New Aquisitions

One of these days I'll get around to numbering this series... or maybe not. Do I really need wifey knowing. ;) Hehe  (kidding)
This evening I'm back for another round of goodies that arrived at my door since last time.

First is The 1941 Wolfman. Werewolves were always my favorite monster and anytime I see a kit of one, I try my best to get it.This version is the one made famous by Lon Chaney Jr.. It was sculpted by Jim Deary and casted by Gillman Productions.  He too is nicely sculpted, and the casting looks great.

I was doing a preshade on a kit I will be showing shortly, and while I had the airbrush cup with extra black primer, I gave Wolfie a shot. Then I just added a highlight shot of white primer from a 45° high angle.

Continuing on, I strayed from my figures, when I saw Fantastic Plastic released his X-33 space plane. From FP's website:

The X-33 VentureStar was Lockheed-Martin's entry in NASA's X-33 SSTO program, which was intended to develop an unmanned Single-Stage-to-Orbit spacecraft to replace the rapidly aging Space Shuttle.

Unlike the more traditional rocket-plane designs offered by its competitors, the VentureStar had a unique triangular shape reminiscent of the experimental lifting bodies tested in the 1960s and 1970s. The first VentureStar was to be a scaled-down proof-of-concept demonstrator, but problems with the composites from which the spacecraft was to built resulted in the project's cancellation in 2001.

 The kit is listed as 1:72, and is well engineered and expertly casted. It comes in 11 parts and is listed as 11 inches long. Even knowing this size, I was surprised when I opened the box. I'm so used to seeing a small air frame with 1:72 kits; this guy is a monster.

Box Art

I thought I photographed the vehicle itself, but cannot locate it. Oh well, You'll be seeing it when I start working on it. 

Staying with vehicles from space theme, the next kit is The Martian Tripod from the book War of the Worlds. It is completely different from all the movie depictions. This kit is from Retro Kit. The online shop has a number of different genres of kits and parts, so you'll have to scan thru a number of pages to see everything. 
I ordered this kit and was informed that the last one was sold at a Model Show. So it took some time for a new batch of kits to be casted and sent out.
But it did arrive in great condition, and it looks great. It too was casted in a gray, orderless resin, with minimal flash and seam lines. 

Box Art

 Like the X-33, I thought there were pics of the parts, but they are not to be found.  I saw someone else had built the kit and actually lighted it. If I get the guts, I too may try to light this model. We'll see.

Finally I move back to the Figures Category with 2 mini kits from Aradia Miniatures. I believe these guys are based in Italy.  With my poor old eyes, despite all the awesome sculpts, I'm limited to those 75mm or larger. The ones that caught my attention was Krampus (it was around Christmas that I saw their webstore) - 

Clam shell cover

 It was sculpted by Joaquin Palacios, and the parts are very crisp in a gray resin - 

This shows the figure primed with a zenithal highlight

 The only downside is that the figure doesn't fit in the spots marked on the base. But I came up with an idea for a new base. Stand by for that. 
The other, since I enjoy the ancient myth stories, I also picked up the Marine Satyr. Apparently this is the first in a series called Mediterraneo. From the site:

Mediterraneo is a series dedicated to the characters of the ancient Mediterranean tradition, capturing the most interesting figures from myths and legends of this area - of course, with our touch of fantasy. Every release will be an unique limited edition. 

This model was equally well done in gray resin. 

Box art

Here is the box art again, along with a few parts. The number on the packages indicates that I got the 14th one. This model comes with two heads. One with like a Fish Mask (blue arrow-above) and the other looking like good ol' Poseidon. I really liked the mask in the pics, but when I saw it in person, it looked too small, and will stick with the other face above/right.

A downside to this is that you are shown a finished copy in the web-store that had additions to the base that were not pointed out as "not included."

I wasn't expecting the skeletonized sea fan, but the image to the left shows a lot more than just the pedestal I received. If I had known, it wouldn't have been a deal breaker, but It would be nice to know what you get and what you don't. 
The other things that I didn't really care for besides the *long* delivery wait, was that the two kits both came in clam shells and yet they were packaged in just a padded envelope. (?!)  Luckily for me the only broken part was Krampus' tail.  
Will I buy from them again? If the future kits are as expertly sculpted and cast as these-- yes I will.   

This was a long one. If you made it to the end - THANKS for looking.