S5 modeller Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Good work. The dreadlocks and the colour blending on his skin have been the two main reasons mine is still in the box. Keep up the good work. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaddad Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Very nice work, I like how you solved the problem of bringing the 2 models together, deffo a bit of out the box thinking. Does anybody know what happened to Halcyon?. I once made a Power Lifter to commission & would love to make one for myself but I've given up trying to get one. I've tried several times on E Bay but always get sniped, fed up with that so I guess I have to hope Halcyon might one day be resurrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 Cheers! I have a rescue Power Loader, which I got on eBay about 12 years ago. It's in a real state, and is missing the Ripley figure (I gave it to a friend to get a better sculpted head, but it got very lost in several house moves). I need to get it fixed, wired and lit ASAP - and get the Ripley back... Not sure what happened to Halcyon, other than 'it closed down'. I do know, however, that Aoshima have a lot of the moulds - the Delorean and Aliens stuff in particular. More on the Pred when I've got to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Man those dreads are crazy! 10/10 for patience Looking good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 Here's a little more work achieved of an evening. Some weathering and patina detail to the shoulder armour (going for an Egyptian gold look), and tidying up of dreadlock beads. First layer of dreads is complete - some more work needed on the other shoulder before starting on layer 2, as the first strand flows to the front of the model. Started on the face as well - as this is the focal point (in theory) of the figure, I don't want to leave it until the last mad panic painting session. So far, I've only based the mouth flesh and eyeballs in a pale skin tone - several coats for coverage. The breastplate will get some heavy grunging with GW's Typhus Corrosion, among other things. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carts Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 Excellent colour work,really stands out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S5 modeller Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Good to see you're knocking those dreadlocks into shape. Do the fit easily? I hope there are no entanglement issues. Can't wait to see this finished. Might encourage me to start mine. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Paints looking cool, I really like the right shoulder padding, the blue patina on the gold looks great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Cheers guys! I'm really enjoying this build. Some mild use of adult language, granted, but it's more fun than I expected. Matt - the dreads fit okay - not excellently, but okay. Gotta go plastic to plastic, though, scraping any paint away that has got in the way, otherwise the superglue doesn't work quickly. Going left to right, I've had a couple of tangles - the instructions don't say whether the next strand goes above or below the one before (it would be 50 pages long!), so there's a fair amount of dry fitting for each one. So far, it seems to have worked alright, but I'm dreading (sorry) the second row. I have no idea how they'll fit in with the first row - if they'll intertwine or just sit above. I do know the leftmost strand is going to swing over the shoulder, which is why I've paused the hairdressing, and working on the skin and armour. Hunter - the blue is actually a gorgeous chalky turquoise: Citadel Technical Paint - Nihilakh Oxide. It's brilliant for verdigris patinas. I'll be using their Typhus Corrosion on a lot of the armour, too. Great range of paints - I'd definitely recommend them if you haven't already found them. BTW, I shot video reviews of these last year - links are on the paint names above. (shameless plug, I know). More predator paint and glue when it's ready... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Thanks for the heads up on the paint, might have to grab some myself 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 6, 2015 Author Share Posted June 6, 2015 Here's a bit of Typhus Corrosion on the armour. One bit of advice for anyone using this paint - you have to be sure you want it where you're painting it. It's a gritty wash, and dried with texture, so once it's on, it on forever. The texture does mean that you can drybrush rust over it and get a great (and quick) rust effect - I'm not making this armour 'rusty' as such - I don't think the predator has ferrous materials for his body protection, unless he's been inspired by the crusades... https://youtu.be/YRD8jAk274I I've started applying a black wash to get some deep contrasts in the recesses and edges as well. Citadel Nuln Oil is another magic wash that can be controlled really easily. Very tempted to get the actual oil paints out when he's finished for more shading and weathering. We'll see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Blimey thats quite a challenge - you are a braver man than me! Looks great so far. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Spent a bit of time yesterday with Vallejo acrylics, blending the torso skin tones. I'm not sure it's as bright as I want it yet, but this is where it's at. And some more work on the face. Slowly, slowly wins the race. