Some of my fondest modeling memories are from the 70’s
when I was growing up in the Detroit area. Starting when I was 13 (1974), visiting the local hobby
shops became a part of my weekly routine. Some where within bike riding
distance, others I had to con my father into driving me. On a semi-regular
basis I’d visit West Point Hobbies, Nankin Hardware & Hobby (before it was
remodeled and had some cranky old lady always watching us) and Walt’s (the
dinky place on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Telegraph). Perhaps three of four times a year my
father, brother and I would make the pilgrimage to the eastside and hit the
Squadron Shop. This was the dumpy storefront on 9 Mile Road where rumor was
that Jerry Campbell kept Don Greer shackled to a desk while he cranked out
color art work for Squadron Signal.
Anyhow, around this time Squadron decided to get into the 54mm figure
business and then proceeded to put out a varied (quality and subject matter)
stable of figures. I bought a few, but during this time I was an armor geek and
most of the stuff didn’t garner my attention. Okay, now it’s 2012, I’m much
older (but not much wiser) and while wasting time on EBay looking for figures
I’d never paint, I came across a 54mm Squadron/Rubin Man-Orc of the White Hand
for $6.
I had wanted this figure so bad when I was kid but never got
around to buying it. Without even thinking about it, I put it on my watch list
and patiently kept an eye on it (actually, I checked it several time a day to
make sure that no other lunatic besides myself would show any interest in it).
When the time came (like one minute left), I placed my bid and chewed my nails
while the seconds ticked away. No one else had the poor judgment I had shown
and I won the figure. A few days later Mr. Mailman delivers my figure and I’m a
happy boy. So after opening up the
bag and looking at what I had spent my six bucks on, I decided that I’d do an
S-B-S on trying to bring the Man-Orc up to snuff. This is what I started with:
The figure itself bears a strong resemblance to Fleagle from
the Banana Splits. The casting is heavy, with mold lines everywhere, serious
flash issues and pits galore. Like I expected anything else? So I jumped in and
started to clean the beast up.
The shield is cool with a big ol’ hand on it. Unfortunately,
it’s mildly out-of-round, has some serious pit issues and the rivets look like Stevie
Wonder placed them.
The sword leaves a lot to be desired. A bit of work is
required.
The axe looks pretty good. Not sure if I’ll get crazy and
replace the handle (probably will).
The helmet needs some work – seams and pits. The horns will
be replaced with something shorter and from plastic.
The massive base will be hacked away. Hacked away is the
only way to describe this dreaded operation.
Then there are the arms. You get two pair - one for the dude with the axe and a set for the dude with the bow. I went for the axe, I just can't picture an Orc with a bow and arrow.
So this is what I’ve gotten myself into…
