Lucanus capreolus (Hawk model company. Kit No 516-98 from 1960!)

[Beetle guy]

Sometimes you run in to something very special like this model from Hawk (kit no 516-98). A Pseudolucanus capreolus. It was released in 1960, so 58 years old!

The reddish-brown stag beetle (Lucanus capreolus) is a beetle of the family Lucanidae. It lives mainly in deciduous forests in the Eastern United States and in parts of Canada.
Capreolus, derived from Latin, meaning "roe deer" (actually "little goat"). In the Netherlands lives the species Platycerus caraboides (a beautiful metalic blue, females mostly green, Lucanidae species) which is called "Little blue goat".

I had seen the box a few times on Ebay, but never took serious notice. The box illustration depicts the beetle with funny proportions of the body parts. And it was named "BERTRAM" The stag beetle. So I thought it a kids model or a bulky model like the Heller-kits, which I personally do not like so much. The box came with a building plan and a little description of the beetle and it's lifecycle.



But then an Ebay seller had it complete for a good price and with good pictures of the box! I could read the text:
'Authentic to the smallest detail'and 'Faithfully reproduced from actual specimens supplied by a leading museum'. I decided to go for it ;-).
It is indeed very accurate!



There were also an ant, locust and dragonfly made in the series.







The stag beetle model had 56 unassembled parts, all in a redish brown colour. The plastic was very "weak", maybe because the age and/or storage it had. But what a magnificent detail!
So here are some parts in the first painting fase. I took the time to patiently paint it, using an actual (dead) specimen for reference.





Half a year later I had the time to paint the rest and start assembling.











I will post some more pictures of the finished model soon!

[bmathison1972]

Wow Marcel, that is awesome. That is exactly the kind of thing I'd like to hunt down! Very similar to the Heller and AMT model kits I have presented here. And, this might be the only figure specifically attributed to Lucanus capreolus, a North American species! And your paint job is exquisite. I cannot paint that good (as seen in my model kits).

EDIT: while hunting this down, I did find a cool L. maculifemoratus model kit, but uggh I want L. capreolus!!!!

[Beetle guy]

And some photo's of the finished model. It took hours of painting and glueing, also because some part broke after making effects with terpentine and paint they became very weak. But I managed to repair and repaint all broken parts.
It measures about 18,5 cm.

So 58 years after it was released it has been painted and put together. It was released 11 years before I was born ;-)

I'm pleased with the result.

[bmathison1972]

Man you are a talented painter. And I won't like, I am really jealous for this figure ;-). I have searched vigorously online with no luck. I did find the grasshopper on Jauce for 200+ USD but not willing to drop that money (at least for the grasshopper)

[Beetle guy]

Man you are a talented painter. And I won't like, I am really jealous for this figure ;-). I have searched vigorously online with no luck. I did find the grasshopper on Jauce for 200+ USD but not willing to drop that money (at least for the grasshopper)

Thanks! A lot of time went in it ;-)
The stag beetle is on Yahoo to I think,  but also very expensive.
It sometimes apears on Ebay. I got mine from an israellian seller. I saw them a few times but the US based sellers did not ship to the Netherlands.

[bmathison1972]

Man you are a talented painter. And I won't like, I am really jealous for this figure ;-). I have searched vigorously online with no luck. I did find the grasshopper on Jauce for 200+ USD but not willing to drop that money (at least for the grasshopper)

Thanks! A lot of time went in it ;-)
The stag beetle is on Yahoo to I think,  but also very expensive.
It sometimes apears on Ebay. I got mine from an israellian seller. I saw them a few times but the US based sellers did not ship to the Netherlands.

if you see one let me know! If you can secure it that would be great. I might even double the price to have you assemble and paint as well hehe ;-)

[Beetle guy]

Man you are a talented painter. And I won't like, I am really jealous for this figure ;-). I have searched vigorously online with no luck. I did find the grasshopper on Jauce for 200+ USD but not willing to drop that money (at least for the grasshopper)

I have send you a link!

[brontodocus]

Oh, wow, what a superb job you did on this one, Marcel!  But the model absolutely deserves it. I think I've seen this kit in listings before and haven't been interested because of the box cover. Who would have thought how accurate and fine it really is!

[Beetle guy]

Oh, wow, what a superb job you did on this one, Marcel!  But the model absolutely deserves it. I think I've seen this kit in listings before and haven't been interested because of the box cover. Who would have thought how accurate and fine it really is!

The same counts for me. Until one seller did photograph the pieces in their racks. And also the little print on the box.
Then I noticed the much better detail and proportion.

It was really fun to do. Probably going to use this in an educational stag beetle project I am working on with a befriended taxidermist.

[animaltoyforum]

It looks amazing! What an amazing job you did.

And now we know the origin of your avatar.

[Beetle guy]

It looks amazing! What an amazing job you did.

And now we know the origin of your avatar.

Thanks!