Sunday 3 April 2011

Paul Hicks' Midnight Riders aka the Devil's Rejects

Paul Hicks is a freelance sculptor, who last year sculpted five 28mm scale figures of the main characters of the film The Devil's Rejects. For those of you who know the film, you'll know it is a gory and sadistic sequel to House of 1,000 Corpses, both of which were directed by Rob Zombie. I'm a big fan of both films, but especially of The Devil's Rejects, which plumbs the depths of depravity with some shocking scenes of torture and violence. Both films feature the psychotic Firefly family, three of whom are pictured to the left. From left to right they are "Baby" Firefly (played by Sheri Moon Zombie), Captain Spaulding (played by Sid Haig) and Otis B. Driftwood (played by Bill Moseley). I show this picture for those of you who have never heard of the film and also for those who have, to show what a great likeness Paul has created with his fine sculpts.
At the far left of the two photos above is Otis B. Driftwood, named after the Groucho Marx character from the film A Night at the Opera. Otis is not a natural member of the Firefly family. He was adopted by Gloria "Mama" Firefly. He is by far, the most sadistic member and he often battles Captain Spaulding for control of the family. In The Devil's Rejects, he skins the flesh from the face of one his victims and wears it as a mask, emulating a nasty habit of "Leatherface" from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films. Paul has sculpted him striding purposefully with a revolver in his right hand and a knife in his left hand. Note the sheath for his knife strapped to his lower left leg.
Next in line is Vera-Ellen "Baby" Firefly, the youngest member of the family. She is a foul-mouthed, sadistic bitch. In House of 1,000 Corpses, she scalped a male victim for failing to correctly answer who her favourite actor was! Note the remarkable similarity between the movie still and the figure.  She is armed with a revolver. Note that both films were set in the 1970's, which explains why revolvers are more common than pistols.
In the centre of the group is Tiny Firefly, who is far taller than his name would suggest. He was horribly disfigured after being badly burnt as a child. He rarely speaks and he is not very bright but he is immensely strong and fiercely loyal to his family. Paul has depicted him carrying a length of metal piping. He is not as psychotic as the others and has a soft spot for women. However, if ordered to take part in a ritual killing he shows no mercy to any victim.
Figures four and five in line are two versions of the same character, Captain Spaulding. He, too, is named after a Groucho Marx character, this time from the film Animal Crackers. His real name is actually Johnny Lee Jones and he is the father of "Baby" Firefly. Captain Spaulding is a homicidal maniac who owns a gas station/tourist attraction with a freakshow horror theme. He becomes extremely violent if a person disrespects clowns. The figure of Spaulding holding the pump-action shotgun is based on his character in The Devil's Rejects. Check out that photo at the top of this post to see how close Paul has captured his likeness. The second figure of Captain Spaulding, dressed in the clown's garb and armed with a revolver, is based on his appearance in the film House of 1,000 Corpses. If you're wondering what I've painted on his T-shirt, it's a hot dog, based on what he actually wore in the film.
I'm not sure why Paul has sculpted two versions of this character. Gloria "Mama" Firefly, the matriarch of the family and Tiny's older brother, Rufus T. Firefly were more worthy candidates in my opinion. Even so, this is just a minor quibble. All of the figures are superbly sculpted and I was only too glad to add them to my collection of psycho killers. You don't have to use these as the Devil's Rejects - you could just use them as ordinary Gangers in an ATZ setting. Actually, it would be kind of difficult to use them as the Devil's Rejects in anything but a 1970's setting unless your game involves time travel!
It has to be said that these figures are not easy to get hold of. I ordered my set of five figures from Raven Painting run by Carl Robson, who lives in Shotley Bridge, County Durham, not far from where I live. He sold them on e-Bay for £10.00 , where they were called the Midnight Riders, presumably to avoid copyright problems. You can visit Raven Painting at http://www.ravenpainting.co.uk/ and drop him an e-mail if you're interested in purchasing them. I ordered mine late last year, but I have no idea if they are still available for sale. It would be a shame if they weren't. By the way, if you'd like a second opinion on these fine figures check out The Angry Lurker's review at http://theangrylurker.blogspot.com/2010/10/28mm-painted-not-devils-rejects-figures.html (Fran, you have no idea how long it took me to find that post!)

