Flash Gordon making friends (custom updated with Part III) - Sat 14 May 2022 - 16:55
Part I
For Part II, see here.
For Part III, see here.
I picked up a bunch of the pieces from the Big Chief Studios Flash Gordon set that was released recently. To be honest, I am not the biggest fan of the 1980 film, and the oft-cited attraction of the Queen soundtrack (isn't it just that one song?) does little to impress me (they have done so much better). I suppose I am not a fan of camp. But it is still a fun, vibrant film, stunning visuals (even if my feelings about Art Deco have always been a little ambivalent), cool villains, likable protagonists (even if Flash himself is understated and dubbed, he does have the winning attitude of a friendly Lab or Golden Retriever); and, thankfully, the production does not take itself too seriously. And Ted made such loving references to the film and its leading actor. But I digress.
Discovering that the Flash (Sam Jones) head is (for once) a perfect skin tone match for TBLeague's male suntan bodies, I decided to try to outfit one of those with the fairly basic Flash costume. Originally I had tried the head on M34 (here), and liked it, but these clothes had little chance of fitting on that, which was too bulky for Flash's onscreen look anyway. So I went to M33 (which is also a little too bulky in places), and it worked, more or less. The top works well, the belt even has some leeway, the boots work (and are quite difficult to remove, once in place), but the pants were very difficult to get on. They did not impede some wide stances, but they did make sitting or kneeling almost impossible (trying to come off in the process). Since they are black and their features are not too obvious, they could arguably be replaced by a different similar-looking garment. Here are several shots of the recreated figure looking more or less as intended by the Big Chief set (a benefit of the body swap is that the head does not sit ridiculously high on the neck).
I didn't pick up the Hawkmen firearms, because they didn't look exactly like the prop I was looking at, so I borrowed something very remotely similar from elsewhere. I improvised similarly with other accessories.
Some of the images I had found while doing research appear to have been promotional shots that did not have a direct counterpart in the film (which I rewatched), but apparently tried to tie-in Sam Jones' portrayal of Flash Gordon with the cartoon series. Here are some recreations and adaptations of these.
Back to the film for the execution scene... but here only the head is Big Chief's.
Some more fun with the sword.
Overall, the clothing worked well, perhaps surprisingly so. Only the pants (partly) failed me, but that was only to be expected. The clothing and the head sculpt are a decent portrayal of the character's appearance, without being perfect. Perhaps the hardest thing to get right is the hair, which would be a challenge even with "real hair," given that it was dyed for the movie, and the darker roots need to be showing. A partial bonus is the fact that the molded hair appears to be easily removable from the rest of the head sculpt, which might allow for a rehairing. Thicker and darker eyebrows might help the likeness. And I need to get a plain red wife beater.
As always, what do you think?
For Part II, see here.
For Part III, see here.
#bigchief #flashgordon #samjones #tbleague #m33 #scifi #fantasy #male #custom #kitbash #movie #film
For Part II, see here.
For Part III, see here.
I picked up a bunch of the pieces from the Big Chief Studios Flash Gordon set that was released recently. To be honest, I am not the biggest fan of the 1980 film, and the oft-cited attraction of the Queen soundtrack (isn't it just that one song?) does little to impress me (they have done so much better). I suppose I am not a fan of camp. But it is still a fun, vibrant film, stunning visuals (even if my feelings about Art Deco have always been a little ambivalent), cool villains, likable protagonists (even if Flash himself is understated and dubbed, he does have the winning attitude of a friendly Lab or Golden Retriever); and, thankfully, the production does not take itself too seriously. And Ted made such loving references to the film and its leading actor. But I digress.
Discovering that the Flash (Sam Jones) head is (for once) a perfect skin tone match for TBLeague's male suntan bodies, I decided to try to outfit one of those with the fairly basic Flash costume. Originally I had tried the head on M34 (here), and liked it, but these clothes had little chance of fitting on that, which was too bulky for Flash's onscreen look anyway. So I went to M33 (which is also a little too bulky in places), and it worked, more or less. The top works well, the belt even has some leeway, the boots work (and are quite difficult to remove, once in place), but the pants were very difficult to get on. They did not impede some wide stances, but they did make sitting or kneeling almost impossible (trying to come off in the process). Since they are black and their features are not too obvious, they could arguably be replaced by a different similar-looking garment. Here are several shots of the recreated figure looking more or less as intended by the Big Chief set (a benefit of the body swap is that the head does not sit ridiculously high on the neck).
I didn't pick up the Hawkmen firearms, because they didn't look exactly like the prop I was looking at, so I borrowed something very remotely similar from elsewhere. I improvised similarly with other accessories.
Some of the images I had found while doing research appear to have been promotional shots that did not have a direct counterpart in the film (which I rewatched), but apparently tried to tie-in Sam Jones' portrayal of Flash Gordon with the cartoon series. Here are some recreations and adaptations of these.
Back to the film for the execution scene... but here only the head is Big Chief's.
Some more fun with the sword.
Overall, the clothing worked well, perhaps surprisingly so. Only the pants (partly) failed me, but that was only to be expected. The clothing and the head sculpt are a decent portrayal of the character's appearance, without being perfect. Perhaps the hardest thing to get right is the hair, which would be a challenge even with "real hair," given that it was dyed for the movie, and the darker roots need to be showing. A partial bonus is the fact that the molded hair appears to be easily removable from the rest of the head sculpt, which might allow for a rehairing. Thicker and darker eyebrows might help the likeness. And I need to get a plain red wife beater.
As always, what do you think?
For Part II, see here.
For Part III, see here.
#bigchief #flashgordon #samjones #tbleague #m33 #scifi #fantasy #male #custom #kitbash #movie #film
