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One Eyed Terror: 
Building a Classic Harryhausen Cyclops

Of all the monsters ever created by Ray Harryhausen, the Cyclops is probably the most captivating (pun intended, Harryhausen fans).  It has been rendered in resin and vinyl by several companies over the years, but Dark Carnival's "One Eyed Terror" is one of the absolute best. 

 


Confused about a term used in this article?  Go to the model builder's dictionary.

The kit is simple, with just four parts and is very well designed so that the arms and head attach into natural folds of skin.  In other words, it is easy to hide the seams with a little putty.  Tony Cipriano's sculpt, which was done all the way back in 1993, is dead on and is one of the first great renditions of this subject.  No need to worry about that date, though.  The kit is still available from Dark Carnival.

   

The material is a nice porcelain resin and it is very heavy--a couple pounds at least.  It is exceedingly clean (like all Dark Carnival / Needful Things models are), so there is very little work to be done to prep the kit other than wash it and make a few scrapes with the hobby knife.  The stance of the Cyclops is not only dynamic (very, very cool!), it will also stand on its own . . . though I do advise everyone to secure their kits while painting and for display. 

The photo to the right you can see where a hole has been drilled into each foot.  I use a solid piece of oak paneling as a painting base and run a screw up through the bottom.  Next, I carefully (i.e. slowly) screw the kit to this base for painting or insert the kit if the fit is a little loose.  You never know when you will accidentally bump your table and this will help keep your work safe from falling to it's doom.

   

After the kit is washed in soapy water and dried, it is assembled with 3-minute epoxy and given a coat of sandable auto primer.  Actually, I am using cheap Color Place primer and it works fine if you spray it in short sweeping blasts evenly from about 8 inches away from the kit. 

The fit of the parts is very good and the head rests in a natural fold so no putty is needed there.  Honestly, the arms are not bad either, but I decided to mask the seam a little.

Using a little bit of Aves two part putty, I press a thin roll of the putty into the visible gaps with a long wooden skewer . . . a favorite tool of mine (right).  The back seam is a little larger, so more putty goes there.  In the picture below, you can see how I am applying a little bit of water with my finger to the seam to spread it out evenly.  Then, taking small pebble shaped pieces of putty, I apply it over seam to recreate the basic look of the skin and hide the seam by breaking up the seamline.

   

The next step is to apply a base coat and seal it in with Testor's Dulcote sealer.  I have used an Iwata HP-B basic airbrush to apply these coats which consist of just four colors.  The hooves are done in FW Ink Sepia; the legs are done with FW Ink Burnt Umber; the body is a couple coats of Badger's Rose Flesh and the horn, teeth and claws are painted with FW Ink Raw Sienna as a base coat.  At this point, everything is sealed with Testors Dulcote and allowed to dry.

   

After the sealant has dried, I start to experiment with shading using a brown commercial acrylic wash called "The Detailer."  You can read our review here, but basically, they are very useful, especially if you don't want to mix your own, and the colors remain consistent even when thinned. 
   

First I applied the wash at regular strength over the entire kit, wiping off the excess as I went until the recesses were significantly darkened (see below left).  Then, I thinned the Detailer Brown to about half strength and washed the kit again to tone down the overall finish.

At that point, using a reddish brown acrylic, I drybrushed the legs, bringing out the raised hairs (below right).

   

   
Next, it was time to start working on some of the details.  I painted in the eyeball Createx white and while that was drying, I set to work on the horn, teeth and nails.  After some experimentation, I found that by combining Americana Honey Wheat, Light Buttermilk and Detailer Gold wash and thinning with a few drops of water, I found I had a nice dingy yellow for the second coat.  It took a few applications, but by gently applying the yellow, dry brushing Americana Buttermilk and then washing with a thinned down Detailer brown, the teeth, nails and horn began to look convincing.

   

Okay, so what makes a Cyclops . . . a Cyclops?  One eye, of course.  So that means a lot of attention has to be focused here.

Admittedly, eyes are intimidating and I certainly love it when a glass eye will do, but this time that was not an option.  What I have learned about doing them is this:  1.  do it when you are fresh; 2.  be patient; 3. work in layers.

   
This eye was done by laying down a circle of black with a small brush slowly on top of the white base in a circular motion.  Then, I put down an interior circle of Mummified Brown (Freak Flex).  When that was dry I put in a slightly smaller circle of FW Inks Raw Sienna and then a central dot of black.  It took a few rounds of touch ups, but when I was happy with it, I watered down some Tamiya transparent red and put it in the corners and recesses of the eye.  Finally, three coats of Future floor wax gave the eye a sheen.

   
The last touches are simple, but important.  You may have noticed that the tongue is a slightly different color.  This is Freak Flex Rose Flesh and a light dry brush of Createx Flesh.   That also got a few coats of Future to give it a gloss.   I dry brushed Goosefeather Gray (kind of a tanish gray) on the hooves and did a light misting of Lifetone Bronze Flesh all over the upper body to even out the flesh with the Iwata HP-B airbrush at about 5 psi.

   

I really enjoy this kit from Dark Carnival/Needful Things and I think it may be the best pose ever on a Cyclops kit.  It deserves a more dramatic base, but for the time being, I am very happy to see this on my shelf.  Robb Rotundi of DC/NT has been a big supporter of this site and I must say, I am glad he has kept this kit alive because like a lava lamp and a VW bug, somethings scream retro-cool and this kit is one of 'em!
   

   

 

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