Stargate Anubis/Horus lobsterback by kookoo - in-box review (and now paint)

Nwerke

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Hi all,

A few weeks back I jumped on board member kookoo's run of Stargate helmets. He was offering just the lobsterback - no headpiece, dangly bits or eye-hole cover. But since I had a nice Anubis headpiece already (and a half-finished Horus sculpt WIP), I thought, 'perfect'. And the work looked nice, so gave it a try.

It arrived today and I thought a few of you would be interested in some pics and warts-and-all discussion. I will point out flaws and won't sugar-coat anything - this is a product for builders, requiring a certain amount of cleanup and painting skills - but this is going to be a pretty positive review overall because OH MAN, does this thing rock. Here goes!

First off, this is a BIG box. It only just fit in my SUV:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020003a.jpg-82897d1328188351


The box is actually smaller than the first one kookoo tried. It was accepted, but later rejected and returned by the postal service as TOO large! kookoo repacked and resent it without asking a cent extra. POINTS FOR CLASS.

Inside you get some styrofoam, some cardboard, some newspaper and a whole lot of bubblewrap. It's an awkward shape, this thing, so there's free space in the box. I think there may be room for tighter packaging here, but there might be a weight penalty. Anyway - bottom line: it worked fine, no damage:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020004a.jpg-82898d1328188351


And here's what you haul out of the box:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020006a.jpg-82899d1328188351
 
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Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus helmet base by kookoo - in-box review

Also hauled out of the box; three bubblewrapped bundles each containing a pair of the 'ear/fan/thingies' that mount on each side of the helmet. These are nicely cast urethane resin. The sculpting is quite decent.

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020007a.jpg-82901d1328189238


The body of the helmet is very well wrapped in bubblewrap. Once removed...damn, it's big. I'm not 100% sure it isn't slightly undersized - I'm a six footer, but not very bulky. I can wear this but the fit is fairly tight. Honestly I think most people underestimate how big the guys playing these guards were. That said...this is still DAMN BIG! :lol Anyway - here is the rear/top of the helmet:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020009a.jpg-82902d1328189238


And here is the whole thing. The helmet is cast in fibreglass with a nice tan gelcoat (or is that urethane?) and seems reasonably solid and definitely well-cast. It's done in two main pieces (front/rear) and they're seamed together for you by kookoo. He's done other bits of cleanup and cutting and so on too.

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020010a.jpg-82903d1328189238


Here is the tail. There seems to be a seam down the centre here too, although it is possibly a repair:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020011a.jpg-82904d1328189238
 
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Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus helmet base by kookoo - in-box review

And here is the left-hand side seam. This has been filled and rubbed down for you, but it's up to the builder to recut the incised details. A quick job for a Dremel with a small ball mill, I think.

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020012a.jpg-82907d1328189801


Here is the front "mask" area. This is the one area of the helmet that I have any real problem with. I don't really love the square mounting point - I think a ball and socket approach would have been a better idea, and the originals look to me as if they probably do use something like that. Also, I feel the 'mask' part is possibly a bit too flat-faced. The "wings" are quite accurate, not perfect but definitely better than previous fan replicas. However the recessed areas - where the mask meets the wings - should be *more* recessed, while the mask itself should project forwards more.

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020013a.jpg-82908d1328189801


You can see this here as well:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020017a.jpg-82910d1328189801


For comparison, an original showing the more protruding mask area, larger and differently shaped eye hole and sharper wings:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-stargatehh_1.jpg-82911d1328190442
 
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Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus helmet base by kookoo - in-box review

Here is some of the detail on the top of the helmet. The overall sculpting is good for accuracy and symmetry. Sculpted, raised detail is pretty good too in most areas. Incised detail is sometimes less smoothly executed than that on the Brundlefly headpieces, which are cast from original, but some minor sanding and/or Dremel work would fix that (so would paint, for that matter).

The slots on the fan mounts are narrower than the fans themselves, there is a tab on each fan. Thus the slot is covered by the fans when fitted. The slots are pre-cut, so this is a plus.

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020019a.jpg-82912d1328191422


Thus! (Omigod...you are hairy! Like animal!!!):

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020021a.jpg-82913d1328191422


Again this will need minor trimming and adjustment:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020022a.jpg-82914d1328191422
 
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Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus helmet base by kookoo - in-box review

Here's the final three pics for now. Sorry for the rubbish pics, by the way. I will need to figure out a mount for this, and some sunshine today would have been handy, no day this cloudy and wet should ever be this hot...anyway, front 3/4 view:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020024a.jpg-82915d1328191867


Trying for scale against a Brundlefly Anubis headpiece:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020027a.jpg-82916d1328191867


Scale seems to pretty much work! If this is at all undersized, it isn't by very much:

stargate-anubis-horus-helmet-base-kookoo-box-review-02020028a.jpg-82917d1328191867
 
Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus helmet base by kookoo - in-box review

:eek :eek :eek :eek

I so need to see this finished Martyn !!

It's a beauty !
 
Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus helmet base by kookoo - in-box review

So, to wrap up. This came from kookoo in Thailand. He was very good on the communications front and a pleasure to deal with. (There's a thread in the Junkyard with price and shipping details and some AMAZING pics of a painted piece. I won't post a link, it's easily found and I don't want to appear to be shilling or anything.) I felt the price I paid was very fair and kookoo looked after me on the shipping in a couple of different ways, too. The piece arrived in good condition - it was well packed and a pretty quick delivery considering the initial problem with the postal idiots. :p

If you can obtain a reasonable Horus or Anubis head to go with it then I think this is a very good deal and would recommend it highly. I am fussy about outline accuracy as well as detail, and the outline accuracy is very good, barring possibly the mask area. The raised detail is beautiful, and the incised detail is nice (I wouldn't call it "superb" but only because I'm a fussy sod - and I try to keep my praise as objective and honest as possible.) Overall this takes full advantage of the newer reference material that has come out in the past few years and is flat-out the finest replica of this helmet I have yet seen.

Thank you for this amazing piece, kookoo!

An addendum regarding the headpiece issue. I have a Horus sculpt in progress as mentioned and if I can get it looking good then I'd be happy for someone to cast it. Also, there has been some recent forum chat about casting a screen-used Horus headpiece - so let's cross our fingers for that.
 
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Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus helmet base by kookoo - in-box review

Alan, it is a total and utter corker, mate! :)

Y-wing and Tintin rocket and Daleks first though I'm afraid. :cry

Edit:

Just another quick note, there are painted-up pics in kookoo's JY thread, complete with Anubis headpiece. I really think the scale is about fine.

Painted, it's so beautiful it hurts! I really, really hate to have to put this back in the box. :(
 
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Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus helmet base by kookoo - in-box review

You haven't started the Tintin Rocket yet ???

Shame and dishonour on your cow, your chicken etc :lol
 
Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus helmet base by kookoo - in-box review

Heh! Started yes, finished no. Remember that scribing? It's STILL half-done, arrrgh!

My cow and chicken are both looking appropriately embarrassed. Seriously, that one's a mask-and-spray-bomb job, should take a weekend...but I gotta get all picky, work up a realistic nozzle for the main engine, scribe in retractable covers for the canonical manouvering jets, etc etc...

It's a sickness, I tells ya!
 
Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus helmet base by kookoo - in-box review

Some more thoughts. I critiqued the front part of the helmet slightly last night and it occurred to me that I didn't provide some counterbalancing praise for some of the really good stuff, as I meant to.

Particularly, the top and back and sides - the lobsterback - are just gorgeous. The overlapping rims have a really nice undercut with a sculpted rim, they are not separate pieces but the undercut is good enough that they might as well be. It's great.

The detail is really crisp and the whole deal just screams to be painted. REALLY beautiful.

:thumbsup
 
Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus lobsterback by kookoo - in-box review

Thanks a lot for your review Nwerke!!!! I look forward to receiving mine!
 
Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus lobsterback by kookoo - in-box review

Oh man...thanks for the review. I need these.
 
Re: Stargate Anubis/Horus lobsterback by kookoo - in-box review

My pleasure, guys. We finally got some sun yesterday and I got a chance to check over the detail in better lighting.

This always brings out flaws a bit better so I want to be really clear that there ARE some - the tail of the lobsterback has some asymmetries (which is true of the screen-used ones too), the details on top are a bit off-axis and the headpiece neck area *isn't* accurate to the reference - as already mentioned.

Also, the incised linework isn't perfectly centred or accurate in places and I will be filling and rescribing some of it. A lot of those lines are actually narrower than the originals, if Frank's cast of the Anubis headpiece is anything to judge by. Recutting them using a small ball mill in a Dremel does the trick really well. I also will be remodelling the neck area and reworking the faceplate a bit.

But you can do as much or as little as you want. The bottom line really is that it isn't cast from the movie prop mould and nothing will make it identical to the movie prop...so I'm not going to be going crazy. Just some cleanup mostly and that rework of the face. (I think I can use the original face, I'll just cut it out and reprofile it a bit, then refit it with deeper undercuts at the sides.)

Did I mention this was going back in the box? Fat chance, not before I've monkeyed with it a bit at least. (Self-discipline? I've heard of it, maybe I'll get some of that stuff one day.) So here's some VERY roughly applied paint on the back just to see how that would have it looking. Answer: FAN FREAKING TASTIC. :)

stargate-anubis-horus-lobsterback-kookoo-box-review-02050017a.jpg-83193d1328424052


Note: this was done with small auto touchup bombs - "Toyota Silver" (a nice dark silver, good match for the SG1 version of the Horus lobsterback), "Satellite Brown" (a dark metallic bronze-brown) and "somethingorother Copper" (a horribly yellowish/copper) mottled on top, none of them exactly colours I wanted but the closest match I could grab on a quick trip to an under-stocked local auto supermarket.

There's no washes or drybrushing or oversprays on it as yet but as you see the scribing really pops and looks great. That scribing IS slightly rough in places - see the first pic in post #4 above - but from more than about three feet away, this thing might as well be perfect!
 
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Hi Nwerke ! Have you finished Anubis ?? ha ha I just finished Horus and take pic for share .this my Anubis with shoulder

h13.jpg


h12.jpg


compare with Horus

h11.jpg


And my Horus

h8.jpg


h9.jpg


h10.jpg


h15.jpg


I'm LFD to see your finished .
thanks
kk
 
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