by Erik Zabel

Austin Powers' super spy efforts forced Dr. Evil to go into cryogenic hibernation in 1967 and spend 30 years frozen in a Big Boy statue. He was thawed out in 1997 when greed and corruption ruled again. Dr. Evil's number two man, Number Two, summarized the state of the evil empire: “Over the last thirty years, Virtucon has grown by leaps and bounds. About fifteen years ago, we changed from volatile chemicals to the communication industry. We own cable companies in thirty-eight states. In addition to our cable holdings, we own a steel mill in Cleveland, shipping in Texas, oil refineries in Seattle, and a factory in Chicago that makes miniature models of factories.”

The factory and base were scratchbuilt from white and clear sheet styrene, sprue pieces, and photoetched brass mesh. A printed map of Chicago was added. The Groovy lighting was done using 3mm “warm white” LEDs powered by a 9V battery. The factory was painted with automotive primer, and the base was painted with Krylon satin black. The base is 5” by 5”.

Image: Lights off