Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters – Behind the Scenes Part 1 « The Electric Playground

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters – Behind the Scenes Part 2 « The Electric Playground

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters – Behind the Scenes Part 2 « The Electric Playground

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Official Movie Trailer

Pebble Smartwatch Begins Shipping Today

Pebble Smartwatch Begins Shipping Today

Best Gadgets Of 2013

Best Gadgets Of 2013

Marvel's Iron Man 3 Domestic Trailer (OFFICIAL)

Violet Vixen Build

Kit Instructions

1. De-finning. Since you are reading this, we'll assume you got the box open. First lay out all your white resin pieces. Let's see. There's, uh...one. One big piece of resin, in a shape of a girl with a body that should be declared illegal. Find it? Good.

Now if you can quit oogling her body, it is likely you will notice casting fins and thin mold webbing holding things together. These need to be trimmed off carefully with an X-acto knife. The sketch to the left will help you identify all of them.

2. Small Parts Check. You should have a small plastic bag filled with these parts in your kit. Black netting for covering her head (she's very shy you know.) Five small metal rings, one is an oversized easy-access "pull tab" for zipper. Two dangle from her ankle straps (we can only dream what these are for) and two more for either side of her choker belt. Also a small length of black rubber hose (operates as power feed from the back pack to her baton.)

3. Cleaning. Now that you've cleared your little vixen of those pesky webs and located her little bag of accessories you can begin assembly. Okay, so there's no assembly. Find something else to do. Maybe look for tiny air bubbles that need filling. Or lightly sand her with some extra-fine 400 grit sandpaper. If you don't see anything else, either rub her down with alcohol, or give her a warm soapy bubble bath. This will remove any mold release that will prevent paint from sticking. As you're cleaning, be sure to reach into all her little crevices. (She likes Q-tips, they tickle.)

4. Replacing heels. This lady can stand on her own two feet just as she is, but sometimes, when she meets up with a ham-handed brute, one of her heels may break off. That makes her really mad. If you are a ham-handed brute and don't wish to see her really mad, you can fix her up good by replacing her resin heels with steel nails. It's easy.

Snap off about half of the existing heel. Using a 3/32" bit, carefully drill 3/8 inch deep into the bottom of each heel, making certain to get the same angle as the broken-off heel. Now, clip off the pointy ends of two 4D finishing nails so they are only 1 inch long. Note that you still have the nail heads; don't cut them off. Push the nails into the drilled holes unglued and stand her up on a smooth (formica) level surface. Letting the nails slide freely, adjust her to the point where she will be balanced, and use a rapidograph or other sharp marking device to mark the point where the nail disappears into the resin. Now, you can take out the nails, apply super glue and push them back in, only as far as your marked points. Notice that the tiny nail heads replicate perfect heel soles. Now just putty and retaper bulk of heel to flow naturally. Ta Da! Invincible stiletto heels! And, ooh boy, is she gonna' thank you later.

5. Painting. First, prime all with White primer. If you want the look of the reference pic, (super-shiney pants) these will need to be painted first. Go to an automotive supply store and get a small can of Gloss Black retouching Lacquer. It's the shiniest paint you can get! You'll love it. Tape-mask all belts, skin, hair. Spray her with a first coat, the INSTANT it looks wet, STOP! You do NOT want runs! Allow to dry for one hour at room temp only (don't use heat!). Apply the second coat, as soon as you get that glossy look again, STOP! Even though this paint will feel dry to the touch in minutes, do NOT handle for several hours. Also, do not clear coat this paint. It's tough enough for automobiles, it'll take any abuse YOU can dish out on her for years to come.

Now mask off pants with liquid frisket (Maskoid). Paint violet's flesh a pale orangey-tan with a darker rosey blush on the apples of her cheeks. We suggest airbrushing creamy white over her, uh... chestal globes. We also recommend spraying just slightly darker flesh tones into the crevices of her muscles. After her skin tones are perfect and smooth, seal lightly with flat lacquer (dull coat).

With a tiny brush do her face. Go slow. Seal with flat lacquer. Paint her hair opaquely with a base coat of light pink-tangerine and let it dry throughly. Do not seal. Now, mix a darker reddish brown wash, adding a few drops of cleaner to make the paint flow. Test a small area, the wash should puddle into the crevices. If it looks good, apply wash quickly all over hair. If the wash drips onto the face, its okay the clear flat lacquer will protect you.

Paint all belts on skin black, belts over pants, dark grey. The buckles and zipper are silver. Now she's ready for her final dating acessories.

