Halcyon Alien3 ‘Alien Creature’ 1/9

[Meteors]

Hey guys,

 

For my next project I’ll be making this classic kit. Here’s a look at my progress so far:

 

 

 

The fit isn’t too bad, nothing a bunch of elastic bands and clothes pegs can’t fix for the most part. As you can see here the arms, legs, and tail went together quite well, with only a little bit of Citadel Green Stuff in a couple of places to fill some small cracks and gaps.

 

 

 

As you might be able to see I’ve been able to sand down some of the seams very nicely so that they’ve totally disappeared, especially along the back of the thigh there.

 

I’ve done a bit of work on his face, but as most of that will be hidden under the cowl, which is quite opaque, I wasn’t going to go too mad on it. He needs a little more work on the chin.

 

 

Here’s under his jaw which you won’t see too much of;

 

 

The top, which again will be hidden under the cowl;

 

 

And I won’t show you under the back of the head as that looks entirely Not Safe For Work!

 

The biggest issues so far are this large gap along his shoulders, which should be easily fixed with some putty; 

 

 

...and a massive gap when you attach the head to the torso. 

 

 

 

Getting filler in there and then sanding it will be pretty tricky I reckon.

 

Thanks for looking, hopefully I’ll have an update soon with some assembly and maybe some primer in it!

 

Cheers,

Tom

[SMD70]

I did build this kit 26 years ago and recently picked another up and made a start a week or two back... sanding and filling..

I've got as far as assembled and given it a coat of primer... put it on hold though when I realised I didn't have the colour paint I need... Doh!!!

 

Love the pose on this kit.

[Carts]

Love this kit,for a styrene kit the pose is incredibly dynamic,cracking start.

[Meteors]

11 hours ago, SMD70 said:

I did build this kit 26 years ago and recently picked another up and made a start a week or two back... sanding and filling..

I've got as far as assembled and given it a coat of primer... put it on hold though when I realised I didn't have the colour paint I need... Doh!!!

You should do a build thread, we could have a mini group build going!

 

11 hours ago, Carts said:

Love this kit,for a styrene kit the pose is incredibly dynamic,cracking start.

Thanks Carts, this was one of the few Halcyon kits I didn’t have a s a kid, so I’m loving what I’m seeing so far, it’s going together pretty well! 

 

Glued the the head to the torso last night, so I’ll get to filling those gaps in this evening. I’m a bit nervous about this part, I don’t want to screw it up!

[RACETRACK]

good luck with this beastie! I think this was one of the kits that re inspired me to get back into building quite a while ago. Enjoy the build,I did but even now looking at it on my shelf I wish I'd never painted the creature's dome/cowl...

[Rwa66]

I also have this kit that is sporadically being worked on. I spent a lot of time cleaning up. I would be interested to know how you are going to glue the clear head part. I have cut back and polished the transparent part and it can be made a great deal clearer than it comes oob. Looking forward to more of your build.

Cheers

Richard

[Meteors]

22 hours ago, Rwa66 said:

I have cut back and polished the transparent part and it can be made a great deal clearer than it comes oob. Looking forward to more of your build.

Cheers

Richard

Thanks Richard, attaching the dome has been a bit of a worry, not sure what adhesive to use, and whether to paint it completely, partly, or even at all!

 

The painting guide insert that comes with the kit seems to have painted it totally, but I do feel I’d like to see some of the head details underneath, so I’m not sure what to do.

 

 

Mine seems to be very cloudy, what did you use to clean and polish it up?

