1/100 Scale MortarHeadd Siren (Volks)

This is the second (and only surviving) Five Star Stories kit I built. This was also my second foray into a fixed pose resin kit, and my first attempt at modifying the pose. Since this was back in 1991 or 1992, I didn’t have access to some of the more exotic sculpting putties. I went with the simple two part blue/yellow tape putty, which worked just fine.

The main modifications were to the legs and weapons. Originally, the kit was in a kneeling pose holding a couple spears/pointy sticks with its tiny little pilot dude standing next to it. BOOOORRRRRING. So, I went for a more dynamic pose, a lunging backhanded low parry or strike. I always kind of envisioned this would actually be the swing before being taken down (this is a bad guy suit), as the overextended, somewhat upward swing would leave the Mortarheadd badly positioned for a follow on swing.

The mods were relatively straightforward. At that time, Volks resin kits were essentially the Cadillac in terms of beauty and detail. Fortunately, the detail areas around the ankle guard, some of the skirt pieces, top of the lower leg and knee that needed reshaping and sculpting were fairly easy to copy. Another minor detail I added was on the arms, which need some material added to make the new pose. While these were much more detailed having that muscle fibre look you see under Mortarheadd armor, I was able to sculpt the putty while it was curing. In addition, I added a few strands of copper wire to enhance the effect.

The last bit built is the Kukri sword, carved from sheet styrene with a serpent head for the hilt. At the time I was into Gurkha weapons, and thought it would be cool to have the Siren swinging a Kukri sword, used in Gurkha regiments for ceremonial sacrificial water buffalo beheading.

Let me reiterate: It can decapitate a freakin' water buffalo.

The kit was finished in Testors paints, primarily green armor tinted with a slight bit of metallic, and a custom purple/red color for the “muscle” portions. Since FSS was published as a B&W comic, and back then I didn't know much about it, my colors were a guess. The Kukri sword was finished with Model Master Buffing steel metallizer, which was fairly new at the time.

The pics: