1/3rd scale Alien head sculpt (AVP and Resurrection) Pic Heavy

[joez2391]

well, I am back to school and had to find a new hobby that didn’t involve toxic chemicals and solvents to use in my non ventalated dorm room, so i had to ditch the studio scale modeling for the time being and I chose to try my hand at a sculpture. I have never sculpted anything before, nor have I ever even taken a sculpture class (Im a biology major). So i jumped in and bought a bunch of new tools, a pound of super sculpey and went from there.

I printed out a scaled down alien head, a big thanks to the awesome rpfers who helped me with the measurements!

I didn’t realize how quickly 1lb of sculpey would go, this was the day one progress.

I then realized the 1lb boxes were going to do me no good so i "invested" in an 8 lb box...no more running out now!

I am making the jaw detachable to make it easier for molding/painting down the road.

And here is where I am at now...

I am still in the process of bulking it out and have not started detailing yet. To be honest I have no idea where to even start with texturing so i would love to know any tips or tricks from some experienced sculptors.Let me know what you guys think, since this is my first sculpt with no prior experience i really would love some constructive criticism!

 

[Leigh]

Looking gooood :thumbsup

 

[Alaneye]

I have a 1/3 Alien warrior that looks something like yours at the moment I started it but then went on to Terminator 1 Arnold. This is quite ambitious for a first sculpture, but good on you for jumping in. I think you've done well up to now, the shape looks good, but I would ease back some on the details at this stage. I'd strip off all the mouth tendons etc and the details in the neck and get the underlying structures correct first. Look at your reference and try to deconstruct what they did so you can build the details in layers rather than all at once as it appears you are doing now. At this stage I think that's the best advice I can give.

Al

 

[joez2391]

Looking gooood

Thanks Leigh! glad your going to be following my progress, i need an alien sculpting expert to give me some adivce along the way!

I have a 1/3 Alien warrior that looks something like yours at the moment I started it but then went on to Terminator 1 Arnold. This is quite ambitious for a first sculpture, but good on you for jumping in. I think you've done well up to now, the shape looks good, but I would ease back some on the details at this stage. I'd strip off all the mouth tendons etc and the details in the neck and get the underlying structures correct first. Look at your reference and try to deconstruct what they did so you can build the details in layers rather than all at once as it appears you are doing now. At this stage I think that's the best advice I can give.

Al

Al, thanks for the comment, i would love to see your 1/3 alien warrior sculpture! The 1/3 scale is so nice isnt it? not too big but still big enough to have something to show for it.

I know picking an alien didnt seem like the first thing i should have sculpted, but i figured it was the perfect balance of smooth parts and a variety of cool textures, This way I could practice as many different situations in one piece and learn from them as i go. This is one of those learning experience projects that I am actually really enjoying so far to be honest. Its actually kind of fun trying to figure out things on my own, as I move along.

Well now onto the update, i finally found some free time to put in some more work. AlanEye, I took your advice and stripped the tendons off and retooled the mouth completely. I tried to blend in the tendons a lot better and finally was happy with the shape.

I was happy with all of my general bulking and details and finished the base section, so I decided to start adding some textures to see how well the tendons would look, then that turned into starting to detail the neck as well. It still has a way to go as I will contunally be building up on different textures, experimenting with different tools and see how they react to the clay. So far i scratched some wrinkle lines on the neck first and then after that I took two different paint brushes and used the backends to create the pitted and circled details in the neck. Still not sure about the base but that can be done last so im not too worried about it.

What do you guys think so far?

 

[handler]

It's looking nice. Still a lot of work to go, but nice ambition and I'll be watching to see how it comes along.

 

[Leigh]

Thanks Leigh! glad your going to be following my progress, i need an alien sculpting expert to give me some adivce along the way!

