The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - Finished pics page 3

[GeneralFROSTY]

Having recently completed work on my very first attempt at building and painting a "figure" model (build thread here http://www.therpf.com/f11/elvira-moebius-models-pic-heavy-159917/
I was excited to start work on another figure kit, this time something a little more complex to see what I could do.

I chose the gorgeously designed "Bride of Frankenstein" kit by Moebius Models.
Below you will see photos of the box and contents.
First impression:
This kit is incredible! You're getting TWO figures in one kit and a really fun 'scene' to put them in.
The likeness to Borris Karloff is pretty uncanny, however my only real gripe is that the bride had little real resemblence to Elsa Lanchester.

I am currently hard at work on this and will upload progress photos as often as I can and will always do my best to describe the process for those who are interested - and as always, I am open to answer questions or even consider suggestions.

Enjoy!

Front of the box. I really love the package design:

And the backside. The graphic of the completed model on the back of the box can be removed easily (it's a sheet of paper) to reveal a castle backdrop that you can use to display your model in front of when completed!

And shown here the contents of the kit. There is always a certain level of excitement and frustration when you first take a look at all the parts...

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

I decided to start with the bench. This was the first on the instruction sheet, so it seemed to be a good place to start...

While the pieces fit very well one at a time during a dry fit, with virtually no seams, all together, the overall tollerence was a little dissapointing - but that just means a little extra TLC in puttying and sanding..

 

[Zombie_61]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

The likeness to Borris Karloff is pretty uncanny, however my only real gripe is that the bride had little real resemblence to Elsa Lanchester.

Interesting. I have the exact opposite opinion; the likeness to Lanchester is quite good, but the likeness to Karloff is a bit off. I have to admit, however, that Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and Son of Frankenstein are my favorites of all the Universal classic horror films, so I'm extremely critical when it comes to sculpts of Karloff as the Monster (and it's the main reason I have no current plans to buy this kit).

In a post over on The Clubhouse, sculptor Jeff Yeager explained the problem was a result of the mold making process. The sculpt has to be cast once here in the U.S. and again in China, and horizontal volume is lost in the process. If you were able to somehow stretch the heads horizontally about 10%, I imagine the likenesses would be spot on.

While the pieces fit very well one at a time during a dry fit, with virtually no seams, all together, the overall tollerence was a little dissapointing - but that just means a little extra TLC in puttying and sanding...

Clearly you've never built any of AMT's classic Star Trek or Star Wars kits; gaps and struggling to get parts to align properly are par for the course. By comparison, Moebius' figure kits are so well engineered that they practically put themselves together.

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

I do see that the kit is indeed well engineered and I'm looking forward to this.
One thing I've made up my mind on though would be to paint the Bride's hair black.
I know the purists will hunt me down like the monster for this, but I've seen tons of red-haired Bride models and for my taste, I want mine to visually represent what we see on screen while still doing a full color paintjob.
Sue me!

 

[Zombie_61]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

You wouldn't be the first. I've seen my fair share of Bride build-ups with black or dark brown hair. It's your kit, build it the way you want to!

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

That's how I feel.
I'm still new to figure modeling and have refrained from joining a figure model specific message board for fear of getting attacked for my choices in methods and materials.

 

[Sourdoh]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

Hey, if you can't stand the attempts at help and suggestions; get out of the kitchen!

 

[MAKE BELIEVE]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

You wouldn't be the first. I've seen my fair share of Bride build-ups with black or dark brown hair. It's your kit, build it the way you want to!

I second that

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

While I typically stick to building kits right out of the box without going for aftermarket upgrade parts, I may want to invest in a different base.
The one that comes with the kit is too confined and is clearly recycled from another kit given the peg holes on the surface that serve no purpose for this kit.
I will be painting the base anyway just for the learning experience.

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

While I worked on eliminating seams on the bench as best I can, I started principal assembly on the Bride.

The parts all fit very well and seam cleanup should be a breeze.

The main body and arms shown below.
While the body was easy to cleanup, the bandages on the arms needed a bit more careful work to eliminate seams:

The image below shows one arm in the process of cleanup, the other has only been glued...

