# The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel Mare WIP



## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The recent Modebius/Aurora reissue...

The regular and glow kits are nicely done. Both versions do require a bit of clean up, but nothing out of the ordinary for a 45 year old mold. I couldn't tell much of a quality difference between the molding on this kit and the Tomy reissue from the early 1990s. 

I repositioned the figure's head and both arms slightly to make him look more like the box art pose. The left arm was simply rotated and the shoulder and cemented into a slightly different position with CA glue. The right arm required some minor trimming of the elbow and reshaping the outer arm bone with some Aves Apoxie Sculpt. 

One thing that always bothered me with this kit is the lack of a neck. This means the skull has to sit right on top of the iron collar around his neck, and will face down, unlike the box art picture. I made a simple string of neck vertebra using a piece of the kit's sprue with some grooves cut around it with a sprue cutter. A notch in the top fits into the back of the head, and you can now glue the vertebra into the collar to match the picture on the box. 




















The Moebius base (white) has the exact same mold flash as the old Tomy issue (grey)










For whatever reason the Glow kit was a bit cleaner molded.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I did some airbrushing this morning...










The kit was painted mostly with Badger Freak Flex but I used some Tamiya German Grey and Black on the wall.


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

I'm really liking this!!


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## LT Firedog (Nov 14, 2001)

Looks great. Awesome idea for the neck. I will be using it . thanks.


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## steve123 (Feb 9, 2009)

That looks very nice. Excellent work...more pics!

I don't know how you feel about adding lights...hell even my cats have lights now..
But would this look cool?










Steve


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## kdaracal (Jan 24, 2009)

Ok. This is wonderful. And I love the weathering on the skull. 

Hey: I've been dying to share this one, though. To make good "scaled" cobwebs, use a "used" Bounce dryer sheet. I got this demo from a good friend at my Fantasy Modeler's Club of SF, and he just pulled the material apart, Elmer's glued it down, and let it dry. For an aged look, he gently dry-brushed a little gray or black. 

I kid you not, it is SO much better than shredded cotton balls!(None of my business, BTW, your work is incredible!)


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

djnick66 said:


> ...One thing that always bothered me with this kit is the lack of a neck...I made a simple string of neck vertebra using a piece of the kit's sprue with some grooves cut around it with a sprue cutter...


Excellent idea! I did the same thing the last time I built the kit (the first Polar Lights reissue, whenever that was), except I carved the "vertebrae" into the spare sprue with an Xacto knife and a little sanding. Not too difficult, and it improves the look of that area of the kit if you're building it with the head tilted back:










I wish I had a better photo of it, but you get the idea.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Thats a good rendition Z. 

One other thing I did is to hollow out the alternating links on the chains that were molded solid. I think you only need to do six links total, and it really wasn't that hard.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Got him finished today...


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## steve123 (Feb 9, 2009)

That looks very cool! Excellent work!

I'm gonna get one of these for me..

Steve


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## Opus Penguin (Apr 19, 2004)

Fantastic!


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

Great!!! I like the head tilt! and colors


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Thanks ! 

I have built half a dozen of these over the years and the head position always bothered me. And, honestly, he can be a pretty boring model. Every one I have done to date was black with white and red trim and a grey wall... 

It was interesting painting the kit to match the box art. Everything has a sort of painted on shadow where one side is light and the other is dark. I should toch up the shadow I painted on the skull on the floor to make it darker farther up the one side. But oh well...


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## steve123 (Feb 9, 2009)

I think you nailed it.
If you want to keep playing with it.. maybe ancient crud,..textured rust..bugs.
None of that is necessary. The build is elegant and pioniant...I'd hate to be that old pirate...

It looks wonderful the way it is.

Steve


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## Spockr (Sep 14, 2009)

A great homage tot he box art. Great idea with the neck and spine mod.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

djnick66 said:


> Thats a good rendition Z...


Thank you! It's difficult to tell from that photo, but I also filled in the skull's palate (the roof of the mouth), sinus cavities, and eye sockets in an attempt to make it look more realistic.

Back to your build-up, I particularly like that side-by-side photo you posted of it next to the box art; I think it showcases your painted lighting effects more effectively than in the other photos. Very natural-looking and realistic!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Thanks for the kind words. While I did not intend it this way, this is the first figure kit I have done almost entirely with an airbrush. The figure was assembled and painted as a whole starting with a black undercoat. While I was painting the base I would just take some of the pinks and purples and lightly hit the right side of the prisoner to match the box art painting. The bones were done in yellow and brown with some white. The only hand painting I did was to drybrush the shirt and sash with red and white, do a little light dry brushing on the edges of the clothes, and a light wash over the hands and skull to pick out some of the fine detail.


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## Night-Owl (Mar 17, 2000)

Kudos Nick and Zombie_61 on some outstanding customizing and painting!


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Thank you Night-Owl! The "Fright'ning Lightning" version of the Forgotten Prisoner was the first model I ever built back in 1969, so I have a real soft spot for the kit. I never tire of seeing beautifully done build-ups like djnick's!


