TKS The Birth of Dracula Finale.

 I took a break from all the painting and started in on the base. I had these 4X4' blocks hanging around and decided to use that. The base supplied was just one layer but it had 2 or three layers that couldn't be seen to make it a little taller.  I thought would be enough, but the base was smaller than the block, I cut out similar sized blocks out of foam to add around the base. 

I then had the idea that I would used Green Stuff World's Crackle Paint to make cracks and I planed on painting the cracks yellow and red as if the Devil was making his way up to Vlad.  Long story short the crackle paint didn't really work out. :( 

I always wanted to add a back drop so I just kept cutting foam to make them. I didn't have my cutter and doing them by hand I ended up with a few different sizes. Oh well.  When they were all cut I glued them together with Gorilla Glue .When that dried I cover the whole thing in my Black paint/Mod Podge mix. This will protect the foam from paints and super glues. 

Turning back to Dracula's armor I simply applied Nocturna's Sanctuary Red over everything and then a couple of coats of V's Metallic Gloss.  That's it, I was done. Since the wood base is rather big I will get a little name plate for it.  Thanks for looking.  

 

TKS Birth of Dracula

 This is another terrific kit from TKS-  Terrible Kid Stuff from Italy. It's really call Elizabeta: Birth of Dracula. But I like the shorter name better. It's 75mm in gray resin, and  has 7 parts.

Seeing the red armor in the Coppolla movie, my plan was to paint his armor chrome and then add V's Transparent Red over the top.

 While the Chrome was drying I knew I was going to add a background, so I just mixed some red and black and painted the cape with that. The fur collar started dark brown and then a few dry brush highlights. Elizabeta was painted all Beige Red. I remember, again from the movie that she lept into the moat or river...  and I was going to paint the gown sheer in parts.

Adding the transparent Red to the chrome just turn the armor pink. Many layers later and it still wasn't what I was thinking. I needed to do something else.  As I painted his face I had to keep checking with the arm since it wasn't attached to see how much would and wouldn't show.

Elizabeta was painted in V's Azure Blue. Darker where the material looked thicker, leaving the Beige Red where it didn't. I also painted the skin with a mix of Pale Skin and Light Gray as she was supposed to be dead and wanted to to contrast from Vlad's skin tone.

That's it for this time. Check back for the finale. Thanks for looking.

New

With my creativity level low this month, I have been lurking around the Net finding some new subjects to spark my mood. 

My first offering is from CGS Military Figures out of the UK and it's the companion to my recent Doc Holiday bust. It's Wyatt Earp. The kit is 200mm and comes in 10 parts: body, head, 2 arms, gun w/ hands, 2 hats, 2 flintlocks, and a pedestal.  The likeness to Kurt Russell is not as good as the likeness of Doc was to Val Kilmer. But I guess with the low slung hat and the giant mustache, there's not a lot of room for facial recognition points.

Next is from my friend John Dennett at MoonDevil Studios. It's an aquatic monster John calls The Deep One. It's part of a series he has in relation to JP Lovecraft. This is a 6 part kit in a bubble free, nearly seam free resin. The parts fit together very nicely and only a minimum amount of putty will be needed to make the seams completely disappear.

The third one was a kit I was able to see in the making at the modeling/sculpting forum The Clubhouse. "Pat Morea" created The Rock show WIP on this forum as he went along. It looks to be 1/5 or more likely 1/4 full figure. The likeness is very good. but it looks like the mold slipped, and separated a bit below the waste. A bit of work will be needed to correct this.

My final offering for this installment is a kit from a miniatures Co., called Terrible Kids Stuff  (TKS). The kit is a 75mm (1:24) kit called The Birth of Dracula. The scene depicts Vlad holding the lifeless body of Elisabeta, with his free hand up to his face in grief. I found it a very powerful scene. 
The kit is a limited edition of 75 castings. On the site they guesstimated that it would be sold out in Aug., but when I ordered in October, and the kit came it had a certificate of authenticity numbered 70 of 75. So there is a small chance to get one. 
It comes in 7 parts - Vlad's head/body/legs, Elisabeta's head/body, Vlad's upraised arm, his cape, Elisabeta's 2 dangling arms and a block base. The base also has a "base" in that extra material was used to lift the block floor off the ground. Nice touch.  The model is exquisitely sculpted and cast; no bubbles and no apparent seam lines. The resin is the type you some time run across in Europe and SE Asia where there is a pretty strong petroleum smell, especially when one cuts or sands the resin. That aside, this is going to be a pleasure to build.

Thanks for looking.