Munster Koach
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Not sure why I started this, maybe just another trip down memory lane. It's the Munster Koach, from the TV Series "The Munsters", which aired from Sept 1964 to May 1966 for 70 episodes.
It was built by the great George Barris (whose other works include the original Batmobile from the 60's TV Series, the Beverly Hillbillies truck, KITT from Knight Rider, the sinister modified Lincoln Continental for the movie "The Car", cars for the movie "Fireball 500", some futuristic cars for the 60's H.G. Wells movie "The Time Machine", the list goes on and on) in 21 days for a cost of $18,000. The body is fabricated from three Model T bodies, is 18 feet long, and (supposedly) the ornate rolled steel scrollwork took 500 hours to hand form.
The frame was hand-made, with a dropped axle, split radius rods and T springs, with Pirelli Inverno snowtires up front and big Mickey Thompson slicks on the rear, all mounted on Ansen Astro wheels . It was powered by a 289 Cobra engine from a '66 Mustang, with 10 chrome Weber carbs. The Koach featured a blood-red interior and 40 coats of gloss black pearl paint.
Barris was smart enuf to retain ownership of the Koach, and kept it until he auctioned it off in 1982. Then he wanted a Koach for the '84 Hollywood Christmas Parade, so he built another one, although with many things changed from the original.
Fred Gwynne, who played Herman Munster, was so tall in his costume that he could not enter or exit the car on camera, and had to sit on the floor to drive it.
Well, enuf trivia. I still need to do the interior, which includes tufting almost everywhere (even the firewall) and I'm terrible at tufting, or pleating, whatever, the suspension, the correct wheels, the engine (the one in the model is just a stand-in until I build the Cobra engine), and many more details and whatnot.
While there have been many replicas built over the years, I chose to build the original Koach, the one used in the series. Unfortunately this means that finding good reference photos is very difficult, almost all of them are small and grainy, and usually black and white.
Oh, they are currently in production of a new Munsters TV series, this one without the humor, a much darker version. And without the Koach.
A rare color shot of the Koach (and one of the largest most-detailed photos around), with the Munster clan (Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, Yvonne De Carlo (standing) as his wife Lily, Al Lewis as Grandpa, Butch Patrick as their son Eddie, and Pat Priest (sitting) as their niece Marilyn, the only "normal" member of the family (to the great shame of the others). The decal on the door was for a promotional tour. It's parked in front of their residence at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, which still exists at Universal City, California, although it has been transformed into a regular house now. It has been featured in many films (Coogan's Bluff, The Ballad of Josie, etc) and TV series (The Incredible Hulk, Dragnet, Leave It To Beaver, Murder She Wrote, etc), and most recently was completely remodeled for use in Desperate Housewives.
A shot of the Koach-build in progress -
i wish i could do that too -
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i wish i could say the same thing to myself -
You are very sick and very taleted.
How long did it take you to build? I'm very impressed.
Jim -
@jmjohio said:
You are very sick and very taleted.
How long did it take you to build? I'm very impressed.JimHey Jim,
Good to hear from you. Thanks for the kind words. Yep, I are sick, don't know about the other part tho. I never know how much time I have invested in a model, I bounce back and forth between models, never start one and just finish it. Although I figure I have probably twice as much time in each one as someone who can take advantage of the plugins like Subdivide and Smooth and Artisan. Just can't get them to work for me, which is unfortunate because they would come in really handy for all the curved surfaces I have to make. I keep messing about with them tho, and someday that magic lightbulb is gonna click on over my head
and I'll have that elusive "Ah Ha!" moment. Someday.Steve
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that's really really nice Steve. Now give that model a nice background and image treatment
And the secret for understanding the subdivide plugins is having a good basic topology, once you have that you can predict how the model is going to turn out once you subdivide it
Regards
David
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Steve,
I have to do the line at a time thing to. Very time consuming.
Did you download the '32 from google docs?
Just saw your new roadster - Sweet. Because the car is so small any abrupt change in contour will cause a lumpy effect. Might try making the side (vent) indentations shallower???
Jim -
@unknownuser said:
that's really really nice Steve. Now give that model a nice background and image treatment
And the secret for understanding the subdivide plugins is having a good basic topology, once you have that you can predict how the model is going to turn out once you subdivide it
Regards
David
Thanks David.
Oddly enuf, the only time Subdivide and Smooth worked for me was the very first time I used it, on the front fenders of my '40 Ford. Ever since then it's usually turned the object into a piece of abstract art. I often get those error messages, telling me that the area needing attention has been highlighted. No problem, easy to fix, except sometimes I cannot even find the "highlighted" area, no matter how much I search. Nothing. Frustrating.Not sure what you mean by "image treatment" but if it's rendering I've pretty much given up on that. Like so many other things, it just doesn't work for me. Guess I'll just stick to what does work for me, they're crude but they get the job done. Eventually.
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@jmjohio said:
Steve,
I have to do the line at a time thing to. Very time consuming.
Did you download the '32 from google docs?
Just saw your new roadster - Sweet. Because the car is so small any abrupt change in contour will cause a lumpy effect. Might try making the side (vent) indentations shallower???
JimJim,
Yes, I did download your amazing '32. Been studying it, trying to figure out how you achieved that level of perfection. Still eludes me. I hate you
So you think I should make the side indentations shallower? Hmmm. Might give that a try, thanks for pointing that out.
Still haven't heard back from them about your stolen engine. Coincidentally, a couple of weeks ago someone tipped me off that my '56 Ford had been posted on another site as somebody else's model. At least it was the first version, never got around to uploading the new improved version. Gotta get that thread started that we talked about.
