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Conan by Moebius


Dick Montgomery

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This is a resin kit and is rather large. The parts look to be very well molded and I thought I'd give it a try.

 

In the pics below that metal ruler is a standard 12" in length...just for scale.

ConanMoebius1004.jpg

 

 

Open the box and one sees:

 

OpentheBox1.jpg

 

Open the How To guidebook:

 

OpentheBox2.jpg

 

Remove the guidebook and the upper layer of padding and there's the base along with some of the kit parts.

 

OpentheBox3.jpg

 

Remove that layer of padding and you find the torso parts for both figures.

 

OpentheBox4.jpg

 

A close up of Conan:

 

OpentheBox5.jpg

 

And a close up of the Damsel

 

OpentheBox6.jpg

 

I hope I do this kit justice. I've done some other Moebius stuff...some of the Sci Fi Spacecraft....and I'm always impressed with their kits.

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Looks like great moldings...and I love the Barry Smith artwork on the Conan #1. I have that one in my collection...actually bought it off the newstand in October of 1970...

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Scenic materials have yet to be added but the basic painting on the base is done. Once a wash of Black-Brown has been added to make the cracks and depressions pop out then we'll pull out some of the scenic material and get some rock, dirt, and a small amount of vegetation laid down.

 

base.jpg

The female figure has a locating pin on her hip which fits into the middle depression seen in the above image. The position in which she is reclining results in one hand being slightly raised above the base. That resulting air space will be filled with some scenic material.

 

basewDamsel.jpg

 

Conan stands asride of our fair damsel, protecting her from the forces of evil....whatever... anyway, the sword hand required some filling along the attachment point while the upraised hand, which will hold a lance, fit without any additional work required. His helmet has yet to be attached making the top of his head look flat.

 

basewbothfigs.jpg

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The next step will be to clean up the seam lines where Conan's right wrist joins his forearm. The sword and hand are poured as one piece so that isn't an issue. The Damsel's arms do not fit as well as the legs for either figure or for Conan's sword hand. I'm using Mr. Surfacer to fill those small gaps.

 

In the meantime the base has received its wash of black-brown. Using model railroader techniques I've also applied some "dirt" and greenish-yellow vegetation. That first coat of scenic material was added and glued down last night. This morning I dug through my stash of granite debris (the real stuff collected from a nearby source of brown-red granite) and began to apply this "gravel". The Damsel's left hand does not reach to the base so a small pile of the granite gravel was piled up to close that gap. The right hand is supposed to be "airborne". Granite gravel was also applied behind both feet to give it that "my feet are scrabbling for a foot-hold" appearance. Finally, some additional granite gravel was placed along the left leg and knee. The figure was then carefully lifted from the base and the water and thinned glue were applied to the base. It will take several hours for the glue mix to set up so I have no pics of the base with all of these refinements...but perhaps this evening I'll be able to shoot an additional pic or two. One of my chief concerns was that the glue mix I normally use for model railroading would not work on a resin base. That concern is now diminishing as the usual technique seems to be working on resin. I really didn't want to cut a new base from homosote and try to reproduce the excellent surfact texture that is present on the kit base.

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A busy day away from the workbench but some progress was made. The granite gravel was applied to the base and, for the most part, is finished.

BaseFinished.jpg

 

I believe that the granite gravel and other materials are clearly visible in the above image. Dry-fitting the Damsel on the base revealed those areas in which small mounds of scenic material would be needed as described in an earlier post. Looking at the feet one can see where the granite gravel was piled. More material is needed to close the gap under her left hand but that can be done in a matter of minutes.

 

BaseFinishedwDamsel.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Conan took a vacation during the first part of August but he's back at it and he is almost finished. Pics in a week or so. The Damsel has yet to have any work done other than the assembly of the body parts.

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Basic skin and "clothing" (what little of it there is) is done. It's now time to start working on the face shadowing and highlighting.

The helmet fits on Conan's flat head and will be added when the face has been finished. Shadowing and highlighting the hair will be a nightmare due to the surface area that must be covered. Remember this is a big figure. We're getting there.

 

ConansFacePre.jpg

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The helmet has been painted, as well as the eyes, and eyebrows. The hair has had shadowing and highlights added. (Why do I suddenly sound like Paul Mitchell?)

