House of Gopnik (updated with Part III)

Part I: Gopnica (pronounced: gopnitsa)

For Part II, see here.

For Part III, see here.

Blame Valiarde... he wanted to know!

Boris Semënovič woke in a panic. While his eyes adjusted to the grey light of the new day, and his skin became suddenly aware of the crisp air outside the covers, it took him a short while to realize the reason for his alarm. And then it struck him... his precious Adidas track suit had disappeared! His mind subconsciously racing with Hardbass, Boris leaped (actually stumbled) out of bed and into the dim hallway, subconsciously reaching for the closest bottle of beer on his way. Even still not completely awake (or was it still hung over?), he immediately realized who was the culprit.



Why, it was Nataša, who had decided it would be cute to put on his clothes as she stepped out for a moment, only to return with a muted mysterious smile on her face.



Despite her presumption in wearing his clothes -- even if seeing her covered from head to toes with oversized Adidas made her irresistible in his dilating eyes -- her gesture was instantly revealed to be one of infinite sweetness... she had gone out to pick up a fresh bottle of Stoličnaja.



Best girlfriend ever! Even if she made the Vodka play hard to get. Perhaps she was just trying to get Boris' attention, but a man has got to have priorities.



Not to worry, after some more quality time in the hallway and the kitchen, the young lovers took a break from liquid nutrition to cook up something else in the bedroom.

For Part II, see here.

For Part III, see here.

Well this started with a real banger:
His precious Adidas track suit had disappeared!  

Life suddenly became meaningless. I can feel the shock. It is kinda like you awake at night and don't remember where you put that cool 1/6 cape you bought a year ago...


Vodka play hard to get  This girlfriend is something else eh. He needs to fight for everything. But i guess in the bed room they are all equal - without any precious track suits or anything else on


Pics are great in combination with your fun little story! I think she looks quiet cute in that suit and you captured a typical couple quiet well with a bit of exaggerated humour.

Valiarde wrote:Well this started with a real banger:
His precious Adidas track suit had disappeared!  

Life suddenly became meaningless. I can feel the shock. It is kinda like you awake at night and don't remember where you put that cool 1/6 cape you bought a year ago...


Vodka play hard to get  This girlfriend is something else eh. He needs to fight for everything. But i guess in the bed room they are all equal - without any precious track suits or anything else on  


Pics are great in combination with your fun little story! I think she looks quiet cute in that suit and you captured a typical couple quiet well with a bit of exaggerated humour.

Uh-oh... now I have to see if there is any reasonably decent footage of what transpired in the bedroom. Truth be told, I have no idea what a typical gopnik couple is like, besides the memes, photos, and Boris videos on YouTube -- just interpolating from that, though I suspect, making it seem more civilized than it is. But waking up startled about forgetting where you put something 1/6 scale? Oh yes, I've been there.

Part II: the Awakening

Following their liquid breakfast, Boris and Nataša did not emerge from the bedroom for a few hours. Nor did they make much of a sound, apart from quite a ruckus, a suspicious clang of metal, and some hysterical laughing in the first few minutes. Disturbed by the noise followed by silence, devoted family pet Vovek Milojkovič first decided that discretion is the better part of valor and gave the bedroom a wide berth. But eventually, goaded by the equally distressing pangs of hunger and curiosity, he just had to go in and investigate. By the time he dared enter, the room was flooded by the warm but tentative light of the afternoon sun. Cautious and brave in equal measure, the cat quickly got his bearings, navigated among the maze of obstacles on the floor and, having identified a disturbing new posture assumed by the bed, he scaled it intrepidly to demand an explanation from the recumbent humans on top. His step was light enough to almost pass unnoticed, but having been patient for hours, he announced his demands for attention and food in no uncertain terms, his meowing ringing through the room.



Maternal instincts awakened, Nataša Fëdorovna woke quickly, instantly spotting the insistent bundle of fur staring at her face and helplessly smiling in response to its apparent greeting. Boris Semënovič, on the other hand, took his time, his consciousness savoring both his sleep and the lingering taste of beer, while his lips quietly growled a pedestrian and rather innocuous curse seasoned, invariably, with bljat. Vovek seemingly took the hint and retreated down the mattress, but only for a moment, before returning with renewed insistence and heart-breaking intonation.



There was no helping it. Vovek insisted on being fed, Nataša insisted on feeding the cat, while Boris vainly struggled to keep her in bed. She was finally allowed to go, after pointing out that she should get more Vodka. How could anyone keep her from so noble a quest!? She quickly put on some clothes -- it took a moment to find her own, and she still had to borrow one of Boris' sailor tank tops -- and fetched a saucer of milk for Vovek Milojkovič. Unwilling to leave the bed, Boris was equally determined to demonstrate that he was perfectly capable of feeding the cat, without even leaving his warm mattress. Vovek guided his thoughts, by investigating the beer bottle in his human's hand with great determination. Naturally, caught in a generous mood despite the rude awakening in the middle of the afternoon, Boris perceived the cat's hint and proceeded to offer him the same liquid breakfast he himself had enjoyed earlier. After all, what's good enough for a gopnik ought to be good enough for a cat! Apparently not, as a returned Nataša gently scolded him with the patience of a kindergarten teacher.



