Dracula:
I made this kit straight from the box. It goes together very well, and the seams are good. I used spray cans for the cape, but airbrushed the rest of his body. The landscape was sprayed a neutral gray, and I brushed four different shades of olive drab, and other dull greens, and a mud color for the foliage. The rocks were dry brushed with darker shades of gray, rust and mud. The tree was heavily weathered with a wash of brown and black.
Frankenstein:
This kit is straight from the box, and is my favorite of tha Aurora series. Though the pictures don’t show it, I used plasticard on the back of the headstone, to give it a solid look. Everything was painted with a brush. Dark brown for the suit, and black for the shirt and boots. I dry brushed a gray and mud color all over the body. I concentrated more mud on the boots and shins. The skin color was made with a mixture of Duck Egg Blue, Gray, and a touch of Olive Drab. The advantage is that every piece of this model has a texture to it, which hides brush strokes. Some weathering on the headstone, and you’re done! A proud piece for any shelf.
King Kong:
This is the Polar Lights reissue of the classic Aurora kit. I decided to also purchase the resin Replacement Parts. These include a more accurate head for King Kong, a new nameplate, and replacement trees. These really added to the kit and I recommend anyone wanting to build this kit to buy these replacement parts. I purchased them all from the CultTVman Hobbyshop.
I glued Kong together using Pro Weld. There are other brand names for it, but it is a liquid cement that welds the plastic. It comes in glass bottles, and you apply it with an ordinary paint brush – using capillary action. This holds together well, but I always like more security, so I applied hot glue here and there, inside, along poor seams. You must be careful with hot glue, as too much in any one area can melt the plastic. I used super glue to attach the new resin Replacement Head. I applied putty along all the seams, then scraped and sanded those seams as best as I could. And now the moment I was waiting for; I used the engraving attachment on my Dremel and carefully re-scribed the detail of the fur along the seams. I was very pleased with the results. Next, I gave Kong a thorough bath, with warm soapy water. I used a toothbrush and concentrated on his face. Since this was a resin piece, it tends to have more oils on it then the plastic. You have to make sure that is clean before you paint.
I prefer to use Testors Model Master enamel paints. I airbrushed his face, hands, chest and feet with a mixture of Aircraft Interior Black, European Gray, and a touch of Sea Blue. Then I painted his body complete with a brush using Aircraft Interior Black. I dry brushed on Raw Umber and European Gray to give the fur a more dimensional effect. Then I used my airbrush and dusted his feet with Dark Earth. For the inside of the mouth, I mixed three colors; a basic Red, Sand (33531), and a touch of Aircraft Interior Black. This gave me a good “pink” look, without looking blood red. The teeth were painted with the same Sand color. The mouth was then washed with Raw Umber. I brushed on a gloss coat on the inside of his mouth for a more realistic effect. (I have discovered something here. I have a bottle of Testors Glosscote Lacquer. When using Glosscote from a spray can is not feasible, I will just brush on a glosscote from the bottle. But too much of this glosscote can attack the enamel paint and the paint will begin to wrinkle up. So brush on glosscote lacquer onto enamel paints sparingly).
The Base
I airbrushed the base with a mixture of Light Sea Gray (36307) and Olive Drab (34087). The mixture was more gray than it was green. For the foliage on the base, I painted it first, Olive Drab, then blotched a second coat using SAC Bomber Green. By blotch, I mean a combination of painting and dry brushing. Being foliage, I would just hit the areas here and there with different colors to achieve a random, but layered look. The other colors I used on the foliage were Field Green (34097), Green Zinc Chromate, SAC Bomber Tan. I then used a wash all over using the color Raw Umber. Then, I dry brushed the rocks using Armor Sand (30277), Light Sea Gray, and Dark Earth.
The trees were airbrushed with Dark Tan (30219), then washed and dry brushed with Raw Umber. The palm tree leaves were painted with Field Green, then dry brushed with Green Zinc Chromate and Dark Tan. The leaves molded on the base, and the two Iguanas were painted with Green Zinc Chromate. For the new nameplate, I painted it two different brown colors, and scraped off the paint on the letters. So the letters you see are the bare resin.
Assembly
The resin replacement palm leaves came flat. After cutting away the excess resin, washing, then painting these pieces, I used a hair dryer on them. The heat softened them up. This allowed me to bend them and reshape them so the leaves hang downward. Otherwise, the leaves would stick straight out, which would look silly.
Having fully assembled and painted Kong, and having painted the girl, I realized that the girl won’t fit inside his hand! Well that’s okay, as my solution was simple; I’ll cut the girl in half! I then took each half and reassembled them inside Kong’s hand. I just applied glue on one half and held the two halves together. You can never see the seam since it is inside his hand.
As you may know, trying to glue the King to the base is extremely awkward, as there is very poor surface to surface contact. So, I drilled a hole through the base, and inserted an aluminum tube. I hot glued the tube to the underside of the base. I then drilled a corresponding hole through the bottom of Kong’s left foot. Now, I can just slide him over the pole, and that will hold him onto the base. What I found out, however, was that having used the new resin face adds a lot of weight, which shifts the center of gravity forward. The effect is that when King Kong is mounted on the pole, he leans forward, and so his feet aren’t making contact with the base. My remedy to this was to insert a small steel pin into the bottom of his right foot. I drilled a hole into the bottom of his right foot, inserted the pin, then applied hot glue around the pin at the underside of his foot. I then drilled a hole in the base where this pin would fit. This forced Kong to stay upright on the base!
I’m very happy with how it turned out. Thanks again to CultTVman for the opportunity to share with other contributors.
Craig Wheeler
