Medicom Alien repaint

[abake]

Right, so here's my WIP Medicom Alien repaint.
As always, my buddy Fabio has been doing the honors.

We used a mix of Tamiya Acrylics and Testors Enamels on the figure. Since we started, a couple of weeks ago, there have been no signs of degradation on the suit.  



As we started this project, we just decided to go one step at a time, since he's not an expert in things Alien and I can't paint to save my life. We basically sat down with a blank canvas and no clear plan to follow.



One thing I did know is that I didn't want to follow the usual paint app schemes used on alien figure, i.e. tons of dry-brushing over dark washes and the "tiger-camo" pattern of stripes. Not because they look bad or anything, but rather because I wanted to see if we could devise something a bit different.



So I took my cue from the nature of the beast: Giger's original idea of a bio-mechanical being and the reality of the "man-in-a-suit". Thus, we started working with rust colors and applied them in different techniques to try and achieve a look of a surface that is rusting due to excess of moisture, kinda like when water leaves rust marks on a surface as it flows over it. The other aspect was to achieve light patches in certain areas with light tan colors to mimic the way the paint peeled and dissolved off the suit during filming.



On top of that (in different painting sessions), we did some dry-brushing with medium grays and applied semi-gloss coats.

As I said, it's still a WIP. The teeth have been repainted with Metal-cote, but there's still some buffing to do and then the off-white/bone gums have to be retouched. I believe a little bit of dark/black washes and some more gloss are in order as well. Maybe.

Anyway, fire away with comments and critique, it's all welcome!



Damn! Wrong forum... could this be moved to Personal Projects? Thanks!

[Sabres21768]

Damn, that is a kick ass repaint!

I want mine repainted now. 

What is that base you used in the pics?

[abake]

Thanks Chris!
I answered about the base in the freaks boards, but it's basically a WWII aircraft carrier landing strip with WWII tanks' stuff added.

[the Reverend]

nice paint up...and nice dio as well great use of the flight deck

[abake]

Thanks man, coming from you it's high praise indeed!

[altwcre666]

Great hit with some nice amount of details. The figure is definitely more accurate than before, Good job!  .

Please see my last work in personal projects, too. Thanks 

Regards

[ALIENOBSESSION]

lovely job!!

More and more I think that I should get this Medicom Alien...... really nice....

[Figuremaster Les]

  Looks great Bake!
If I would do any more, and I am talking of my own prefs here, it would be to do some washes of watered down black in the cracks and crevices, some...but only if you were comfortable with the idea. Otherwise, I like your colors and it looks SO much better than it did!
Love the details on the tubes and the finger and toe nails.

Bravo!  

[ALIENOBSESSION]

Looking more and more at the Medicom Alien, I am starting to really wonder if I should not try to buy it .....more than the HT big chap !!!!!

Nobody on the Hive has got one for sale by any chance ?

[abake]

Thanks for the tips and kind words Les!
You are a great artist and fan of the alien, so your advice is golden to me.
I will work some black washes into the sculpt in general and especially try to bring out some detail on the face. Hopefully I will have time this week...
Posted on: January 26, 2010, 09:41:38 AMAO, there's a good deal on the Medi-alien at BBTS, they have one with broken tail (looks easily fixable though) for 85 dollars, and brand new for 103 dollars.
I doubt you'll be able to find it much cheaper than that, except on ebay.

[ALIENOBSESSION]

Many thanks Abake, just read your answer....going to have  a look on BBTS..

[abake]

Alright guys, thanks for all the feedback and positive comments.
Here's round 2 of repainting.

This time we just went for washes with very diluted black paint (again Testors enamel). We applied them with a very fine brush and that was it. That's it for now, I don't think we'll try much more, because the concept or idea behind it is to achieve a different look from what is usually done with alien paint apps.

Hope you guys like it!





I tried to keep the pics as neutral as possible, but it's hard to get a good balance with all the highlights and shadows...


Posted on: February 05, 2010, 09:10:22 AMHere's a couple more:








Posted on: February 05, 2010, 09:11:01 AMIt's odd how photography brings out details that are not that apparent to the naked eye and obscures others...
Oh well, here's a couple of more "artistic" pics.







Forgot to mention, we also repainted the teeth with Metal Cote (Aluminum) and repainted the gums off-white.

[Dan]

very excellent work here! Lots of shades going on & they transition beautifully!

[abake]

Thanks Dan!
It's been fun doing this repaint.

BTW, should this be moved over to Personal Projects? I posted it here mistakenly.

[Dan]

BTW, should this be moved over to Personal Projects? I posted it here mistakenly.

done 

[the Reverend]

you kicked this pig up a bit    nice job..... i might grab one now 

[abake]

Thanks Dan!

You really should get one Rev, would love to see what you could do with it!

[Figuremaster Les]

WHOAH!!!  
You have REALLY got me wanting this bad boy now! Damn! He looks GREAT!!! 
Super job Bake. You've done a really nice job on him.

[abake]

Wow Les! Thanks a lot man!
Means a lot to me that you like the way it turned out. 

[Xenodork79]

Outstanding work, abake. 

I must say, the approach you guys went with really does enhance this piece tremendously. The highlights really pop and the detail comes through in ways it never could before. The "rust" effect is especially nice, and really does lend itself to all the attributes you spoke of. Very cool and very well done.

I really should consider doing something to mine. He looks cool as is, but would just stand out even more on the shelf if there was more going on, as with this custom.

Again, stellar work!

[abake]

Hey there fellas!
Was messing around taking photos of some figures and on a whim decided to take a couple of the Medi-alien again.
Nothing's changed, no new paint apps.

[FooFighter]

If I didn't know better, I would swear that you are actually having fun with this repaint. 

I wanted to comment on your original design or paint scheme and applaud your decision to venture out a bit in terms of color choices etc.  Reverend and I followed a somewhat similar pattern on my life size Alien (and others) while adding some enhancements that I believe are better than the original.  Some Alien purists might be offended but it does open the door to new possibilities.  I have not been a big fan of this particular statue but you all did such a good job that you have generated new interest in it.  The addition of the black washes really helped to bring out detail by the way but I think you already know this.

Well done!

FooFighter

[abake]

Thanks for the comments FF!
And yes, I am having fun with this figure!

A couple more pics: