# My Basil Gogos replacement head for Moebius Frankie



## frankiefreak (Mar 15, 2011)

Hi all! Almost Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!! I believe I am the 3rd to post pics of this incredible replacement head from Jeff Yagher for the Moebius Frankenstein Diorama. I stuck with the colors of the original makeup instead of the colors from the painting, (no offence to Mister Gogos) but I didn't think I could pull it off. The textures in this scuplt are many and varied and I found it challanging to paint so I kept it simple and am generally pleased with the results. For a faithful rendition of the origianal painting's colors see Mark McGovern's version. He is AWESOME! Thanks for looking and HAPPY HALLOWEEN! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!

Michael and a true...
frankiefreak:wave:

The great lighting features are from Matt at www.starlightingprojects.com


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## COPP (Mar 25, 2013)

Michael; this is the COOL part of what I do, checking out the GREAT build-ups! 
You seem to have handled the textures just fine! :thumbsup: One suggestion, perhaps add a wash of dark orange or red to the flame of the torch, that neon yellow aspect of the lighting distracts a bit from all that hard work you put into your paint job (although this could be partly due to the effect of photographing ANY light source directly...)
Tom


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## frankiefreak (Mar 15, 2011)

COPP said:


> Michael; this is the COOL part of what I do, checking out the GREAT build-ups!
> You seem to have handled the textures just fine! :thumbsup: One suggestion, perhaps add a wash of dark orange or red to the flame of the torch, that neon yellow aspect of the lighting distracts a bit from all that hard work you put into your paint job (although this could be partly due to the effect of photographing ANY light source directly...)
> Tom


Thanks so much Tom! That torch is acutally a lighted one with flickering LED's in it. It doesn't come out well in these photos. I'll take a few in low light so you can see the lighting effects. Again, these are from www.starlightingprojects.com.:wave:


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Great work, ff! You've certainly taken this kit to the next level. Actually, I would have to say that your flesh colors are way closer to the Gogos painting than mine. Tom wanted a green Franky so that's what I painted. I'm working on my own Moebius kit now, and when I get to painting my Monster's face, it'll look much like yours.

BTW, nice photography there. :thumbsup:


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## frankiefreak (Mar 15, 2011)

Mark McGovern said:


> Great work, ff! You've certainly taken this kit to the next level. Actually, I would have to say that your flesh colors are way closer to the Gogos painting than mine. Tom wanted a green Franky so that's what I painted. I'm working on my own Moebius kit now, and when I get to painting my Monster's face, it'll look much like yours.
> 
> BTW, nice photography there. :thumbsup:


Thanks again Mark!


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it, FF. :wave:


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

It is an incredible sculpt and you did a great paint job, but to me from the photos, the head looks a little large for the body?


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Mitchellmania said:


> ...the head looks a little large for the body?


Mitch,

Tom had similar concerns, but I'm not so sure. The assembled figure is the proper proportion, about 7-1/2 heads (the height of the replacement head) tall. I think the head looks off because the lateral proportions of the body are off, in that the shoulders and legs are too narrow.

I'm building a Moebius Frankenstein right now and have corrected some items already, mainly the overstated lapels and jacket hems. It would take way more epoxy putty than I'd care to expend to fill out the legs sufficiently. I haven't added the arms yet, pending some modifications I'm making to the base. But when I do get the arms permanently attached to the body, I plan on filling out the shoulders with putty, which I believe will make the head look better.

In any event, it's such an improvement over the kit head it would have to be *much* farther off proportionally for me not to use it.


