess it depends on how many you need. They'll be pretty good sized, 8mm or so would be 2" which seems about right. There's lots to look at in beading, including strings of tiny coins you can take apart.

You only need the top layer to look good.

Joanne's or Claires are always good resources. Something to do while Ms. Kidwell is at the mall.

www.ebay.com/.../i.html

hmm, I like the idea of finding miniature coins - nothing wrong with a mixed media approach.  It will entail some work to carve off those that are already on the base, unless you just place new ones on top.

GMorrison is right in adding that only the top coins need to be fully detailed.   This is something the old masters did to great effect with their canvas paintings.

Decals is another great option, again just the upper most coins need to be thoroughly detailed.  I would forgo using a straight metallic paint,  and rely on maybe 4 to 5 shades to give the illusion of gold colour.   So for instance paint overall a mid-light brown, add a dark wash, and use decals (clear type) with two darker tones for detail.  Then go back in with a fine brush to add highlights.

Here is an example the colour range you can incorporate:

... and the full link here for further reading:

surfacefragments.blogspot.ca/.../how-old-masters-created-look-of-gold-in.html

regards,

Jack

One heck of a post, JG. Thanks for that!

jgeratic

hmm, I like the idea of finding miniature coins - nothing wrong with a mixed media approach.  It will entail some work to carve off those that are already on the base, unless you just place new ones on top.

GMorrison is right in adding that only the top coins need to be fully detailed.   This is something the old masters did to great effect with their canvas paintings.

Decals is another great option, again just the upper most coins need to be thoroughly detailed.  I would forgo using a straight metallic paint,  and rely on maybe 4 to 5 shades to give the illusion of gold colour.   So for instance paint overall a mid-light brown, add a dark wash, and use decals (clear type) with two darker tones for detail.  Then go back in with a fine brush to add highlights.

The miniature coins route hadn't occurred to me, though I thought I might punch my own out of styrene. Thanks, GMorrison!

I had mulled the idea of decals, and still might take that approach. As for the metallic paint--you're absolutely right, Jack. I'd definitely go with the non-metallic metal approach.

jgeratic

... and the full link here for further reading:

surfacefragments.blogspot.ca/.../how-old-masters-created-look-of-gold-in.html

Just went through that post, Jack. Spectacular! Thanks for sharing it!

In keeping with the theme...

So I am coming home... turn onto my street and a I get close enough to my house, but still a ways to go, I see the box.   Leaning against the door petty as you please. I immediately  turned on my "Terminator" robotic eyes and all those little flashing graphs and measurement instruments start blinking on and off, highlighting adjacent objects for scale,  and there is a whirring sound in my hear as microchips start to analyze the data.  Suddenly a klaxon sounds in my head and across the bottom of my field of view in red digitized letters are flashing..

PROBABILITY OF BOX CONTAINING "CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOONS" NEAR 100%

PROBABILITY OF BOX CONTAINING "CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOONS" NEAR 100%

PROBABILITY OF BOX CONTAINING "CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOONS" NEAR 100%

PROBABILITY OF BOX CONTAINING "CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOONS" NEAR 100%

Just got home from Hols and my Darth Vader was waiting for me, and boy are these things big. Tim, if you can just put it down as a 1/4 Darth Vader. I have a funny feeling the seller has made copies of the Screamin kit. It didn't come in a box or with any paper work and the cape, which I believe should be rubber, is the same vinyl as the rest. And though the pose looks exactly the same, the feet are closer together, which means its going to need some adjustment to stand properly. So I think calling it a Screamin kit might be going a bit to far.

This should be fun.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into this week, and if we can interest anyone else in signing up for what is turing out to be a GB with a nice range of subjects.

Marc and Bish -

Congrats on receiving your kits! They've been added to the list.

Here are a few teaser pics

Hey Marc, that's awesome!

To deal with my insanely overgrown stash I swore that I wouldn't buy any more kits till I made a substantial reduction- but at the rate I build that will be a long time. So since I have a birthday in early September I decided I'd allow myself to buy ONE kit. 

I bought this:

Now I'm thinking I should have bought the 'Creature' instead!!! Looking forward to seeing your build, maybe I'll end up succumbing to temptation yet! 

I mean check out this guys smooth moves!!!

Marc, nice pickup on the Gill Man! I'm looking forward to watching that one come together!

