Here is a resin toy project that I finally managed to get wrapped up. About a year ago I planned to participate in a local group show about Russia and this was going to be my submission. Sadly I never made because the resin and silicone was not delivered on time. After that I had to shift my focus towards my "Netzwerk" graduation project. So without further ado: my interpretation of Cheburashka driving a constructivist tank. The toy shown above is a one-off. I have a few more casts that I will be releasing eventually but I can not say when, where or how much. This is about 13 cm in height and it comes in four parts. The only point of articulation is the turret of tank which can turn 360 degrees. It has been painted with automotive effect paints although the details on the figure and the tank have been added with ink. Here is another shot from the time when I was working on the sculpt. I hope you enjoy it.
The design is too Western. Good work, but perhaps this would have a better place in the Krotch Rot section.
DYBBUKIM, Russia is both Eastern and Western in socio-political terms. I am a historian and a scientist. idle. that tank is awesome and I want one. did you think about doing Cheburashka in a similar angular way? I'm not a big fan of the way the big ears look. I know that Cheburashka is of an unknown origin in the stories, some kind of a mystery beast. He isn't really a bear, but I used to think so. I seriously want one of those tanks if you're willing to make one for a reasonable price or toy trade. Do you paint your stuff too? maybe a classic Cheburashka color scheme? *(i have no idea who made this picture but it's relevant. Think about it Dybby, Che Guevara in a visual pun based upon the phonetic similiraties between Che's and Cheburashka's names. This pun is represented in an appropriation of the classic stencil imagery of Che as made famous by the commodity of youth t-shirts. Cross-referencing a beloved character from Russian books and tv shows for children with the famous rebel of the Cuban Revolution (and the capitalistic use of his image post-mortem), this simple image is akin to any "slap some Mickey Mouse ears on it" gag where the goal is to de-mystify or degrade a famous or historical personality. Yet because of the commonality of communism, each piece of intersecting data reveals a possible embedded meaning. fin) **edited for grammar not content.
@ DYBBUKIM uhm, thanks. @ uberboy Thanks for all the input. Very interesting and I think I stumbled over that Che-Burashka mash-up while doing the reference research. @ cliff Thanks and yes, there will be more like the Netzwerk toys. I have a few more coming up this year.
Since I do not think there is a recognized vinyl toy style out of Russia, I have to put this into one of two catagories of vinyl toy style: either Western, or Eastern. I am not talking about the historic, social-political position of Russia, being part "Western" and part "Eastern" and actually neither. I am refering strictly to toys. The design is clearly not Eastern in a kaiju sense, and it looks Western in design (ie, it would fit perfectly in a kid robot display case). As such, I like the artist's effort, but since I personally do not appreciate most Western vinyl, I lump it with the KR krowd. That said, I think a more scary interpretation of Cheburashka could make a good toy more fitting of Eastern vinyl art. And the Che ears look more like Mickey Mouse than Cheburashka.
this is just stupid. not liking KR is one thing, but lumping anything that has a specific look as western is totally different. would you clump secret base in with western stuff? the style of the figures is smooth and not very traditionally kaijuish. i would classify this as a platform toy before i label it KRish. also, i mostly got the feeling of the Krotch Rot section to make fun of the KR vermin/mentality more than actual toy bashing. with that said, i don't like this figure, but good job. very clean sculpting.