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## COPP (Mar 25, 2013)

For whatever reason, I always felt that still photograph, while iconic and representing the KEY moment of the film, also served to point out that the Monster was a skinny actor wearing an oversized (and padded) jacket with shortened sleeves and HUGE boots to give him height. Given the luxury of creating a complete figure from scratch, ALOT of sculptors (Steve Wang's Horizon vinyl kit comes to mind) have captured the likeness and posture of Karloff while giving the Monster a bit more bulk. Doing JUST a replacement head is always difficult, and there IS a trick in getting the improved likeness and detail, while still making it look (for lack of a better word) like an organic part of the kit body. On top of that (in this case) I asked Jeff to try and capture the detailing from the Gogos painting. I ASKED Jeff to make the head larger than the kit head (which it is) and he NAILED the look, the detail and most importantly (to me anyway) the life in the EYES of the painting. When I was a kid looking through the magazine rack at the grocery store, I may not have known his name, but I could TELL when it was a Gogos FM cover because the character featured was looking BACK at me. The VERY first image Jeff sent me of the sculpt took me right back to that time in my life, so needless to say, I was a VERY happy client ( I'm pretty sure this is OFTEN the case with Mr Yagher . :thumbsup The images Jeff sent of the finished sculpt on the kit torso looked fine proportionally (again, TO ME). but when I talked to Mark about doing the paint-up (and MORE importantly when PHOTOGRAPHING same) I had noticed in the build-up images that were starting to appear online, the head DEFINITELY appeared larger in some shots than others. This is why I had Mark shoot side by side shots with the original kit head, so potential customers can see for themselves what they will receive if they send their hard-earned $$$.
In other words, "Yeah, it's a little big...":wave:
Tom


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

And let us not forget that Henry Frankenstein was no Bernini (or even a Jeff Yagher) when it came to sculpture. Look how the Monster's face turned out! I think we're lucky the head's as* small* as it is...


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

I have to say I do love the sculpt, and would buy it for the Moebius kit. It would be worth modifying the figure to have it. How do it order one?


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Mitchellmania said:


> How do it order one?


Mitch,

Just go to Tom's Cult of Personality web site.


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## COPP (Mar 25, 2013)

Or you can email me direct at [email protected] I have some bagged glow figure parts I got from Frank at Moebius (COMPLETE figure, plus nameplate and door handles that were left over from the Chiller exclusive kit run)
Head is $18 plus $5.80 Priority shipping on the site, I can do a bagged kit w/resin head for $35 postpaid if you order direct from me. :thumbsup:
THANKS!
Tom


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

PM sent!


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## Spockr (Sep 14, 2009)

Great build Michael! Don't sell yourself short. The work on the head is beautiful and the whole color scheme ties together nicely making for a nicely balanced piece. The mods to the feet and addition of the wood floorboards were perfect choices and well done. (Also have to say 'Thank you' for the mention about Starlighting!)

Tom, the head looks great and imo its the best one for this kit yet. Really glad that Moebius hooked up the GITD kits so others can take advantage of building this fine pair. IMO even though the kit has limitations it does provides a great foundation for variation upon variation. And the COPP variation is one of the best and I hope you sell a million of them.

Regarding the comment about the 'neon' looking effect of the torch flame, they actually do look more subdued in person. Adequately balancing colors in a scene with light and dark areas is a bit of a trick for cameras. I also wanted to mention that I recently converted all my torches to include red as well as yellow leds for a more 'natural' looking flame. The one on this build is one of the new ones and looks a bit more orange in person.

Regards,
Matt


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## frankiefreak (Mar 15, 2011)

Spockr said:


> Great build Michael! Don't sell yourself short. The work on the head is beautiful and the whole color scheme ties together nicely making for a nicely balanced piece. The mods to the feet and addition of the wood floorboards were perfect choices and well done. (Also have to say 'Thank you' for the mention about Starlighting!)
> 
> Tom, the head looks great and imo its the best one for this kit yet. Really glad that Moebius hooked up the GITD kits so others can take advantage of building this fine pair. IMO even though the kit has limitations it does provides a great foundation for variation upon variation. And the COPP variation is one of the best and I hope you sell a million of them.
> 
> ...


Thanks Matt! I really appreciate your compliments.

Michael:wave:


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