So have you begun any new masterpieces? If so would love to see them.
Steve
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Oh man that is GREAT! You even put in the spiderwebs on the windshield!
I'm gonna go back and study this some more....really great model!Do the "Monkeemobile" next!!!
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Glad you like it. Sorry, I never really cared for the Monkeemobile.
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Hi, hellnbak:
Another great model by you. -
@hellnbak said:
@jmjohio said:
Steve,
I have to do the line at a time thing to. Very time consuming.
Did you download the '32 from google docs?
Just saw your new roadster - Sweet. Because the car is so small any abrupt change in contour will cause a lumpy effect. Might try making the side (vent) indentations shallower???
JimJim,
Yes, I did download your amazing '32. Been studying it, trying to figure out how you achieved that level of perfection. Still eludes me. I hate you
So you think I should make the side indentations shallower? Hmmm. Might give that a try, thanks for pointing that out.
Still haven't heard back from them about your stolen engine. Coincidentally, a couple of weeks ago someone tipped me off that my '56 Ford had been posted on another site as somebody else's model. At least it was the first version, never got around to uploading the new improved version. Gotta get that thread started that we talked about.
So have you begun any new masterpieces? If so would love to see them.
Steve
Yea I saw the review on your '56 that called attention to the dirty deed. Would be great to identify these guys and? - First we hang them, then we shoot them, then we burn them. Model rustlers can't be dead enough.
No new project yet. One at a time for me and 55 and 60 hour work weeks don't leave much time for the fun stuff. Bin thinking about a top fuel drag boat. Create a blown nitro version of the cammer to put in it. Don't believe I've seen any race boats in the warehouse. I'll start doing some research, but who knows, that may lead me in a different direction. Ya know what I mean?
Jim
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Two words... Bad Ass.
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Outstanding!
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Great modeling! I loved the Munsters! I remember the episode that introduced the Koach; Lily bought it as a present for Herman, only the dealership didn't have what she was looking for, so she had them take specific parts from different vehicles to create it.
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I'm not a fan of the design but it is beautifully modeled.
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Looks awesome hellnbak, good job!!
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It looks like they are serious about rebooting The Munsters. Here's some of the cast so far (taken from TV Yahoo.com)
My take on how O'Connell might look as Herman Munster (just kidding)
Here's an interview with the developer of the new take on the series (can't remember where I got it from)
*The series, an "imaginative reinvention" of the classic '60's show, The Munsters, will be called Mockingbird
Lane, and is being developed by Pushing Daisies and Dead Like Me creator Bryan Fuller and filmmaker Bryan
Singer. The look of the new series is going to be a bit edgier with a slightly darker take exploring origins
of Herman and Lily Munster, and how they arrived at the famed 1313 Mockingbird Lane address.Here's a few things Fuller had to say about the series in a recent interview with EW that you might be
interested in reading,*"We want this show to be an American Harry Potter. To have that sense of a magical world that you getto go to with your family and find stories told in a fantastical way that are instantly relatable. It’s
an American Horror Story that the whole family can watch."He went one to discuss the title change saying,
"The script is such a dramatic departure from the tone and style of the original show. If we continuedto call the show The Munsters, people are just going to to think we’re doing The Munsters. We’re doing a
reinvention and re-imagination of this property. I love the Universal monsters. I love the Creature from
the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, The Wolfman,Phantom of the Opera, The Mummy. There’s so many great
characters we can run through this metaphor of family storytelling that it just felt it was ripe to do as
a one-hour dramedy. Having all those elements to play with, the toy box is really really full."He talks about other monsters being added to the show,
"Absolutely. There’s some great stories going forward in the series. Any story you can tell on Parenthoodwe can run through a Universal monster prism and tell it in a very twisted off-kilter way. What I love about
the pilot story is it’s about a family who loves each other and they have a child [Eddie, the werewolf] with
a disability and they’re trying to craft a path for that child so he can have a happy life — they just happen
to be monsters. And, unlike in the original, we’re going to see our monsters do monstrous things."Fuller is asked about the costumes of the series, and here's what he says about them,
"We’re not doing bolts in the neck and Bela Lugosi. It’s almost the Real Housewives of Transylvania. These
are a blinged-out representation of what monsters would be doing if they lived in our society today. How they
would look, how they would interact. Our wardrobe is heavily influenced by Alexander McQueen and his use of
animal textures. For instance, with [the vampire] Lily, all of her wardrobe comes from nature. The first time
we see her this nest of spiders weaves her dress on her body as she’s standing there. We’ll see ravens come in
and assemble her blouse out of their feathers. We won’t see animal skins because the animals are donating as
opposed to dying for it. She has domain over nature and nature has a fantastic esthetic."This sounds like it will be an entertaining series to watch. I've enjoyed most of Fuller's TV series like
Pushing Daisies and Dead Like Me. I like what he's saying about his vision for this series, and it will be
fun to see it come to life.Here's a couple of shots of the new house at 1313 Mockingbird Lane
Where it's being built
What it will eventually look like
Like everything they're rebooting nowadays, TV series, movies, whatnot, a lot of people are up in arms about it. To these people I say "What's the big problem? If you object to them remaking something, just don't watch it". Seems simple enuf to me.
Personally I'm very curious about how it will turn out. After all, when they made the Batman movies much darker and more sinister, look what happened
Anyhow, not sure why I'm posting this, I suppose since I mentioned the new series in my original post.
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