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## spawndude (Nov 28, 2007)

steve123 said:


> That looks very nice. Excellent work...more pics!
> 
> I don't know how you feel about adding lights...hell even my cats have lights now..
> But would this look cool?
> ...


Reminds me of Geoff Peterson.


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## Bogey W. Heels (Jul 10, 2009)

Excellent job on this, one of my favorite Aurora monster kits.The trend of painting these kits to match the box art lighting has spawned a lot of great paint jobs like this. My own inclination is toward lighting, like with LED flickering tea light components, etc. I just bought two of the latest re-issues from Moebius. I was planning to do one free-standing, and one combined with The Ghost of Castelmare, where he is walking past his own cell, or up and away from it, with lighting and sound effects. Once I started trying to figure out how to combine them, it seemed pretty involved, but I haven't given up on the idea yet. That said, I have some issues with this kit, which I only just realized. Please bear with my over-analysis:

1.It's the only Aurora monster kit of, uh,...a corpse. I know, I know, skeletons aren't alive, but neither was The Mummy. I wonder how much better it would have been, had their conception of a skeleton been that of an "undead" one, in an action pose. I think I'm going to go that route on my stand-alone version. 

2. The Prisoner's skull is poorly sculpted. He has almost no forehead, and it's too short, from face to back of the head. The lack of a neck has been covered in this thread as well.

3. He's got too much clothing on. He would be scarier with a few dramamtic tatters, not the faded, mostly intact formal wear that makes him look like he took a wrong turn in the opera house catacombs and stumbled into The Phantom of the Opera, etc. He's a skeleton! Let him show it!

4. What is WITH the barred "window" at the bottom right of the wall? I think it would have been better to have had a window somewhere in the upper portion of the wall. It adds almost nothing to the drama of the kit, and does anyone remember how hard it was to paint those bars as a kid? (I'm cutting mine out, and putting in styrene rod bars, with a flicker light behind them.)

There were some rumours floating around that some actual skeletons were injured in the making of this kit, but it could not be confirmed, so I can't include that in my list. Ok, I'm done complaining, and I am going to build two more, so I still really like the kit.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I didn't bother to paint the bars on my kit as that whole area is just solid black. I did fill in the annoying gap at the bottom of the bars, though. For some reason Aurora made the recess shorter than the walls, so there is a 1/32" gap at the bottom of the bars above the floor. I think on a future kit I would consider cutting the bars out and filling the area in with bricks, to make it look like the Prisoner had been walled in. You could leave a couple bricks out at the top and have them laying on the floor. I would also leave out the skeletal arm, extra manacle, rats and snake.


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## Bogey W. Heels (Jul 10, 2009)

I think on a future kit I would consider cutting the bars out and filling the area in with bricks, to make it look like the Prisoner had been walled in. You could leave a couple bricks out at the top and have them laying on the floor. I would also leave out the skeletal arm, extra manacle, rats and snake.

djnick66, the walled-in feature would be a great effect. I'm on board about omitting the arm and critters too. Aurora wanted to pack lots of "scary" features into these kits, which usually meant skulls and skeletal arms. That said, it must have been a pretty crowded dungeon with someone chained to the wall at the Prisoner's feet, and with a skull at his feet. It looks more realisitic without them.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Fortunately I have five more kits to practice on


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## FrankVilla (Mar 9, 2008)

My 2nd Glow Box version

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153302525542698.1073741898.73133422697&type=3


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## FrankVilla (Mar 9, 2008)

Some others that I always tried to get a different feel ~The one I did for Moebius, the First glow box version, the custom ones I did and the different versions of paint, including the 'silver Screen' black and white version. Hope you like them:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150199158707698.328868.73133422697&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150201710127698.329688.73133422697&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150467426827698.385860.73133422697&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150958069067698.441859.73133422697&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151014590572698.447908.73133422697&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151600230827698.1073741838.73133422697&type=3

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151255274342698.483979.73133422697&type=3


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Those are cool. You should start your own thread with your kits. They deserve their own thread versus being tacked on to mine. Very nice... Also may upload the images here or elsewhere for those who do not use Facebook


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## FrankVilla (Mar 9, 2008)

I actually got here from google as I was searching for Forgotten Prisoner. I hadnt noticed until you just mentioned, that this was your thread. Thought it was just a thread about him and figured i'd add to it. ~I dont come here often but if I have the time, I would certainly make a few threads of my own~

The fb page is visible for those who dont have one. I made sure to make it public. Anyway, Thanks for the input. All the Best~


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## apls (Dec 5, 2005)

Wonderful!! You can smell the rusty chains, good work.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

You can just see his last desperate moments on this earth. Looking 'outside' at 'freedom'! _At the very light that shone on his last breath._
That's what I see anyway... The lighting gives me this impression.

*Your lighting tells the story. Well done!!*

Carl-


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Excellent work on one of my favorite kits:thumbsup:
Mcdee:thumbsup:


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