TOO MUCH HORROR BUSINESS: THE COLLECTION OF KIRK HAMMETT
Submitted by Mike0524 on Thu, 06/05/2014 - 14:2
Almost everyone has heard of METALLICA. The lead guitarist for the award winning group is Kirk Hammett. While Kirk has been playing with Metallica for over thirty years, he has been collecting monster and horror movie memorbillia even longer. What started as a fascination with monster films and toys associated with the genre, has grown to include original movie sheets, which are super rare brilliantly colored posters that were meant to be pasted to the walls of the theater, professionally made masks of almost every screen monster, props and wardrobe from the actual films, to intricate scale models of the beasts and creatures from these beloved films. Kirk was not just a collector, he was a builder as well. While over time the needs of his family and the band demanded his attention, the original AURORA monster collection, built by Kirk himself, sits proudly within the monster treasure trove. This is where I came into the story. Kirk was no longer satisfied with having the model part of his collection sitting in boxes, unbuilt and unpainted. Through a mutual friend, Danny Soracco of Dimensional Designs, I was introduced to Kirk and was given the delightful task of bringing life to the resin, vinyl, and plastic monster kits. I can't overstate what a vast collection it is, with some of the oldest and rarest from the modeling hobby we call "garage kits". Kits so rare and so valuable I had only seen them in a book, were now my responsibility to build and paint. It has been quite an experience, and it is a feeling of relief whenever Kirk is pleased with the results. Until recently, only close friends of Kirk were able to see this amazing museum full of monster memories. Kirk has chosen to share it with the rest of the world, with mobile "Krypts" at special concerts, to writing his own book about his collection,"TOO MUCH HORROR BUSINESS'. The book led Kirk to hosting his own music/horror convention in San Francisco,"KIRK VON HAMMETT'S FEAR FESTEVIL'. As Kirk reveals his prized posessions to the world, the models I build for the collection recieve exposure as well. It has been a thrilling ride, and an honor as well.
