Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Ian, I'm still kind of fond of the Aliens design. I thought ditching the dome was not exactly an upgrade, but eh; variation, it's all good. I mean if all of them had been identical we'd be sitting here typing about what a lost opportunity it was to introduce a bit of originality with each movie, etc. But yeah, the A4 and AvP stuff is, well, it's great sculpting, but I dunno, it's just not immortal design for me.

Leigh! Dumb question! You know the dome has that very slight central ridge, right? Best seen in Bowelrock's first front-on pic, above.

Wow that's very impressive! Should make the jaws animatronic! And dont forget the spit!

Amazing work!!!!

Thank you for the kind words guy's

Since theres been so much interest in Bob I feel I should keep you posted, whether I have a positive update or not.

Unfortunatly nothing has happened for the last couple of weeks & I dont know when this will pick up again.

Hopefully I'll be back on track ASAP. I've not lost interest or got to that prop replica building wall, I've just had to let Bob take a back seat for a while.

I will keep you posted as & when things pick up again

Thanks

I was just directed to this post... OH MY GOD MAN... are you trying to give me a heart attack. That's some seriously awesome work and the whole bust concept is just sleek and very stylish and gives it an ethereal beauty that I haven't seen in any other busts.

Will go through the whole thread, reading up on it from beginning to end, but noticed the talk about the dome wrapping around at the rear. AA did the full wrapped around dome, but as far as I've read that wasn't used in the movie, and the prop department had to redo all that and it just seems to me that the bottom part of that wrap around is a separate piece and they glued it together at the middle - hence the seamline between the top and the bottom piece, due to the complexity of vac-forming it with the undercut lip.

I had to pick up my jaw several times when browsing forward... just an all-round awesome sculpt.

Agreed TMG, Leigh's work is impeccable. Giger would be in awe of his talent.

Thanks guy's

Well The head is done & ready to be moulded, shortened spines n all

In order to get more done to the body/base I need to fit the head every so often to check clearances & fit etc.
My plan was to get the head moulded & cast before doing any more to the body/base to save the possibility of the head getting damaged.

Unfortunatly I havent been able to mould the head & out of pure frustration I've carried on with the body anyway.

On with the latest progress

Since I dropped the underside of the head down a bit I've been having problems with the spines on the fin fouling the head, so that needed attention.
I've stripped most of the clay off the fin & reshaped it a bit & it all fits better now





I'll coat the fin in something hard, I'm thinking polyester filler atm & then sand it smooth. It'll have a proper mount made so that it fits the body well & I'll add the detail with the clay.

I've also been working on the chest & the throat as there were area's I wasn't completely happy with. I'm happier with how the chest looks now shape wise but I'm still working on the throat atm





Unfortunately there doesnt seem to be any good ref pic's of the throat & where it joins the chest, from the images I have there also seems to be some more differences even in this area

Don't stress over it, Leigh! Whatver you do isn't going to magically make this piece into a descendant of the screen-used one. There are very few people in the world who could fault it and your solutions are likely going to be better than those of the production anyway. (You've already spent longer on this than the film itself did in photography, after all.) I'm sure I'm not just speaking for myself to say the accuracy is waaaaaay more than acceptable and when combined with better symmetry and bloody good presentation, it's a winner, mate!

Yes Leigh, youve done an Amazing job! The accuracy, is just amazing!

This image is epic! If you lived closer I'd be round in a shot to see this in person.

Al

awesome Leigh.

I still cannot believe this is your first sculpt? A...M...A...Z...I...N...G!
I love the chest work
, really catches the essence of the beast.

There's nothing I can really add to this thread, but I just wanted to say: you are a frakking inspiration

As many others, I soooo hope I could be there and lend you a hand with the moulding...

Don't forget the little rectangles inside the shoulder pauldrons.

amazing work!!!!!

So when is this kit gonna be available in the JY???

Uh oh... Look at this :



More here !!!

Original Prototype Alien Suit



Fred

Hot damn it's a good thing I don't collect screen-used.

WOW!! Thanks for all the great comments guy's

I havent got any updates yet I'm afraid, give it a couple of days

To anyone wanting to have a look at Bob, your more than welcome to pop round Just pm me to arrange something.

