# McGovern's Models Online



## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Guys,

It's been a long haul but I finally have my own web site: http://www.mcgovernsmodels.com/. It's most definitely a WIP, so any suggestions for improvements will be welcomed. Well, _considered_. 

Have a great weekend!


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## Spockr (Sep 14, 2009)

Was I the first visitor? I think I was the first visitor!. The site's format is unlike any other I've seen so that's a plus. Very cool to see the Swan WIP. Off to a great start Mark. Bookmarked and I plan to check back.

Regards,
Matt


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Very Cool Mark :thumbsup: Going to spend more time this weekend checking it all out, but I sure like what I see so far:thumbsup:
Mcdee


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## BobbysMonsterModels (Mar 8, 2014)

Very nice, Mark!
Always cool to see a new model site go online.


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## gvaughn1 (Feb 19, 2014)

Awesome!! Not only is that another modeling site, but one that is dedicated to figure models - my favorite. 

I just introduced myself in the newcomer thread. Nice to meet you. I'll be checking out your site.

George


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## deadmanincfan (Mar 11, 2008)

Great website, Mark! Be checking in often!


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Congratulations Mr. McGovern! I like it--uncluttered, simple, and easy to navigate. Well done!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Awesome, sir!


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## RMC (Aug 11, 2004)

congats !


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Thank you all for your compliments and for visiting the thing. Yes, it is dedicated to Sci-Fi/Fantasy figures. Yes it is simple - like its publisher :-B. And yes, it is a work in progress; starting on Monday I'll add a Links page and be making the rounds of all the online hobby manufacturers, forums, etc., asking for permissions to link to their websites. All the photos I posted are those I already had on file and that have been up somewhere or other on the Internet, so I'm going to take new ones just for my site. And I want to start a blog so there'll be a freer exchange of ideas and information with visitors. Not to compete with HobbyTalk, it'll just more specific to a visitor's (or my) particular concerns with more wiggle room if we get OT...


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## Night-Owl (Mar 17, 2000)

Kudos Mark on a cool site! :thumbsup:


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## Buc (Jan 20, 1999)

Welcome to the dark side, shippie!!!


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Mark, there is one horror figure I'm not familiar with, one of the most freighting faces I've ever seen. What kit is that? See pic below:

Ok, enough with the funnies, like all the others I too like your site. So far you've done a really good job of it. Now that a lot of the hard stuff is done it will just get better and better!

Carl-


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Thanks again, guys. Buc, is that some mechanical breathing apparatus I hear your voice coming through? And yes, hal, that's a 1:1 scale bust titled "Mr. McGovern's Idjit Kid". I can send you one for a 6 pack of dark beer + shipping.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Mark McGovern said:


> And yes, hal, that's a 1:1 scale bust titled "Mr. McGovern's Idjit Kid". I can send you one for a 6 pack of dark beer + shipping.


I'll send the 6 pack, you can keep the bust (nightmares)! 

Carl-


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

Very interesting, and I still have the magazine article that you wrote on restoring the Dr. Jekyll As Mr. Hyde kit in which you added a hose for the Bunsen burner and some miniaturised pages of text.
I remember commenting here years ago that your paintwork often had a faded look, by which I meant weathered and more realistic than the overly-applied and unsophisticated paintjobs that I slap on, and you kind of questioned the word 'faded', but I can now see again what I meant then - that most of your paintwork has a delicate textural finish that leaves surfaces somehow looking pale in comparison to other people's built-ups. 
When you say that your Dr. Jekyll kit was the Frightening Lightning issue, don't you mean 'Glow' - Dr J. wasn't included in the six Frightening Lightning kits, was he?


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Cro',

Yes, he was; my Dr. J. was the last of the long box issues. The next one came with glow parts in the square box format.

I'm not sure if "faded" is the right word for the effects I try to achieve with flesh tones. It's rather like stage makeup - the farther the actor is from the audience, the stronger the paint has to be for those in the back of the house to be able to "read" his features. So, a 1/8 scale model has to be painted to look as the same from 1 foot away as a real person would look 8 feet away. That make any sense?

hal,

Ah...um...deal. When you're right, you're right... *sigh*

Anyway, thanks again guys for visiting my site!


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Mark McGovern said:


> ...I'm not sure if "faded" is the right word for the effects I try to achieve with flesh tones...


