# Finished "Invisible Man"



## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I bought the kit and eagerly put it all together back when it was first released... but never painted and finished it. I had also bought the TSDS decal sheet for the model.

The basic kit is quite well done but is larger in scale than the Aurora monsters, so he really doesn't fit in well, despite being in "Aurora Style". 











The molding and fit are really good overall. I did use some putty on the main coat seams and legs, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. The engineering of the coat/body/legs assembly is complicated and poor. The kit is designed so you build the coat around the completed body and legs, making painting awkward. It is easy to fix this by cutting the holes in the tab on the legs into slots so you can slip the pre-painted legs into the pre-painted coat/vest assembly. This was the only modification I made to the model. The coat was done in Tamiya German RLM 02 Grey and the pants in Poly Scale Early Israeli Tan. The gloves, bandages, etc. all fit well and aligned without much fuss.












I painted the wooden floor base with Poly Scale "Deck Tan" and then applied various washes and dry brushes of browns and tans over it. Each board was treated a bit differently and one at a time to make the floor more interesting and realistic. The edges between the boards themselves were picked out with a black wash. I had intended to use the TSDS decal for the floor rug... but it was much too large and just did not overlay the molded detail very well. The molding of the rug on the base is not the best... it is engraved into the floor rather than being raised up! But it is not hard to paint... Despite its size the base is very sturdy and the whole model, when completed, doesnt have much "flex" to it.

The table was painted with various Tamiya and Testors brown paints to match the wonderful TSDS decal top. I puttied in the crudely engraved papers on the table. Again, instead of being slightly raised (or provided as a printed item on the instructions to cut out and glue down) the papers are recessed into the table which is unrealistic and hard to paint. The TSDS decal solved all of that quite easily. 










I painted the book case with various Tamiya and Poly Scale browns, giving it a darker tone than the table, which is a bit orangy. All of the accessories go together very well.










The books, jars, etc were all pre painted and glued down with Testors Clear Parts Cement. I relocated a few details to suit my own tastes and to keep things a bit less cluttered. The big difference was moving the large stack of books to the back of the base, and the name plate/book to the left side of the book case. This way they don't block the figure and clutter the scene.




















I wasn't thrilled with the invisible mice and didn't glue them down. I suppose they look "okay". Their clear cage came cracked in my kit from a stress fracture. There is also a huge mold sprue mark on the opposite side. I treated all the clear parts with a bit of Pledge With Future Shine to help hide the seams and make them a bit brighter. All of the clear glassware is very well done. Some of the bottles were tinted with Tamiya and Humbrol clear 
paints to represent colored liquids inside.










Overall a very well done, fun to build kit. The TSDS decals are very well done and go on great. Solvaset was the best solvent to make them conform, but Micro Sol and Gunze Mr. Mark Softener did okay. You do have to apply the decals over a white or light colored background, so take that into account when you paint the areas where the decals will go. For the books, I painted them all white, then yellowed up the page ends. After I applied the decals for the spines and pages, I could just go back and paint the visible parts of the book covers to match the pre colored spines.

:wave:


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## hedorah59 (Nov 24, 2008)

Wow! That really looks great - Very clean paint work and I love your choice of colors :thumbsup: The floor is especially well done! 

Thanks for taking the time to write out your impressions of the kit, I always enjoy hearing how other modelers go about building a kit and solving any potential problems. It will be helpful when I get around to building mine. I was wondering if there was a way to build and paint his jacket and slip it on later - Thats how I built my Revell Franky and it was MUCH easier than trying to paint things after it was installed!


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## louspal (Sep 13, 2009)

Nice job. I particularly like the round table finish.
I have to admit I was somewhat glad to see that your left hand and arm did not line up just right. I thought it was just my bad.
As a side note: I used a blow dryer and gentle pressure to get it to line-up better. I takes a bit of time, but that's part of the beauty of modeling.


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

Bravo!


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

Awesome detailing work!!


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Great job on it overall!

Sean


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## PF Flyer (Jun 24, 2008)

Beautiful work. Decals really add to the kit. Great positioning of parts, too.


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

Looks great! Like how you did the wood areas, very realistic.


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## mrmurph (Nov 21, 2007)

Thanks for sharing your technique, discussion, and many close-up pictures. You've done some beautiful work on ths amazing kit.


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## otto (Jan 1, 1970)

Great build!


