Authoritative Superman

This 1/6 resin kit was purchased on Ebay. It possesses the style of work by Alex Ross. Although not fully certain, I believe it’s the work by Shawn Nagle. Shawn is one of my favorite American sculptors. I have several of his works. Facial features are astounding. This kit had been painted professionally. I also like his posture with his fists at both sides of his waist as an authoritative figure in command would. Proportions of this kit are incredible too. Unfortunately, this kit didn’t come with a base. I am very particular about my displays in that I would like all my kits to have proper bases. I found this base at Wonderfest on one occasion. This base serves well for this Superman kit because it’s like the surface of another planet.

Bowen's Interpretation of Paul Chadwick's Concrete

This 1/8 Concrete resin kit from Dark Horse Comics was sculpted by Randy Bowen. Unlike many of my collection, I was unfamiliar with the character when I bought the kit in a garage kits shop in Las Vegas many years ago. I was simply attracted to the beauty of the kit itself. Simplicity, rather ironically, is what I think the true beauty of this kit. It is not very dynamic in the way I would describe some of my other kits. I remembered one of my sisters, who had no knowledge of this Comics character like myself, commented that it was simply a cool looking kit. As the saying goes, ‘Logic leads to conclusion; emotion leads to action.’ It was one such occasion where I had impulsively followed my emotion and bought this kit. This kit had been professionally built and painted. Due to its simplicity, I think the paint job itself is even more demanding because the painter had not much of other means such as rich details to rely on to bring out the character than with just the skill of painting itself.

Batman in ‘Gotham’ City?

This 1/6 Batman kit is one of the best I have ever seen. Likeness is amazing. It’s like the style of work by Alex Ross, one of my favorite American illustrators. I like the coolness on his face as well as the way he stands with the cloak naturally falling or dropping down. I acquired this kit on Ebay some time ago, and I am not sure who the sculptor is. I asked a professional modeler to paint it the way he looks in the older days, in contrast to the new style from Batman’s recent movies starring Christian Bale. I am happy to put it on this beautiful City Wall base by Jean-Louis Crinon. My words alone are not enough to describe the incredible features and details this base possesses. It takes in my opinion small close-up snapshots at multiple angles to gain only a better appreciation for this incredibly sculpted base alone. Jean had done many incredibly beautiful and detailed bases, and this is definitely one of them. This Batman kit and the city wall base are perfect complements to one another.

Angry Hulk Breaking Out

This is a 1/6 Marvel’s Incredible Hulk from Ang Lee’s movie. This nicely sculpted kit had been built and painted when I bought it on Ebay some time ago. I like statues that are more dynamic in contrast to being ‘still’ or in a more passive posture. This kit illustrates what I mean by dynamic with HULK in anger holding both hands in fists with accentuated veins all over the body. To complement this kit, I was lucky to have separately found this broken brick wall base which I recently acquired on Ebay. Ebay has been resourceful for me in terms of finding a lot of long out-of-production goodies. In this display set, angry Hulk appears to be forcing his way out from behind the broken walls.

Oyama Alien at Aliens Hideout

Alien created by my favorite Austrian artist HR Giger has been one of my favorite movie characters. This 1/8 Alien kit from Japan by Oyama has been built and painted professionally. The sculpt quality and details are amazing. However, in my opinion, the most special part about this display set however is the inclusion of this Alien Corner base, or I prefer to call it the Aliens Hideout, which did not come with the kit. Both the Alien kit and the Alien Corner base are equally rare to find. The base was purchased separately from a garage kit shop called Starwars Emporium in England many years ago. Amazingly, it’s in scale with the Alien kit. Please note that the Alien Corner base came with an Alien head surfaced partially and creepily from the base just like the way the character would in the movie. It also came with a human face on the other side of the base. A great base can be very harmonizing when being put with the right kit, and this kind of match is extremely rare. I am proud to have come across them and to put them together in perfect harmony with one another. They both not only complement one another, but also dramatically enhance the value for one another as well.

Hugh Jackman as Logan (Wolverine) from X-Men

This is a 1/6 kit of unknown origin already built and painted when I acquired it on Ebay a few years ago. It was a well sculpted kit with close resemblance to Hugh Jackman from the X-Men movie but poorly painted when I first bought it. The sculpt work itself has been in my experience the most important part, just like the intrinsic or inborn features of the kit itself. Under the right hands, repainting it can easily bring it back to life. In addition to finding the right artist to revive the kit through repainting it, I also added some more values to it. The claws were originally made out of resin which in my opinion can never mimic real steel or metal. Therefore, I asked a machinist to machine out the claws for me. So my Logan has real stainless steel claws. Also, this kit didn’t come with a decent base. Bases are very tricky and challenging to find on many occasions. I was lucky enough to come across this one when I went to Wonderfest in Louisville on one occasion. I found this base from a seller there who had a batch of bases literally on the floor. I didn’t know at the time which kit will the base be good for. But in the right time, I found a good use of it. A great part of the fun is to make your kit unique. Therefore, even sometimes when kits come with bases I would still find better replacements for them, just to make them all the more special. The more effort you put in, the more enjoyment and satisfaction you usually get at the end. This Logan is one such good example from my private collection.