King Kong 1968 Marcel Delgado 20" Maquette Don Post

Marcel Delgado created the animation puppets for the original 1933 King Kong.  In 1968 he was asked to create a 20" maquette with Don Post Studios for a Niagara Falls Wax Museum. Famous Monsters of Filmland has featured this item several times while it resided in Forrest Ackerman's Ackermansion. This replica was created right off the original Don Post molds. The maquette will be foam filled with hand laid hair and hand painted hands and face by our Hollywood FX artists. 

 

Figure measures  approx. 20 inches tall x 22 inches wide.

Marcel Delgado (January 16, 1901 in Coahuila, Mexico - November 26, 1976 in Los Angeles, California) was a sculptor and model-maker. His technique revolutionized the stop motion film industry. He is best known for his work on the 1933 film King Kong.

Prior to Delgado, stop motion models where typically made from clay, which was difficult to adjust between shots. Delgado built a skeleton for his models. This skeleton was made from Dural and it was then filled in with foam rubber or cotton cloth and covered with latex to serve as skin, giving his models a more natural and realistic look, while simultaneously making it easier to handle them. Sometimes he also incorporated an inflatable bladder that helped him simulate breathing.