I should note that I've held an MK Falcon, and it's a nice bird. I believe mine is currently more accurate, (Yes, mine is too small, and YES, I do plan a run of them at some point. Sad thing is: I end up with 3 interim silicon molds of the thing, and I wouldn't sully the market with their inaccuracy.) but MK is the ONLY other replica maker to pay attention (and careful attention) to the auction photos. I believe his topology of the bird is nearly dead-on, I just have some issues with the proportions here and there. I also have issues with many of the proportions of my (now interim) falcon. The eyes and eyebrows are real ball busters from a sculptural standpoint.
I have since met a real falcon, (don't ask yet) and based on what I learned there, have decided to re-sculpt my bird from scratch.
sigh.
Yep, I'll even make my sculpt sufficiently large to account for shrinkage (apparently it WAS that cold).
THEN I'll have a nice durable urethane mold made and do a run. You know how these things go though, could be a few weeks, could be a few months.
I noted with interest though, that the "collectibles" company, Haunted Studios, that's been selling their version of the bird on ebay for what seems like forever, has recently upgraded their bird. All of a sudden (I'm not saying the popularity of my talk on the subject was the cause, but the timing is interesting) it went from the gross piece of **** that was likely the sculpt from "The Black Bird" the weird comedy sequel with George Segal from 1972 (I'm convinced that many of the "original" castings come from THIS bird), to a bird with a much more accurate chest, based on detents, rather than sculpted feathers.
(over the years, many have tried to explain the discrepancy between the commonly visible sculpted feathers of the various copies and the clearly missing feathers in both the Profiles in History auction photos of the resin bird AND in the Christie's catalog photos, by saying that what one was seeing were stages of finishing: i.e. that the bird was sculpted with feathers and then sanded down.
This is completely false. There are ****ty copies of the bird, and as far as I know, NO known copies of the original out there in the public market. And believe me I've looked)
Also, I noted with further interest that Haunted Studios now WRAPS THEIR BIRDS IN A CHINESE NEWSPAPER, just as I said was the reason I had bought a 1940's San Francisco Chinatown newspaper to accurately copy and wrap my bird in. I'm just saying the coincidence in interesting.
I ordered one of their new birds right away, in hopes that it was nice, but it's not. It's a piece of ****. Fat neck, irregularities. It's a crap, overextended mold, and a boring bird.
Shame. I hate that they've been peddling that crappy dingus for so long, but what can you do?
A run, that's what. And I will get to it eventually.
If you haven't read the book The Maltese Falcon, read it. Best Hammett book. Evar.
If you haven't seen the movie, for chrissakes, see it. In fact, I once read the book and saw the movie in the same day. Awesome thing to try.
That is all...
Very true! I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it. Some people steer clear of old black and whites, but a lot of them have more depth and character than modern films. It was all in the characters and the plot! No CGI or big fiery explosions to keep people entertained! :lol
Kody
thumbsup