6. Final Accessories: Metal Rings.

We'll start with the five metal rings. These little guys can get away from you, so you may want to take only one out of the bag at a time, or put them on a piece of tape. Each ring requires clipping a small section out to fit over the resin nub. Also, to get a really good glue contact, scrape the paint off either side of the tiny resin nub so that bare resin is revealed. The collar rings fit under the floatingbelt (see sketch bottom of this column.). Let the pant zipper ring dangle naturally down away from the pants. Same with the ankle rings.

7. Final Accessories: Cable.
There is a short Cylinder coming out of the left side of the power back pack. Stick one end of the power cable (black rubber cord) in here, gluing securely. You may cut the rubber cord to any length you think looks right, and test fit into the top of her power baton. If you put a little twisting tension into the cord you can get it to make a nice flowing "S" shape. Glue in place.

8. FinalAccessories: Netting.
If you rub the netting between your hands you can work out some of the starchiness. Then it'll be easier to work with Lay it over her head with the majority of the material in the back. Grab all the edges at the back of her neck and pinch it so that it stretches tightly across the face. Try to keep wrinkles off her face and keep the bottom netting above the choker strap. It may take a couple of tries to get it right but it will get easier each time. Once everything looks good, twist it together as tightly as possible with one hand and put a couple drops of super glue on your Lightly twisted knot. Hold in place as it sets (one minute). You can make the knot even smaller by wrapping tightly with black thread. Trim excess with scissors to make a sort of bow.

'The Hobbit' to get world premiere in November

The Hobbit will receive its world premiere in New Zealand this November.

Peter Jackson returns to middle earth with the first of two movies, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, on December 14. It has now been announced that the world will get its first chance to see the movie at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington on November 28, two weeks before it hits theatres. Producers are trying to secure all of the main cast to attend.


Jackson said in a statement: "I know I speak for a company of hobbits, dwarves, elves and orcs when I say that this city holds a special place in all of our hearts. We cannot think of a more perfect way to send The Hobbit off into the world than to celebrate with a huge party here in Wellington, where the journey began".


Meanwhile, the latest of Jackson’s behind-the-scenes video blogs has just premiered over at The Hobbit Movie at Facebook. The director's seventh clip shows the project's work from Stone Street Studios, Miramar, Wellington in New Zealand and features footage of Orlando Bloom and James Nesbitt.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and features an ensemble cast including Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Bret McKenzie and Cate Blanchett. Watch the trailer above.

Prometheus

As Ridley Scott's new sci-fi epic lands in cinemas this week, June 1, academics at the University of Warwick have given their views on the film - and the Alien films to which it is a prequel.

Dr Jack Cohen, Honorary Professor of the University of Warwick, and one of the joint authors of Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life, says he is glad the film avoided the usual design of extraterrestrials as humanoids with ridged brows.

He commented: "The Alien universe, which Prometheus may also be part of, at least avoids the more preposterous fictional universes where most of the aliens look exactly like humans - but with slightly different types of bumpy foreheads. Aliens are likely to be much more alien."

But he added: "However the key aliens of the Alien universe still draw too much on human's own fear images and this obscures more reasoned speculation what real aliens may look like.

"The life cycle of this particular fictional race of aliens also builds on those human fear responses to produce movies that are brilliant at exploiting our fears for fun but which are also filled with scientific impossibilities. We still just can't resist making our movie aliens all too human."

Dr Nicolas Pillai, researcher at the University of Warwick's Film and Television Studies department, said: "While its trailers promise spectacular special effects, Prometheus follows a very traditional science-fiction narrative pattern. Archaeologists with conflicting agendas unearth a Pandora's Box - the curse of Tutankhamun by way of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Erich von Däniken."

Dr Pilai continued: "It also promises to excavate the past glories of director Ridley Scott. Initially conceived as a direct prequel to his 1979 film Alien, the project has mutated into something more interesting, riffing at the level of production design and tone rather than plot.

"Given this allusional approach to personal history, it seems important that Scott's protagonist is British - despite being played by Swedish actress Noomi Rapace."

And he spots a Doctor Who reference in the story: "Raised in Teesside, Scott was a young BBC designer in the early days of Doctor Who and narrowly missed the chance to design the Daleks. By calling Rapace's character Dr Elizabeth Shaw - also the name of a Doctor Who companion in 1970 - the screenwriters slyly reference a road not taken in Scott's past."

Dr Pilai concludes: "Prometheus' success may lie in its acceptance of diverse influences.

"While previous prequels have been restricted by an inevitable narrative end point, Scott's new film draws upon a wealth of transmedia artefacts - philosophical tracts, Egyptology, a 1967 Doctor Who serial called Tomb of the Cybermen.