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Hello all,
A couple years ago, on Halloween night, I posted four of my favorite classic monster customs made by the MAGE company. I called it my Tetralogy of Terror. This was followed the next year by Tetralogy of Terror, Part II
Tonight I'm back with four more ghoulish guys to celebrate Halloween with. The theme this year is "Lon Chaney: Father and Son." The reason is simple: Lon Chaney, Jr. is my favorite classic horror movie actor, but I've never paid him tribute in a post before. This is to rectify that.
Some are new customs, and some are ones which have been revamped by me, but which have never received a hi-rez unveiling. So without further ado, here is the Tetralogy of Terror, part III.
1) London After Midnight
This Tod Browning film is considered near-unanimously to be the most important lost silent film. It will never be located, but at least we have several good toys of the "Man in the Beaver Hat", including this vintage MAGE figure.
A sharp eye will note that the head is from the 12" Sideshow. My friend Austin shrunk it down and recast it for me. I am fond of this paint job.
His hat is from a Uncle Scrooge McDuck Pez
Jacket is sewn by me, as are the pants. I love the black muslin batwings. The suit coat is from the Mego Wizard of Oz
I love this box. All box design and assembly done by me.
Box back. Can't believe I made an error with the release year-- darn it.
Next up, we have 3 Lon Chaney Jr. creations:
2) The Ghost of Frankenstein
There are very few who might consider Ghost of Frankenstein the best in the Universal series. And I don't think ole' beefy Lon was anyone's idea of the best Frankie either.
But I can watch this movie over and over, and never grow tired of it. And this figure is perhaps my favorite Frankenstein figure I have ever made. I love this version of the sulfur-covered creature. This is one of the few times in my long career of customizing where a figure came out exactly as I envisioned it.
The outfit was sewn from a gray, canvas material. I distressed it with several washes of paint. Trying to build up the right textures. I may even have used white out. The boots are recast from a Moebius Bride kit, and the hands are from a Jakks Frankenstein figure
This head was sculpted in 12" scale from a base Lon Chaney one. Then my friend Austin shrunk it for me to 8" scale
Here are some shots of the box. It is in a monochromatic drab green color, in keeping with the Frankenstein theme
Collect ALL the Lon Chaney Monsters!
3) Man Made Monster
I struggled with how to do this figure for years. My buddy Shawn can attest how many times I started and stopped it-- but when it finally came together, it was one of the most gratifying! Doing the accordion sleeves was very difficult.
On Shawn's advice, I went with a red color scheme to the suit, one the reasonable assumption that a large rubber suit might be an orangish red.
The suit was sewn by hand out of table-cloth vinyl. I then coated it in several coats of acrylic paint and clear coat. The hands are from an Imperial Frankenstein
The Lon Chaney Jr likeness is shrunken down from a 12" version. I used that base head, and resculpted over it to make this character, and the Son of Dracula who appears below.
This box is one of my all-time favorites
4) Son of Dracula
Directed by Robert Siodmak, this entry gets little respect from a lot of classic horror fans. But in my opinion, it is one of the best in the Universal canon. It is as though they crossed the Universal Creature Feature with a Southern Gothic and a Film Noir (complete with femme fatale, scam, and a sap). The rising of Alucard from the swamp... the bleak ending... Chaney's physicality which presaged the Christopher Lee performances of Hammer years later... This movie is pure gold to me.
I modified the same Chaney head to make this Alucard.
The suit is obviously from a Flattworld Dracula, except for the cape which I sewed.
Well, I know I said it was going to be a "Tetralogy", but it has become a tradition for me to post a 'bonus" figure, so to speak.
It's not a Chaney, Jr. figure, but I made him along with the other. So here he is...
5) Werewolf of London
No self-respecting British werewolf would go out without his inverness, corduroy, and tweeds. However, this hairy howling gent commits a bit of faux pas (faux paw?) by wearing brown in town--an English sartorial no-no.
Austin shrunk down the 12" Sideshow head as it is much more accurate than its 8" counterpart. He had to work hard to get it in a scale that would fit inside Dr. Glendon's cap-- I believe much cursing was involved.
Brown tweed jacket was sewn by me. The head was painted by me. The pants are from FTC. The shoes are Flattworld Bela shoes, painted brown. One must wear brogues with tweeds and corduroy.
Keep away from him-- he'll rip your lungs out, Jim. I'd like to meet his tailor.
Rather proud of this paint job. Austin did an amazing job shrinking this head for me.
"I could swear Lee Ho Fooks was around here somewhere..."
That's all for this year! Thanks so much for reading, and Happy Halloween you guys.
