November 6, 2008

Now that the election is FINALLY over, I thought I'd take this opportunity to look back at 2008 and see how the ol' Scale Modeling community is doing!

And it doesn't look too shabby.

We have two new styrene companies; Moebius Models and Monarch Models. Frank at Moebius, continues to crank out new kits (The Invisible Man) and a healthy dose of beloved re-issues. Jekyll/Hyde, Gigantic Franky, the Monster Scene favorites and his 2009 forthcoming line-up includes Iron Man, the Flying Sub, the Mummy, Spider-man, Green Goblin & a new Frankenstein monster!

So far the only Monarch kit has been the Nosferatu figure. But they have the Ghost of Castle Mare coming out at any time, a glow version Nosferatu, The Fly, Gorgo, Sinbad the Sailor, and the Moon Suit.

Tom Lowe and his new company, Round2, are quickly ramping up to re-issue a lot of the Polar Lights and a gaggle of old Revell kits. The old Aurora Spock figure, the AMT Starship Enterprise, the glow version UFO, to name a few.

Revell announced they were re-issuing the original Aurora monster kits, in new boxes; Frankenstein, Mummy, Dracula, Wolfman. As well as news that Rommel's Rod might be making a reappearance!

So there should be a whole lot of happy news for the styrene-heads around these parts!

The Garage Kit arena is still very healthy, as is evident over on my 'New Kit' pages. There continues to be a wide diversity on EVERY subject matter! From Super Heroes, Monsters, Scantily-clad Vixens, Vehicles and Space Ships, busts, diorama's, our friends in the sculpting and production side of our hobby continue strong!

Some new names, that have been around the last few years, but continue to hone their craft, include;

Helder, who has been doing some great Super Hero kits, as has Jesse Garcia (Resin Pimps), whose 'White Queen' figure knocked me out!

Arkon, a Brazilian sculptor, sculpted an outstanding 'Shadowcat & Lockheed' kit that really impressed me! HDoose's recent 'Punisher' bust couldn't have captured the 2D artwork any closer!

Joseph Mahusay's (Art Department) Superman figures were superb and his Hulk and Abomination kits are huge! Arahom Radjah (ARH Studios) is perfectly suited to sculpt the female form, that just drip drool! Check out his 'Death' and 'Aylla' kits if you don't take my word for it!

Mike Baldwin (ABHMike) continues to sculpt and produce amazing figures!

Saul Alvarez, after many warnings NOT to continually sniff Diaz' resin dust, finally took the "I'm Gonna Be A Producer!" leap and came out with a beautiful 'Phantom of the Opera' bust, as well as a kick-ass 'Hunchback' piece!

I could go on for hours, but it's safe to say that this year's crop of new kits is bound to please everyone!

On the convention scene, WonderFest continues to reign king every year down in Louisville, KY, and this past year was no different! A whole gaggle of kits premiered at the show, and if the hundreds of photo's didn't convince you, nothing will!

A new show premiered this year. Put on by Dan and Barbara Jorgensen, Kitbuilders opened in St Louis, MO, and on the same weekend so did Chiller Theatre Expo in Parsippany, NJ! Good reports came out of both shows and it's good to see new folks jumping into the convention fray making it closer to home for many folks who can't make it out to the others!

The message boards continue to attract plenty of forum subjects, with a healthy flow of thoughtful musings, a showing of kits recently put together, painted and shot for the rest of us to admire (and possibly give us that tiny nudge of motivation to get down to our work bench and finish up that kit that's been collecting dust for the last nine months!)

So, in conclusion, 2008 didn't end up too shabby in the least! The hobby is steaming away quite nicely, fall is slowly coming to a close... Christmas is on the horizon and we get to look forward to 2009 with much anticipation!

Happy Modeling - Buc       Email   Archives