21 comments:

  1. They are excellent figures... which i pretty much what we expect from Mr Hicks, he can pretty much do no wrong... I may have to get these!

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  2. i love that move, awesome work man!

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  3. LOVE the movie! And once again you have produced a solid view on the miniatures with a good paintjob. Well done!

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  4. Thanks to you all for the kind comments.

    @Jim. I totally agree with you about Paul's work. He is extremely talented.

    @mac-and-me. The film is not everyone's cup of tea, but I'm with you - I love it too!

    @Lord Siwoc. And we have another fan! Cool!

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  5. Not heard of the film or sculptor before! While what you have said of the film makes it doubtful I'll track down a copy to watch, I do like the figures and the paintjob VtG - well done that man!

    And BTW, played Day 1, loc'n 2 yesterday; a short game (only 11 turns!) but still enjoyable, batrep SHOULD be up by close of business today

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  6. Sorry about that Vampifan, email me if you ever need anything else, very good work and a far better review than mine my friend.

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  7. @Colin. You need a strong stomach to watch either of these two films. They are similar in tone and content to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

    You've got a batrep to post? Woot, woot and triple woot. I look forward to reading it.

    @Fran. Shucks! I will take you up on your offer if ever I need anything.

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  8. Hmmm..... I guess I'll take your review as a warning, lol, good work on the paint jobs mate, and a solid review.
    I like the dude in the middle he looks like a bit of a whack job.

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  9. Both of the films, IMO, take a stronger stomache than Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The real bonus to them is just how smoking hot Sheri Moon Zombie is. I think I could watch paint dry if she was in the picture!! Pas that, excellent work. Captain Spaulding in the clown paint looks great! Definitely looks alot like he did in the film!!

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  10. @The Extraordinarii. By all means, take my review as a warning. Or, if you like gore and scenes of sadistic butchery, then take it as an endorsement. I like to inform so you can make up your own mind.

    The figure you liked, Tiny, is not the sharpest tool in the box but he is one tough dude!

    @MiniGeek. Sheri Moon Zombie most certainly is one hot chick and was well worth the admission price for both films. Rob Zombie is one lucky man, dammit!

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  11. More excellent paintjobs. I especially like Baby Firefly. You did a great job in representing her true to the movie.

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  12. @Luckyjoe. Having lots of photographic reference helped me to portray the figures as they appeared in the two movies.

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  13. Fantastic stuff Bryan. I only now appreciate the Easter egg Valve slipped into the two Left For Dead games. Francis (one of the characters from the first game) is in a band called Midnight Riders, whose tracks feature in left for Dead 2. Thanks Bryan.

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  14. @Adam. It surely can't be a coincidence that this set got called the Midnight Riders, huh? By the way, I don't play games on my computer. It's not because I don't like them, it's simply because there aren't enough hours in the day to do what I want to do. It's all a question of time management. Anyway, I'm so glad that I've helped you out in the L4D games. I imagine I could easily get addicted to them which is why I don't play them!

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  15. Very nice!! And Fran is right yours is a far better review and paintjob! he heh!

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  16. Thanks, Ray. I'm not trying to upstage Fran at all. Maybe I'm just more enthusiastic about the subject.

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  17. Ahhh more work from the maestro Red eh? Very nice too...
    Not sure about the Driftwood charactor being named thus, surely he should have been named after Groucho in "Duck Soup"; Rufus T Firefly?
    Also worth bearing in mind that Capt. Spaulding is also a Groucho charactor but in "Animal Crackers" see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h22w6oWMt54

    BTW is >"Baby" Firely< at the top a typo?

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  18. All info regarding the characters' names came from Wikipedia, Phil. I'm no expert on the Marx Brothers so I couldn't possibly say how accurate their info is.

    Yes, that is a typo and I've fixed it. I thank you for spotting it and if you see any more please let me know so I can fix them.

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  19. By the looks of it all three are Marx charactors- more succinct than the original way I said that. ;-)
    Feel free to edit out mention of the typo in my comment.

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