I think "subtle" would be a more accurate term. I think I understand what Cro-Magnon Man means by, "over-applied and unsophisticated paintjobs"--he's referring to the color saturation of the finished piece. In my observation most modelers look at the colors they'll need to paint their build-up and think, "This need to be red, this needs to be blue, this needs to be green..." and so on. So they use those colors, and the finished product looks overly vibrant because they haven't taken "scale effect" into consideration (something I'm guilty of myself from time to time).

Now, on your build up of Robin the Boy Wonder brighter colors are appropriate because he's essentially a comic book character; even the 1966 _Batman_ series used bright colors for the costumes to give the series that "comic book" look. By comparison, I look at your build-ups of James Bond and Oddjob and see that the colors are more muted because you went with a more realistic effect, so those figures look more natural without any of the colors being overly bright and/or providing too much contrast compared to the rest of those pieces.

By the way, I find this is true of most of the build-ups featured on your website. Your subtle use of color brings a certain uniformity to your finished builds so that none of the colors you used draw the attention away from what should be the main focus of each piece--the figure. In fact, on the occasions in which you used slightly brighter colors (the tie on Barnabas Collins and the highlighted skin tones on the MPC Hulk, for example) they draw the attention _to_ the figure. Brilliant work, Mr. McGovern!

I don't know if Cro-Magnon Man would agree, or if I'm completely off the mark (no pun intended), but that's my take on your finished works.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Cro-Mag and Zombie,

The only feedback any of us usually get (or give - and I admit to being guilty of this, myself) is a quick "Nice work! :thumbsup:" posted on a HobbyTalker's thread, that doesn't give many specifics on what the commenter thought made the work nice. Or if one wins an award at a model show, he'll rarely get to meet the judges to found out why.

Some years ago I entered a model at an IPMS Region convention and had someone say he recognized my style. I'd been writing for _Modelers Resource_ at the time, but this entry hadn't appeared in the magazine. I didn't know I had a style, still don't know what the guy meant. So I appreciate your insights, about the first in-depth comments I've ever heard. Many thanks!


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Quite true Mr. McGovern, and it's one of the reasons I appreciate forums like Hobby Talk so much. At home I might get a comment like "That looks good" from my wife or a friend, but there's nothing like constructive criticism from someone who understands what you're doing to point out things you've done wrong (or at least not properly), things you've overlooked, or things you hadn't even considered. Even seeing the work of others, yours included, gives me new ideas and gets me to consider trying new things so that I can improve my skills and, hopefully, create better build-ups.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Zombie_61 said:


> ...there's nothing like constructive criticism from someone who understands what you're doing to point out things you've done wrong (or at least not properly), things you've overlooked, or things you hadn't even considered. Even seeing the work of others...gives me new ideas and gets me to consider trying new things so that I can improve my skills and, hopefully, create better build-ups.


Zombie,

I do worry sometimes that a member might not take *constructive* criticism too well. Partly that's because these forums have maintained a civil atmosphere to the extent that it seems safer not to say anything rather than tell a modeler that the mold-parting lines are plainly evident on his model. After all, I've always said that if a builder is happy with his or her model, that's all that counts. Plus, I understand that not everybody wants to build to competition standards.

But once in awhile, someone will post photos of a project that show it's _almost_ there. If I feel that I know that person well enough not to offend him/her, I'll send a PM and offer some ideas to get the model up to the next level. I'm happy to say that nobody appears to have taken offense to that practice yet.

And boy are you right about getting ideas and inspiration from other HobbyTalkers! There were a couple Polar Lights Mummies that popped up here a while back, and they inspired me to finish mine. The result was a Silver at this year's WonderFest - couldn't have done it without you guys! The interaction with our fellow modelers is what keeps me visiting HobbyTalk. :wave:


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## BatToys (Feb 4, 2002)

Very impressive. Kong looked great with realistic eyes. Was the Kong and Bond heads original Aurora or garage?


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

BatToys said:


> Was the Kong and Bond heads original Aurora or garage?


BT,

I resculpted Kong's head by removing a lot of plastic with my Dremel tool and adding more accurate contours with Aves Apoxie Sculpt. The Bond head is oob; if it's painted carefully it can be made to resemble Sean Connery fairly well.

BTW, I added a Links page to the web site this afternoon. The links you see posted are from the first sites that responded with permission to add their address to the page. I hope to add more ASAP.


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## DCH10664 (Jul 16, 2012)

Great Looking site !!! Always happy to see someone get something they have worked hard to get ! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## spawndude (Nov 28, 2007)

Adding you site to my favorites!

Read in your bio about the 1/48 Aurora B-26 Martin Marauder. My dad too bought me this kit! His brother had been a crew member on a B-26.