Still too sleepy and hung over for a fight, Boris acquiesced, retrieved his beer, and offered the cat the milk instead. Unlike a kindergarten student, he had learned his lesson instantly and secured a snuggle and smooch from his gopnica. For a moment, he thought he could talk her back into the warmth and comfort of the bed.



But it was not to be. Eager to get out for a breath of fresh air after wasting the day in bed, Nataša insisted they take a walk in the sun. Boris took some convincing, as he was secretly fretting that he had missed the most appropriate time for squatting around with his mates and regaling them with the exploits of last night, or rather last morning, exploits he did not remember, but could plausibly infer from the broken state of his bed. In the end, he got dressed, and accompanied his girlfriend into the street and around the corner. Just in time to catch the last faint rays of the winter sun. A day well spent, for a gopnik, after all.



For Part III, see here.

Amusingly and impressively disheveled room!

(And then I got distracted reading about post-Stalinist 'brutalist' architecture and "commieblocks".)

I will be darned.... it's so wizard! LOL, in a sense, they achieved something I couldn't do.

They managed to un"screw" the metal bed posts from the horizontal supports via synchro. motion without tools.

Still, loving the props within the bedroom, and its set-up.

davidd wrote:Amusingly and impressively disheveled room!

(And then I got distracted reading about post-Stalinist 'brutalist' architecture and "commieblocks".)

Thank you very much, it is precisely what I was going for. I also looked through a bit of that when researching this, but unfortunately they were usually a bit short on the type of photos that could have served as suitable backdrops for my purposes.

valentin wrote:I will be darned.... it's so wizard! LOL, in a sense, they achieved something I couldn't do.

They managed to un"screw" the metal bed posts from the horizontal supports via synchro. motion without tools.

Still, loving the props within the bedroom, and its set-up.

Thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well, gopniks work hard and play hard. Or so I'm told (actually, I'm told they hardly work at all). This actually happened to a friend of mine and his now wife... though neither was a gopnik.

Funny story. It appears these two have a serious drinking problem. They might want to go to rehab and start AA meetings.

Stryker2011 wrote:Funny story. It appears these two have a serious drinking problem. They might want to go to rehab and start AA meetings.

Thank you very much, Mark, glad you found it funny. But now you have a serious problem. Boris and Natasha are very curious to know where they can find this AA (I must warn you, they think it stands for American Alcohol).

Alcoholics Anonymous is a support group for people with drug and/or alcohol addiction. Surprised you haven’t heard of it living in California — especially around the LA/Hollywood area.

That shot/scene works really well. Congrats!

Agree that shot is excellent!

I always spend money on figures or costume parts, but i could do so much more with room parts and little details.
Super cool story glad you are on a flow of ideas here

@Stryker: i bet GF knows what AA is, he was just joking what the Gopniks think it stands for

ukshaun wrote:That shot/scene works really well. Congrats!

Thank you very much, Shaun, very happy you liked it. It is just from my head, but knowing your attention to detail when recreating frames from films, it comes as a great compliment.

Stryker2011 wrote:Alcoholics Anonymous is a support group for people with drug and/or alcohol addiction. Surprised you haven’t heard of it living in California — especially around the LA/Hollywood area.

Valiarde wrote:Agree that shot is excellent!

I always spend money on figures or costume parts, but i could do so much more with room parts and little details. Super cool story glad you are on a flow of ideas here

@Stryker: i bet GF knows what AA is, he was just joking what the Gopniks think it stands for

LOL. Yes, I know what AA is, but in my long experience of Gopniks (thanks, Ovy!), I have learned that one never argues with a Gopnik or tries to correct him. Despite their very limited experience and learning, they are natural-born philosophers and know-it-alls who exceed all others in knowledge and wisdom. As a lingering byproduct of Communist indoctrination, some people are naturally expected to know better than anyone else. So no point arguing with Gopniks, who believe they are "it".

Thank you Valiarde, I'm very glad you liked it. You are very much an "enabler" of this accidental project, in fact I almost wrote "Blame Valiarde again," but I decided that even as a joke you should not be blamed. Yes, I have picked up a bunch of little bits and pieces over the years, but not all are within easy reach, others I was too lazy to deploy, but I did try to stay true to the theme. To be honest, I had/have half a mind to design a couple of more things for our gopniks. And I almost gave Boris a hammer and sickle chest tattoo (evoking both nostalgia and poor taste), but then decided I need a few more M33 bodies to spare before I could commit to such an atrocity.

