September 21, 2013
Last week I showed a pair of Universal Monsters model kits I picked up for a song at Toys R Us. In the comments section we had a nice discussion of the monsters, statues, and the like. So for Mac, this week I am posting some Universal Monsters statues I have had since at least the early 90’s, probably earlier.
These were all sold unpainted. They are made of lightweight, glow-in-the-dark resin. None of them weigh more than a few ounces but they are all sturdy and have with one tiny exception, held up very well.
What did not hold up were my paint jobs. These statues are badly in need of touch ups. I don’t claim to be an expert painter, but these were really nice when I first painted them.
The Mummy
I was pretty proud of this one because I found ways of blending paints on his bandages to make them seem dirty not jus ton the outside, but the inside as well. I’m not as happy with how his face turned out, but overall I think the bandages make the mummy.
The Wolfman
A pretty good paint job. I was never good with detail but I managed to mix in some black highlights in his brown fur. Again, not technically brilliant, but my previous painting experience was painting planes or tanks solid matte colors.
Phantom of the Opera
For some reason Dracula was not included in this set. I always assumed this was his replacement since they had similar looks. This is the only statue that’s broken, but it unnoticeable unless you’ve seen the unbroken version. The hand holding the cape (which is obscured by the Wolfman’s hand) also held a small mask. But if you never knew that it looks fine.
Frankenstein
This is your standard Frankie paint job, though I did do a little bit with some details, like laces on his boots.
Creature from the Black Lagoon
This is my favorite. It is hard to see in the picture, but every single scale is painted green and highlighted at the tip with slightly darker green, giving it really nice texture. I also did a few black highlights to make it seem more natural. Of the set, this will be the hardest to touch up, if I decide to do so.
In the front is the Remco (correct me if it was another company) Creature action figure. This set had the same selection as the statues and each also came in a glow-in-the-dark version. I had all the regular figures and except for this one, they all fell apart from normal use. They literally fell into pieces. the bodies broke open, the limbs fell off, the heads fell off the neck. For some reason this figure remains sturdy. I’d love to have this set again.
Not Universal monsters but they came up in the comments. I did nothing to these- they came fully assembled and painted. But as an old-school Superman fan I couldn’t be happier.
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