# Just Finished: Polar Lights - The Mummy!!



## rat salad (Oct 18, 2004)

I built and primered this kit this past summer. Dug him out about a month back and started painting him. He was really a fun piece to work on. I customized the nameplate a bit. I added a dead bush, a rat, and a skeletal hand creeping out from under the nameplate. There was an extra bandage draped over the sarcophagus that wasn't draping properly - I ditched it. There was also an extra bandage dangling from the center of his rib cage. It broke off when I was handling him to paint (oops). I spent alot of time using various colors to make his skin look rotted. And I broke out my pearlescent and iridescent paints and used them tastefully on the sarcophagus, the nameplate, and his pendant....I could not resist adding some color to this piece. Lots of drybrushing on rough terrain which ruined a number of my brushes. Oh well...he was worth it. 

23 photos...check him out:

http://www.bobbysmonstermodels.com/pMummy.html


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## Just Plain Al (Sep 7, 1999)

Just pulled this one out and started working on it a couple of days ago. Your build gives me something to shoot for. Nice. :thumbsup:


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

I have that kit in my stash as well. Yours turned out great, I really like the colors and effects you brushed into him. A great build to display on your shelf.


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## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

I don't care for this kit at all - not your work, rat salad, I mean the kit itself. 

I understand that it was based on the recent movie at the time, but the mummy looks as if somebody designed it out of what they could slap together from a bunch of left over sprues.

The sarcophagus is actually more interesting than the figure!

Speaking of which, I like what you did, rat, on that. Actually, the whole work, including the mummy, is very well done. I'm just underwhelmed by the kit.


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## rat salad (Oct 18, 2004)

Thank you Bob and Al. 
Frankie, I have to agree it is an underwhelming kit. I'm not sure who sculpted it, but it seemed like they were in a hurry to get the figure done. Definition on the figure is really vague. Not to mention, they made his body way too bean-pole thin. The Mummy in the movie was way more beefed up. He was fun to build though, but yeah, sculpt-wise, the figure is weak.


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## dklange (Apr 25, 2009)

You really did an excellent job on this!:thumbsup:

I also have a copy of the kit and for the reasons that have been discussed, I've never built it. I do think the base is very cool... maybe I'll use that on something...

- Denis


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

rats',

Congratulations on a great job with this model! The basic assembly and painting is jobs you've done are contest quality, from what I can see. I also admire your color choices.

In the movie, there was next to no coloring beyond the bare, dark wood of the sarcophagus, even when it was new. I appreciate your restraint - the few touches you did add liven it up so it's not too boring. Also, the mummy had that juicy "barbeque sauce" look only when the coffin was first opened. By the time Evie revives it when she speaks the spell written in the Black Book the mummy has dried out and looks, well, pretty much the way you painted it.

I see you've got Just Plain Al hotted up to finish his Mummy and wolfie mentioned he's got one in a pile somewhere. I bet the majority of HT members have one stashed away. Maybe the Polar Lights Mummy would be a good subject for a Cabin Fever Contest - ?


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## rat salad (Oct 18, 2004)

Thanks guys!
And thank you, Mark, for the tips you gave me when this kit started out. Much appreciated. Yes, I avoided the "barbecue juice" look....LOL. I did not want gloss paint on this guy. Too many bumps and textures. He would have ended up a "glare" nightmare. I ignored the movie, and just went for a dried up, rotted flesh mummy look. I found myself on Google Images researching ideas, by studying real mummy's. I could not hold back on the sarcophagus. I have never painted one, and I just wanted to have fun with metallic paints. I primer-coated it flat black, then drybrushed it to a dark wood, then ended up drybrushing it over gold...you can still see a shimmer of the brown wood through the gold. It really was fun to paint.


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## Roy Kirchoff (Jan 1, 1970)

Looks good ratsy! :dude:

~RK~


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## mrmurph (Nov 21, 2007)

Completely agree with Mark. The subtle earthy color choices really set your kit off. Thanks for sharing.


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## rat salad (Oct 18, 2004)

Thank you Roy, and thanks Murph, for taking the time to take a peek.


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## Rondo (Jul 23, 2010)

I actually prefer the newer movie design over the classic mummy. As a kid, the classic was scary but now he seems kind of barely mobile and helpless.

Great job on the build. The sarc is especially nice. Yeah the mummy itself is not the most detailed but the more animated pose makes him much more dangerous in my mind.

I have an unbuilt kit but then I found a built up on ebay that is nicer than anything I'd do. Helluva deal and no other bidders.  I asked the builder to sign it and it looked even better in person.


