MarkMcGovern

Guys, Two freakin' years ago I launched "The Great Flash Gordon Invitational Community Build". The idea was to get members of several different modeling forums to interpret the same model, the then-newly reissued ex-Revell 1965 "Flash Gordon and the Martian" kit from Atlantis. The response was terrific, and a lot of people posted photos of really great models. Except for me, I got caught up building other people's kits and couldn't finish my own. Idiot. Anyhow, I still want to see the project through. So those of you who did finish your models, as well as those of you who didn't or would like to participate, can visit the Facebook page I've just set up: https://www.facebook.com/pg/greatflashgordoncommunitybuild/posts/. I still want to gather up the photos of everybody's completed models to include in an article for publication in a hobby magazine. I can't make any guarantees, but I've had good luck seeing my stuff in print in the past.

I'm so ashamed. My Flash is just not going to be done by the end of the month. If I had a conscience, I'd do the honorable thing and fall on my Ex-Acto knife.

B!tchin' job all around, Kev! The suit looks Science-Fictionary yet functional, and I like your weathering. Not only does Mars look orange and brown, it looks very dusty in all the photos I've seen. Three tentacles up!

Kev, Really nice-looking space suit there! Flash's face is terrific, also. His hair looks a little dark to me, but that's your call. I vote you keep the Martian since it's clear you've done so much with him already. Two tentacles up!

Everybody, The deadline for the Great Flash Gordon Invitational Community Build has been extended to the end of October. Keep Calm and Model On!

More replies to the extension on the HobbyTalk thread.

Hello, all! I hope everybody has had an enjoyable Labor Day, and are enjoying their labors on their Flash Gordon kits! There are some updates I'd like to share with you as we enter the final month of The Great Flash Gordon Community Build. Since I started the thing, I'll go first: finally got to the point where I gave up trying to post photos of my progress here, so I've posted WIP photos on my web site. If I post them here, the photos are simply too large. And, in my WIP gallery there are captions that explain what's going on. Next Steve Marciante, "bilikenmonster" on The Clubhouse forums, has done what they said couldn't be done: he has had made one piece glass helmets to replace the kit item. Steve's helmet will fit over Flash's head, which the two-piece plastic helmet can't. That means you could twist off the helmet from a completed figure and slip the new one on painlessly. Supplies of the glass helmets are running low; to quote Steve "...I think I have 4 left but I can get more..." At $16 each, these are a great addition to the model. Contact Steve for yours at: billikenmonster@gmail.com. Here's a bit of a surprise, but it only occurred to me after we started building: everybody please send me one or two good raw (meaning unedited) photos of their finished models. I plan to work up an article about the Community Build and submit it with all the photos to the IPMS/USA Journal. No guarantees that the article will get into print, but they've published three of mine this year already. This may put a strain on those of you who haven't got their models done yet and aren't sure they can get Flash Gordon finished by the October 1 deadline (I'm in that club). With all due respect to those who have finished their models, I'm willing to take a vote from everyone who has at least begun a kit. How many want to see the deadline extended and to what date? Mr. Marchiante suggested the end of October; anyone else?

UPDATE: As we end the first month - and the first quarter - of The Great Flash Gordon Invitational Community Build, I'm happy to report that we have ten participants so far. On the HobbyTalk Modeling Forum, there is: ark undertaker, cajjunwolfman, deadmanincfan, mach7, Mark McGovern, rkoenn (who has already finished his model!), Roy Kirchoff, and scooke123. Several of these builders are also members of this forum, but billikenmonster is posting exclusively here. Finally, Roktman on this forum has stated his intention to join the community build. We also have a few guys who are following our progress even though they've said that they can't participate; we're happy to have them along for the ride. There's been a lot of activity on the HobbyTalk Modeling forum, and interest shown at The Clubhouse and FineScale Modeler Figures forums. The Universal Monster Army forum has been quiet, but I'll keep them in the loop, anyway.

Updates posted on The Clubhouse http://theclubhouse1.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=113730, HobbyTalk http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/13-modeling-forum/531169-great-flash-gordon-invitational-community-build-3.html, and FineScale Modeler Figures http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/5/t/171143.aspx forums!

UPDATE: mach7 has posted WIP photos of his build on the HobbyTalk Modeling Forum, along with some insights on the styrene in which the model was cast. Also, halloweenfan 1978 has been posting his progress over at The Clubhouse. I haven't started the figure, yet. I'm working on a scratchbuilt diorama item. As soon as I have the thing put together, I'll post photos; WIPs would be meaningless at this stage, trust me.

We'd love to see what you come up with, Kev!

Ladies and Gentlemen: I have posted the suggestion on the HobbyTalk Modeling Forum that we organize a group build. This hadn't been done since 2014. The suggestion garnered some support; then it occurred to me that it might be fun to invite modelers from other forums to participate as well. So consider this your invitation to join the group build! The model selected is the Atlantis reissue (or an original kit, if you're so inclined) of Revell's Flash Gordon model kit. The group build will commence on June 1st, with a deadline of October 1st. Do whatever you wish with the model. Post your WIP photos and comments to this thread and I'll publish links among all the other forums involved so every participant can view everyone else's progress. The idea here is to see how many variations can be accomplished with the same model kit, promote figure modeling in our hobby, and of course, to have fun. The Great Flash Gordon Invitational Community Build is on! Are you in? Here are the other forums I've invited (I'm waiting to get placed on the FineScale Modeler Group Build calendar): The Clubhouse, the HobbyTalk Modeling Forum, and the Universal Monster Army. Hopefully we'll get the FSM forum soon.

Ladies and Gentlemen: I have posted the suggestion on the HobbyTalk Modeling Forum that we organize a group build. This hadn't been done since 2014. The suggestion garnered some support; then it occurred to me that it might be fun to invite modelers from other forums to participate as well. So consider this your invitation to join the group build! The model selected is the Atlantis reissue (or an original kit, if you're so inclined) of Revell's Flash Gordon model kit. The group build will commence on June 1st, with a deadline of October 1st. Do whatever you wish with the model. Post your WIP photos and comments to the thread on the IPMS Group Builds forum and I'll publish links among all the other forums involved so every participant can view everyone else's progress. The idea here is to see how many variations can be accomplished with the same model kit, promote figure modeling in our hobby, and of course, to have fun. The Great Flash Gordon Invitational Community Build is on! Are you in? Here are the other forums I've invited (I'm waiting to get placed on the FineScale Modeler Group Build calendar): The Clubhouse, the HobbyTalk Modeling Forum, and the Universal Monster Army. UPDATE: I got tired of waiting to get on the FSM calendar and simply posted a thread on their Figures modeling forum:http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/5/t/171143.aspx.

RG, I've been on forums where the group build was of one specific model. To me, that's the most interesting - it's fascinating to see how many variations different modelers can bring to the same kit. Sure, some people will consider that too limiting, but it's been done on the HobbyTalk Modeling Forum. I don't see how it could hurt to propose such a group build of one particular kit here; the kit would need to be relatively inexpensive, likely to be in most modelers' stashes, or at least readily available.

Maybe there could be a "Group Builds" category in the Miscellaneous class of a future IPMS Nationals? It might be interesting to see what the competition was doing as the participants worked on their entries. Certainly the conversations would be really interesting at the Nationals!