 

There are some areas of skin that need to be touched up and a ton of shadowing needs to be added to creases in the skin and along the beltline and wristbands. That is rather slow work so it'll be a while until the next update. Remember, this guy is 1/8 scale so there's a lot of surface area that needs painting.

 

ConanTheBarbarianMoebius10048thHeadshotCompleted.jpg

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Hi, Dick,

 

Poor Conan needs to see a dentist. I think hair is more difficult to paint than skin to make it look right with all the highlights and shading. Do the hair right and the result will be to make the skin tones look better. I paint figures with artist's oils primarily, and I'm just getting started on Vallejo bottle colors (but the dry so darn fast).

 

Ed

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My figure-expert buds suggest that one can slow down the drying time issue with Vallejo (and Andrea) by using a wet pallet.

 

Regarding Conan's dental health.... he may be one big, rough and tough guy, but he is a Barbarian, and he likes his Oreo cookies.

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.....and he likes his Oreo cookies.

.....Black Jelly-beans (licorice) have the same effect!

 

- Dick, I am really enjoying watching your progress here. Thanks for posting your updates. Can't wait to see the Babe work take shape, so to speak. Render away, Brother of the life-form sprue.

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Well, thanks! I am not a good modeler, and perhaps not even average, but this one is more fun and less difficult than I thought it would be. I'm being bad and mixing airbrushing and hand-painting as the mood strikes. The Fig purists might chastise me for that. I am doing lots of shadowing and highlighting by hand and that technique seems to be going better....practice makes better (but not perfect).

 

In fact, I've been working on Conan's weapons today. The spear and long dagger have been painted (by hand with Vallejo!) and his necklace is going together slowly. I think I might have him finished by Tuesday if all goes well with the necklace.

 

The Damsel is, for all intents and purposes, a model unto herself. She looks less complex than the Big Boy but we'll see. I'm starting to consider a skin tone for her....either much lighter than the Big Boy or much darker...just not the same.

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......necklace......necklace!!!!!!
Ewwwwwwwww..."necklace!" Dick, while your model skills are no where near in question (I think they're quite good) you have-got-to-stop calling Conan's chest plate or war treasure or what ever else....a necklace. Paaa-lezzz. Let's man up here. OK, enough ribbing. Like what we're seein here and looking forward to more, as you go.

 

....either much lighter than the Big Boy or much darker...just not the same.
- While I (perhaps we) would love to see that reddish copper color of Dejah Thoris (John Carter, Warlord of Mars) that would not be right for a "Conan" Damsel. I do like your idea of another tone and will anxiously anticipate her unveiling. Thanks. Edited by Weedeater
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"Necklace" has been attached and I need to fill in the holes (cast in the fig) into which the rope (not a girlie chain!) holding the necklace was threaded. That should be done by Monday night leaving Tuesday for pics of the Big Boy!

 

And if you think "necklace" is bad enough....you should see his diapers! Talk about rough and itchy! That explains his facial expression.

 

 

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.......diapers! .....That explains his facial expression.

ROTFLMAO :lol: Stop! Yer killin us. :smiley17:

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Conan is done. That leaves only the Damsel before I can call this little project complete.

 

ConanTheBarbarianMoebiuswComanFinsihed0001Front.jpg

 

ConanTheBarbarianMoebiuswComanFinsihed0002Back.jpg

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Damsel's skin tone has been settled upon and the base tone has been applied. It's Gunze "Mud". Everything in the pic not skin is Tamiya Gray primer.

Hopefully will be able to do some shadowing later this evening....

ConanDamselSkinBascoatFaceCloseup.jpg

 

 

ConanDamselSkinBasetoneFullBody.jpg

 

 

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And we're done. Here are some pics showing the Damsel followed by both figs on the base.

ConanTheBarbarianMoebiuswComanFinsihed0007.jpg

 

ConanTheBarbarianMoebiuswComanFinsihed0006.jpg

 

ConanTheBarbarianMoebiuswComanFinsihed0005.jpg

 

ConanTheBarbarianMoebiuswComanFinsihed0004.jpg

 

ConanTheBarbarianMoebiuswComanFinsihed0003.jpg

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