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Nice job Rat Salad. It is the classic example of "turning a sow's ear into a silk purse", with care and attention to detail your kit looks much better than one would first think it could turn out.
The sculpt was done by Jim Groman, and he did a beautiful job on it. I saw a resin master cast from his sculpt at the Fort Washington Hobby show outside of Philadelphia in March before the movie was released. I went there to take reference photos for the cover art. He had sculpted the skeleton, then added the musclature and finally the detail and wrappings. Exquisitely detailed. 

The problems came up when the kit went to China to be engineered and manufactured. If i remember correctly, the whole kit was re-sculpted over there with no attention to detail. There were numerous problems with engineering the molds, and many delays. The first test shots from China were practically unusable. Finally, with the budget rising and time running out, Polar Lights had to say "good enough" and let it run. As it was they missed the premier of the movie by months -

It is a poorly engineered kit, but when built and painted with care, can be a very striking piece. 

BTW, here's pics of my build. I dremmeled out the head and eye sockets and made the tendon hanging over the mouth more "stringy"










I used rub-n-buff on the sarcophogus, but then toned it WAY down with earth colors...










It actually looks much less shiny in person - chalk that up to the flash.


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## rat salad (Oct 18, 2004)

Thank you, Chris!
That's a damn shame what happened to this kit. I am a big-time toy collector too, and I cannot tell you how many horror stories I have heard of toys being designed, sent over to China, and basically ruined in concept and execution. They do send the prototypes back here for review, and they almost always inevitably are in major need of retooling, reengineering, etc, etc.......hmmmm, maybe we need to start bringing those jobs back here.....oh, I digress.

Hey, I like your buildup. I was looking around the net for sample builds of this model to give me inspiration, and I really couldn't find any. Yours looks really dried out and rotted. I like how you cut that chunk out of his head...LOL. I almost placed a tiny, tiny black bead into the eye you cut out, but removed it at the last minute. And I was almost going to cut out the blackened out eye (I was lazy).

Lastly, I love your artwork on this box cover. When this kit first came out, I didn't know about it. I was in a hobby store one day, picked it up, checked out the cover art, and was like, "Coooooooooool. I have got to buy this." So your art sold me. Good job, my man.
:thumbsup:


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## Mars - 1 (Dec 6, 2002)

Great paint work on your kit!! It was a real pain to seperate the bandages from the body when I did mine. I was really disappointed with this kit when it came out. At first I was going to lose the figure and use the base with an Aurora mummy. But after a little re-posing and detail work I came up with this.


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Thanks Rat Salad! I really appreciate that!
Someone here on the board actually did place an eye in the one socket, and I think they added a dried out tongue as well.
And Mars-1 very nice customization!


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## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

Holy doodle! _Much_ better pose there, Mars.


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Frankie Boy said:


> Holy doodle! _Much_ better pose there, Mars.


I must confess...whenever I look at the Mummy pose, I just wanna sing "MAMMY!"


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

ChrisW said:


> ...when built and painted with care, can be a very striking piece.


As is yours, CeeDub - but then, what else would any of us expect?

I sure hope our Moderator will lock this freakin' thread down. I've got too many other projects to work on, without you guys getting me itchy to build my own Mummy. How about somebody posting a photo of a poorly-done Mummy for a change?


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## kit-junkie (Apr 8, 2005)

I like your stuff a lot, rat salad. Very nice work on a hard kit to make look good. 

Mars-1, That's the best version of this kit I've seen! Very dynamic pose! 

Here's my box stock build: 









This was my second figure kit. I didn't use the movie as a guide. I googled images of real mummies for reference. I've never really been happy with this one. It looks okay in person. The photos don't capture all the subtle shading and color used.


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## rat salad (Oct 18, 2004)

Wow, Mars, I'm impressed. I don't know how you guys end up reposing these things.
And KJ, very nice paint and build. Wow, lots of nice mummies.....


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## rat salad (Oct 18, 2004)

ChrisW said:


> I must confess...whenever I look at the Mummy pose, I just wanna sing "MAMMY!"


LOL, funny you should say that. I thought the same thing while I was building him. Honestly, from certain angles, he looks like Scatman Crothers, when he smiles or laughs.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

kit-junkie said:


> Here's my box stock build...


I said, *poorly* done!!!


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## kit-junkie (Apr 8, 2005)

Mark McGovern said:


> I said, *poorly* done!!!


Thank you, Mark.  

I'm sure your version will be a wonder to behold. I love your stuff!


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