Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Other => Topic started by: Frank3k on November 19, 2021, 12:42:50 PM
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I decided to build the last two figures from the Masterbox Desert Battle Series:
Masterbox 1/35 Skull Clan – Long-distance raid. Where am I? Splinter:
(https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/6/0/7/1315607-38473-37-pristine.jpg)
Masterbox 1/35 Skull Clan – Long-distance raid. A new religion. Pastor
(https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/6/0/8/1315608-38473-83-pristine.jpg)
I started with the Pastor - I'm calling the Pastor "Al" - because even though I've never tried it, I've seen ads in LA for a taco made with spit-grilled pork called "Al Pastor"... and Masterbox figure kits have recently been pigs.
Surprisingly, Al seems to be of average height in 1/35 and more importantly, properly scaled. Molding and the face are OK, too. My main changes so far have been to undercut the plastic a bit and remove the ridiculous quad belt he's wearing. The head looks big in part because it's tacked:
(https://i.imgur.com/RpY54p4.jpg)
He reminds me of Torgo, from "Manos, the Hands of Fate" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manos:_The_Hands_of_Fate)
(https://i2.wp.com/schlockmania.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Manos-icon2.jpg)
Since Al seemed to be mostly OK, I decided to give Splinter a look. We know that Masterbox is hit or miss (mostly a wide miss) when it comes to representing believable females in plastic. Well... Splinter isn't as bad as Hanna (https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=9945) (I'm still salty over the amount of work I had to put into that figure to get a mediocre result).
On the positive side, Splinter isn't a 6'5" scale female and seems about the size of a 15 year old girl. That's it. The face still looks a bit like a man's... and well fed. Using the boxtop image as guide, I trimmed her face and nose a bit. She still looks like she's been hitting the cheeseburgers and donuts, though.
The hands were awful - poorly defined lumps with stubs for fingers (if they were even that well defined). Luckily, the female driver from the Moderoid Exoframe (https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=10032.msg) kit had hands that were the same size and in a similar pose, so Splinter went in for a hand transplant. I added some thin plastic shavings to her hair (replacing the bows) to get them close in volume to the boxtop, replaced the bag she was carrying with a resin one Jeff sent me a few years ago, added a canteen and some shoulder straps for the bag and shotgun. The kit comes with a child's backpack (with a bear on it) but adding it would require yet more shoulder straps, so I'll skip it.
This is where she's at right now:
(https://i.imgur.com/ZRzp9Gt.jpg)
I haven't painted in the pupils so she looks like she's ready to join the "Village of the Damned" kids.
(https://i.imgur.com/MxIbkU5.jpg)
What looks like a seam on her arm is my failed attempt at creating the ribbing on her sweater.
(https://i.imgur.com/XLl7Yeh.jpg)
There's also a sorry excuse for a dog (German Shepherd by the boxtop) - looks like a lumpy, poorly detailed wolf or a hairy pig? It's just shaded here but it may get replaced with a better looking dog:
(https://i.imgur.com/hhRJK1K.jpg)
I'll go back and add her pupils and fix some of the paint issues and handling damage that are evident, then it's time to work on Al.
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The box artwork for the "Pastor" looks a bit like Sam Elliot, just a hint mind you. Of course the actual figure does not share this. :smiley:
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The box artwork for the "Pastor" looks a bit like Sam Elliot, just a hint mind you. Of course the actual figure does not share this. :smiley:
Sam Elliott was my first thought too ("There's just one thing, Dude ... Do you have to use so many cuss words?")
And, yeah, the box art doesn't bear much resemblance to the actual figures. I like what Frank is doing with them though :smiley:
Splinter looks even younger than her box top alter-ego. So, maybe more residual baby-fat than burgers and doughnuts?
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I wish Masterbox would have the boxtop artist do the CAD drawings (if they are CAD drawings; I have my doubts) for the plastic.
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I wish Masterbox would have the boxtop artist do the CAD drawings (if they are CAD drawings; I have my doubts) for the plastic.
Yes, the artwork sells the kit. The "passing resemblance" to the box art sometimes does not quite cut it.
