Custom Aurora CAPTAIN AMERICA Model Kit! Jack Kirby! Marvel Comics!

Here is the 1974 (originally released in 1966) Aurora "Comic Scenes" CAPTAIN AMERICA model kit, re-cast recently in a larger scale by Polar Lights! I added a GI JOE gunbelt and accessories to give Cap an "Ultimates" (or movie) look... I also substituted the kit's over-sized head with a plaster cast head from the Bowen Yellowjacket bust! I then tried to give it a "Jack Kirby-drawn" look.  Click images below to enlarge!

I also assembled Cap's left arm so that it (and the shield) didn't conceal his body in the way the original kit did! I wanted more of an "open" pose...

I used a heavy gloss coating on the puddle, then, once dry, added some clear cellophane...

I paid a great deal of attention to flat matte areas (the costume and base) and glossy areas (the shield, puddle, etc...), in an attempt to bring added realism to the kit...

Another look at the detailed base...

BONUS! Click below to see the original "oversized" heads that came with the Polar Lights kit (below, left), and the finished, un-customized kit (below, right)!

BONUS BONUS! Look below to gaze at the original assembled 1966 Aurora Cap model kit!

BONUS BONUS BONUS! Click below to enlarge this model magazine article, detailing one hobbyist's building of the re-issued CAP kit!

A Loving Portrait of Mike Nesmith?! 1976 Albert Bigley Art! The Monkees!

Here we go again, with another piece of art from my wild and wooly youth! I take yet another stab at drawing the Monkees (at age 11, in 1976), this time zeroing in on mighty Michael Nesmith, the singer/songwriter of the group, and the most succesful solo member! Oh, did I mention his mom, a secretary/commerical artist, created a little something called "Liquid Paper?" Sure, most typists and clerical workers now work on computers, but ask any artist how valuable this little item still is! As I did with my other magnificent (if somewhat melty) Monkees portraits, I lifted this nifty Nez image from the cover of the RCA "Laurie House" 2-LP set, offered as a TV promotion that same year! What are you waiting for? Get off your "big dogma" and click to enlarge! How many fans get that inside reference?

The Mach Five vs the Batmobile! Custom Model Kit Madness! DC Comics vs Speed Racer?!

Two of the greatest custom cars of the past, combined! I usually customize only figure kits and such, but here is a SPEED RACER Mach 5 model kit (from the fine folks at Polar Lights), tricked out as a version of the Batmobile! The car features a gloss “sparkle blue” coat with black applications, and matte red interiors! I've included views with the half windshield, as well as the full “bubble top!” Makes a great “what if” version of a 60s/70s Batmobile! Click images below to enlarge!

Below: The "Mach Five" vehicle itself, the inspiration for the above customization job!

Ant-Man Custom Mego Action Figure! YellowJacket! Avengers! Marvel Comics!

It's good ol' Hank Pym himself, ANT-MAN! Here he is, re-imagined as a custom "Mego style" action figure, made by me! One of Marvel's early Silver Age heroes uses a custom head (from the now-defunct NotDolls.com site), and "Dr. Mego" boots and basic red outfit. The black portions of the outfit were done in paint markers, and the belt is custom-built! I went with black (instead of blue) for the accessories, since this simply works better in 3-D, and also make the suit seem more of a "work outfit," as opposed to flashy superhero togs!  Click images below to enlarge!

BONUS! Wanna see this Ant-Man action figure used in a fun live-action video? Just look below!

BONUS BONUS: It's the 70s incarnation of the identity-crisis stricken Ant-Man, YELLOWJACKET! Using a custom-made outfit, and a re-cast of the Aurora BATMAN kit head, here is the famous Avenger as Mego woulda made him! 

Rare INCREDIBLE HULK Fan-Made Bust! Jack Kirby-Inspired! Silver Age Marvel Madness!

Here's a great fan-made garage-kit incredible HULK bust, inspired by the early Silver Age Marvel comics, as drawn by Jack "King" Kirby! Sculpted by Craig Davison, and offered by SeaDog Studios! The bust was cast in porcelain, and I used enamels to paint it. I came in with three shades of spray-applied green for the basic flesh and hair, using them to accent the highlights and shading, with dry-brushed grays on the base! Coatings of gloss over the eyes and teeth and hair completed the fearsome look!  A nice companion piece to the officially-released Aurora Hulk kit! Click each image to enlarge!

Below: Early 60s Jack Kirby-drawn HULK comics panels, the inspiration for the above power-packed sculpture!

Rock and Roll SPIDER-MAN! 1976 Albert Bigley Original Comic Art! The Lizard!

One of my first impressions of the ever-amazing Spider-Man came via the famous (and INfamous) 1972 super-groovy LP, SPIDER-MAN--A ROCKOMIC! This, along with afternoon reruns of the 1967 SPIDER-MAN cartoon, had me becoming a die-hard arachnid aficionado at the tender age of seven! What made it even sweeter were the stellar illustrations by Spidey's best-known artist, John Romita, Sr.! The ROCKOMIC LP came slathered with JRSR's gorgeous graphics not only on the front and back, but also within an eye-popping interior gatefold Spidey strip, too! Plus, the whole pulsatin' package came with a poster of the LP front that still hangs on my wall today! So, it was inevitable that, a few years down the road, I'd try my young hand at drawing much of the art from this audio treasure! Take a glance below, to see my feverish scrawlings based on the beautiful back cover of this rollickin' rock rarity! Altho only eleven years old when I attempted this, I just had to try to master that sense of weight, dynamic anatomy, and lush inking that Romita (seemingly) so easily displayed in his work! How'd I do? Don't answer that, just click below to enlarge..

I can still recall my concerned Mom, eyeing this LP suspiciously in a department store in Cherry Hill, NJ, as I begged and pleaded
for the purchase of this treasure! She thought, based on the exterior of the album, that it was way too "adult" and
frightening for a 7-year-old me, but she relented, and I've never been the same since, God bless her!

Batman! Lord of the Rings? 1976 Albert Bigley Art! Joker! Two-Face! DC Comics?!

Yet another big one from my artistic past! Enamored with a then-novel multi-part story in the BRAVE AND THE BOLD team-up title in mid-1976, I just had to reproduce one of the stellar Jim Aparo-drawn covers from that riotous run! But, an 11-year old me just didn't have the skills of a seasoned industry vet like Aparo then, so this is what ya got! Batman rides a decidedly 2-D paper horse! Green Arrow is threatened by a mere knife on a pole (since I didn't leave room for his would-be executioner)!  And, I tipped the "gimmick" of the story by showing that it was the tiny titan himself, the Atom, who was secretly maneuvering the ring (hung from a limb held by Two-Face?!) so as to allow the Caped Crusader a clear shot at wining GA's freedom! Urk! Click image below to enlarge!

Dontcha just love how the Atom has his minuscule feet hooked 
under the inner part of the ring? Such realism!