Friday, June 19, 2009

MORE ZOMBIES COMING!

Return of the Limited Dead

It's been a crazy week, but I wanted to thank everyone who followed along with our production blog, as well as all those who bought the zombies at the Monster Mania convention last weekend.  All twelve went.  Who knew?


In addition, I've received a buncha emails and been made aware of posts on certain message boards (Mego posse, represent!)* asking where they can pick these up.  So, it seems the answer "they're only available at MonsterMania" isn't being accepted, so we decided to whip up a few more.


Our original intention was to have 20 made for MM, but we only had time to complete 12, so there are various incomplete bits of another 8-10 around the shop.  We're going to design a new card for online-only, and we'll most likely have another 10 as of next week.  If you subscribe to the FearWerx newsletter or belong to either the FearWerx or MegoMuseum message boards, you'll be notified.


*humor the old white guy, don't laugh at him.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

ZOMBIE TYPE 1: PRODBLOG #12

All Lined Up And Ready To Go

Day 12: Wednesday, June 10, 2009
T-minus one day and counting. And not a moment too soon. Scott Lefebvre comes by tomorrow to pick them up and bring them to MonsterMania Connecticut this weekend.

And one final shot, before they leave the building. All carded, signed, numbered and clamshelled, ready to go. Only twelve of these suckers and that's it. A steal at $49.95 each, if you ask me -- much more time was put into each one, but I'd feel guilty setting a higher price at this point.  This is what they'll look like once on the table at the con:

I hope you all enjoyed watching us put this project together. It was a first for us in many respects, but if all goes well this weekend, we'll be doing this a lot more, especially for all you zombie-lovin' gorehounds like me.

Joe Sena
President/Creative Director
SphereWerx, LLC
EMCE Toys/FearWerx brands

Monday, June 8, 2009

ZOMBIE TYPE 1: PRODBLOG #11

End of the line

Day 11: Monday, June 8, 2009
T-minus three days and counting.  Well, sadly we didn't take pics of this crazy weekend, as we frantically painted heads, hands and guts, tore fabric and generally beat the hell outta these guys.

And due to the trauma, we've officially reclassified these as "Class 2" zombie which, in War of the Dead lore, is a zombie that reanimated due to a bite, but has been up and about for a while and therefore is more ripe than a zombie that just jumped off the gurney a few minutes ago.

Anyway, here's a decent shot of the completed figure.  I didn't like the lighting on this one as much as the one we're using on the packaging, but the leg wound is more prominent here:
And here's the front of the package, done in classic MEGO style with a few fill-in sketches I literally did a few hours ago.  
And my favorite part, the back of the card.  I love the angle and lighting of the shot we're using here, and all the War of the Dead background story we've crammed in.

And with that, tomorrow we print the cards, I'm gonna sign all 12, stick 'em all in clamshells and then Scott comes to pick them up and take them to Monstermania.

And now I'm going to bed.

Friday, June 5, 2009

ZOMBIE TYPE 1: PRODBLOG #10

The Zombie Is Shrinking...

...and so is time!

Day 10: Friday, June 5, 2009

T-minus six days and counting!  This last step was entirely in Paul's hands: getting the scrubs sewn and shrinking the head sculpt.  I'm really happy with the way the outfit turned out, especially with the Mego-scale "spell hands" Paul has had in stock for just such an occasion.
Without his head, I'm reminded of David Gale in Re-Animator.

Speaking of head, it's long history of bad luck continues.  The "hydroshrink" process involves casting an original in this specific substance, which yields a damp, spongelike cast.  Over time, the cast dehydrates, and it shrinks to a hard finish at 50% of the original.  During this time, the manufacturer can "snapshot" different sizes as it shrinks by getting a new mold of the smaller versions.

So, when the hydroshrink cast reduced to classic Mego proportion, Paul made a new mold, the this is the result:
What I'm happy about: I'm amazed at how much detail it captured.  I thought I'd completely lose the lines in the skin, but it looks like they stayed.  That will be great for the paint.

What I'm not happy about: To my eye, the proportion is a bit off.  Look at the chin in particular.  Looks like the chin receded a bit, which makes the head look wider and rounder.  It also seems to have shrunk the nose, which is fine, given that the one I resculpted (after the dropping-on-the-floor incident of May 25) made him look like Karl Malden.  Plus, to add the neck plug, Paul cut the cast a bit too close (in my opinion) to the neck wound, and we lose one of the smaller "attempted bite" details below it.

I mean, it could just be that I'm so used to looking at this thing in its original size for the last month or so that the new size is disorienting me.  You be the judge:

And at this point, I lose Paul, who is off to get his ass kissed at MegoMeet, the annual gathering of Mego loyalists in Wheeling, WV.  Although there will be some time left when he returns, my conservative project management philosophy makes me take stock and cut off pre-paint development here.  Given what Paul and I have been able to produce together, I can now safely say that, if I get all the painting and assembly done over the weekend, we will definitely have a dozen of these puppies on the table at MonsterMania.  Anything else we can make between Paul's return and the event itself will be gravy, but clearly this will be an ultra-limited release.

To ensure that, this will most likely be the final post until we report that they're all completed.

Cross your fingers.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

ZOMBIE TYPE 1: PRODBLOG #9

In (un)Living Color

Day 9: Sunday, May 31, 2009
T-minus eleven days left. I'm going to spend the day doing paint tests, even though we're not sure how the final head will size out after the shrinking process.

Meanwhile, the diabolical Dr. Mego has mocked up the outfit (sans gore) with the new scrubs he's sewn and the stock labcoat (which cutomizers can order for their own projects at MegoDoctor.com).:

That's pretty MEGO -- simple and small, with just enough lines for the collector to know what it's supposed to be without all the tedious (and expensive) detail of a larger format doll or figure.

So finally, I set about doing the paint test on the head. First, I create a thinned-out greenish tint to lay down as a base. This will creep into the cracks and lines of the skin via capillary action.

While wet, I quickly wipe it down with a cloth, keeping the recessed paint in the cracks and leaving just a thin, translucent layer of pea green over the Caucasian flesh tone as an underbase.

After the underbase dries, I then continue on with the other colors, a muddy brown for the hair, a light yellow/tan for the dead flesh overlay, a pale bone for the eye and teeth, and several variations of red for the wounded areas. All these colors are flat, and after they dry to a nice matte finish, I go back in and slop gloss dark red around the mouth and the neck wound to simulate wet, fresh blood.

While I'm doing this, I've delegated body assembly to my most reliable helper, my son Alex. At twelve, he's built a bunch of plastic models already, so adhering the chest and thigh wounds is an easy task.

And I should state that yes, that is his workstation in the pictures. When he's not doing homework at it, he's busy with his own enterprise, "Miss ng Eye Productions". MonsterMania attendees have seen his work, as he does custom drawings of popular cartoon characters as zombies. At the last one he attended, he made enough money from his art to buy himself an iPod. Although some parents may wrinkle their noses at the chosen subject matter, I'm more than supportive, as I hope he can sell another 30,000-40,000 drawings to pay for his own college education.

By the time Alex finishes with the bodies, I finish the paint test.

Well, although I can spot an imperfection or two, I'm really happy with the results, especially the texture of the skin. However, I'm concerned that when we shrink the head we may lose a lot of it. And we won't know whether that works for a couple of days or so.