Koma Green Lantern

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This is a large 1/6 scale sculpt of the classic Hal Lantern Green Lantern, in a Neal Adams-inspired pose. The sculpt  (manufactured by Koma Designs and sold by Amok Time), was very clean, with minimal puttying required -- really, just to smooth out the attaching of the arms to the body. Light sanding required, and then it was on to the races.

This is the first kit where I tried to shade the musculature on the body. I did a black wash into the crevices in GL's uniform, and then drybrushed green on top of that. The effect turned out quite well. I also did a little drybrushing on Hal's hair, drybrushing a lighter brown over the base coat of darker brown. It's subtle, but it works.

The base/backdrop was also something new to me. I used a Wooden Floor Base from Night Life Productions, primed it in black and drybrushed dark brown on top of that for the weathered wood effect. Good so far, but I wanted something behind the model. The solution was to build my own brick wall!

This was easier than I thought it might be, thanks to lots of tips found on the The Clubhouse Web site. I started with a 10" x 12" x 1 1/2" sheet of StyroFoam and cut it down into the broken-wall shape. I used my Dremel tool to carve the brick lines (and a few strategically located cracks) into the StyroFoam. Then I mixed up a batch of Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty (a kind of mix-it-yourself plaster) and painted it over the entire surface, front, back, and sides. When it dries, Durham's really does become "rock hard," turning the porous StyroFoam into a surface that can be painted, drilled, and what not. Anyway, after the Durham's set up, I base painted the back wall black, then drybrushed various shades of gray over that -- and then a little more black over that. I attached the wall to the base with three 2 1/2" nails, functioning as giant "pins."

At the same time I was building the GL kit, I was also building Koma's Green Arrow kit. Since the figures are pretty much the same size (GL is just a pinch shorter than GA, but not enough that you can tell), I decided to make it so the two kits could be paired together, side by side. That meant using the same Wooden Floor Base, and crafting a similar (but mirror image) brick wall for GA. You can see the results in some of the pictures -- those two heroic pals from the late 1970s Neal Adams/Denny O'Neil GA/GL stories back together again, fighting side by side. 

 

MODEL FACTS
Name: Green Lantern
Manufacturer: Koma Designs
Scale: 1/6
Year Manufactured: 2003
Year Built: 2004

PAINTS
Costume
Apple Barrel: White, Black
 Delta Ceramcoat: Green Isle
Skin and Hair
Americana: Base Flesh, Shading Flesh (skin)
Anita's Acrylic: Coffee (hair highlights)
Apple Barrel: Misty White (teeth), Burnt Umber (hair)
Folk Art: Pink (mouth)
Base and Backdrop
Anita's Acrylic: Quarry Pebble
Apple Barrel: Burnt Umber, Black
Delta Ceramcoat: Storm Gray

BASE
Floor: Night Life Productions Wooden Floor Base
Brick Wall: StyroFoam

SUPPLIES
Primer: Model Master Gray (figure), Model Master Black (base)
Putty: Squadron Green
Glue: Zap-a-Gap
Brick Wall: Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty

 

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Last modified: June 21, 2008