# Glenn Strange Frankenstein kit



## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I started working on this big one the other day. Overall the model is quite simple, with only three parts to the base and four for the figure. I had wanted to paint the monster separately from the base, but the fit was very poor. His feet just did not line up well with the molded spots on the base. Also the locations on the base were not flat and did not contact the bottom of the boots. Since the tomb stones did not fit well either, I just glued the whole thing together and blended in the gaps with Aves Apoxie Sculpt. This was really pretty easy and did not take long. The monster's head also did not fit as well onto the body as it could have and since the joint is not flat you can't sand it down. More putty fixed that too. I did leave the hands loose.

Nice kit overall with just typical fit and joint problems associated with big resin figures.


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

A great kit!! Have fun!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Yup... so far its been a lot of fun. This sucker is BIG. At least he is easy to paint (one color)


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## septimuspretori (Jan 26, 2011)

Beautiful kit...please keep us posted with updates!


Ben


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## dklange (Apr 25, 2009)

Another excellent sculpt from Jeff Yagher!! One of my favorite Frankenstein kits.

I did this one earlier this year...



- Denis


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

Can't wait to see what you do with it DJ. That is a nice kit but I wish MIM did them a little smaller, Aurora scale and they would fit better on the shelf.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Yes this is a biggie... there are some smaller GS Frankensteins floating around including at least two conversions for the Aurora kit


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Okay I got around to Frank again...

I primed the model first with some Tamiya grey spray primer. This stuff is great and adheres to resin very well. I followed this with a nice layer of Tamiya TS spray series "Rubber Black". Rubber Black is a very dark black-grey. It's a very useful shade. The Tamiya lacquers are also very durable and make a good base coat.

I started airbrushing the skin tones using Badger Freak Flex. I had never airbrushed these before but they went on with no problems. I found I did not need to think them at all. I used Reptilicus Green for the base and Green mixed with a light Grey shade, followed by a lighter, Yellower layer.. I added some Near Black to the highlight shade to make a dark grey-green, and did some shadow work around the eyes, jaw line, etc. I also sprayed the finger tips dark grey as per photos. I will hand paint the various details, including black finger nails. He actually isn't quite as green as he looks in the photos. 

I didn't take a picture of the base but i started spraying the tomb stones with grey and white. It was hard painting at night even with the lights in my work room so I will finish the airbrush work tomorrow.


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## mrmurph (Nov 21, 2007)

What a terrific sculpt! 
Thanks for sharing the details of your technique and the big detailed WIP pics!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Thanks ! I have trouble taking photos in my new house. It's designed to rely a lot on natural lighting but its winter time and I was working at night... Even with three lamps in my work room, its a bit dim. I take all of my photos with a Canon Powershot SX100IS. I find it to be a great little camera as it is set up specifically to do detail work. I use it for models, wildlife, sports action shots, etc.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I finished airbrushing the kit this morning. Of course, I had to scratch up a spot when I dropped something that hit the front of the model, so I need to do some touch up. I can probably do that with a brush anyway. I need to touch up around the neck too since I masked the head when I sprayed the shirt and coat.

My paint scheme is pretty simple - black jacket and pants, dark red shirt and brown boots. I went with the red shirt based on a (hand colored) Abbott and Costello lobby card. It's very subtle. I dusted the black with a bit of dark grey. Much of the base will be finished with some washes and dry brushing. I sprayed the grass areas the same dark brown I used for the shoes and trees. I want the grass to look dead.

I have not airbrushed many big figures before so this was a lot of fun. The Freak Flex paints work very well IMHO although they can be a bit thin and they dry slowly and with a glossy finish.


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

He's looking very nice DJ. I bought the entire FF set at the Fest a couple of years ago and it does include a variety of colors, about 50 or so I believe. I like them for airbrushing and they can be hand brushed as well but not as effectively. Of course you can use them straight from the bottle but as they age they seem to thicken and then I add an airbrush thinner. There are some very useful colors in particular too like suntan flesh, great for Silly Surfers. I do find though that on some bottles it seems they did not grind the pigments fine enough and they will clog the airbrush nozzle rather easily. That is really my only complaint with some of them.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

They are okay paints. I would recommend them. I bought some many years back when a local shop had them on mark down and got some more this spring from Mega. I think my main complaint with them overall is the crappy plastic jar with a plastic lid and a poor foil seal inside. They do thicken with age, which is not a bad thing if you do use them with a brush.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I spent a couple hours today doing some touch up and then the detail painting...



















One issue with using the Freak Flex is that it is hard to touch up since they are thin and translucent. Likewise, they don't drybrush particularly well.

Even a good sculptor like Jeff Yagher can made some odd choices or do things in a less than stellar way. The eyeballs in this kit are stupidly done. Instead of just a smooth eye where you paint the pupil and iris (my preferred way), or a smooth eye with a molded dip/hole in the middle, this one has the iris and pupil represented by a big, thick, round, raised puck. Makes painting really awkward...


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Finished...























































Most of the detail painting was done with Valleo acrylic paints. Unlike a lot of figures/models I do, this one did not have many washes. I did use some thinned out black on the tombstones to pick out detail, and some dark grey on the face. I did do a lot of drybrushing on the base and, to a lesser extent, the hands and face. 

The "Frankenstein" name plate was pretty easy to do. I base coated the letters with a very dark blood red, just so I would have a darker border. Then I filled in the letters with a mid-value Vallejo yellow. It took a couple coats to cover the dark red. Then I mixed the yellow with orange, and painted the bottom third of the letter. I kept applying orange and yellow to get a fade. Then I blended a little Vermilion red into the bottom. For the top half I used a lighter, brighter yellow, and then topped it with a bit of white . I very carefully painted a bit of black around and between the letters to sharpen them up a bit.

Since the Freak Flex paints are glossy, I clear coated the whole model with an airbrushed coat of Testors Model Master Acryl Clear Flat. This is not my most favorite clear coat (dries patchy) but it has the advantage of toning down blacks and other dark colors. You can spray the Acryl over black paint, and it dulls it out to a very dark grey, making it less stark. I may dig out a bottle of Clear Flat Lacquer and spray that over the figure for that super dead flat finish.


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## rhinooctopus (May 22, 2011)

*GS Frank*

Nice work!

Phil K


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## septimuspretori (Jan 26, 2011)

Well done, Sir!

:thumbsup:

Ben


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

Very nice job on that one DJ. It really looks great and that detail work and coloring was perfect. I didn't know Frankie had gotten so old and wrinkled by the end of his career!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Thanks !

For the most part the wrinkles and all are more akin to the Don Post rubber mask of Glenn Strange, than the actual makeup. But you can see some here..


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