This is my collection of A.E.F. Designs Aliens 1/35 scale Marines. I've had these models for a long, long time. It's definitely been one of those projects I've always wanted to do but my comfort level was never quite there. At least until recently.
The hardest part was getting started. I wanted the models to be as close as possible to how they were presented in the movie. So the first thing was color schemes. The original colors used were based off Humbrol Paints. There were many online resources to find which colors were used for the camo and armour. That presented a problem because there were a few colors that were no longer being made by Humbrol. Me, being way more comfortable with acrylics I decided to go that route and try to match from there.
With Citadel (Games Workshop) releasing their new line of paints and me having most of the original ones, I started there. Citadel added a lot more paint colors in their last release and I was quite happy with how I was able to match most colors. I had to buy a few extra here and there but it all worked out. I used a lot of online reference photos, and also used the Hot Toys 1/6 scale Models for references as well. If anyone is interested in the colors, please email me and I'd be happy to let you know which ones I used.
These are resin kits, so the quality was either perfect or not-so-perfect and required holes to be filled or parts to be sanded down. But overall I was very impressed with the quality of the models. When the prep and fitting was done I "loose" built (meaning I used a tiny amount of glue for the helmets, arms, weapons, and lamps) so that after basecoating I took them all off so I could fully paint each piece.
Another touch of realism I wanted to add was webbing and wiring. I ended up using 0.019 inch diameter black wire and 1/16" black ribbon (which I used for webbing). It actually turned out pretty well, though on some models it was hard to make the webbing "sit down."
These first few Marines pictured are Wierzbowski, Crowe, and Dietrich (left to right). They were easy enough. Wierzbowski was the first model done up and I probably painted him a total of 3 times, trying to get the colors, patterns, and washes right.
The next models are Smartgunners Drake and Vasquez. These were the most fun, and also the most challenging. The Smartgun rig is harder to place together than I had imaged. These were also the first models that required "personalization." Drake having the "BITCH" on his Smartgun and Vasquez having "ADIOS" on hers. Vasquez also having "El RiESGO SiEMPRE ViVE" on her armor. A lot of patience went into that... The wiring was also quite tough to wrap around the Smartguns. The originals had two wires that wrapped around the rigging arms, I tried that and it looked way too crowded so I settled with just one. The batteries that power the Smarguns were also a little different. I think the original battery was based off a potato gun, the actual batteries don't have that little handle on the bottom. The kit pieces have that little handle so I just left them, if it bugs me I can always cut them off...
The next models are Frost and Apone. Frost had a little white heart with an arrow through it with the word "HEATH" in the middle. Not possible for me so I settled with the heart and arrow. Apone was pretty easy, he just had a lot of accessories, binoculars, motion tracker, Pulse Rifle.
The hardest part was getting started. I wanted the models to be as close as possible to how they were presented in the movie. So the first thing was color schemes. The original colors used were based off Humbrol Paints. There were many online resources to find which colors were used for the camo and armour. That presented a problem because there were a few colors that were no longer being made by Humbrol. Me, being way more comfortable with acrylics I decided to go that route and try to match from there.
With Citadel (Games Workshop) releasing their new line of paints and me having most of the original ones, I started there. Citadel added a lot more paint colors in their last release and I was quite happy with how I was able to match most colors. I had to buy a few extra here and there but it all worked out. I used a lot of online reference photos, and also used the Hot Toys 1/6 scale Models for references as well. If anyone is interested in the colors, please email me and I'd be happy to let you know which ones I used.
These are resin kits, so the quality was either perfect or not-so-perfect and required holes to be filled or parts to be sanded down. But overall I was very impressed with the quality of the models. When the prep and fitting was done I "loose" built (meaning I used a tiny amount of glue for the helmets, arms, weapons, and lamps) so that after basecoating I took them all off so I could fully paint each piece.
Another touch of realism I wanted to add was webbing and wiring. I ended up using 0.019 inch diameter black wire and 1/16" black ribbon (which I used for webbing). It actually turned out pretty well, though on some models it was hard to make the webbing "sit down."
These first few Marines pictured are Wierzbowski, Crowe, and Dietrich (left to right). They were easy enough. Wierzbowski was the first model done up and I probably painted him a total of 3 times, trying to get the colors, patterns, and washes right.
The next models are Smartgunners Drake and Vasquez. These were the most fun, and also the most challenging. The Smartgun rig is harder to place together than I had imaged. These were also the first models that required "personalization." Drake having the "BITCH" on his Smartgun and Vasquez having "ADIOS" on hers. Vasquez also having "El RiESGO SiEMPRE ViVE" on her armor. A lot of patience went into that... The wiring was also quite tough to wrap around the Smartguns. The originals had two wires that wrapped around the rigging arms, I tried that and it looked way too crowded so I settled with just one. The batteries that power the Smarguns were also a little different. I think the original battery was based off a potato gun, the actual batteries don't have that little handle on the bottom. The kit pieces have that little handle so I just left them, if it bugs me I can always cut them off...
The next models are Frost and Apone. Frost had a little white heart with an arrow through it with the word "HEATH" in the middle. Not possible for me so I settled with the heart and arrow. Apone was pretty easy, he just had a lot of accessories, binoculars, motion tracker, Pulse Rifle.
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