Pics of "Them!" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space" Figures (6 Viewers)

[CanesBart]

This horror movie play set thing results in starting many new projects when a figure pops up to inspire a new theme.

My daughter gave me a 6" plastic ant. Very realistic. "Boom!" Time to start a "Them!" play set!

Here are my proxies so far. Marx Daktari missionary for the scientist and I removed the rifle off the girl for her daughter.
Found a cop in a James Whitmore pose from the movie. Marx Unbtouchables Ness and Capone make good James Arness and partner FBI agents.

Marx Marines, and I just found some dimestore firemen in fire suits with hoses, that I can easilly convert to flamethrowers for the ant hill tunnel rat scene.

Bought some MPC jeeps (4 bucks at Hobby Bunker, probably the best play set quality jeep) with Andy Gard drivers, and am making a demolished desert house, and sewer scene.

Just found a zombie girl with doll, PERFECT for the "THEM!" girl

If you ever have an idea for a proxie figure, or conversion, by all means let me know

 

[CanesBart]

For a Plan 9 From outer Space:

I made the Lugosi zombie, by adding a cape and bending an arm on a Oriental Trading Company zombie.

Got the two cops, made the Tor Johnson by adding a big, bald head to a Frankenstein body from that cheap monster bucket set.

Found a VERY good vampira zombie figure. Ness and Capone as the Police detectives. The girl, some extra zombies, and some Timmee Galaxy figs as the aliens. For the stock footage army company, I used, in the spirit of Ed Wood, cheap, mismatched Chinese copies of Airfix US infantry.

Now to make a fake graveyard, and the ridiculous alien "Saucer" when it was on the ground for interior play.

Luckilly, about 20 years ago, I bought a bunch of Glencoe UFO model kits (The exact ones Ed used in the movie. They are expensive now on EBAY) Gonna use one for this set.

Thinking of making it a black and white set, painting the figures in shades of blacks, whites and greys? What do you think?

 

[Julie]

Love the movie "THEM!" I still watch it now and again.

 

[CanesBart]

Love the movie "THEM!" I still watch it now and again.

One of the great ones. I trained my 4 year old grand daughter to act comatose, then scream "THEM!" LOL! I cant show her the movie yet, she's terrified of spiders and ants. But then again.....^&grin

Found a cool way to make a sewer tunnel base: I have some large diameter (8") heavy cardboard tubes, like 8 feet long, that some surf rods I ordered shipped in. Sections will make perfect tunnels. Very hard to cut! I use a hacksaw blade and its still no fun.

I need more ants! The one my daughter gave me is highly detailed, in "puzzle" form (ie it snaps together). They are on Ebay, at about 9 bucks! Im going to be frugal on the number of ants in my playset, LOL!

 

[theBaron]

If there's a Daniel Boone figure out there, you could use that to make Fess Parker, who had a cameo as a pilot who spotted the ants.

Prost!
Brad

 

[CanesBart]

If there's a Daniel Boone figure out there, you could use that to make Fess Parker, who had a cameo as a pilot who spotted the ants.

Prost!
Brad

LOL! I DO have a Daniel Boone figure (a Marx). He was put in the bug house in the movie, so I guess it would be fine to have fess Parker wearing a coonskin cap?

What do you think? The figures I have so far are pretty good proxies for a Them play set? (I wish I could sculpt, or knew how to 3D print)

 

[combatmen]

Love your imagination. If you don't have it, make it yourself. You might try some Dollar stores for big ants, sometimes they will have them in bins with other big insects and animals.
BOBBYGMOORE

 

[Horus]

I'm feeling deprived here in the UK that I don't recall these films, going have to hunt them down !

Steve

 

[Oldallamerican]

For a Plan 9 From outer Space:

I made the Lugosi zombie, by adding a cape and bending an arm on a Oriental Trading Company zombie.

Got the two cops, made the Tor Johnson by adding a big, bald head to a Frankenstein body from that cheap monster bucket set.

Found a VERY good vampira zombie figure. Ness and Capone as the Police detectives. The girl, some extra zombies, and some Timmee Galaxy figs as the aliens. For the stock footage army company, I used, in the spirit of Ed Wood, cheap, mismatched Chinese copies of Airfix US infantry.

Now to make a fake graveyard, and the ridiculous alien "Saucer" when it was on the ground for interior play.

Luckilly, about 20 years ago, I bought a bunch of Glencoe UFO model kits (The exact ones Ed used in the movie. They are expensive now on EBAY) Gonna use one for this set.

Thinking of making it a black and white set, painting the figures in shades of blacks, whites and greys? What do you think?

View attachment 228271

You have to be careful with your "Plan 9" set that you don't make it look TOO good - after all, you don't want your set to look better than the movie. LOL

 

[CanesBart]

You have to be careful with your "Plan 9" set that you don't make it look TOO good - after all, you don't want your set to look better than the movie. LOL

No worries, Oldallamerican:

Note Vornoff's pet octopus in the viewing window.

 

[CanesBart]

"I want you to stay away from the old Willows place!"

 

[CanesBart]

THEM!

