The Forgotten One with Kitman
Originally published March 2, 2006, at GJSentinel.com.
Most of the model kits I collect are easily recognizable characters. The Universal Monsters, comic-book heroes and villains, Indiana Jones … fantasy character stuff. Yep, I’m in my 40s and still prefer this kind of thing to watching millionaires with no sense of good sportsmanship play games on TV all Sunday. If that means my priorities are out of whack, so be it.
Every now and then, someone comes along with an original creation that catches my eye. “Aldrhiel The Forgotten One” from Paradoxx Resin is such a sculpt:
Aldrhiel is a 1/6 scale kit, cast in solid resin, sculpted by Alterton of Argentina, priced at $150 plus shipping and limited to a mere 25 castings.
The prototype in the pictures was painted by the remarkably talented and prolific John Allred.
“As much as I like all the superheroes and Universal Monsters,” John told me via e-mail, “I like original characters even more. So it was a lot of fun and a challenge to come up with a paint scheme for this piece. BTW, Norm surprised Alterton with this finished piece, not telling him who was painting it. Alterton e-mailed me and said he was very happy and amazed at how close the color scheme was to what he had always imagined. Needless to say, I was relieved!”
Norm “Kitman” Piatt of Paradoxx Resin – a fellow I’ve known about four years now primarily via The Clubhouse, a popular online modeling community – answered some questions about the “Forgotten Ones” series via e-mail.
Me: What can you tell me about this character?
Norm: The character is from an original story Alterton began writing a few years ago. He decided to sculpt a couple of figures from it. This is when we started working together on the project. There’s a description of Aldrhiel up on the Paradoxx Resin Web site.
Me: You mentioned that there is a “Forgotten Ones” comic book and plans for multimedia project based on Alterton’s characters, including theme music. Who writes the comic? Who’s composing the music? Where will people be able to see these things?
Norm: The whole multimedia idea came about when Alterton told me he was writing a story based on the Forgotten Ones. We thought it would be cool to see if we could turn this story into a comic book. I am handling the artwork and computer graphics; both of us are collaborating on the story. It’s really more of a graphic novel than a comic book. We are developing the book for PDF and it will be placed on our Web sites for viewers to read.
As for the theme music we wanted to set a mood for the reader while viewing the book and for a possible future CD. The theme is being composed by Ozzy Echevarria, drummer of the metal band New Eden. Ozzy is a big fan of garage kits and of Alterton’s work and we are very excited to be working with him on this project. I don’t believe anyone has tried something like this before in the garage-kit industry.
Me: Having been acquainted (through The Clubhouse and
Modeler’s Resource magazine) with you and your work for roughly four years now, I know you have an interesting mix of careers. Would you mind sharing with people what all you do with your time? If I were to take a stab at it, I’d say you’re a sculptor, kit producer, kit importer, writer, photographer and casino worker.
Norm: Todd, I’m really impressed by your memory! Yes I do all of those things. I also paint mostly acrylic landscapes and portraits. I tell you what, if I didn’t have a creative outlet I’d probably be in a padded room somewhere. It’s not easy juggling all these activities, sometimes it’s impossible (time wise). I have been blessed with some very talented friends who trust me to produce their sculptures. I’ve been a kit producer for little over a year now. Writing for Modeler’s Resource came about when Editor Fred DeRuvo saw one of my model kit conversions on the Internet. It was a great four years working for MR; the magazine is on a hiatus at this time.
I’m currently writing sculptor interviews for Kitbuilders Magazine. Dan and Barbara are cool people and put out a fine magazine.
Photography has always been a hobby of mine; of course I take many figure model photos. I love taking landscape photos and use them quite frequently in my paintings.
Sculpting is still new to me; I have only done eight or nine pieces. I have much to learn yet; sculpting is pure escapism for me.
Las Vegas Casino work … you get to meet people from all over the world. The town is pretty freakin crazy, Vegas is a great place to visit but you don’t want to live here.