Aurora BATMAN Model Kit! Re-Built! Re-Furbished! DC Comics!

Another go-round with a classic 60s Aurora model kit! This time it's the 1999 Revell re-issue of the BATMAN all-plastic kit! I've assembled this model five times in my life (the first was actually built by my Dad in 1970, since I was only 5 then), and wanted to tackle it again, applying the skills I've picked up since the last time (the late-80s "Super Powers" re-issue)! Click all images below to enlarge!

Below: I first began detailing the base, adding extra grit and gravel and texture, then painting in shades of dull browns, greens, even sprayed-on areas of white and black! More texture was added by applying some pastel crayon and chalk over raised surfaces, then coating the entire base with a dull matte coating! I also added extra limbs and twigs, for more realism! Who needs Batman?

Below: Work begins on the figure! After sub-assemblies were done, and sanding out seams (I left a few, to replicate seams in the outfit and boots, etc), it was time to paint! Basic spray-on colors were applied, then some over-spraying (with lighter hues), and under (with darker hues) to accent musculature, folds, etc...

The blue color motifs are added! I'll change those later, as you'll see...Also wanted a gold treatment for the utility belt, which I also would later modify...

Below: Checking the figure on the base (which made a convenient "drying rack")! Note the addition of a utility belt from the DC Direct "Silver Age Batman" action figure! I was also making plans to use the "posable" cape from the "Batman Masterpiece" figure...

You can see how I planned to affix the new cape within the curved form of the cape provided in the kit...

The finished model! I wanted to take the previously-applied lighter blue into a blue/black territory, keeping a very light gloss on those parts (with the other areas of the outfit matte)...After affixing his new cape to the smaller one provided with the kit, I applied a great deal of spray color to it, then a matte sealer!

Not happy with the "water decal" provided with the kit, I made my own chest insignia...

I decided not to affix Batman's left foot to the base, enabling him to "swing out" more, and not be so anchored to the tree! Good thing, too, as his new (very heavy) cape weighed him down and pushed him forward quite bit! I covered the "foot opening" on the tree with more twigs!

The larger cape also gives the figure a larger, looming physical presence...

Below: Another look at the base for the kit!

Below: A look at my last take on the kit, built by me in 1988, compared to this most recent attempt!

Below: You can see how I attached the new cape, inside the too-small plastic cape that came with the kit! Also note that I restricted the tree detailing to the front of the kit...

Below: The original 1965 issue of the Aurora Batman kit!

Spider-Man Meets Captain America! 1976 Albert Bigley Art! Marvel Comics?!

Back again with more blasts from my past! Here is some brain-blistering artwork, drawn by me in 1976, (age 11), of the simply spectacular Spider-Man, teaming with the ever-compelling Captain America! Completely and shamelessly lifted (on graph paper?!) from the cover of SPIDEY SUPER STORIES #17, I just had to try to capture some of that John Romita, Sr. (the cover's original artist) magic! How'd I do? Don't answer that, just click to enlarge!

Bob and Ray! The 50s Years! 1953 TV GUIDE Pics and Article!

Time for a real change of pace for a moment! I've loved the audio hi-jinks of master satirists BOB AND RAY for some time now, so here is a frantic post on the team! From a 1953 TV GUIDE issue, we get to peer into the keen minds of these two sharpies, who began spoofing the underside of celebrity, movies, politicians, and other over-puffed blowhards and institutions in those early days! The duo continued right up until Ray's untimely 1990 passing, but thanks to tons of fan-saved recordings, any modern comedy fan can laugh along with spoofs of such things as PLANET OF THE APES, MANNIX, soap operas, news teams, and kid's shows! If you love the dry humor of the POLICE SQUAD! show, or anything that lets the air out of the pompous and over-evaluated world we live in (now more than ever) give the duo a try! BONUS: In the 50s, Bob and Ray were picked to transform some of their hilarious radio scripts into MAD magazine pieces, mostly drawn by the inimitable Mort Drucker! Click to enlarge, and remember to "hang by your thumbs!"!

Yep! Bob and Ray actually had a short-lived TV show in the 50s, with frequent
co-star Audrey Meadows!

ANT-MAN! 1979 Dave Cockrum Original Comic Cover Art! Marvel Comics!

Here's one from my own collection! Here is the cover rough for MARVEL PREMIERE #48, from 1979! Dreamt up by "Dandy" Dave Cockrum, here is the "new" Ant-Man going into action against a savage, raging beast! Dave once again brings into play his mastery of composition, anatomy, drama, and depth! Note the blue pencilled sketch beneath the rough inks. Before the age of scanners, art had to be photographed (as a "stat") prior to printing, and any blue lines would not be reproduced, thus, they never needed to be erased after inking! Click to enlarge!

This version of Ant-Man is actually a spin-off from the IRON MAN comic of the day!
Stark Enterprises engineer Scott Lang discovers Henry Pym's old Ant-Man gear, and,
with Pym's blessing, takes up the ant-mantle! Pym had long since
abandoned the guise, inactive as Ant-Man since the mid-60s, after evolving into
the superhero known as "YellowJacket!"



BONUS! Thanks to the generosity of inker Bob McLeod, look below to glom the next stages of this colossal cover! Below left are Dave Cockrum's final pencils, below right is the finished cover art, with McLeod inks!

BONUS BONUS! Click below to see me, posing with the above original comic art!