Is that ant not a beauty? It's actually a puzzle, and quite tricky to assemble. It is so realistic, it frankly made me uncomfortable messing with it. Comes in a larva egg case. Very tight assembly. The parts all move after its intact.

Daughter Reagan got it for me. I ordered two more (9 bucks after shipping, from far off Peking!)

Same company makes other bug puzzles. I ordered the scorpion for my Perseus/Jason Greek Hero Playset, and the spider to scare my granddaughter (she HATES spiders. At halloween, 4 years old, she told every house "A spider came in my room once!" It was a daddy long legs, and it happened when she was 1 and 1/2!!!!!

 

[Markster]

Nice job !

 

[villagehorse]

Imagine an army of these ants.'Them' was a scary film, but I was only around 10 years old at the time. Robin.

 

[CanesBart]

Nice job !

Gracias!

I now have so many nice 50's/60's style civilians/victims (including "cool" teens with pompadours, armed and unarmed) I can make many new playsets, depending on what kind of monsters and such come along. Also collecting all sorts of 50's/60's 1:32 cars. (luckilly, most of the horror/sci fi films used a pretty basic line of vehicles (53-57 Bel Airs, Fairlanes and such, which are numerous in die cast).

LOL! Actually thinking of using a 1:32 VW bug, to make a awful looking giant spider for that one movie. Would love to do Invasion of the Saucer Men, but the aliens......would have to sculpt them.

 

[CanesBart]

On the way home from work, I stop by the Dollah Tree, and score!

They have a bunch of painted, 54mm DC super hero figures, Joker, Batman, Flash, ad nauseum. I see a Lex Luger, and it hits me! He's wearing some kind of suit, with a large shoulder and head helmet cover. Looks VERY close to the alien suits from Earth vs the Flying Saucers! Gunmetal paint, and some modification to the helmet, and it will b e PERFECT!

How cool would that playset be? Jeeps, army, key figures, a scratchbuilt spaceship with interior, and smaller ones on flight stands, AND....I happen to have a bunch of 1/32 1951 Ford F-1 pickup trucks! (I convert them into the Sanford and Son junk truck for people). Those are the exact trucks that carried the "Maser" weapon the army used. Just modify them into flatbed trucks!

Another playset just developed!


I'm back in business, baby!

 

[CanesBart]

OLDALLAMERICAN, as my Accuracy Adviser, hows the mausoleum? Cardboard, just like in the film!


The figures are in the process of looking like a black and white movie. Lightly dusting them with spray cans of black, white and gray, till I figure it out.


Now for dead trees. Never made them before. Should I use small branches, unflocked plastic trees from Woodland scenics, or scratchbuild with wire, tape and putty?

 

[bromhead]

Cant wait for a tor Johnson who resembled my great uncle,,or a Creeper

 

[Oldallamerican]

You have to make sure some of the tombstones in your "Plan 9" graveyard wiggle like the ones in the movie did when the actors brushed against them. I would also attach visible thread or strings to the space ships. One could really have a blast with the concepts.

If I was to do an "Attack of the Giant Crab Monsters" set I'd have to have a foot sticking out from under one of the crabs like in the movie where the guy moving the prop's foot was exposed and left in the final cut.

You could have so much fun with cheese... {sm4}

 

[CanesBart]

You have to make sure some of the tombstones in your "Plan 9" graveyard wiggle like the ones in the movie did when the actors brushed against them. I would also attach visible thread or strings to the space ships. One could really have a blast with the concepts.

If I was to do an "Attack of the Giant Crab Monsters" set I'd have to have a foot sticking out from under one of the crabs like in the movie where the guy moving the prop's foot was exposed and left in the final cut.

You could have so much fun with cheese... {sm4}

D'OH! I got home, and LITERALLY just glued on the glass cockpit dome, and spray painted the top half of the old Glencoe UFO (the exact model used in the movie) metallic, forgetting the string! (I made a flight stand for the play set, but ****, that would have been great. I guess I can pin vise a hole in the top, and work in a fluorocarbon fishing line? Sure I can.

My idea of a black and white set is ....well...struggling. Cant dust the figures to make them look like a B&W movie. Years ago, I built Sheriff Andy Griffiths Ford Galaxie police car, and had Barney standing over a dead Otis with his gun (I titled it "Now to Emmit's Fix-It Shop, to...fix Emmit") , the entire diorama in B&W, set in a very old TV set. Cant remember how I pulled off the color (or..lack of color)

LOL! My first play set IS Attack of the Crab Monsters! Just waiting on finishing the base. I never noticed the foot under the crab in the movie (The crabs were awful, had they ever seen a crab? Reminds me of the "Rough Riders" movie, where Ted Turner used a Blue Crab to simulate the actual Land Crabs that harassed the wounded in Cuba)

I ordered some cool plastic crabs from China. Perfect size, and very cheesy. problem is, they are made of the most brittle styrene plastic ever! I dropped one, on carpet, and it shattered like glass. Gonna make it into a crab that was killed, with stuff oozing out. (My Crab Monster Playset is a LOT better than the great one on EBAY, listed for 900 bucks! LOL! )