Sayonara Sucker Punch:

Godzilla Vs. Gigan
by Bill Monster Jones

In this corner, Gigan...

Of all of Godzilla's foes, this has got to be one of the weirdest!! This half-cyber-cyclopsian-buzz-saw-bellied-space-parrot is just too far out! The tail scales and wings look like they were morphed from Ghidrah body parts and it's weapons include meat hook arms and feet, a buzz-sawed building-ripping, belly and a power beam from it's one cyber-eye (which actually is knocked useless by a well place boulder throw by Godzilla!). This has inspired a diorama with both behemoths in a glorious 1970's battle using Wave's 30cm Gigan and Billiken's 30cm 1975 Godzilla.

One thing I like about the Gigan kit right off the bat is the box artwork.  Many garage kit manufacturers these days understand that their characters have a "niche" appeal to few modelers. How many model builders know who Gigan (or Gaigan, as it reads on the box) is, let alone buy the model? It is much less expensive just to just paste a photocopy of the kit on the box for a painting reference.

Although the box art does not have a finished photo of the model, it does have and interestingly beautiful cover and side art drawings and a tribute art piece to(Eiji Tsuburaya), the effects mastermind who gave us all the wonderful fantasy of Godzilla...very cool. The other side panel has a great painting of maser cannons ready to unleash on Gigan ... might make a great foreground when taking final shots!

One of the very cool ways Japanese kit makers design their vinyl kits is so that the parts fit together. The way the joints fit into the slots ("a male / female design" ...woo woo) to rotate a limb or head and allow the modeler to easily pose the figure in any number of ways. It is not just--here is the way it fits, in this exact pose ... case closed.  Also, vinyl has that wonderful characteristic of bending and stretching to some degree with heat from a hairdryer.

I took this kit right out of the box, no soaking in hot water, unlike a resin kit. It seemed the surface was just fine and didn't need it......although I have seen some oily vinyl kits that I did wash first to prep thoroughly.  (May be a good idea to wash all kits, to protect all the hours of painting on it.)

And by the way ...this is not an action figure, so don't even go there, bro!  This is an adult model museum quality scale maquette from the original creature design of the classic Toho film!

Once I got to a final assembly stage, I now realized I needed to pose Gigan permanently with puttied seams, etc.  Now I admit I am borrowing the cool pose from the Yamakawa Godzilla vs. Gigan.  I just love to see Godzilla fighting other monsters in a model diorama setting ... lots of action.

To get the look I want, I will also be adding a Billiken 1975 Godzilla and reposing it as well.  Gigan needs to be in that stunned, just been delivered a hard right by Godzilla, surprised, disheveled pose ... falling backwards.

The head will need to be reposed back and to the side. To repose the head back and straight in line with the spine will entail making several crescent shaped cuts in the vinyl...right at the folds in the neck. I make the cuts only half as long as the neck is around...if that makes sense. That way I can heat with blow dryer, close the newly cut gap together and easily glue into desired position. Much more powerful an image with the head smacked to one side.

In this corner, Godzilla . . .

Suit wise, the Billiken 1975 Godzilla is from the same 70's time frame as Gigan. Godzilla's stock pose is pretty straight forward, so I will have to do some major reposing.  He needs a really over the top pose, landing a hard right hook to Gigan's beak.

Suit wise, the Billiken 1975 Godzilla is from the same 70's time frame as Gigan. Godzilla's stock pose is pretty straight forward, so I will have to do some major reposing.  He needs a really over the top pose, landing a hard right hook to Gigan's beak.

(Editor's note--"kicking" it refers to the process of applying a CA Glue accelerator. This is a liquid spray that makes the glue set almost instantaneously.  The phrase comes from the name of the most commonly used product, "Zip Kicker.")

