Watching Monsters

    At what age should one put aside childish things? For local model builder Rob Mattison, the answer sure as hell isn’t 46 years old. Rob still likes to play with monsters. In fact, he has parlayed his hobby into a successful weekly program (more on that in a bit). Hardly sounds like child’s play to me.

    “I remember films like Hammer’s Curse of the Werewolf, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing’s Dracula films, Godzilla, and my favorite, King Kong. I was fascinated by the make-up and special effects and always wanted to help create monsters. I was really excited to see what strange or unusual creatures people like Lon Chaney, Jack Pierce, Dick Smith, Rick Baker, and Rob Bottin could conjure out of their minds. I saw it as an art form, not really monsters at all,” Rob reveals, warming at the opportunity to talk about monsters.

    However, realizing a career as a Hollywood special effects artist would most likely remain elusive, Rob found other mediums to explore his interest.

    “I was also into comic books and would always see ads for these cool monster models. This was my chance to build these monsters myself, and with the help of my mom, I was able to get most of the monsters of the time.”

    Just as those who once dreamed of becoming heavy metal gods found themselves performing on the stage of a classroom (guilty!), Rob found a workable compromise for his dream; he was making monsters albeit out of model kits. “Today, thanks to the internet, there are a number of great companies pushing out great kits: plastic, vinyl, and resin. There are shows all around the world based on collecting and building these fine items.”