TEMPLAR KNIGHT
ZOMBIE
(from
Tombs of the Blind Dead - 1971)
Manufacturer: Alternative Images
Sculptor: John Cole
Material: Resin
Scale: 1/6
A friend of mine turned me on to the
Italian horror films of the Blind Dead series. There
are 5 in all and they range in quality from good to terrible. The
first one, my favorite, seems to have the biggest budget but even
then, it’s still not much. The coolest thing about the films, of
course, are the Templars.
I had been eyeballing this kit for
some time at the Alternative Images table at various shows but never
picked it up. I stumbled across a build up so I grabbed it with
plans of restoration. The build up was pretty bad so I really
enjoyed reworking it.
The detail in this sculpt is very
good and the pose is excellent. The sculptor caught the figure in
midstride with very natural look; not stiff or awkward like some
poses I’ve seen. The detailing on the bearded, rotten face is spot
on as well. The kit comes with a cemetery base that’s great for
customizing. The final piece stands 12” tall.
My only criticism of the kit is the
sword. It looks like it was a casting of a letter opener. It didn’t
fit the kit in scale or accuracy. So, during my prep, I broke out my
putty and Dremel and reshaped the hilt of the sword to be more in
line with the feel of the kit.
The kit is painted entirely in
acrylics. I airbrushed the figure and added hand brushed accents.
The Templar emblem on the robe of the knight was not sculpted into
the kit. It was such an important feature of the costume I didn’t
feel like I could leave it off so I hand painted it on. The base is
hand painted with multiple washes and some vegetation was added for
realism.
I don’t know what it is about this
kit but I really like it even though it’s pretty straight forward.
By the time I was finished giving it a new life, it ended up being
one of my favorite pieces. |