WRIGHTSON ZOMBIE

Manufacturer: SideShow Models

Sculptor:  Dan Platt

Material:  Resin

Scale: 1/6

I have been a fan of Bernie Wrightson’s artwork since his humble beginnings in the comic industry of the early 70s. His macabre style caught my eye as a young monsterfile and I was an instant fan. Through the years Bernie has risen to become one of the most respected artists in his field. So it is only natural that his work would finally be realized in 3D.

Sideshow Collectibles originally produced model kits and eventually left that behind to purse the doll/figure and pre-paint markets. But in their wake, they left us with some very nice models to build. This is one of them.

Dan Platt did an incredible job of bringing Bernie’s creature to life. The detail in the figure is superb. The pose captures that exact moment of release from the grave; giving the creature a look of excruciating pain and freedom, frozen in time. The lantern and flowers lying before him have always made me feel like he emerged just as a loved one was coming to mourn. Just then, he pushes his way free from the earth’s cold grasp ….and scares the crap outta somebody!

The casting on this kit was superior. The light gray resin was free of imperfections with no offset seams. Clean up literally took a few minutes. The tooling was excellent giving all parts a perfect fit. Prep and assembly was a breeze. That, along with the detailed sculpt makes this a real “painters” kit.

Being set in a wintery cemetery gives you a fairly set guideline for painting the overall base but the figure is a different matter. Painting him is pretty much open to interpretation of the artist. I mean, what color was the last zombie you saw crawling out of the ground? Was he green and oozy, dry and brown or a combination of both? That’s the great thing about this hobby; there is no right or wrong. He can be any color you want.

I hand painted this entire kit in acrylics without once using my trusty airbrush. I have often considered going back and redoing the snowy base with Woodland Scenics snow to give it a more realistic look. But I’ve resisted. I have way too many other kits waiting for my attention.