review5

This one was just for fun. Scanning, as I do periodically, one of our local hobby stores (as opposed to a "hobby
shop") for potential diorama materials, I came across one of those re-releases of an old horror kit, in this case "The
Creature from the Black Lagoon."

What made this particular kit appealing to an old guy like myself was the fact that, although the fine print indicated
this to be a Polar Lights production, everywhere else on the box the ancient Aurora logo was to be found. For the
many modelers of "that certain age," the Aurora trademark brings back some powerful memories. Immediately I
thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to build this old kit and mount it on a rough natural wood base next to the colorful old
box?" And that's what I did.

A lot of things make a trip down memory lane like this relaxing. It was a simpler time that produced this kit-it has only
27 mostly large parts. I suppose one could do some research of the movie monster that inspired this kit, but since
"The Creature" is fictional, I decided to do what the movie makers did and let my imagination (and the shades of
paint I had available) rule.

It's a good idea to paint "The Creature's" tongue pink and the inside of his head black before assembly. Painting the
inside of the big hollow lizard that adorns this scene in advance is a good idea, too. Other than those precautions,
this baby doesn't require a lot of advance planning. Be sure you have a full tube of putty before beginning assembly
of "The Creature" himself. Mine had some big gaps to be filled, and I had to take care of the fact that the halves of
his head did not match up well at all. The top of his head is largely putty. Some putty work was required on the kit's
very campy plastic base as well.

"The Creature's" other companion is a fierce-looking poisonous snake. Mine had lost the fork to his tongue, so I
repaired this with a bit of sheet styrene and a coating of super glue. I drilled little holes for the lizard's ears and
nostrils and painted them black inside. Other than these steps the whole thing is pretty much standard.

The sets of Ral Partha paints I had bought for the excellent flesh color they contained came in handy here, since
they also gave me cool blue-green and yellow-green shades for "The Creature." The rest of the painting was done
with the idea of making this thing vivid, campy, and sort of cartoonish. In other words, realism was not a concern
here. As an example, I have no idea what species my snake represents-I just painted him in dark yellow and reddish-
brown stripes because I liked the contrast to the blue-green "Creature" and the field gray lizard Each figure has eyes
with red rims (for fierceness and because they are nocturnal-they've been up all night). A bit of Future applied to
eyes and mouths gave these areas the appropriate wet look.

This one was quick — a determined modeler could build and paint it in a day — and it was enjoyable. It never hurts
to occasionally do one just for fun, just to avoid the onset of the dreaded Advanced Modeler Syndrome.