Hi
Back in the Golden Age of Hollywood, no thriller or comedy movie was complete without a gorilla on the rampage. Played by a man in a 'monkey suit'.
This is my tribute to these - literally - faceless actors. The men in the suits, who played Konga, and a host of other normal or giant sized gorillas, in all those movies.
Hope you enjoy it.
I started with a toy gorilla in a standing pose, which came in a bag of six assorted Wild Animals. All are moulded in a rather soft plastic.
The gorilla just would not stand upright on his own, so I had to give him a base. This was from an old Airfix Multipose figure set.
It is moulded in white plastic, so it has been in my spares box since the late 1970s - finally found a use for it. Moral of the story - never throw anything away.
The gorilla is beheaded with a small hacksaw, and the cut cleaned up with a knife. The body and inside of the head are hollow, so the body was stuffed with paper towel until it was full.
The only human part required was a head. The only heads I had available were 1/32nd scale, and just a bit too small.
The next size up is 1/24th scale. The Tamiya Campus Friends Set 2 accessory kit includes five figures and a motor scooter in 1/24th, and I was able to find one.
There is only one male figure in the set, but he has optional heads, so you can use one for the gorilla, and still build the standard figure.
The head is glued in place with Uhu glue, as polystyrene cement is unlikely to work on the soft plastic used for the gorilla. The gorilla head is placed over one fist, while the man in the suit gets some fresh air.
The model is then painted with Humbrol and Tamiya enamels. Semi-gloss black for the flesh areas, matt black for the fur, and brown for the eyes.
For some reason the paints did not want to dry to their proper finish, so the model is glossier than he should be. Still, a fun little project.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Very clever.
ReplyDeleteAnother extraordinary project, paying tribute to all of those uncredited men who donned an ape suit to make us shiver! George Barrows, Janos Prohaska and Bob Burns would be proud! SFZ
ReplyDeleteReally wonderful and touching tribute, Paul. Yes indeed, those were the unsung (and sweaty) heroes inside the monsters we love so well. Not to forget those in their Godzilla and The Creature suits!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant Paul. A super salute to the boys in suits! Great how you did it!
ReplyDeleteLuv it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I am glad the model is being enjoyed. It was a fun project. While the range of large scale civilian figures is not large, they can be used to make a number of film-style models and scenes, such as this one, or the Konga book cover. I have a few more ideas in the pipeline.
ReplyDeleteLovely work! The end result is great despite your problems.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you were hit with the curse of trying to paInt vinyl plastic with enamel paints. As Rocky the Flying Squirrel says
"That trick never works!"
It's best to stick with Tamiya acrylics or artist's acrylics for those jobs. You could try pre coating the vinyl with Krylon clear lacquer, but it all gets a bit complicated...
Thanks, Lewis. At least I now know what the problem is, so I can avoid it in the future.
DeleteAnother inspired idea Paul.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how you come up with them.
Ingenious !
Genius tribute to those bygone movies and the men in monster suits, Paul.
ReplyDelete