| Fangs for the Memories When Count Gore told me that this week's film was THE BAT, I got very excited. I have had my eye on a very cool kit from Monster Dork Studio that fits the basic theme very well and is really a great kit. The piece in question is a one part bust that stands about 7 inches tall when completed and boasts some pretty remarkable dental appendages. Nightmarish and quirky at the same time, this kit is priced at just $40 and can be knocked out in a weekend . . . or less!
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| | | | I have always been a fan of the Nosferatu look . . . and this kit takes that to the extreme. Sculptor Karl Libecap of Monster Dork Studio has created a lot of really neat pieces in a short period of time, many of them like this one--full of imagination, both dark and comical at the same time. When I saw this kit for the first time, I thought, okay . . . gotta have it. It struck me as an exaggeration of the vampire, halfway between the bat and the human form. But there is a demonic quality to it, so rather than a standard blue/white vampire based color scheme, I decided to go for a red and I really am happy with it. And best of all, I did it in about 3 hours total, which is a testament to the excellence of the kit. | Okay . . . let's get started. You should definitely wash your kits in soap and water before you begin painting, but with any resin kit, you should trim off the "flash" first. Flash is essentially the thin flakes of resin left over from the mold. I also like to clean off mold lines by scraping my hobby knife at an angle against the lines to flatten it out. Then, as you can see in the picture to the right, I score new lines into the kit that represent the creases and skin folds that are lost on the mold line. A lot of times I actually use the back of the knife blade, especially one with a little of the tip broken off, because a really sharp edge will cut into the kit too easily and be a little harder to control. There was very little flash on this kit and the mold lines were very small, so this whole process took about 15 minutes, including the time to brush off the debris and wash and rinse the kit. | 
| | | | When the kit is dry, I applied a primer coat of FW Inks Cool Gray, my favorite primer, with an airbrush. This revealed a few places that needed the knife a little more, but that is normal. Once the final coat of primer was on the kit, I started the painting by spraying in Badger's Rose Flesh in the mouth and ears and then, using a sponge, I put in random spots of Badger's After Midnight Blue. Since most of the rest of the paint will be transparents, this will show through a little on the final paint job, creating a creepy, blotchy skin texture. Also, there are a few teeth molded on to the kit. These got a spray of Badger's Bleached Bone (as did the other teeth) for a base coat. | 
| | | | Next, I went back to the primer coat and misted a layer over the body because I felt the blue would be too bold. In hindsight, I could have kept it . . . but it all worked out in the end. There are some nice slash marks across the base, so I airbrushed in Createx's Deep Red transparent. It was put on thick enough that it looked opaque. After that, I took Badger's Deep Wound Maroon and sprayed in lines where the indentions of the kit run (essentially along the muscle lines). I also put in a few random patterns on the head and some similar lines on the back of the kit. The idea is to give it a sense of color dimension in the final product. | 
| | | | The next step is to apply the primary color, Lifetone's Chestnut. It does not say on the bottle that this is a transparent color, but it sure behaves like one. With the airbrush around 12 psi, I spray the Chestnut on the kit with the heaviest applications being around the recesses of the muscles and lighter applications on the highlights. The end result is a sense of light depth but at the same time, the continuity of color is retained. You will also note that I have started the eyes. Basically the eyes are done with a small liner brush and a careful application of Apple Barrel White, a craft paint you can buy for about $.99 in most department and craft stores. And, I changed the color of the slash marks to Deep Wound Maroon. Honestly, I cannot remember why I did that . . . it probably would have been okay either way, but I may have been thinking the red was just too high toned. | 
| | | | In the next photo, you can see we are starting to close in on the kit. As I said, it is not difficult or time consuming to do, so it makes a great weekend or even starter project. Anyway, the base is sprayed with FW Inks Sepia and Burnt Umber. The texture looks like an old wooden candle holder, so that was the inspiration there. I also added the teeth. They come separately and painting them was very easy--a coat of Badger's Bleached Bone, followed by a coat of Lifetone Amber Oxide around the base and then a treatment of The Detailer's Brown Acrylic Wash, a handy substance. In this case (as in most) I thinned the pre-made wash down to about 1/2 viscosity before applying it. The inner ears get this treatment as well, and the mouth gets a red wash toned down with brown to add some depth there. The eyes also get more work. I put in a central dot of black craft paint, and then inside it, I apply a circle of white to create the ring around the iris. I let this dry and then put in a line of Detailer Red wash around the rim of the eyes. | 
| | | | The last thing to do is gloss the mouth and teeth and finish the eyes. For the gloss, I use a couple treatments of Future Floor Wax brushed on carefully. You can spray it in too, but I like to keep it out of my airbrush. However, you have to be careful with a brush application because sometimes bubbles can rise up and stick to the kit, so make sure you pull the brush slowly and evenly. The eyes are done with Tamiya transparent gloss Red around the pupil and Tamiya Transparent Gloss Yellow in the outer eye area. The effect is to create a compelling focal point that plays into the comic book aspect of the kit, while at the same times, is consistent with the other colors and therefore is somewhat "realistic." | 
| | | | And there you have it. As I said, the kit is a really clean cast over all and there are only a few teeth, which can be done separately and then applied. The whole thing can be done very quickly and it has enough detail to be interesting to work with and at the same time, not overwhelming. Enjoy the other pictures and don't hesitate to head over to Monster Dork Studios to see the rest of the kits Karl has to offer. They are very, very cool and all are reasonably priced, especially given the quality. And if you want to talk kits, or if you would like to have your kits professionally done, contact me at editor@creaturescape.com. | 
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