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## Dave Metzner (Jan 1, 1970)

Looks great, thanks for posting the pics.

Dave


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Excellent!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: I really like the realism you've given the books and table. Great work!!

Chris.


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## xsavoie (Jun 29, 1999)

just what I like,modelers that try to outdo each other.Fantastic detailing and excellent choice of colors.:thumbsup:


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## Kitzillastein58 (Jan 27, 2009)

It's amazing how plain little pieces of plastic can be magically transformed into a beautiful, and realistic scene like this when put into the right hands. Excellent work djnick66! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Kitz' :wave:


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## BlackbirdCD (Oct 31, 2003)

This is a cool kit. I just sat down with this it, and my wife took it over  She loves that it's a lot like outfitting a dollhouse, and totally got into it. So I pulled the Moebius Frankenstein kit out. She's got it ready to paint now and I had a grand time walking her through the basics of model building. 

Family bonding, over models.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

BlackbirdCD said:


> This is a cool kit. I just sat down with this it, and my wife took it over  She loves that it's a lot like outfitting a dollhouse, and totally got into it. So I pulled the Moebius Frankenstein kit out. She's got it ready to paint now and I had a grand time walking her through the basics of model building.
> 
> Family bonding, over models.


Funny you should mention this... I have a husband/wife pair of customers who shop in my store. She paints all the little pilots, soldiers, figures for her husband's models. But she liked the Invisible Man kit when she saw me working on it in the shop, and did it up herself. Since then I sold her an old Monogram Dracula and Frankenstein to work on.


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## mado21 (Oct 26, 2009)

do you know if the decals you used are avaleble in the uk?
thanks mark


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## dklange (Apr 25, 2009)

Definitely nice work!! This is one great kit to detail and you've done a great job!!:thumbsup:

- Denis


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Check with TSDS about the decals... http://www.tsdsinc.com/ They offer a good product and very good customer service. I have bought several of their sets (check my 1/350 Seaview build). They really make a difference, even if you use just a few.


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## paulhelfrich (May 11, 2009)

Great job! I love your color choices.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Wow n Wow... :thumbsup:That is cetainly an awe inspiring job :woohoo: Thanks for posting. This my next one after the Iron Man I just started. I wasn't sure about the after market decals but now I'm leaning that way.

Cheers,

Alec.


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## roadflea (Jul 14, 2009)

are the decals for the paper seperate or do you have to use the tabletop decal i just showed my wife and grandkids your job and they were shocked AWESOME JOB


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The table-top is one big decal. If you just want to use the papers, you can cut them out of the table top. Remember the decals have to go over a white background... Same with the lables for the bottles... if you want white you have to paint it first. I thought of scanning the decal sheet and reprinting it on Testors white decal film but didn't bother. They are good quality. On my table I filled in and sanded out the crude engraved papers so I had a smooth base for the decal. I think if you go to TSDS he has pictures of the sheets so you see what you are getting. The Invisible man set included: all of the book spines, the page ends, gold leaf page ends, the lenses for the goggles, the table top, the rug, shoe laces, and all the lables for the bottles. I did not apply the decal for the paper that lays on the cabinet top... I just cut it out and glued it down with the paper backing still attached. The decals are really quite easy to use once you get the hang of it. If you are fumble-fingered, the film TSDS uses is very very strong so you can even pick up a decal with a tweezer and move it around. If you curl one over, dip it in warm water and it will uncurl. Just be sure not to get one turned upside down as its hard to tell top from bottom without a white backing.


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## deadmanincfan (Mar 11, 2008)

Ooh...thanks for that little tidbit about backward decals! :thumbsup:


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## Rebel Rocker (Jan 26, 2000)

WOW!! Talk about attention to detail!!! Fantastic work!!!


Wayne


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## bert model maker (Feb 19, 2002)

GREAT build !!! that looks just like a scene in the movie. I am happy that i can see MY book on the bookshelf, mine is the third book from the left of the skull. Fantastic looking build !


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## Bob Hackl (May 5, 2010)

*Invisible Man - Finished by Bob Hackl*

Here's my interpretation, strictly based on the original 1933 Universal movie starring Clause Raines and Una O'Conner. I made everything based on what can be seen in the movie; so some guessing as to color since it's in B&W. The liquids in the clear containers are alchohol diluted food coloring, injected into the assembled and polished flasks and bottles. Other bottles contain mini cotton balls, sticks, absinth, powders, etc. The pub advertised and served Bass Ale. I scanned a Bass label and made a decal which is on the bottle top of the bookcase. The documents on the table were likewise reduced from real period chimistry texts.

