Sunday, February 2, 2014

Announcing the 4th Fortnight Bonus Round: 'Hero or Heroic Group' & Curt's Dekard (or the sixth Nexus 6)




Just as the last round, this weeks entries, whose focus is on Heroes, are incredibly diverse and creative. From flights of fantasy to historical icons, from movie tough guys to venerated heroes of ancient sagas - the gallery runs the gambit. So please enjoy and remember to leave a comment with your selections of your favourites. Remember you can vote for as many as you like so don't feel constrained.

For my own part I knew that the Challenge would start taking its toll by this point so I had planned beforehand to have a fairly streamlined, single-figure entry. But streamlined does not mean flippant. Oh no, I really pondered on this one. 


"They don't advertise for killers in the newspaper. That was my profession. 
Ex-cop. Ex-Blade Runner. Ex-killer."


I clearly remember seeing Blade Runner in 1982 and being struck by its clear-eyed vision of our dystopian future. Since the film's original release, the protagonist, Rick Dekard, has become iconic due to the controversy behind his origins. The film's remake in 1992 'revealed him' as one of those he himself was hunting, a Replicant, a synthetic human, a type of robot whose genetic design made them virtually indistinguishable from humans ('More Human Than Human' as the Tyrell Corporation claimed). 




Personally I've always preferred the original cut with him clearly portrayed as a human. It seems less contrived and somehow more honest. In the original film, Dekard begins to question what it is to be human, what it means to take a life, to die and ultimately what it means to fall in love with that very thing which you've been taught to revile. I think this resonates closer to us today as we've become more polarized, suspicious yet increasingly intertwined with our social media and digital identities. We have become increasingly insular, yet strive to be connected. Wanting to be engaged yet demanding a level of detachment from others. How wonderfully troubling.


Anyway, enough of my 2nd year pop psychology blather. I think Rick Dekard is a film hero tailor-made for our modern sensibilities and so I bring him here in 28mm from Aberrant Rezolution. A very nice sculpt and quite a clean casting, it was a pleasure to work with. Nonetheless, I find it odd when sculptors, who dedicate themselves to painstakingly portraying a particular character, seemingly refuse to follow through with all the details. I really like the subtle posing of the figure, the facial features are amazing and Dekard's clothes are spot-on, but why in Ridley Scott's name isn't his pistol correct? Dekard's 'Steyer-Mannlicher Police Bulldog' is almost as iconic as the character himself, but it's not properly conveyed in the figure. Aggravating. This all being said, I had no inclination to fiddle with putty to try to mod it so I merely added the two LED lights often seen in the film and called it close enough. But this is a tiny quibble, all-in-all a great figure for the collection.



Remember to check the gallery of all the theme's entrants - there are some real corkers in there!


28 comments:

  1. Many awesome entries and yours is one the very best again!

    Well done mates!
    Excellent work, Curt!

    Cheers
    Stefan

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  2. I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. But the Challenge entries will get more awesome by the day. Cracking stuff Curt. What a great film. Shame the director's cut was so pointless...

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    1. Epic lines. Largely agree on the Director's Cut. It often goes to prove that while they have the final say the director doesn't always know what's best for a film. I remember seeing the Director's Cut and going away thinking WTF?

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  3. "Well... well, like to get this job. I mean, did... did you do, or... or were you asked to do anything lewd... or unsavory, or... or, otherwise repulsive to your... your person, huh?"

    Go on Curt - we want to know! ;)

    Lovely work on this figure - you've definitely captured his essence.

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    1. Yes. And I rather enjoyed it.

      That's all I have to say...

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    1. Accidentally voted in the wrong post *eek*

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    2. No worries, I was just about to log it and delete it for you. :)

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    3. Cheers for the thought - I've voted in the correct place and hopefully not missed any of the ones I originally voted for :)

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    4. You're good. Everything came through just fine.

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  5. You know the score, pal - if you're not "cop", you're "little people"...

    nice one.

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    1. Haha! Another excellent quote from a great character.

      'I need the old Blade Runner, I need your magic...'

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    2. Yeah, I've seen that movie so many times I could probably recite the whole damn thing - including Harrison Ford's narration from the original version....

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    3. Yeah, we are nerds, eh? I actually liked the original voice overs from Harrison Ford. They gave a kind of Sam Spade feel to the film.

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  6. What a crisp, clean paint job Curt. I like the way you chose to base him, it's elegant in its simplicity.

    I saw the first film, but not the second one. The Hubbies favourite quote is '"Wake up! Time to die"

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    1. Thanks Anne. I thought that since he's in such muted tones that I didn't want the base to upstage him.

      Great quote. I wish I could say that to some of my work colleagues. :)

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  7. On the subject of the pistol, I'm sure the change is to provide some very flimsy deniability when the Warner Bros. IP lawyers come a-knocking.

    Happens all the time. RAFM's "Burt Jackson, Trucker" is carrying some little HK thing instead of the Tec-9 Jack Burton Carries in Big Trouble in Little China - same thing with the Jack Burton-ish bonus figure North Star is currently offering as part of their Fistful of Kung Fu deal - he's carrying something that looks like... i don't know...? and Uzi?

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    1. Hm, that sucks. I thought it was most GW's legal flunkies that really cared about this sort of stuff. Really, like selling a couple hundred $4 figures will put them out of business. So lame.

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  8. "Do Painters Dream of Electronic Points!" Excellent work as always and an interesting Hero choice. I will admit I was expecting something historical probably 19th Century so am delighted that you have surprised me with a book reference instead.

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  9. A great entry and really nice model too. No idea how you find time to paint and run the challenge...hats off to you Sir!

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  10. Great job Curt and what a selection once my bt our challengers. Apparently Ridley Scott took inspiration for the setting after seeing the enormous chemical plant near me ... Seeing it a night you can see how it translated.

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  11. "Let me tell you about my Mother....."

    Love the entry mate. My daughter read Dick's classic novel at school last year and we have had many great discussions about it!

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  12. Excellent figure. The two things that bugged me about the directors cut, no narration (that's what made it truly noir for me) and that Unicorn dream sequence WTF?

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    1. I agree totally on both points. The narration was essential in my opinion. The Dekard-as-replicant thing just seemed so contrived to me.

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  13. One of the few instances in which I found the movie to be much better than the book.

    Great entry Curt! The grey is very well done.

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)