I use plastic weld for the majority of parts. This stuff is great because I can use it to "melt" seam lines shut and cures faster than Superglue.

 

[Talkierg]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

Love this classic

 

[Zombie_61]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

...I may want to invest in a different base. The one that comes with the kit is too confined and is clearly recycled from another kit given the peg holes on the surface that serve no purpose for this kit.

Give the man a cigar. The floor section of the base is from Moebius' Frankenstein kit. Moebius also produced a resin base for this kit (sold separately, of course) that is a little larger and a little more accurate (i.e., a stone floor as seen in the movie) available through CultTVMan's shop:

Deluxe Stone Base for The Bride from Moebius

One of the things I do like about this kit is how the folds in the Bride's gown are sculpted. In every photo I've seen, whether it's bare plastic or a simple base coat, the folds reflect light brilliantly and look very realistic.

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

I am certainly going to invest in the stone floor, but still want to paint the wood one for fun.

The Brides gown, I agree, is awesome.
To help accent the shadows, I plan to paint it overall an ivory white with an accent white topcoat.

More images coming soon, thank you for your support!

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

I put some thought into how I was going to attack the wood floor base.
Taking a cue from the tutorial booklet that came with the kit, I decided on using a semi-transparent varnish to achieve a stained wood floor effect.

I never had to paint something like this before so this process documented below was all an experiment.

After a primer coat, I started by mixing up a thick wash of a pale yellow color.
This was brushed on in long, even strokes with a mop brush.
I then applied some grain streaks using an orange mixture - again mixed to a thick wash consistency:

Next, I mixed up two more thick washes - one a light brown (thinned with satin varnish) and the other a dark brown.
I used the dark brown wash to accent the cracks in the floor panels and the wood grain that was sculpted into the part.
The lighter wash was mopped on in several layers - below is a photo taken during the layering process:

Inbetween the layers, I accented the grain some more with the dark wash, keeping it organic and random looking.
After a few even coats of the light brown satin varnish, this was the end result:

I've already placed my order for the stone floor upgrade, so I won't be using this piece but it was a fun learning process to do it and of course, I can hold on to it in case I ever get the Frankenstein kit from Moebius.

 

[MAKE BELIEVE]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

Man, you did a fantastic job with the "wooden" floor. It looks awesome!

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

Thank you! I am happy with it, especially for a first attempt.

The platform the bench sits on was a slightly different story...
This piece was as plain as can be, a bare, smooth surface devoid of any wood grain detail:

After a few coats of primer, I attempted to remedy the lack of surface grain by using a heavy grit sandpaper to create the illusion of wood grain:

I repeated the paint process I used on the floor, but this time had to be more mindful about putting in the darker grain streaks.
I also opted to give it a deeper stained-wood color:

 

[Bootlegger137]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

:eek Damn, Jimmy...that's fantastic! :thumbsup

 

[MAKE BELIEVE]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

What an amazing paint job. I'm... :eek

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

Thank you for the positive feedback!

Next, I tackle the stone wall backdrop.
This was a fun part to paint because I had alot of leeway for artistic license.

First, a standard primer coat:

Then, airbrushed with a stone gray color. After a few thin coats overall, I layed down a few more coats concentrated in the center perimeter of each individual stone. This gave me a feathered edge effect and made the stones look a little more real:

Then it was detail time.
I started off with some basic drybrushing over the entire surface using a light gray.
After, the stones were color shaded with earth tone pastel chalks.
Everything was sealed with dullcoat.
Later, when I attach the wood shelves to the wall, I plan on adding moss in a few select spots on the wall for that extra touch of realism:

 

[Randy13]

Re: The Bride of Frankenstein by MOEBIUS - (build thread)

Awesome wood and stone paint jobs! My wife and I were just talking about a little project she would like to do and have simulated wood painted on it. I didn’t think it could be done and look decent but you proved me wrong. If you don’t mind, I may PM you at a later date if I’m having trouble getting this effect.