It’s Alive!

Transcript*

Skit

[laughter] Good evening all. This is David from Loisirs vers le soleil. We are now well into October. The nights are getting longer. That chill in the air is gathering. That wonderful time of year when the separation between the living and the dead blur. What a perfect time to make some sales. In today’s video, we’re going to be taking a look at some new re-releases from Moebius Models.

Intro

Their Universal Monster line. I don’t know about you, but every Halloween season I enjoy building a horror-themed model kit. So, for today’s video, I’m going to be taking a quick look at three of Moebius’ Universal Monster reboxes, all in 1/8 scale. That being Frankenstein [music], the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Mummy. Monster model kits have been around almost as long as all model kits in general. Those of you of a certain age may remember those old Aurora and Atlantis monster kits from the’ [music] 60s, the ones that claimed to glow in the dark.

Those were not great quality, but they do have a charm to them. Now, these Moebius kits in particular are of newer tooling. These all were released around the late 2000s, early 2010s, and they did everything from Dracula to Bride of Frankenstein, all of which are better quality, but from my recollection, they’re still a little finicky. They do require some work and some putty, but we’re pros, we [music] can handle it. So [snorts], I’m going to start off with

Frankenstein

Frankenstein, and I know it’s Frankenstein’s monster, that Frankenstein is the scientist, not the creature. So, Frankenstein [music], highly influential movie from 1931 starring Boris Karloff and Colin Clive. I know it influenced me personally. It was one of the major reasons why I wanted to become a makeup artist [music]. So, in this kit, you get an authentic screen accurate likeness, as well as detailed precision tooled parts, and a detailed display base. So, let’s take a look at the parts themselves now. First sprue [snorts] here, and they’re all in a tan color [music]. You get the torso and the legs, both in halves. Most likely, you are going to need putty here. Next, we’ve got the name plate, as well as one half of his hands.

Also, his very high platform boots, which in real life, apparently, were over 30 lb and contributed to immense pain and injury for Boris Karloff throughout his entire life. Got the arms here, again, in halves. Here’s the other half of his hand. Another thing you notice about Moebius kits, there is always a loose part in there, and let’s see how accurate this face is. Mhm, it’s pretty good. I I won’t lie, there are better likenesses in 3D printed resin models, but it’s serviceable. That was basically all the parts for the monster. Uh the rest is just for the base. So, you got parts for a stone wall. You got the the wood plank base and the door, which is in halves held together by some elastic. And even a little plastic piece here to protect the paints. I honestly have never seen Moebius take that much care in their model kits before. So, yes, a very Abby normal kit.

Creature from the Black Lagoon

Next up, we have the Creature from the Black Lagoon or Gill-man, as most people call him. He is from the sci-fi horror film from 1954, which doesn’t really resemble the other Universal Monsters. It’s not a European gothic tale, but because his design is so iconic, he became the official last of the Universal Monsters. And this one pretty much claims the same thing, authentic likeness, detailed parts, and a detailed display base. So, the Gill-man was played by two guys, actually. Uh Ben Chapman whenever he was portrayed on land, and Ricou Browning whenever he was underwater.

So, the first sprue here we’ve got his feet and his hands, as well as his face. This one I would say the likeness is pretty good. And uh if I’m correct, the Creature from the Black Lagoon may actually have been one of the very first films to use underwater cameras so extensively. And they did do it quite well. So, here you’ve just got leaves and a little lizard for the base. Uh some more leaves. The skeletal fossil hand of the creature as well as another name plate. And here we’ve got his arms in halves. And this looks like the back of his head. And the uh scaly texture is quite nice. Although, if these halves don’t go together well and need putty, it may be pretty difficult to replicate that if you have to sand away any seams. So, uh look forward to that. So, on this occasion, aside from being in a front and a back half, the body is almost completely intact. And again, you’ve got nice texture, nice detail work for his scales.

And here is the base for what he will be sitting on. So, some rocky terrain and I believe this would be sand. And uh that’s not it, actually. There is one more bag here with spare arms and hands. This is for if you want to display the creature with his arms cupped like this so that he can carry Oh, damn, what was her name? Julie Adams, that was it. And the reason you get these is because the very first tooling of this kit actually came with her, and you can have the creature carrying her. But then this particular tooling here, they just got rid of her and left the creature with the arms more I don’t know in a fearsome pose, I I guess. Now, in terms of painting, this one’s probably going to be the most difficult. I would highly recommend an airbrush for this as he is various tones of greens and yellows. He’s also going to have a very glossy finish, too. But yeah, this kit’s pretty good as well.

The Mummy

And lastly, we’re going to take a look at the mummy based on the 1932 film starring Boris Karloff, which in my opinion is more like a romantic tragedy than a pure horror, but it scared the hell out of people back then. Now, this one seems to have quite a few parts. So, let’s get started. First sprue, you got the front half of the entire bandaged body. You got a hand, his face. Again, the likeness is pretty good on this one, too. Here is the back half of the body. They got that detail right of the ring on his middle finger. Uh here is a few parts for the diorama base. Uh the base on this kit is quite intricate. It looks like there’s more parts for that than the actual monster. But you’ve got a a snake, the uh top half and bottom half.

Uh the back of the cobra’s head, as well as uh a piece of a pillar with hieroglyphs on it, one of which is a check mark. And this looks to be more diorama pieces. Ooh, this one’s pretty hefty. Basically, all the parts for the sarcophagus. This being the front face or the lid. Now, if you watched the actual 32 movie, you’ll know that his sarcophagus was nowhere near as intricate as this one, but I guess for thematic reasons, they I guess made the sarcophagus look more royal. Uh this looks to be the back wall of the coffin. This is the inside, nice stone texture. And then you’ve basically got all the side walls for the sarcophagus, the inside and out. And it’s got some nice hieroglyphics on it. I must say they really went all out on the mummy kit. And to close this out, here is the base and a stone wall, which I imagine goes here. And again, really nice designs here.

And one last thing, I’m just going to take a quick look at the coloring guide on the back of the instructions. So, that is not a great paint job. It’s very bland and clean, if that makes sense. If I were doing this, I would try to find as many color references to the real movie as I could to get the weathering and the deterioration looking perfect. But yes, other than that, a nice golden sarcophagus with a sand base and a yellow and brown striped cobra. In conclusion,

David’s Conclusion

I love these kits. Being a horror fan, it is so nice to see that these let’s be frank, forgotten icons are still getting some attention. I find it really unfortunate that there are so many people out there who share the sentiment “I can’t watch that. It’s in black and white. What’s going to be next? I can’t watch that. It’s only in 24 frames per second.” Great cinema is worth rewatching and remembering. And the same can be said about great model kits.

They are worth revisiting. So, these model kits are available on our website. Some are for special order. Some are still on pre-order, but you can purchase them at Loisirs vers le soleil in store or online. Thank you very much for watching this video. Remember to like, comment, subscribe, follow us on our socials, and until the next one. Adios.

About the Author:

David Peckam has built scale models since he was 12, specializing largely on military aircraft. He is a makeup artist and background actor for films and TV. He enjoys watching hockey and of course, movies. He has an excellent knowledge of hobby products and if you have questions concerning scale model airplanes.

*Video by David Peckham
Video Edited by
Daniela Castellano and Leo Nguyen
Transcript generated by youtube
Edited by Angelo Castellano