Godzilla's stock pose is pretty straight forward, so I will have to do some major reposing to make the kit. I start with the legs first by heating the legs with a blow dyer and cutting almost all the way around the top of the thigh with a new Xacto blade.  (Heating really persuades the vinyl for reposing purposes.)  Once I can get the legs to pose correctly, I glue wooden strips (coffee stir sticks from Starbucks) to hold the pose in place and to act as armature for the Magic Sculpt putty.

Repeat the steps for the arms too.  I tilted the head, down and to the right, by cutting a crescent shaped sliver out of Godzilla's neck.  Heat the cut and mate the cut together to tilt the head.  Start with a small cut at first and cut more only until you are happy with effect. It is like a haircut...easy to cut more than you plan to, so start with small cuts.  You can see the difference in the original and the reposition model below.

Above: Original pose of the Billiken Godzilla

Above: Repositioned--doesn't Gigan look nervous?

I want to putty the pose in two attempts.  The first putty application is for strength and the second application to retexture the hide.  Fill in the large gaps with putty over the armatures and let it setup up over night.  This phase I just want to get the overall pose right...no detailing yet.  Don't worry about any nasty seams either....we will make quick work with them with the Repliscale and putty.

Repliscale is a two part, one-to-one formula that works great as a texture stamp that we will use to make quick work of the seams from the repose .  Mix equal amounts together and quickly apply the blob to a good area that has the skin texture you will need to replicate.  I made a couple for Godzilla and one for Gigan.  Once you mix the Repliscale together (I mix it on a business card), apply it quickly, as it sets up really fast.  Once the first layer of putty has set on the reposed areas of the figure, a second thinner application is needed.  This coat is used to match textures with the surrounding skin using the Repliscale texture stamp.

I wet the fresh putty and also dip the stamp into water before making an impression on the putty. Make sure you stamp in the same direction as the grain of the scales. Once this putty has setup, I paint the piece, using a basecoat color to see if my work has blended seamlessly. I had to repeat the seam sequence a couple more times using thin applications of putty and re-texturing to get Godzilla and Gigan looking seamless. 

The Ring

Next was the diorama base work.  I was looking around for particle board that I always use for bases, when I remembered that the trouble I have with fibrous board always warping upward when I apply the wet mixture of Celluclay, Modge Podge glue and Durham's wood putty.  I thought...maybe if I seal the fiberboard first with something strong, it will not bend.  I found something even better in my arsenal, Smooth-On's Foam It resin foam!!  This is a two part foam product that sets up resin-hard and does not expand too much.

I started off with a cut piece of fiber board that wasn't too big for the shelf and would frame the action of Gigan and Godzilla nicely. Placing the figures on the base, I saw that Godzilla would need a little footstool hill to properly reach Gigan's jaw for the connection. I glued a small wad of packing foam to form a hill on the place where his left foot would rest. I took a large piece of  foil and folded up the sides, making a tray to catch the spillover from the foam. I sprayed the foil tray with spray-on oil (like Pam) so the spill over wouldn't stick. I mixed the FoamIt and poured it on the base. As it foamed up, used flat wooden plank (like a popsicle stick) to spread the foam in mounds as I would need them on the base.

I needed something on the base to show scale....so I went thru a bag of kids toys I scored at a yard sale years ago and found some nice refinery type shapes. Just a few pieces to show size .... hey, these are giants folks! I sprayed the base with a cool sandy color from a line of flat camouflage colors found at Home Depot. This made quick work of base coating a large area of bumps and hills. Using Modge Podge glue (a white water based glue that dries flat), I cover the base with a generous amount. Next I got my rack of spice shakers (another yard sale score) filled with Woodland scenic earth tone colors from yellow grass, to deep dark green to light green and mixed the colors in layers. I picked off clumps of dark green foam foliage from a bag of thick forest material and dipped the clumps into a cup of Modge Podge glue and place them all around the base.

