MY PHANTOM MODEL KIT

I built this kit a few years ago, but somehow it didn't make it to a post until today. I thought it'd be appropriate since we're celebrating the 100th anniversary of Universal's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

It's an Aurora re-issue by Revell-Monogram from 1994 and painted entirely by brush with acrylics.

REVELL-ING IN DRACULA

Presented here today is my latest kit build -- Revell's 2009 reissue of the Aurora Dracula model. For a seemingly simple kit, this one had its challenges, mainly with parts joining, which isn't all that unusual, I guess. But still, I had to break out the putty more than once, especially on his cape.

Another detail worth noting is that the head that comes with this particular kit is gawd awful. I would describe it as almost cartoonish. Although it was a far cry from Lugosi's image, even the head that came with the original Aurora kit was better. So, I turned to Escape Hatch Hobbies and bought a resin replacement head (see photo below). Boy, am I glad I did as the result completely transformed the figure.

Another oddity on the parts tree was a tiny piece that didn't go with the kit. It almost looks the the inside mouth for the Creature From the Black Lagoon model. I'll find out when I open that box for a later build.

As with my other efforts, I spent a lot of time on this, building up colors, dry-brushing, etc., but it was worth it and a lot of fun.

I included the instruction sheet for the original Aurora kit and as you can see, it is superior in every way to the chintzy Revell version. Anyway, I was lucky to get it at a fair price some years ago at a fraction of the price that the Aurora versions are going for these days.

I hope you enjoy viewing these images as much as I enjoyed the time putting Ol' Drac together.

Here are the steps I used in painting the base and nameplate.

And here are the kit instructions, alongside the ones that came with the original Aurora model:

The original Aurora kit box and parts:

EVEN A MODELER WHO IS PURE IN HEART . . .

Hi, Kids! Today I'm sharing some photos of another recent model kit I completed. It is the Revell re-issue of the classic Aurora Wolf Man from 2010. It took many hours and layers of paint, but every minute of it was fun.

It's all done with brush work, -- no airbrushing -- and I used acrylics from Freak Flex, Vallejo, Model Master and AK. The base is customized with Woodland Scenics water and snow effects and some "found" objects.

Building model kits is a great way to pass the time during COVID lockdowns and I'd say it's even therapeutic. I heartily suggest you give it a try if you've ever had the inclination but haven't jumped in yet.

Box art.

Parts trimmed, washed, puttied and ready for paint.

Completed base.

Grrrr!

I MADE THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER!

Cloaked in the inky darkness of night, a huge a fearless monster, towering well above normal sized men, stalked through the graveyards seeking seeking out his unfortunate terrified victims. His was first created within the secret laboratory deep in the dungeons of Frankenstein Castle . . .

And so began my journey . . .

Staying at home has its rewards. After many years, I decided to dig into my monster model stash and spend some time assembling a kit.

I selected the Frankenstein 2009 re-issue by Revell for two reasons: one, it was the first issued by Aurora back in the glory days of monster modelling and, two, out of all the kits I built back then, I don't believe that I ever built this one. As I recall, outside of Aurora's Red Knight, the first in the Universal Monster series that I built was the Wolf Man, followed by The Mummy, which I worked on customizing for our local comic shop's contest . . . only to miss the entry date by a day! You can read more about those halcyon days of monster model making, as well as more recent kits HERE.

Frankenstein model kit box top.

Except for a spray coat of Tamiya gray primer, this model is all painted with a brush. I used mostly Badger's Freak Flex acrylics and a couple of Testor's enamels. The grass and moss on the base and the tombstone were accomplished using a thin spray of white glue and water and the application of Woodland Scenics for dioramas.

Since this was the first model kit that I built in many years, I spent a lot of hours on it, and experimented with a number of techniques that I had never tried before. From sprue to through, though, I had a lot of fun and look forward to the next one.

The instruction sheet: