Scale: Unknown

 “Another world, another time, in the age of wonder. The land was green and good until the Crystal cracked and a single piece was lost. Strife began and two races appeared; the cruel Skeksis and the kind Mystics. The Skeksis; with their hard twisted bones, their harsh and twisted wills. For a thousand years they have ruled. Now there are only ten. A dying race, imprisoned within themselves, in a dying land….” (excerpt from The Dark Crystal)

This model is a representation of the evil creatures created by Brian Froud and brought to life by Muppet creator Jim Henson. I say representation because it is not an exact rendering of the Skeksis in the film. It is however an excellent version.  I do not know who sculpted the kit and probably never will since Black Star Models is defunct. But of their line of kits, I think this is one of their best. The design, detail and execution of the piece are great. The casting was excellent with little clean-up which made the build of this resin kit a pleasure. When completed it stands 10 1/2” tall. The kit includes just the figure.

I hand painted the entire figure in acrylics. The only airbrushing was done on the outer robe. The lower, white robe was painted in a pearl white to give it an iridescent quality which unfortunately doesn’t show up in the pics. Glittered paint was added to the collar and cuffs to maintain the Skeksis gaudy fashion sense as seen in the film. . I drilled out all of the sculpted jewelry in the outfit and replaced them with jewels from the craft store. As a final touch I added jeweled cords hanging from the robes.

I decided to create a base in which the Skeksis is worshipping what they most desire, the Crystal. I used a wood base from the craft store and textured it with Durham’s Water Putty. The stone pilaster is stacked Styrofoam glued together with a tube up the center. I picked up a selection of quartz at a local gem show and found a piece that suited my needs for the shard. I attached it to the stones and lit it from below using a small penlight type flashlight. I painted the section of quartz below the base transparent purple so when it’s lit, it gives the same color as the giant Crystal in the film. The base was painted in acrylic washes.