A WORK IN PROGRESS:

12/20/00: This is the kit I acquired from eBay. When I read the description, I had to have it:

"ASSEMBLED EXPERTLY BY AN ADULT.. I
HELPED TAKE IT OUT OF STORAGE AND IT
HADN'T SEEN DUST OR THE LIGHT OF DAY
SINCE THE LATE 60s. THIS DR. JEKYLL KIT
IS COMPLETE, THE LEGS ARE STRAIGHT
ON THE TABLE AND IT HAS VERY MINIMAL
PAINT, ABSOLUTELY MINT."

I had to wrestle with a couple of other bidders, but eventually I won out - and at a really reasonable price!

1/19/01 - I've received the kit and begun to work on it. As the eBay traders denmark@hoosierlink.net indicated, the kit was in great shape. The builder had done a pretty good job of assembling, but I wouldn't have called the job "expert." There were gaps, ill-fitting sections and excess glue in a few places. However these were rather easy, and fun, to repair; and now the kit is just about ready to be painted and assembled. I have filled and sanded gaps and molding "dimples," and generally cleaned up the kit. I had to disassemble it into sections in order to refit some of the trouble parts. Everything fits together beautifully now. The kit is really looking good! (Latest Pix)

As the kit doesn't have placement holes for the figure, table, stool and rat, I now have to decide exactly how I want to arrange these elements. Fun, fun, FUN!

2/23/03 - After two years filled with ups and downs, and comings and goings, I finally got time and space to get back to this kit and finally finished it up. I committed myself to a color scheme, then painted all the elements, chose a pose, and glued everything down.

For extra stability I secured the table to the base using brass pins pushed up through the floor boards into the table legs. The new nameplate is a resin copy of the longbox title font. It is just resting on top of the original nameplate. I did change the position of the nameplate. It seemed less intrusive, and more like the placement of the nameplates on the other monster kits.

I am quite proud of this build-up. This was my first restoration project, and I think it came out beautifully. It's hard to believe this kit is nearly as old as I am!

Now I'm ready for my next restoration project: King Kong!