Red Sky Diary is the story of Kerulan Ullan-Bataar, AKA Manfred Gallows. Gallows is born from a long line of Vampire hunters. For 700 years, the first born male of his line has taken over the role of the Vampire Hunter. There are many legends surrounding these mysterious hunters. Many Vampires believe him to be a Vampire himself, having existed for so long. Each newborn hunter is trained from birth to take his place. The diary part of the title concerns the written recordings of their activities by each of the hunters over 700 years. In most instances, these journal-like entries make up the narrative of the story.

This kit consists of 8 hollow vinyl and 5 metal pieces.  The vinyl pieces have the usual flash on them which needs to be removed by softening the vinyl with a hair dryer while using a sharp X-acto knife.  No clean up is required for the metal pieces.  The sculpting of Gallows is done flawlessly, from the bandana on his head to his full eye goggles to the number of necklaces he is wearing. The sculptor has captured the human anatomy with the most incredible detail that I have ever seen on a kit. The 6 pack washboard abs to the cuts on his triceps and biceps are done with such precise detail that it looks incredibly lifelike. One has to stop and take a second look to study all of the details on this kit.

Since all vinyl pieces are hollow, including the base, I would recommend using either mountains in minutes or plaster of paris to fill them in. This would allow for pinning of the metal hands that are attached to the rifle to the ends of the vinyl arms. The base is a must to be filled in, even more so considering the fact that it is rather large in circular size, which causes it to be unstable for the kit to stand upon. I would also recommend pinning the kit to the base as well.  Not doing so would allow for the kit to come toppling off.  The makers of the kit have included a detailed instruction and tribal tattoo sheets. The tattoo sheets can be used as a reference guide for painting the tattoos. I would estimate the number of tattoos to be painted on this kit to be about 150, with each arm making up for about 50 or so, making this the most tattoos I have ever seen painted on one particular kit.

The figure calls for a cigarette to dangle from the lips of the Vampire Hunter.  The cigarette is not included in this kit but one can be easily constructed using two part epoxy. There was even sculpted a small hole in the lips to hold the actual cigarette; one has to wonder why they did not include it.

This kit was produced by Side Show who is still in business but not making kits anymore, instead they now produce action figures.  In my opinion that’s too bad because they really had some great talent working on their kits.

Since this kit is no longer being produced, it can still be found on Ebay or at model kit shows. I picked this one up at Chiller in October 2003 for $60.00. I had seen the kit on Ebay for about $40.00-$60.00 minus the shipping. This is a great kit to pick up and add to your collection. You will not be disappointed at all.   

Red Skies Diary receives 5 Paw Prints.