Great pictures and storyline! You put the Margot Robbie-head to good use.

May I ask where you found the striped undershirt (Russian Marine style)? I have searced for ages, but only got a striped t-shirt.

Randam Hajile wrote:Great pictures and storyline! You put the Margot Robbie-head to good use.

May I ask where you found the striped undershirt (Russian Marine style)? I have searced for ages, but only got a striped t-shirt.

Thank you very much, I'm delighted you enjoyed it. And that you approve of the casting of Margot in this role.

I sent you a PM with some leads.

If that had been my 22 lb Tonkanese cat, those two lovebirds would have had a rude awakening at the crack of dawn. You get a couple of warning meows, and if you don’t respond, he starts scratching on the door frames which is like nails on a chalkboard.

This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed this, but you’re really good at capturing life as a couple. That’s not as easy as it looks. You’ve got to set the scene correctly, get the clothing right, get the dialogue right, and get the poses right. You’re also very good at pairing sculpts. It really comes together beautifully.

Xavion2004 wrote:If that had been my 22 lb Tonkanese cat, those two lovebirds would have had a rude awakening at the crack of dawn.  You get a couple of warning meows, and if you don’t respond, he starts scratching on the door frames which is like nails on a chalkboard.  

This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed this, but you’re really good at capturing life as a couple.  That’s not as easy as it looks.  You’ve got to set the scene correctly, get the clothing right, get the dialogue right, and get the poses right.  You’re also very good at pairing sculpts.  It really comes together beautifully.

I love big cats! I hope yours is a delight despite its demanding attitude. I suppose the Gopnik cat has had to adjust to its owners' schedule.

Thank you for the kind words. I suppose I'm compensating for something, but I'm glad my couples are compelling enough. It comes as quite a compliment, especially because some of what I end up doing (and developing further -- more coming up) is actually so much outside either my experience or specific interest -- Gopniks are a case in point. I haven't even worn a track suit or anything Adidas since my early teens; nor is my limited Russian quite up to comprehending all the unsophisticated jargon involved. If it wasn't for Ovy making a funny comment, I wouldn't even know the word, but here we are, some basic research later.

Nice pics and story. I had to google 'gopnik' before I understood the context. I think the outfit of your figure meets the stereotype. Besides the black Adidas suit, a cap seems to belong to their uniform. Their typical posture is squatting on the street (why?) with a bottle in their hand.

GubernatorFan wrote:If that had been my 22 lb Tonkanese cat, those two lovebirds would have had a rude awakening at the crack of dawn.  You get a couple of warning meows, and if you don’t respond, he starts scratching on the door frames which is like nails on a chalkboard.

I love big cats! I hope yours is a delight despite its demanding attitude.

He is absolutely a delight.  He’s well worth the scratched door frames and early wake up calls.

ElBundy wrote:Nice pics and story. I had to google 'gopnik' before I understood the context. I think the outfit of your figure meets the stereotype. Besides the black Adidas suit, a cap seems to belong to their uniform. Their typical posture is squatting on the street (why?) with a bottle in their hand.

Thank you very much. I was also a stranger to it until introduced to it by Ovy, who deserves a lot of the credit (or blame) for sending me on this odd tangent. Like you, I started by looking it up and doing just a little research (admittedly, mostly memes and youtube videos). I was of course vaguely aware of some of this, but didn't know it had a name, or that it was quite a subculture, celebrated or reviled. Still working on a few extra accessories, including the headgear, actually (I bought two which are yet to arrive, and since patience is not one of my many virtues, I also made one myself). On squatting, it is a leftover of prison, juvie, and other practice, in which sitting was not allowed or impractical because of cold/frozen ground -- or something like that. Here's a summary I came across recently:
https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/329313-6-superpowers-of-russian-gopnik

Xavion2004 wrote:He is absolutely a delight.  He’s well worth the scratched door frames and early wake up calls.  

That does sound delightful. So often it's difficult to get mad at a lovable furball.

Great photos and story!

BAD WOLF-787 wrote:Great photos and story!

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it!

Truly a nightmare to wake without your trusty suit, but it's nice to see it was quickly resolved. Great shots and scenes, I liked the one with the cat.

Great stuff Ian! that was great!

Theboo-bomb wrote:Truly a nightmare to wake without your trusty suit, but it's nice to see it was quickly resolved. Great shots and scenes, I liked the one with the cat.

Hehe, I'm glad this made you relate, so to speak! But yes, quick and happy resolution. It's only recently I've added a couple of cats to my animal menagerie, and I was glad to find a way of deploying them -- well, this one.

BAMComix wrote:Great stuff Ian! that was great!

Thank you very much, Dal, I'm glad you enjoyed it. More coming up soon.