Best,
Matt
A couple years ago, on Halloween night, I posted four of my favorite classic monster customs made by the MAGE company. I called it my Tetralogy of Terror. This was followed the next year by Tetralogy of Terror, Part II
Tonight I'm back with four more ghoulish guys to celebrate Halloween with. The theme this year is "Lon Chaney: Father and Son." The reason is simple: Lon Chaney, Jr. is my favorite classic horror movie actor, but I've never paid him tribute in a post before. This is to rectify that.
Some are new customs, and some are ones which have been revamped by me, but which have never received a hi-rez unveiling. So without further ado, here is the Tetralogy of Terror, part III.
1) London After Midnight
This Tod Browning film is considered near-unanimously to be the most important lost silent film. It will never be located, but at least we have several good toys of the "Man in the Beaver Hat", including this vintage MAGE figure.
A sharp eye will note that the head is from the 12" Sideshow. My friend Austin shrunk it down and recast it for me. I am fond of this paint job.
His hat is from a Uncle Scrooge McDuck Pez
Jacket is sewn by me, as are the pants. I love the black muslin batwings. The suit coat is from the Mego Wizard of Oz
I love this box. All box design and assembly done by me.
Box back. Can't believe I made an error with the release year-- darn it.
Next up, we have 3 Lon Chaney Jr. creations:
2) The Ghost of Frankenstein
There are very few who might consider Ghost of Frankenstein the best in the Universal series. And I don't think ole' beefy Lon was anyone's idea of the best Frankie either.
But I can watch this movie over and over, and never grow tired of it. And this figure is perhaps my favorite Frankenstein figure I have ever made. I love this version of the sulfur-covered creature. This is one of the few times in my long career of customizing where a figure came out exactly as I envisioned it.
The outfit was sewn from a gray, canvas material. I distressed it with several washes of paint. Trying to build up the right textures. I may even have used white out. The boots are recast from a Moebius Bride kit, and the hands are from a Jakks Frankenstein figure
This head was sculpted in 12" scale from a base Lon Chaney one. Then my friend Austin shrunk it for me to 8" scale
Here are some shots of the box. It is in a monochromatic drab green color, in keeping with the Frankenstein theme
Collect ALL the Lon Chaney Monsters!
3) Man Made Monster
I struggled with how to do this figure for years. My buddy Shawn can attest how many times I started and stopped it-- but when it finally came together, it was one of the most gratifying! Doing the accordion sleeves was very difficult.
On Shawn's advice, I went with a red color scheme to the suit, one the reasonable assumption that a large rubber suit might be an orangish red.
The suit was sewn by hand out of table-cloth vinyl. I then coated it in several coats of acrylic paint and clear coat. The hands are from an Imperial Frankenstein
The Lon Chaney Jr likeness is shrunken down from a 12" version. I used that base head, and resculpted over it to make this character, and the Son of Dracula who appears below.
This box is one of my all-time favorites
4) Son of Dracula
Directed by Robert Siodmak, this entry gets little respect from a lot of classic horror fans. But in my opinion, it is one of the best in the Universal canon. It is as though they crossed the Universal Creature Feature with a Southern Gothic and a Film Noir (complete with femme fatale, scam, and a sap). The rising of Alucard from the swamp... the bleak ending... Chaney's physicality which presaged the Christopher Lee performances of Hammer years later... This movie is pure gold to me.
I modified the same Chaney head to make this Alucard.
The suit is obviously from a Flattworld Dracula, except for the cape which I sewed.
Well, I know I said it was going to be a "Tetralogy", but it has become a tradition for me to post a 'bonus" figure, so to speak.
It's not a Chaney, Jr. figure, but I made him along with the other. So here he is...
5) Werewolf of London
No self-respecting British werewolf would go out without his inverness, corduroy, and tweeds. However, this hairy howling gent commits a bit of faux pas (faux paw?) by wearing brown in town--an English sartorial no-no.
Austin shrunk down the 12" Sideshow head as it is much more accurate than its 8" counterpart. He had to work hard to get it in a scale that would fit inside Dr. Glendon's cap-- I believe much cursing was involved.
Brown tweed jacket was sewn by me. The head was painted by me. The pants are from FTC. The shoes are Flattworld Bela shoes, painted brown. One must wear brogues with tweeds and corduroy.
Keep away from him-- he'll rip your lungs out, Jim. I'd like to meet his tailor.
Rather proud of this paint job. Austin did an amazing job shrinking this head for me.
"I could swear Lee Ho Fooks was around here somewhere..."
That's all for this year! Thanks so much for reading, and Happy Halloween you guys.
Best,
Matt
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