These are little spacemen made by Archer Plastics from the late 1940's to 1950's ( Flash Gordon, Tom Corbett, ect...the heyday of space toys and movies). These were about 4" tall and came with a removable clear plastic helmet ( that doesn't stay on very well during the "action"). My Dad gave me some of his when I was a kid, and I've since bought more ( a lot more...).
The interesting thing about these are the fact that they are fantastically detailed little sculptures in themselves ( this one took a little longer to paint than usual...). They have a real human quality while maintaining a certain generic "soldier" feel. These were made of a wonderful hard plastic that had a Bakelite look to them. These came in your typical post WWII colors of dark green, ochre, silver, and a dark blue ( just like the cars...American optimism hadn't taken hold just yet). I jazzed my painting up with a Dr. Marten cherry red that they never made ( I know I'll get a comment about the fact that "Hey, Archer never made a figure this color!").
I love these little guys. I'll be painting more. I have to paint the woman ( super hard to find) figure. She's built like Jane Russell.
"Cherry Red Spaceman", 7" x 5", oil on cradled Masonite panel
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This was somewhat inspired by my Dad's dad ( my grandpa...). He was a two-fisted-hard drinking-gambling-ect...man's man. Anyhow, he died when I was seven ( the same year as Crosby and Elvis...it was a rough year). One vivid memory I have of him was his assortment of tattoos. he had a lady jiggling her goods, an anchor ( He told everyone it was for the Navy, but I find out later he was a Merchant Marine), and a butterfly. I always thought that was cool.