[Rwa66]

Hi,

What I have done is cut back the clear dome with 1200 wet and dry with water and fairy liquid (dish soap) as a lubricant. Then use a plastic polish like Novus or tamiya compound to polish up to a high shine. You could just use polishing compounds working from course through to fine. Do inside and out for clarity. I then masked the head with 1mm micro tape and primed it. The tape should give me a clean joint for gluing. I plan to finish painting the inside of the head then tape or use rubber bands to hold the clear dome in place. Then I will run some Tamiya extra thin or plastic weld along the joint, use small amounts of liquid glue and don't flood the joint as there may be a risk of fogging the clear dome. when thoroughly dry I will fill and fair the joint after masking the clear dome. I will use melted sprue or milliput for filling the joint between the clear part and the rest of the head, but like I say, masking it first. I must stress that I do not know for certain that this way will be easy or even work as I have not got round to cementing the clear part. It may be possible to use a non fogging super glue or clear epoxy. I will be trying the liquid glue method. The front of the clear part will be black and fades to transparent so you could start at this place as it can be hidden if it doesn't work.

Hope that helps.

All the best

Richard

P.S. Have you seen this same kit built and modified by Yoshihiko Sano, It's certainly worth a look.

Edited May 11, 2018 by Rwa66

[Meteors]

Wow, Richard, thanks for a very detailed response! I’ve never really done anything with clear parts before, so that’s sure to come handy!

 

I’ll have a look at that one you recommended, thanks for that.

 

Tom

[Meteors]

Quick update, gave it a light coat of primer, looks pretty good, used Citadel’s green stuff to fill gaps along the shoulders, neck, and hips beforehand and it worked pretty well.

 

 

 

 

 

Came up pretty well, revealed a few flaws and places that need a bit more attention. It also made me realise that I really want to be able to see the ‘face’ and the ridges on the head under the dome, they look really good.

 

 

I’ve left the arms off for ease when painting, but here are a couple of pics to see what it’ll look like. It’s a great pose, as many have already noted! Really looking forward to getting some colour on it!

 

 

 

Tom

[SMD70]

Looking really good!

 

[rockpopandchips]

That is a nice looking kit, have you had a look at these?

 

 https://www.sideshowtoy.com/collectibles/alien-alien-big-chap-sideshow-collectibles-2002331/#&gid=1&pid=9 

[Carts]

One of my all time  favourite styrene kits ever,your doing a bang on job,Will follow with interest.

Ive had mine for well over 25 years and lost count of the amount of times Ive had to re-glue the tail back on

[Hunter Rose]

Nice he does have a really cool pose, look forward to the paint stage!

[Brundledonk]

Great work on the seams 👍 And it's amazing how much difference a coat of primer makes to the look. Have to agree with everyone that the pose is great, he looks really menacing and ready to pounce. 

These old Halcyon kits are great and It would be great if someone could get hold of the moulds and repop them at a reasonable price 

 

Pete

 

 

[Meteors]

Hey guys, thanks for the comments, I’m so sorry I haven’t acknowledged them or provided an update for a while.

 

I managed to get some base colour on the creature, I used a bottle of mig ammo rotbraun for a base. This is actually a bottle that has something wrong with it, it’s far too orange, but I thought it would make for an interesting start.

 

 

Then I applied some Vallejo burnt umber.

 

 

 

In a few places I applied a bit more to see if I liked the effect, and I’ve decided I do, so I’ll darken the arms and legs a bit more.

 

 

Then I’ll seal it all in and give it some washes and dry brushing to highlight all those little bumps and stuff.

 

 

The head needs a lot more work, I’ll need to get some shading in those ridges, and do his teeth. Haven’t decided yet what to do with the dome, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it! Hopefully sooner rather than later!

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Tom

[Will Vale]

That's looking really good, I feel like I should try and track one down.

 

W

[Gimme Shelter]

great to see this kit again - I had forgotten it existed - I built this when first released years and years ago - seeing the kit base brings loads of memories back to me - my kit got stolen from my flat during a party - no idea what happened to it but my paint job was not worth stealing for sure.

 

good luck with your build - great to see this old classic on the bench

[Meteors]

Hey guys, sorry there hasn’t been an update for so long. First off the World Cup happened, and that had me occupied for a month, so no modelling got done. Then shortly after that I had to have surgery on my back again, so that’s laid me up for over two months. Finally getting back in my feet again so hopefully I can get some time and motivation to finish this fella. Sorry for the delay and lack of updates!

 

(And sorry to hear someone nicked your version of this kit, Gimme!)