REVIEW - MAX
Producer: Killer Kits - Parts: 5 - Material: Resin
I'm a funny bugger me! I tend to like character kits that actually look like the characters they are supposed to represent, because of this I have avoided buying quite a few kits over the years. Because of this it was only out of mild curiosity that I opened a box containing Max Cady (Cape Fear), from Killer Kits, imagine my surprise then when I saw what can only be described as a near perfect likeness of Robert De Niro. This has now lead me to believe that most advertising pictures do next to no justice to kits, it has also lead me to wonder what I may have missed in the past.
However, enough of that.
This is a Killer Kits release sculpted by Joe Bailey. It comes in five off white resin pieces: base, legs, torso and arms. Now here's another thing. I hadn't realise how disgruntled I had become with this hobby; lots of money spent on what, at the end of the day, were highly questionable products - namely in respect of casting. This kit however, gave my backside a second big wollop. Its as clean a British kit as I have ever come across.
A great deal of thought has obviously gone into the production, and what seam lines there were, and they were minimal to say the least, were so well placed that I was tempted not to smooth them out. Second, the fit of the parts was so good that they required no filling (although I did use some model paste where the arms meet the shoulders but only to round off the muscles). And all of it topped off by a brilliant piece of sculpting.
Construction is simplicity itself, although I would advise leaving the upper body separate from the legs, and legs separate from the base, for painting.
After priming I gave the trousers a coat of citadel elf gray, followed by shading the shadowed areas with elf gray mixed with raven black. This darker shade was used as a base that could be lightened with white for the subtle highlights, this was created by numerous dry brushings with progressively lighter grays.
For the flesh tones iron oxide, and terra-cotta were mixed with acrylic retardant and applied to the shaded areas. This mix was then used as a base and gradually lightened with white to produce gradients in flesh tone. For the hair I used a base coat of burnt umber followed by black, with the hair above the ears being dusted with a light gray then white chalk, to simulate the gray the character has in the film.
The easy part was over - now for the tattoos. I have to be honest and say while this kit didn't sit on my shelf for long, once it was out of the box it lay on my work bench, untouched for nearly two weeks. The reason for this was the loss of my reference material.
When I bought it I knew I had a back issue of empire magazine, from 1991, in which they published a article specifically on the tattoos, how they were created, how they were applied etc.,. importantly the whole piece was top heavy with pictures, showing each one in detail. But could I find it - could I hell - and this from someone who throws nothing away.
Searching the internet was a waste of time, so it was down to the video. Now here's the rub, in the film you see some of the 'tat's' quite clearly, while some you see only in passing, and others you don't really see at all, but what interested me is the fact that some of them come and go. Specifically the ones on the inside of his arms, in some scenes they are there, in others they're not. Now I know all about continuity gaf's, but this is De Niro.
Anyhow, once I had the references for the tattoos I applied an extra coat of matt varnish and set to work with a soft pencil. Each picture and quote from the bible was applied in this way, checked and only when I was satisfied did I ink them in. The pen I used was a Parker with a 'gel' refill, the gel take a little time to dry but is excellent as it only requires minimal pressure. The heart on his chest was coloured using a pastel oil, and ducted with light gray chalk to 'dampen' it down.
On my shelf I have Crow kits (my over whelming passion), highly detailed pieces (like Lyra) and some unbeatable action poses (Confrontation, The One), but I have to say nothing comes close to Max.
Keep resin' it