Cliff, great pics! Love that second one (Gene Kelly eat your heart out!!!). Wish I'd seen that one when I was a wee lad - the guy wouldn't have freaked me out so much.

Here's a few teasers of the Predator. I love the pose on this guy! Probably what made me choose it over the other Predator kits.

Hey Gamera, love those pics of the Creature!  Would love to have been on the set back then!

Eagle90

Thanks guys, I went by Silver Springs Florida a few years back, where they filmed a great deal of the outdoor scenes for 'Creature'. After sixty or so years I didn't recognize much though!

Mike: Very cool, I love the dynamic pose too! Wish someone made an Ar-nold or Danny Glover for him to fight!  

Marc and Mike - Great! Can't wait to see how they turn out.

Gamera - Those pics are excellent!

I'm gonna shake the trees a little bit over in the sci-fi forum to see if anyone there would like to join our little foray into figures. If you know anyone you think might be interested, invite them to come on over.

And BTW, have you guys seen the new XO Kane kit in the works from Polar Lights?

Looks cool!

Gamera

Mike: Very cool, I love the dynamic pose too! Wish someone made an Ar-nold or Danny Glover for him to fight!  

Ask and ye shall receive: Dutch

Stephen, are yours the genuine Screamin kits. I don't know if you saw my earlier post, but I think my Darth is a copy. It doesn't come with any paper work, chain or sabre blade and the legs seem at an odd position. If yours are the genuine thing, I would love to get an idea of the chain and blade and the position of the legs. And also, do you know if any of the real things are still around. I can't find them and would like to get Boba and the Stormtrooper. And I would rather pay extra for the real thing than have the hassle of the copies as the ones this guys has have the same issue with the leg position.

Thanks, I do keep checking every so often. I wasn't sure if any stores will still stocking them. But I am not even sure if the company is still in business. What I would like is the dimension of the Sabre blade, I reckon I can do that with some clear acrylic rod, the length of the chain and the distance between the feet. I am thinking of trying to put it in hot water and getting them in the correct position.

Those would be great if you could.

That's perfect, thanks for the info. I thought they might have been out of business. Guess I will just keep looking, I am defiantly going to try and get originals rather than these copies.

Tim Kidwell

Gamera

Mike: Very cool, I love the dynamic pose too! Wish someone made an Ar-nold or Danny Glover for him to fight!  

Ask and ye shall receive: Dutch

Ohhhhhh, that's awesome Tim! Great find!

And the Kane figure is pretty darn cool too. If only I had a few hundred bucks to toss around!

Stephen,

Welcome aboard. I'd say any of those kits would work perfectly as they all fit the bill. If I had to pick one, probably have to be Boba Fett.

I've added you to the participant list. Let me know what your final choice is and we'll update the entry.

Cheers, Aaron

It's my Birthday today!!!

I'm making a little headway on this- reading "King Solomon's Mines" on my iPad.

There's quite a bit of societal ethics (or lack thereof) that in the modern light are pretty backward, vis. the notion of taming the savages, but it's written in the 19th Century and I don't think that political correctness much applies to the subjects of this build, right?

Allan Quatermain is quite a guy. While Sean Connery played him in the LXG movie, in writing he's quite a different sort. Short and wiry, with spikey grey hair.

I've lined up a 1/6 Winchester Model 1873, but at $ 20 I'm reluctant to commit until I have a hand to hold it.

Ah well...

Happy Birthday, G!!

Agree with you on movie vs. book AQ's. But I loved Connery, and Stewart Granger...Richard Chamberlain not so much.

Happy birthday, GMorrison! I'd recommend reading the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novels/comics. Good stuff.

Welcome aboard, Stephen! Boba Fett fits; in expanded universe material, he is an anti-hero in his own right, so, he fits (yes, yes, it says Heroes & Villains ... grumble ... brble ... hrmph ... hrumph ... Elric, anyone?).

Sorry, I've been absent these past few days--lots of work at work (I know, shocking), and I had Dark Power's get-to-know-your-kid's-new-teacher night. I figure I only have eight more of those to go to, and I can stop. At fourth grade, he'll beg me to quit going ... but I won't. My wife often complains that I seem to enjoy causing him emotional distress. I don't know what she's talking about.

In any case, it's time to go turn on the force-field generator that keeps the rat-bots from Grignon 12 from getting into his room at night. Oh, wait, it seems that they've cut the power cable to the generator. Oh, whatever will we do?

Later,

Tim

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