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Always jumping the gun, me. I'm not 100% happy with the skin-tone (not light enough around the centre, I think), but I just have to try out the fancy technique I read about a few years ago to get the skin mottling. Who can guess the method, and how long it took? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carts Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Jeez,I don't know,Felt tip pen,10 minutes? Joking aside,the Pred looks great 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Spoil sport! about 15 mins. Years ago, when I was a part of the old thehive.net forum, some of the members would repaint their Hot Toys AvP predator figures. They found that a Sharpie was much more efficient than a brush and paint - no runs or accidental splodges, but with a risk of a purple glossy sheen. My only concern is how it will react with clear coat sealants. I'll test on spare parts first! Next bit now - I've been a bit worried about how the Alien head has been moving. After cutting the sword and attaching the ends around the head, the assembly would wobble. I've added some wire to the sword as reinforcement, as I don't want it snapping at the wrist. I'll need to decorate with some Green Stuff or similar - the cloth wrap should go over the wire, and then it will be a part of the Pred's own customisation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 Weekend update - with a week to go until the end of this group build, I'm not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Plodding on regardless, I've made some alterations, and got some more paint on. As I planned last week, I added some Green Stuff to the sword - to reshape the blade, hide the reinforcing wire, and to replace the leather binding. It'll take a day or so to fully cure, so I'll worry about painting it then. I've filled the gap in the leg holster and painted the legs - darker than the body, with slightly paler patches. Spots will follow, and then the fishnets. The skull is less bright white than this photo suggests, and I'll have some skin tidyup to do - especially after the netting. And I've splashed another load of Red Ink in the gullet. It's starting to look really gross and angry. I still have 2 layers of hair to glue... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 The inside of the mouth looks really good! Nice paint skills 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 Thanks Hunter - believe it or not, it's actually just a base of white/offwhite layered with 2-3 red ink washes, allowing to pool in the gizzard-y bits. I'll re-gloss the shiny areas (they're still wet in the photo). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Cool, a very effective technique! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 I performed a little test, to check how varnishes behave when applied to the Sharpie spots. I want to lose the purpley reflection, but don't want the ink to bleed or smudge. I had a spare hand in the Predator box, so I quickly primed and painted similar brown shades on the plastic, and then finished off by drawing spots with the pen. After drying, I applied Vallejo Gloss, Satin and Matte in strips across the spots. As you can see, each of the varnishes behaved well, except over plain primer, where it feathered past its original edge. This won't be a problem on the main model. Onwards... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Managed to get some more dreads attached last night - 23 to go - almost halfway there! and I've dull-coated the skin, so no more purple sheen. I've also done some work on the shoulder weapon - gunmetals and chrome highlights, with a black barrel. I was worried I'd fitted it upside-down, but it's meant to swivel round when it deploys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP2IFFQQFpU It looks less like a quiver of arrows now. I also made some progress on the tusks, and started work on the necklace - good practice for the netting (I want to cry when I think about the netting), and some metal-work on the armour. I still have the rest of the lower body and the alien to do as well, so I'll try not to get too hung up about silly little details... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 For the webbing try a technique I used on surface moulded chain mail on this figure from a couple of years back I used a brush with longer bristles and gently rolled the brush across the surface horizontally, using the side of the brush rather than try to brush with the tips of the bristles. it allowed the raised detail to pick up the paint and avoided getting paint into the recessed areas. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniModelPaint Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 Cheers Kallisti, That's the plan - and no wet palette for that job, either. Still. there'll be a *lot* of breath-holding. I may pass out. Chainmail looks great on her, btw - clearly proving a lot of protection. =p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Lol thanks, sadly I didn't do so well with her eyes, they never really looked right. Never mind, at least the dragon-thingy came out well and er - other parts too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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