King Kong 1933

Soldering ended up being a mess and ruined both arms I was working on. Before going back to square one, I wanted to try super gluing his joints together to see if that would hold, but I then decided using epoxy putty would give a better bond for what I was trying to do. And it worked! (for the most part)

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His hips are not sturdy enough right now because I just fed the wire directly through his wood waist instead of putting copper pipes filled with putty in them. But that's an easy fix. He can also stand on his own, as demonstrated in the pictures, but I want to make a base where I can screw into his feet so that everything is really solid. I'll be fixing his hips and continuing to refine the skull before I get to building up his muscles, but that's coming pretty soon. Till then, thanks for looking!
 
Hows the build coming along bud?

Sorry for the hiatus. There's a couple things holding back the build right now:

-fine tuning the skull, always a slog
-I need to get a wood base to secure the armature to, it will make everything easier
-I have an idea of how to build up his muscles, just haven't properly tested it yet
-and lastly, I'm not sure how I want to pose him, and I don't know if figuring that out before building the muscles matters

Also, if anyone has suggestions for poses, I'd love to hear them. I don't want to make an Empire State Building display (at least not for this Kong) because I don't have space for it
 
They reused one of the King Kong armatures for Son of Kong, so underneath the white fur he's still King Kong

I have heard from some "kong detectives" that both kongs were used for "son" and eventually made white--but started black. There are pictures that supposedly exist but have not made it "online". Look forward to seeing it someday.

Good Luck with your kong & take your time.
 
I have heard from some "kong detectives" that both kongs were used for "son" and eventually made white--but started black. There are pictures that supposedly exist but have not made it "online". Look forward to seeing it someday.

Good Luck with your kong & take your time.

That would make sense, considering the short production schedule. I've never researched the taller armature about where it turned up and it's story. I just know Bob Burns's armature was considered the only surviving one until it wasn't.
 
I decided to take a stab at building up his muscles.

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I started by sewing on a tight first layer of the cotton batting, you can see this on the left (which is his right arm). I then built up the muscle by adding cotton batting a layer at a time, tying a knot around key places like his shoulder, elbow, and wrist. After the first couple layers, I figured I needed to do more to define the muscles, so I started adding smaller pieces of batting where his shoulder and forearm are, and then the next layer of batting would go over that and the rest of the arm. There was a lot of winging it, but I made sure to write down the dimensions of all of the pieces so I could duplicate the process for the other arm.

I think I will call this arm complete. Throughout the movie, his body changes a lot, so you have to pick and choose what you want your Kong to look like. Some pictures have the more cylindrical arm I have here, and some pictures look like his bicep is a little thicker. Oh well.

As a bonus, here are some pictures I've found online of deleted shots from the movie.

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This site is particularly interesting if you're a fan of the film (scroll all the way down to the bottom to see all the pictures): http://nzpetesmatteshot.blogspot.com/2013/07/king-kong-mightiest-wonder-of-world.html

Thanks for looking!
 
Worked on the other arm.

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I take back saying his left arm was complete - I ended up adding some more volume to his bicep, and there still may be some refining work to do on both arms. I'm not sure how well the fur will hide the crimes.
 
Worked on the legs.

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The legs and arms still need some work, but I'm finally able to visualize his overall shape. Before, I had a skeleton that was supposed to look like King Kong, and now I'm getting closer to something that actually looks like the giant ape.
 
So quite a bit has happened since the last update. To start, I moved his rib cage back about an inch. I then put on the large cotton piece which covers his torso. It was tricky getting it to fit tight around his ribs (in the reference photos, you can see his ribs, and you can also see how his lower stomach to his groin have no rigid structure defining them, similar to how and actual simian rib cage works--so I was trying to recreate all that). After I covered his torso, I was finally able to see the overall shape of his body, which revealed areas that needed more mass. I beefed up his legs a little more and added more mass to his upper arms/armpits because I didn't like how his arms merged into his body. And then today I got some pillow stuffing and filled his stomach and chest cavities (hence the hole in his chest). And this is where I am:

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From certain angles, I think he looks perfect, and then from others, not so much. Overall, though, I'm happy how he's turning out. Also, ignore all the pieces of cotton that look slapped on---I'll be smoothing them out later so they transition nicely with the rest of the body.

Thanks for looking!
 
Worked on the neck. I also realized his arms weren't hanging how they should, I made them more human than ape-like. So I twisted them and that seemed to work pretty well. It's always a little terrifying whenever I move his limbs because I have no idea if one of them is about to break. I think he's pretty robust, but I still want to prevent the worst from happening. I also super glued the hands on because I was tired of them falling off (bad engineering coming back to haunt me). If I need to remove them, I can easily break them off without damaging anything.

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And I think I have most of a King Kong here. Comparing it with the reference photos, I need to bulk up his inner thighs just a little more, and I need to do some more work on his upper back.
 
Hay Joe nice work so far.. I am interested to see how you deal with the hands and feet. I don't know how your application of the fur will effect this but I see that the wrapping the cotton batting (because of the thickness of the batting) makes sharp raised area between layers. If you are interested in giving it a more even smooth surface I have a suggestion. you can use Pros-aid and Cab-o-sil mix them together it forms a sticky paste the drys hard and flexible you can use to smooth out the transitions between the different layers of batting.
Scott
 
Hay Joe nice work so far.. I am interested to see how you deal with the hands and feet. I don't know how your application of the fur will effect this but I see that the wrapping the cotton batting (because of the thickness of the batting) makes sharp raised area between layers. If you are interested in giving it a more even smooth surface I have a suggestion. you can use Pros-aid and Cab-o-sil mix them together it forms a sticky paste the drys hard and flexible you can use to smooth out the transitions between the different layers of batting.
Scott

I haven't purchased any fur yet, so I'm not sure whether it will hide those raised areas or not. I'm also not sure how I want to adhere the fur to the muscles or if I want to adhere it at all, instead just sliding on pieces of fur "clothing." Thanks for the suggestion about the paste, is this mixture durable enough to last many years?
 
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