The One that Got Away . . . Dark Carnival / Needful Things Swimming Creature

by Bill "Monster" Jones

Has Bill Jones built more Creature from the Black Lagoon kits than anyone on the planet?  Possibly--and he's got it down to a fine art . . .

For this issue, I am lucky enough to cover one of my favorite monsters, The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  Sculpted by Rudy Garcia and Mike Sandbothe, this whopping 1/5 scale Gillman is huge! (Then again, I have never seen a small kit from Needful Things.)  I have done many, many Creature models, got a whole gallery of 'em and this one is highly recommended!

The sculpting is very detailed, nice and deep too.  I love that, for it allows for glazing and many washes and still have raised detail. The resin looks as if it has porcelain powder added which really brings out the detail and if accidentally dropped or broken, it makes a clean break, which is easy to fix. 

Also, this is a heavy kit.  I could immediately tell by the weight of this piece that it will take a heavy duty screw with good deep threads (I cut the head off screw) as a pin and epoxy quick set glue to anchor this long, hefty critter.  However, the pieces are easy to attach with the peg and socket design.

I guess I have become somewhat of a jaded modeler these days . . . always looking out for the next kit bash.  For this project, I did two small kit bashes--one intentional, the other unintentional.  The one I planned was a slight gill reduction on the front side of the left gill (see below).  After washing the pieces with Simple Green all around cleaner, I mark my kit bashing gill surgery and get ready for a heavy Dremel session.

Side note: on the weekends I like to get all my drilling, building and other dirty outside work done on as many model kits as possible, so I can concentrate on painting during the work week after hours. As many of you know, after the long workday and chores are done, it only leaves maybe one or two hours at most for model time.  I try to do at least some kind of model progress each night if I can. Even if it is just one Dullcote spray coat, that is one step closer to completion.....ohhh the happiness of creation!!!

The second kit bash was literally a "bash."  Building the kit went well, except I messed up the arm attachment that is reaching out.  After I kickered the glue, the arm fell off before the glue set and the glue froze sans arm.  So I had to drill off the old glue and try again.  This messed up the square peg at the end of the arm, which I ended up round off.  I didn't remember which way the arm was supposed to be facing so I glued it facing slightly inward, instead of the outward pose as intended.  All the seams were minimal and filled with Magic Sculpt and I used an pebbly old dino texture stamp that I have archived, to match the skin pattern.

After I primed with Krylon Ruddy Red Primer, the details were bit more visible.  There was just another small seam to file down along the fin.  This is something I find more and more as I build kits . . . finding those previously hidden seams that show up later in the painting stage. 

As for the paint job, my theory is that Creature color schemes can work well in two ways:

1) green with yellow highlights (I call it "lime green")

2) green with bluish highlights (I call it "moss green").

I have a Creature base color that is green, but blue was added to give it that slightly blue shift just before it turns aqua.  Green is a fun color to experiment with. Did you know one way to darken green is add red??  It is a good idea to play with your colors and experiment with newly discovered shades.

I basecoat the Creature in my Creature/Blue/Shade mix I keep in an old Zatarain's mustard jar.  (Gee, I love that stuff . . . I do not know if you can get it anymore as it was made in New Orleans.) 

Next, I outline the jigsaw pattern of the Creature's scales in Liquitex's Phthalocyanine Green, also called phthalo green, an emerald green color.  I mix this color with thinner to a medium thickness so it will flow easily into the Creature cracks.

After sealing with Dulcote, next comes the glazing!  I keep a jar handy for just such a need . . . why, yes! It is another Zatarain's Mustard jar!  The glaze is made from Liquitex Acrylic Matte Medium plus thinner, Black and Burnt Umber.

It looks like very dirty car oil.  I first apply it using a big stiff brush over the leg, working the medium into the cracks and crevices of the Creature. It is best to work in small areas, not the whole kit.  Immediately wipe off  glaze on the top most portions of the kit with very wet deposable rags, leaving the pebbly texture to be accentuated.  Use several clean rags, as the glaze buildups quick. You do not want to smear the glaze with a dirty rag.

The next color is an oil mix of red oxide or rust red. Keeping an oil wash ready in a jar is great, especially when it collects on the bottom. Then you have a wash on top and a more solid color to dig for from the bottom of the jar.  I scrape some red oxide off the bottom of the jar and place in the lid cap.  I use this to paint the suckers on the paws and feet.

This wash is also a great spot wash all over the body to break up the solid green color...with red!  Place just a little bit here and there type pattern.  I even apply a very thin wash over the head.  This makes for a more natural, complex green color one might see in nature.  So far the head has the basecoat, glaze (wiped off, yet still has a washed effect) and now thin red oxide oil wash. I smooth out the effect with some drybrush light green/gray shading.  Before I seal my work, a basecoat of black for the eyes and white plus a drop of green for the claws (with oil wash at claw base) gets the Creature ready for the next step.

I had to look at several movie stills and magazines to get the eyes looking right.  It seems to be an eye within an eye deal.  First I create a Black outline; then a gold/yellow sliver; then I used inference green mixed with medium green for the inner eye and lastly a black green for the oblique pupil.  I will add some clear setting gel, just on the inner eye for the lens effect.

New modelers should know that I have to go back to eyes a few times, tweaking the pupil and width of the gold outline.  Also looking at some movie stills, I realize that there is a dark outline of the arm, legs and body plates on the outside edge, so I mix a thin mix of black green and carefully flat brush just the edges of the scale plates...here and there.  It adds a slightly stripe pattern.

Also looking at the gray tones of the movie stills, the chin area is lighter, but maybe the same shade . . . so I drybrush the chin with a slightly lighter shade of the basecoat. The inner mouth is drybrushed with gray + a hint of purple.  The lips are drybrush a slightly darker color of the basecoat. Some of my tweaking drybrush has covered up previous colors, so the color scheme changes almost every session.  (P. S.:  You won't read that in most how-to articles).

The base is base coated with Rust-Oleum Specialty Camouflage Beige, ultra flat tan color. Next, I oil wash with my trusty burnt umber/black, then spot wash with red oxide oil wash in a few cracks and opened areas of the tree. Back to acrylics with green growth in the crevices, then a final wash of the oil burnt umber/black.

The Creature was mounted on the base with a large screw with top end cut off and using the new expanding super strong Gorilla glue. Once dried, the glue foamed to a nice ball which I covered with floral greenery.

Always looking to incorporate something from the first film, for the photos I wanted to simulate the Creature ripping out of the Rita's net.  I found the perfect cotton net material from a reusable shopping bag.   Eventually, I may suspend the net around the kit somehow, but for now, it makes a great photo background.

This is a wonderful Creature kit, a real highlight of my collection!! -Monsterjones

© CreatureScape 2006

Online ISSN:  1546-6140