Professor Hans Zarkov

Here's eccentric genius Doctor Hans Zarkov in his Mongo garb. Not my best paint job. 
 

Professor Zarkov's Rocketship

 

Dale Arden Takes Notes

Also makes a pretty good retro Lois Lane. 
 

Flash! Oww-wwww!

Just a man
With a man's torn shirt
Nothing but a man
Covered with bruises and blood
No one but this pain-wracked guy
Can save our wo-orld
Oh, Flash
Oh, Flash
 

Shrieking Dale Arden

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY HANDS?!" 

Sorry, Dale. At least the rest of you looks decent enough. 

Dale Arden

Dale's ready to bring peace and freedom to planet Mongo!
 

Ravenhawk

The mysterious, ebon-clad Ravenhawk! Is he friend or foe? An ally to Flash Gordon and Dale Arden, or a Hawkman traitor? 
 

Flash Gordon Dismounted from a Hawkman Rocket Cycle

To facilitate transitions in gameplay, I painted Flash in the same colours I used for his rocketcycle model. 
 

Flash Gordon Approaching on a Hawkman Rocketcyle

I painted this model inspired by colours used by Alex Raymond in the Flash Gordon comic strips of the 1930s and 1940s and by images seen in the 1980 film adaptation. 
 

Ming Bust

 Hail Ming! Ruler of Mongo and Emperor of the Universe! 

Ming's Orb

This weekend, I painted a 28mm scale robot--specifically, the nameless orb servant of Ming featured in Flash Gordon (1980). The orb floated in the movie, and the miniature fakes the effect with some smoke and flames, as though the robot is jet-propelled. I think the cloud at the bottom of the mini looks all right, but the effect isn't as successful on the supporting stem. A clear bit of plastic might have worked better. 
 

Superflash! Ahhh-Ahhh!

Speedster of the universe! 

Superman and Krypton

I finally brought Jeff Shyluk's amazing bespoke globe of Krypton to work, setting it up in my cubicle alongside a small Superman statue. The globe looks great, and has already drawn some attention from my colleagues. However, I foolishly shot against the light. When we start getting some sunlight, I'll reposition and shoot from the other direction for a better shot. 

Jeff never fails to create beautiful art, and he takes commissions. Visit Jeff Shyluk's Visual Blog today! 

Here's another look at Krypton and the other bespoke world Jeff crafted, Mongo, now in my brother Sean's possession. Flash! Ahh-aahhh! 

Jeff Shyluk's Worlds of Wonder

Back in March, I mused about the possibility of globes based not on Earth, but fictional worlds. Some weeks later, Jeff set to work making that dream a reality. Tonight, Mongo and Krypton arrived, and as you can see in the video above, they are stunning.

Please note that in the video I messed up the URL for Jeff's blog. It's really http://shyluk.blogspot.com/.

Here are some images:

You can see how Jeff created these globes on his blog, JSVB (Jeff Shyluk's Visual Blog):

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine
Part Ten
Part Eleven
Part Twelve
Part Thirteen
Part Fourteen
Part Fifteen
Part Sixteen
Part Seventeen
Part Eighteen
Part Nineteen
Part Twenty

Aaah! Flash!

Happy Holidays 2015

40 Trips Around the Sun

Well, I turned 40 at 7:37 pm tonight. I can no longer be a theme-appropriate guest star on thirtysomething.

Today I attended a very entertaining and informative seminar on creativity at Grant MacEwan college - the orange campus on 100th ave and 156 street. Great presentation by Georgian author Sam Harrison - one lecture on how to approach a proper brainstorming session, and another on igniting your creativity. I hope to put what I've learned today to use both at work and on my personal projects, including this blog. Perhaps not tonight, though - it's been a very busy week, with more to come before I get a break.

There was cake for me at work, phone calls and emails from family and friends, and Sylvia found a set of Star Trek Pez dispensers AND a Captain Picard action figure WITH captain's chair, AND Jeff Pitts found me an authentic Flash Gordon movie poster.

Wow - good birthday!

Hail Naes!

From: Earl J. Woods

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 8:37 PM

To: Sean Woods

Subject: FLASH AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

http://video.scifi.com/player/?id=123885

From: Sean Woods

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 9:09 PM

To: 'Earl J. Woods'

Subject: RE: FLASH AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

I will watch this, no matter how horrible it is.

Hopefully it has dialogue that compares to that of the 1980 film.

“Congratulations, Flash – you’ve saved your Earth. Have a nice day.”

From: Earl J. Woods

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 9:24 PM

To: 'Sean Woods'

Subject: RE: FLASH AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

Premieres the day before the wedding…what kind of omen is that?

From: Sean Woods

Sent: Friday, June 29, 2007 5:09 PM

To: 'Earl J. Woods'

It disgusts me that you do not know the answer to this question. Very well, I will provide you with the meaning of the release date.

It OBVIOUSLY means that you need to hire a Ming stand-in that will make the crowd believe that Sylvia is being forced to marry him against her will. The vows to be used will be pulled directly from the 1980 Flash Gordon movie. When Sylvia gives the answer “I will NOT” to Ming’s vows/proposal, you will crash through the wall/windows/doors in your Corolla, which incidentally will be rigged to look like War Rocket Ajax. The crowd will scatter, and you will get out of the Corolla/WR Ajax and say “Forget it Ming, Sylvia’s with me!” You will push “Ming” to the ground, Dad will kick him in the ribs (in true Bob Woods fashion), and the wedding will commence as “normal.”

There. I’ve planned your wedding.