Kudos though to MB for this range of figures
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I think I'm done with Splinter - the quality of the sculpting/molding doesn't warrant spending more time on her:
(https://i.imgur.com/2gGUMgk.jpg)
The dog doesn't look quite like a dog, but the dark colors hide some of the undogginess:
(https://i.imgur.com/DWS3CMi.jpg)
While building some of these latest Masterbox figures, I've thought about converting the poses and expressions on the boxtop into 3D models and printing them, but a more realistic option is to replace heads and hands with resin parts as needed (or when available).
Al Pastor is almost done and unlike Splinter, he's going together well enough.
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when I look at your work on Al Pastor, I had a thought that the base figure, converted as you have, would make a damn fine Mountain man or Daniel Boone type character with a Kentucky Long rifle
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He does look like a mountain man, or even someone from the middle ages.
Here's the headless body; maybe I can put a skull in his hand. "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio":
(https://i.imgur.com/R5mtF8q.jpg)
Extreme closeups of the head. It probably only needs a slight glaze over the skin:
(https://i.imgur.com/n6MFwsB.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/KjhezBW.jpg)
The two male figures in this set have been straightforward builds; the females have taken much, much longer in comparison.
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I'm done with Al Pastor. I could probably work on him some more, but while the figure quality is better than Splinter (he looks like a man), the molding and details are sub-par.
His ridiculous rifle was bugging me; I don't understand the layout and the molding was just very soft:
(https://i.imgur.com/KrqxyhQ.jpg)
So I cut off parts and used the receiver from an M16 and the stock from the original kit.I added a new bolt handle as well:
(https://i.imgur.com/nOolJgh.jpg)
I moved the bipod closer to the barrel end.
Front and back view of the pastor. PE belt and a strip of painted Tamiya tape on his hat:
(https://i.imgur.com/xhTUJCK.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/myM7E5L.jpg)
With his muddy sheep dog:
(https://i.imgur.com/l61MhA8.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/5bkTo1d.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/G8bkXWH.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/5bkTo1d.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Mblh2i8.jpg)
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Nice save on the weapon Frank but yeah, the thing looked real strange from the start. That might be one of those things to consider replacing completely with something more accurate looking later on. Even the old Boyes .55 Anti-Tank Rifle would look more appropriate in the Pastor's hands.
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Great job on both figures.
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Good job on the figures, Frank! :smiley:
Actually, painted up, Pastor's dog doesn't look bad at all (better than the box top dog, IMO).
Having been looking at dog kits recently, I can say that very few kit makers get German Shepherds looking right, so MasterBox aren't alone there.
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Thanks! The German Shepherds in German Feldgendarmerie w/Dogs (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/dragon-6098-feldgendarmerie-w-dogs--108070) are pretty good - and tiny compared to the beast wolf hound with Splinter.
This is the last Masterbox figure kit I'll buy, at least until their quality improves/I can see good images of the sprues and a closeup of a build. Their figure kits have gotten expensive per figure and just lack detail or finesse. The Dragon kit I mentioned above is from 1998 and the figures and gear are noticeably better than the latest Masterbox offerings. Plus they can't seem to be able to sculpt women.
Jeff sent me a link to the Russian PTRS-41 and PTRD-41 anti-tank rifles... and if you squint one or the other may have been the inspiration for the Pastor's rifle.
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More of Frank's Figure goodness! 8) Great! :smiley:
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I'm done with Al Pastor. I could probably work on him some more, but while the figure quality is better than Splinter (he looks like a man), the molding and details are sub-par.
His ridiculous rifle was bugging me; I don't understand the layout and the molding was just very soft:
([url]https://i.imgur.com/KrqxyhQ.jpg[/url])
I think I know what it was supposed to represent.
http://smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1160 (http://smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1160)
https://www.forgottenweapons.com/light-machine-guns/charlton-automatic-rifle/ (https://www.forgottenweapons.com/light-machine-guns/charlton-automatic-rifle/)
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But why is the trigger/firing mechanism so far from the bolt action and the magazine in the original plastic? The Charlton looks very French, even though it's from NZ
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But why is the trigger/firing mechanism so far from the bolt action and the magazine ...
Agreed. The proportions of the breech opening remind me of the Mauser T-Gewehr ... but with the bolt installed back-to-front :o