Incidentally, The picture on the wall is Una O'Connor, a character actress from the '30's who played the pub owner's overbearing wife. Raines, already invisible at the start, rents a room in their country pub in hopes of creating a reversal formula. He's constantly pestered by the intrusive O'Connor whose picture even hangs (annoyingly) on the wall of his room... until he finally flips out and hurls a beaker at it in disgust after she interrupts him and screws up a day's work. Fun fact: O'Connor was the archetype for the Monty Python old nags (Mrs. Beethoven, Brian's Mother, etc.) played by Graham Chapman and Terry Jones.

You can see the movie on You Tube. It's great with excellent period VFX.


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## BKSinAZ (Jun 5, 2009)

That floor looks real. I like how each plank of wood stands out. This is my next model and hope it turns out half as good as yours.


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## Bob Hackl (May 5, 2010)

Thanks. Here's another angle in natural light; you can see the floor boards better






... and a corrected description. Too many typos in my original posting:

Here's my interpretation, strictly based on the original 1933 Universal movie starring Claude Raines and Una O'Connor. I made everything based on what can be seen in the movie; so some guessing as to color since it's in B&W. The liquids in the clear containers are alcohol diluted food coloring, injected into the assembled and polished flasks and bottles. Other bottles contain mini cotton balls, sticks, absinth, powders, etc. The pub advertised and served Bass Ale. I scanned a Bass label and made a decal which is on the bottle top of the bookcase. The documents on the table were likewise reduced from real period chemistry texts.

Incidentally, The picture on the wall is Una O'Connor, a character actress from the '30's who played the pub owner's overbearing wife. Raines, already invisible at the start, rents a room in their country pub in hopes of creating a reversal formula. He's constantly pestered by the intrusive O'Connor whose picture even hangs (annoyingly) on the wall of his makeshift lab... until he finally flips out and hurls a beaker at it in disgust after she interrupts him and screws up a day's work. Fun fact: O'Connor was the archetype for the Monty Python old nags (Mrs. Beethoven, Brian's Mother, etc.) played by Graham Chapman and Terry Jones.

You can see the movie on You Tube. It's great with excellent period VFX.


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

A belated pat on the back DJ, yours looks great and this is the first time I have seen it. I kind of wish I had seen it before building mine over the holidays. This is simply a great kit at a very good price these days. And I used the very nice TSDS decals on mine too. Really help with the books and papers.

And yours is perfect also Bob Hackl. Very nice job and everything goes together perfectly. I didn't actually recall the scene from the movie as it has been a while but the movie is quite good and I also read the book, very good, after this kit came out.

Bob


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Beautiful looking builds.

Bob, the scene is not a specific one from the film; rather it's intended to illustrate the madness building inside him.

Chris


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## apls (Dec 5, 2005)

I wished that someone would make a replacement head for this kit, showing him at the begining with the goggles on and the tuff of hair through the wrappings.


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## Bob Hackl (May 5, 2010)

If this is Chris White, the designer, kudos!!!; an easy build and fun paint-up, generally speaking. My only real criticism is the bookcase skull which I wish looked more human, like the one on the floor of Aurora/Polar Lights "The Forgotten Prisoner." Other minor questions: Did the clear parts need to be so thick? I really had to thin out the edges of all the open glass items to get them closer to scale. Also, what were the raised bits on the floor meant to be... torn up paper? shattered glass? Couldn't really tell so decided to just cover with the hat. 

Lastly, I know your tableaux is not designed to be an exact frame from the movie (the round table and bookcase are on opposite sides of the movie set, bookcase is taller in the movie, the lab props are more numerous and on a larger table, etc.) but you've skillfully created a good composite of various scenes which works well, and the period props and '30's style sure pleased this older fan of the Universal classic. Nice job. 
P.S. Could you please make the next one the same scale as the Aurora classics?


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## Bob Hackl (May 5, 2010)

apls said:


> I wished that someone would make a replacement head for this kit, showing him at the begining with the goggles on and the tuff of hair through the wrappings.


Thought about doing just that using the existing kit parts. Wouldn't be hard to modify the goggles to fit, apply the nose and add some cotton "hair."


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