Brinke of Eternity by John Dennett

[Tiger2]

Hi Folks,

Digging through the stash, I was reminded of this stunning kit I was lucky enough to snag a few years ago,
so thought it would make a good project to get my model mojo fired up again.

An amazing find on UK eBay, why it was this side of the pond I really don't know. The kit comes in its original box
with all the paperwork and a photo of the young lady, so I'm confident it's an original!

I don't know a lot about Brinke Stevens, but understand she's quite an icon in the 'Scream Queen' movies and has
also had a successful career as a model and working in oceanography of all things!

At 1/8th scale, the kit isn't based on a film, but is a tribute to her as an actress. It portrays her as a vampire in a graveyard setting
and has that gothic, 'Hammeresque' style about it that I love. It's a superb piece of design and the details and castings
are phenomenal for a kit released in 1992 (good grief, that's 29 years ago!

The base is a piece of art in its own right, loaded with detail. Sculpted by John Dennett, the kit comes in 8 parts, with the arms
and skeleton hand in lead-free white metal. I believe some other releases had the arms in resin? The gravestones are engraved
with the names of Lovecraft and Poe, two of John's big creative influences I believe.

Clean up was easy, with a little sanding and putty work required on her exposed leg. I've also got some work still to do on the dreaded
cast line that runs through her hair, always a challenge aren't they? Some careful scraping with the scalpel and a little Mr Surfacer should
provide the silver bullet t sort that.

Since priming, I now see a few rough patches that still need attention, but generally all good and not far off the painting stage.
I've always wanted to try my hand at transparent fabric so this will be the perfect subject. I've decided to go for a black,
see-through dress, trying to echo the classic look of Ingrid Pitt in her Hammer vampire films! I'm thinking airbrush and pastels, we'll see...

Here are a few shots of the parts and primed test assembly, more to follow when time allows

Cheers,
Paul

[Rupert]

Good find on 'our' side of the pond.

If you've got the Revenge of the Garage Kit That Ate My Wallet book, there's an interview with Jonathan Dennett about how this kit came about and sculpting etc...

[AZ]

I am looking forward to seeing more photos as progress occurs.

[tay666]

Looks like a great kit.
Can't wait to see it all come together.

[Stewart Jackson]

Hey Paul:

Can't wait to see your take on this one! I too was lucky enough to catch this one about 6 years ago when someone was selling it on Ebay. It was one of those incredibly rare situations that I was the only bidder for it, couldn't believe my luck! John did a sculpting and engineering job on this that was nothing short of magnificent.

[gordman43]

That is truly a great score! I was very lucky to pick one up at this year's Wonderfest. I walked up to a dealer table and most of the kits were bubble wrapped with only certain parts shown for display. She was right out front. Great price too! It is a classic and John's work is fabulous

-G

[kevtk135]

[Tiger2]

Many thanks for the interest and comments so far. Apologies for the lack of progress here, my paying work has suddenly
got busy which is good news for my income, bad news for bench time!

Mustn't grumble, I've finally managed to get a little more done on Brinke here. Firstly, I decided to fill the iris's in
her eyes with putty. These are indented on the sculpt and I'm not a fan as human eyes don't have dents in them!

I then sprayed all the skin tones with Vallejo acrylic and blocked the hair in with a dark mix of Burnt Umber and Black.
I'm painting the entire figure as though nude, with the aim of airbrushing the clothing over the top to hopefully
get that 'see through' look.

I have now started to develop this further with oils. First coat and blending done, I'll add further highlights and
blends when dry. She looks a little disturbing at the moment without eye details or make up, but hopefully I can restore
her good looks soon!

While all this is drying, I'll get on with the headstones and base, so more pics coming soon.

Cheers for now,
Paul

[tay666]

Oooo!
That is looking great!

[Tim Fortuna]

Super cool, enjoying watching this come together.

[Tiger2]

A little more progress folks, the base is slowly getting there!
Brinke is very much WIP, when the oils are dry I will dull coat her and
then use pastels to refine shading and make up. Soil round her feet still needs
matching to the base. She looks a bit eerie without pupils in her eyes,
they will be added soon!

A word of advice to anyone else with this kit in the stash, the castings are generally excellent,
especially for a vintage of 1992, but I've found some of the skin areas to be a little rough in places,
so careful wet sanding and priming is key. I keep finding little spots I've missed, oh well...

Airbrushing the nightdress to look transparent is the next challenge, I've got some
Tamiya smoke which should do the trick, maybe add a touch of blue...

Cheers for now,
Paul

[tay666]

Oh. This is progressing very nicely.

[Tiger2]

Thanks Trevor, I'm looking forward to getting her gown on, she's looking a bit odd in just flesh tones at the moment. Inspiration is 'Vampire Lovers' and Ingrid Pitt in her see-through black night dress!

Cheers for now,
Paul

[Ant]

Looking great so far Paul - even if she does look a bit "Deadite" at the moment Lovely work on the base too!

[beaveren]

Looking good so far.

B

[Stewart Jackson]

Oh yeah! Looking great! I love the weathering on the stones, very effective. I'm in progress on Resin Crypt's Vampire Lovers kit, so I've been having fun with working a sheer gown effect as well. And tombstones too! I find them very fun and a cool challenge.

[Tiger2]

Oh yeah! Looking great! I love the weathering on the stones, very effective. I'm in progress on Resin Crypt's Vampire Lovers kit, so I've been having fun with working a sheer gown effect as well. And tombstones too! I find them very fun and a cool challenge.

Thanks Stuart, really looking forward to seeing your build of Resin Crypt's Ingrid Pitt! How are you going about the gown, a similar process?

Cheers for now,
Paul

[Tiger2]

Looking great so far Paul - even if she does look a bit "Deadite" at the moment Lovely work on the base too!

Cheers Ant, thanks for the feedback, I'll get her eyes sorted as soon as I can pick her up, the oils need a few more days to be fully dry!


All the best,
Paul

[Tiger2]

A little more bench time, a little further forward.
Got her eyes finished, certainly more feminine than the earlier 'deadite' look!
Then it was masking and airbrushing the gown, quite a fiddly operation and
not as successful as I hoped, so it's Pastels to the rescue.

Slowly getting there, still lots of highlights, shadows and mistakes to touch in.
Arms and hands next...

[Scooke123]

It's really coming along well - great job on the paintwork so far.