Clutch, I hadn't forgotten them, I was hoping to find out what he used there. I think they might be tubed pasta

Fred, thank you for posting that link those images are exactly what I was looking for. I can now get that throat/chest interface a bit more accurate

Nwerke, I thought that price was quite good for what it is. Be nice to own though wouldn't it

Leigh said:

---

Unfortunately there doesnt seem to be any good ref pic's of the throat & where it joins the chest, from the images I have there also seems to be some more differences even in this area

yeah, i was noticing that earlier. i really think they just kind fudged the seam, and it was a little different every time they put either bolaji or the stuntman in the suit.

i'll look and see if i can find any reference pics, but i'm pretty sure you're working from everything i've ever seen and much, much more.

i think you've got one or two extra vertebrae at the top of the sternum, right between the collar bones/shoulder ridges.

arachnophilia said:

---

yeah, i was noticing that earlier. i really think they just kind fudged the seam, and it was a little different every time they put either bolaji or the stuntman in the suit.

i'll look and see if i can find any reference pics, but i'm pretty sure you're working from everything i've ever seen and much, much more.

i think you've got one or two extra vertebrae at the top of the sternum, right between the collar bones/shoulder ridges.

Thanks TBH I'm happy with the pics in the link Fred posted I'll use those for reference for now. From what I can tell & that the suit in the link was listed as a prototype, it appears they may have cut bits off the suit as filming progressed. I'd like to aim for the earliest version with this as it'll be closer to how Giger intended it or originally sculpted it

There are some real interesting little features in these new pic's that I couldnt see before. Although I've noticed the flash lines on other pic's, they really stand out in these pics. My intention is to mould Bob's head in the same way, in 3 sections although I want to cast him in urethane.
They used polyester to make the original heads, its interesting to see just how thin it was.

Question: when they cast the original, would they have layed up the resin & matting on each individual section of the mould & then joined the mould peices together?? I just cant imagine it would be easy to try & lay grp in the mould when its assembled. Limited access especially to the rear of the head

Leigh said:

---

Fred, thank you for posting that link those images are exactly what I was looking for. I can now get that throat/chest interface a bit more accurate

You're welcome Leigh ! When I saw these pics, I knew they would be useful to you and Bob !



BTW, I think this uncompleted suit was an attempt to turn the Alien into something translucent, at least that's what I think now because some of the production photos showing it at the time of Alien on Propstore are also displayed on Andrew Ainsworth's site... and I know he was hired to help the Alien creature team bring this option to life (and of course it failed).
It's my best deduction right now...



Fred

SKIN JOB 66 said:

---

You're welcome Leigh ! When I saw these pics, I knew they would be useful to you and Bob !



BTW, I think this uncompleted suit was an attempt to turn the Alien into something translucent, at least that's what I think now because some of the production photos showing it at the time of Alien on Propstore are also displayed on Andrew Ainsworth's site... and I know he was hired to help the Alien creature team bring this option to life (and of course it failed).
It's my best deduction right now...



Fred

H R Giger writes about it in some detail in the book Giger's Alien. Its quite interesting, I'll quote a bit from the book, its H R Giger's diary of events during production for those who havent read it:

3 August 1978, Shepperton Studios at last we have got to the point where all the moulds needed for the Alien's costume are lying in the plaster's workshop. Since several casts will have to be made from each mould, the moulds have been made of a hard-wearing silicon-rubber with a plastic sheath. Andrew keeps producing more and more experimental transparent costumes. However, the ideal solution has still not been found, because the material is not resistant enough, and tears. Andrew has built a special oven for this work in which the moulds rotate at a constant speed so that the liquid rubber is spread evenly. Unfortunately he still hasn't produced anythng we can use, and time is running short.

12 August 1978, Shepperton Studios Andrew has still not come up with any satisfactory results. The moulds have been badly damaged by his experiments and by the great heat, and have to be patched up by the plasterer's in meticulous detail, or even made all over again. The only conculsion that Andrew has reached is that what we want can only be done with metal moulds. We simply haven't got time to make such things, and the Alien hysteria in the production department is reaching a climax. They have to start shooting very soon and we still haven't got a single costume that can be used. Time is too short for anymore experiments, and we decide to make the whole thing of latex. We finally have to give up our dream of a transparent Alien.



For any of you interested in all things Alien that havent got this book, I highly recommend getting it! its a great read with some awesome pic's
I didn't realise at the time but I got this book when it was first published by Titan books in 89. I used it for inspiration on my 5th year art exam


Fred, the one in the link could well be one of these attempts as you say. I've got to admit I wish I had £8000 burning a hole in my pocket right now, I'd snap that up if I did