 

I have a empty spray bottle I use with a thinned version of Modge Podge or Woodland Scenic Cement (same stuff) to spray the entire base wet.  This helps to secure all the fine powder and wet the clumps for a final pass of light shaker color on top.  Let dry overnight.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

Painting Godzilla:

I base coated Godzilla in a medium grey mixed with a toned down (black added) green which gave me a good color as best I could tell from watching the video of Godzilla vs. Gigan.

Next I basecoat the inside mouth a fleshy pink (raw sienna, white and red) and unglued lower jaw.  With all Godzilla kits, it is best to paint the mouth first, before gluing and puttying the lower jaw.  Teeth were painted ivory white, sealed with Dullcoat and washed with the magic oil wash (black plus burnt sienna and Turpenoid oil thinner).

I love this wash. It dries flat and being an oil, really lays into the details well. I base coated the dorsal fins, toenails, claws and eyes ivory white also.

 

Next applied was a band of thin wash of raw sienna or Creamcoat maple on the toenails and claws where they meet the body. Glue the lower jaw on Godzilla and lightly putty the seams. I textured this area with a wet paper towel. When dry, basecoat the seam.

Next dry brushing ... a medium grey with a drop of the basecoat color to bring out the highlights.  I doubled up the dry brushing on the higher raised areas like shoulders, thighs, chest and top of head.  Seal with Dullcoat and added the magic oil wash. The eye iris is painted black with a thin yellow outside ring, sealed and a thin red wash to enhance that angry look.  I read somewhere that Godzilla dorsal spines for the 1970 versions were a dirty silver and checking the video tape, I agree...so silver goes right on top of the ivory on the dorsal fins.  I really get into reference material on Godzilla. Lastly I like to add spot washes all over Godzilla to breakup the overall grey/green look.....so an opposite color wash of rust (red oxide plus burnt sienna ) is thinly added here and there...very subtly.  You do not want blotches, so keep these spot washes very thin.  You want just a hint of color.

Painting Gigan:

I searched all over the place for good references on Gigan.  Watching the movie is about the best source, but also Hobby Japan X back issues and internet pics are really helpful too. So many pics look different in color schemes.  As a basecoat for the critter's skin areas, I went with a greenish turquoise color mixed with black to tone it down.  I painted the inside of Gigan's mouth a dark purple. I basecoat all the metal and gold areas black.  I always basecoat any metal areas black first, as it really helps with dry brushing the metal effect.   The jaw has already been glued into place, as his teeth are silver.

For the wings and scales I went with a darker, warmer gold, mixed with a similar tan color to take some of the bright shiny reflective sheen off the pure gold color. All this was done with a brush. I did break out the airbrush on the brushed silver areas of the beak, feet and hooks, however.

On the visor area of Gigan I painted it dark red and then airbrushed a thin gradiated white on the middle area. I will later add a clear red to this to try and make it look like it was lit from inside.   I did consider replacing the vinyl eye with a red clear visor and LED light from within, but decided to go with paint for time's sake. I lit eye would be cool though. Next apply the magic oil wash and let dry overnight.

After I seal this step, I go back with the basecoat colors to drybrush the highlights. I add more pure color tones to the mix and drybrush these on as well.  The metal banding around Gigan's girth I paint with a silver/black/blue mixture.  Next, airbrush the areas where the claw hammers meet the arms and feet meet the legs with a burnt umber/black thinned mixture.  I painted the tips of the wings with an orange wash, which added another cool color and broke up the solid gold of the wings.   Last comes the thinned rust spot washes and the clear red on the visor.

The K. O.

After placing the figures on the base again, I realized my base could be cut down about one fourth of its size. I marked the area that could go with a Sharpie and using my jewelers saw, cut off the excess base.  I used spackling to blend in the cut areas and re-applied the Woodlands ground cover.

I pinned Godzilla's left foot to the base to hold his position and made sure his foot looked flat on the base.  This is a fun easy way to repose vinyl kits in scenes that have more energy and action than just the static pose straight from the box.  It takes a bit more doing, but it is also cheaper than the rare resin versions too.

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