I can still remember the panel lines and raised rivets, way outta scale. Also outlined areas to place the decals. Definitely not one of the best kits ever made but I would love to have it back!


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

spawn',

I think the Revell/Monogram B-26 is a reissue of the Aurora kit.

BTW, updated the Links page some more.

Mark


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## deadmanincfan (Mar 11, 2008)

Mark McGovern said:


> But once in awhile, someone will post photos of a project that show it's _almost_ there. If I feel that I know that person well enough not to offend him/her, I'll send a PM and offer some ideas to get the model up to the next level. I'm happy to say that nobody appears to have taken offense to that practice yet.]




Mark,

Shortly after I started posting here (gad, has it really been almost 7 years?!) , you sent me a couple of PMs commenting on my builds and offering constructive criticism on them and my photography... and I'm pleased to say I took your comments to heart and was able to step up my building game quite considerably. I've always appreciated your taking the time to help out one of the new kids on the block, and in case I never said it before, thank you very much, sir!


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

You're very welcome deadie! And I'm glad you took my remarks in the spirit in which they were intended.

BTW, I've just added some more photos to the "Horror or Bust" collection gallery on my Busts page.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Nice little site. Your figure models are top notch. You are a master of many genres. A modeller among modellers to be sure!


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Thanks Trek. Plastic modeling does keep me off the streets... :dude: Have a great Labor Day!


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## Nektu (Aug 15, 2001)

Site is great..! The Connery James Bond and Oddjob are incredible. Is that aftermarket likeness on the Bond head. Very well done!. K


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Nek',

Nope, that's the kit head. After seeing someone else's build on this forum, I added the little loose lock of hair above 007's right temple. It's just a squiggle of white glue, but somehow it makes all the difference. Otherwise, the face just goes to show that, with artists oils, you can _paint_ a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Thank you for your kind words and stopping by the site!


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

I just converted the "On the Workbench" page into a blog. It seemed like a more effective way to share stuff, and besides, it'll give visitors a chance to tell me what I'm doing wrong (also more effective than the usual method of finding out for one's self). A friend suggested that the blog might be viewed as competition with established model forums. My reply was that this one alone has over 500 pages and something like a _million_ posts; my stinking little blog is going to be no competition for *that*!

Besides - now that I've got the basic elements of the web site up I can refocus on finishing the PL Superman replacement head.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Just a quickie: the Wix.com folks sure know how to dumb it down. I just published a mobile phone-friendly version of the site. Now, no matter where you may find yourself bored to tears, there'll be something to look at.


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## Jafo (Apr 22, 2005)

Looks good Mark!


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Thanks, John. Sorry not to have replied sooner, still tweaking the site, cleaning up spelling errors, etc. I renamed a page "Commercial Work" and added a gallery to it. This one has photos of my paint up of the COPP Basil Gogos replacement head for the Moebius Frankenstein kit. Jeepers, I never thought this web site would involve so much work - !


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Updated the site with more photos and tweaked the pages around a bit, too. Don't let the boss see you wasting company time over there.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Sorry to keep tweaking...but I've done it some more.


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

Mark McGovern said:


> Sorry to keep tweaking...but I've done it some more.


Hate to be the one to tell you this Mark.
But once you have a website, the tweaking never ends.
There are always pages or pictures to add. Things to change on pages.
Then you get the bug to change the whole layout, or redesign an entire section.
It just doesn't stop.

The 'to do' list for my site, is almost as long as the 'honey do' list here at the house.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Oh, _NOW_ he tells me.  Yeah, I'm learning that the hard way, TAY. But at least this is a labor of love. Sorta.


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

Not only that.
But it will help you remember what the hell you did when your memory starts to go in a few years.
Seriously. Treat my website as a sort of online scrapbook. I refer back to it often to remind me of what happened when (especially with shows). And how I did what on certain kits so I can do it again for something currently on the bench.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Yeah, a scrapbook. That's a worthwhile idea, TAY. I have a list of what shows I've entered what models in on my home computer, and I still foul up (like taking Brother Rat Fink to this year's WonderFest, when he'd already gotten a Merit in 2003, because I didn't check the darn files).

We're probably going to die early, having pickled our brains with solvent fumes all these years. :freak:


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

P.S. - Talk about brain damage, my sister finally forced - er, that is - helped me set up a Facebook account for the web site.


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## phantom11 (Jul 12, 2007)

Excellent site, Mark! Beautiful work on those kits, and very inspiring, too! I've already decided to set up my Robin base the same way as yours; it just looks so much better! Thanks for sharing your talent and knowledge.


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