Aloha Fellow Realmers,

I had taken a long break after I finished my last project when this past November I came across the Figure Realm site while searching the net for reference material. I decided to join the Realm on the strength of what I saw and read and after submitting some of my work I was inspired to get back in there and give it another go.

That being said, I’d like to present my latest project which I call “The Castle Armory”. The plan was to create a “man cave” worthy of Frank Castle in 3.75” and after some trial and error and a few late nights, I’m finally satisfied with the results.

The idea for this project came to me when I was working on The Mechanic’s Garage a couple of years back. It was then that I started buying a bunch of G.I. Joe figures to build up my collection of weaponry and when I thought I had enough, I salted them away for this project. My intention was to do a Punisher based more in the MCU than the comics.
I’ve always liked the Punisher character and was very happy to see that the Netflix did a version of Frank that finally got him right.

My original concept was to do something small and intimate but as the project progressed, it grew into quite an undertaking. It started to take on a life of it’s own and got a little out of hand for a while till I came to my senses brought it back from the absurd.

Here’s the short list:

• Punisher: Base figure - MCU Nick Fury body, MCU Stealth Captain America head, MCU Falcon hands.

• Punisher War Machine: Base Figure - Power Charge WM, arm machine guns modified w/ barrel extensions and ammo clips, plasma cannon added as secondary shoulder mounted weapon.

• Frankencastle: Base figure - G.I. Joe Retaliation Roadblock body w/ Firefly head, Arctic B.A.T. arms, miscellaneous parts from fodder bins.

• Dakken’s Severed Arm: - Base Figure - G.I. Joe Retaliation Roadblock’s arm, added Tri-Claws, applied tribal tattoo, created display base from fodder bin parts & lipstick cover.

• EXO Battle Suit: Base Figure - Avengers Stark Tech Assault Armor, Marvel Legends 6” Iron Man Mk. 42 torso & legs, modified shoulder armor and chest plate, added shoulder mounted mini gun and two arm mounted mini guns.

I also made three other figures to populate this diorama. Rachel Cole-Alves, Lynn Michaels and Cassondra Castle but decided that in the context of this project, they just didn’t fit in. I’ll have to save them for the next project.

For the diorama base I used the Collector’s Museum 10” x 10” x 10” Display Case. The various structures were cobbled together from many of the discarded assemblies I had created for the early incarnation of the Mechanic’s Garage. These were composed of various Plati-struct parts and sheets, plastic crochet circles and squares and old CD cases. This actually saved me a lot of fabrication time. The rest came from the parts bins and miscellaneous items laying around the house. I also ended up using 90% of the arsenal I had accumulated for this diorama, this is Frank Castle we’re talking about after all.

Early on I noticed that the color scheme was pretty monochromatic with a lot of black, gun metal & silver so I started introducing red as a contrast and accent. The red added that pop of color that was needed and can be seen sprinkled throughout to move the eye in, out and around the diorama. The subliminal tie to blood was intentional.

Paint apps. were: Tamiya Acrylics, Rust-oleum American Accents spray paint (Also Bonds to Plastic series). Tamiya Weather Master, Rub-N-Buf Silver & Kiwi Black Touch-Up shoe polish.

I’ve always been a huge fan of dioramas from the first time I saw the work of Howard Sheperd "Shep" Paine in the pages of Scale Modeler magazine. I built my first diorama back in 1974 and this latest one was started just a couple of months ago.
I feel that a diorama provides the viewer with some perspective and gives the subject a sense of place. It’s a form of visual storytelling that is only limited by your imagination.

That, in a very large nutshell, is The Castle Armory. Thanks for indulging me and comments are welcome. “Not Justice, Punishment”.