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by Brian Miller
Scale: Not stated
The show takes place at Possum Lake, a lake somewhere in Canada (168
Beer Stores north of Toronto, to be exact). Adjacent to the lake is a
small village, also called Possum Lake. The local men have formed a
club, called Possum Lodge, where they do what men are supposed to do:
build stuff
take stuff apart
take stuff apart and try to put it back together
take stuff apart, and when it won't go back together, bury it
talk about stuff
complain about stuff their wives made them do
complain about stuff their wives won't let them do
The requirements for membership are any of the following:
can provide legal services
can provide cash
can provide beer
have power tools
have medical supplies
have explosives
or any other specialty benefitting the Lodge
From The Red Green Offical Bio page:
Red Green is the leader of Possum Lodge, Chapter 13, a northern
Ontario eyesore who's motto is Quondo Omni Flunkus Mortati (when all
else fails, play dead). Red has the down home wisdon of Will Rogers,
the rural charm of Garrison Keillor, and about 18 times as much
handyman inventiveness as the entire cast of Home Improvement.
Married to the ever-understanding and never seen Bernice, Red has no
children, just a television show that's a fishing show, a fix-it
show, and a men's advice program all rolled into about 3/4.
Red is the glue that holds the lodge together. He is friendly,
inventive, cheap, and as honest as the day is long, which means he's
the least honest on December 21st. When he works on his Handyman
projects, Red is not stupid, he's just sort of lazy, impatient, and
prone to subsitute sub-standard items (such as using duct tape
instead of nails, screws, bolts, glass, glue, rivets, solder, or
welding) so Red's projects are always less than reliable and more
than butt ugly.
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Red is deeply respectful of his wife Bernice, and quite the opposite
of Harold. Viewers trust Red. He is sensible. He scorns fads and
fancies. He cuts through the crap. He is everyone's friend and
confidant, because he is very tolerant. With friends like he has, he
has to be.
A hero? To paraphrase the official bio, he has to be. Plus, his
motto is "Keep your stick on the ice", useful advice in any situation.
About the model: After looking for quite some time, I found a Dodge
van of the correct vintage. This was made tougher by the fact that
different vans had been used throughout the run of the show; you can
often see a long frame van, but the shorter versions were used also.
The interior is fully furnished with the necessary equipment: rusty
cans, old boards, scattered tools (including a power drill, a
hammer, and a broken lug wrench), a 'jumper' battery, and of course,
14 rolls of duct tape.
Oh, and a radar detector. It's hard to see because the doors are
rusted shut, but trust me, it's all in there.
The exterior features the handpainted Possum, custom plates,
accurized rear view mirrors and trailer hitch, and rust, dirt, and
dents. Red is built up from a Preiser figure, altering the arms and
legs to get the right height, and forming the proper shape using Aves.
The base is built out of plaster over an OSB base; railroad texturing
and landscaping provided the vegetation and dirt; the whole thing is
framed by a fashionable border of duct tape, of course.
Image: Front view
Image: Duct tape
Image: Overall
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