BTTG
Bad Moon Rising

Mark Krabbenhoft at BTTG Model Kit Company set a personal best with the release of Bad Mon Rising. Mark sculpted the piece himself and prepped it for production. He also does his own casting. Ordered with ease from the website, the kit arrived on a timely basis well packed in a sturdy cardboard box. The twelve pieces are composed of the massive head, chest and abdomen, two forearms, two legs, a tail, a tongue and both upper and lover teeth and gums. In addition, the dew claws have been cast separately to insure that they will be free of bubbles. My kit included an extra set. The list is topped off with the appropriately large rocky base.  

The master was sculpted from the inside out and prepped for casting with the modeler in mind. The anatomy under all that fur an excellent rendering of a human animal form. The musculature is very detailed and painstakingly rendered. The fur is laid evenly over most of the body, appropriately longer around the neck and at the posterior edges of the limbs.  The rendering of the fur lacks any discernable pattern, as it would on a live animal. The joints are well placed and very well keyed and cleated to facilitate proper alignment and minimize repair of the seam. There will be some filling and reconstruction involved so Mark Includes with the kit is a tool similar to the tools he made himself and used to create the fur texture. Even though the joints have well fitting cleats on their surfaces, pining is recommended. It is a respectable piece of resin, after all.  Mouth parts and claws fill nicely into their places requiring no filling.

The attention to detail is remarkable. One of the most spectacular features of the kit is the excellent rendering of the tongue and the upper and lower pallets. In his veterinary work, Mark specializes in dentistry. This afforded him a considerable reference base for the rendering of the mouth pieces of this striking werewolf kit. The pose and rendering of the hands and forearms strengthen the frightful presence of piece.

This is an excellent kit for airbrusher and brush painter alike. The fur texture is an excellent surface for the application of washes and dry brushing. Any patterns in human/animal’s coat can be applied with either method. The details in the mouth would call for a similar  variety of techniques and color coats. There’s lots of fun to be had with this adventure!

Mark is an award winning garage kit modeler himself. He also has extensive experience as a veterinary technician. He is also quite the accomplished mold maker and caster. All this came together in the production of Bad Moon Rising. Not only is it a well produced US made piece but the subject is eye catching and the detail remarkable. Construction will be relatively easy and painting looks to be most enjoyable with lots of options!