Ahhh mate, I'm no expert :$ I'm (like you) learning as I go, But thanks for the complement

Its looking really good. The detailing's looking great :thumbsup
One thing I've found myself doing is I spend alot of time looking at the ref pic's & then at mine, alot of time!!!!
I'm always finding bits (however small) that I feel arnt quite right (as I see it) & changing them.
At first I found it really hard to undo something I'd spent alot of time on & do it agian but in most cases its been a slight improvement & well worth doing.
In my case I started to think it would be nice to get mine done for an event in November but realisticly I'm putting myself under too much pressure with time limmits & if I want to get mine looking right I need to take my time.
So dont be in a rush to finnsh this.

Keep up the good work

 

[Ray22]

The best advice I can give is to do it up in layers so you dont have that everything is melted together look, first I got the basic shape and smoothed out use 91% alcohol on the sculpey then I baked it after that sand it to the point wear it was smooth then started adding seperate pieces on top of it layers here are 2 different versions. Alien is not the most esyy subject to begin with I know it was my 1st sculpting project also Lol, but your on the right track keep at it.

 

[kialna]

Very nice!

 

[Leigh]

Its been a while, I keep looking but no updates ??

 

[joez2391]

thanks for all of the nice comments guys, and Ray those are some really impressive sculptures! I really love the Aliens ones you are working on now, and the other painted ones from Alien look awesome. I really like the look of the one with the arms on it, such a great pose.

Leigh, I know exactly what you mean, it is so difficult to change something that you work so hard on but i have done it a few times on this already and it always pays off in the end. The innacuracies are never noticable until they are compared to eachother. Im sorry that there havent been any updates in a while but ive been absolutely swamped with school work unfortunately and I havent even touched it since the last post. It kills me to stare at it everyday knowing i didnt have time for it but im going to start working on it in a few minutes and Ill post up an update tonight or tomorrow

 

[Ray22]

Thanks Joez, looking forward to seeing your progress on your sculpt hey a least you'll maybe have some time to work on it during the holiday break, when I did my 1st Alien sculpt it was a disaster I was using messy water based clay. Then I discovered Super Sculpey and I just went on a sculpting binge stick with it I find it relaxing and rewarding.

 

[joez2391]

Re: 1/3rd scale Alien head sculpt (AVP and Resurrection) Pic Heavy UPDATE #3

oh man cheap water based clays are the worst, i couldnt even imagine trying to sculpt an alien using them. This is my first time using an oven bake clay, when i was younger I always had to use self drying clay so i never realized how fun sculpting is until i used the super sculpey. I love it and I already have a laundry list of new things i want to give a shot at sculpting...well, after i finish this of course :behave

Well anyways, I had the night to myself so I finally managed to get a few hours of work in. I bulked up under the back of the head and added some rough wrinkles to the underside. i deepened the wrinkles along the plates on the back of his neck as well.

The jaw tendons were bothering me too, they looked way too thick to me so i picked at it a little and added some more details and bumps to it. Im sure it will look a lot better once i add the teeth but im waiting to sculpt them right before baking so they dont get in the way.

I also added more pitting to the neck and added the detailing to both sided of the neck, last time i had an update it was only detailed on one side:rolleyes. I really love the organic feel of this alien and im really trying to capture the feel of it, as compared to the more robotic look from Alien and Aliens.

the next step, I am going to create a nice paste of thinned out sculpey and pour some veins and details over the neck to give it some nice interesting tendons and veins and bumps everywhere. I dont know how it will look so that should be interesting, ill try it on a space piece of clay first

 

[Leigh]

:thumbsup Loving the detail

Are you going to define he's throat area & blend it from the neck into the underside of the jaw??

Its comming along nicely.
I find myself listening to music when I work on Bob, usually a movie sound track. I've got a bit of a liking for the Predator & the Alien soundtracks lately...really gets me in the right mindset although I was listening to the Prodigy the other day working on Bob :angry sped things up a little :lol

Have you thought about maybe making the teeth & gums separatly?? It might help to visualise the finnished peice with them fitted ?? if you get me :confused

Oh also I have the book "the making of Alien ressurection" there arnt many good creature pics but I could scan them for you send them via a message if you want??

 

[Ray22]

That is looking pretty good Joez way better than my first attempt Lol.

 

[joez2391]

Thanks Leigh! hmm im not really sure about the jaw blending, in the refrence pics i have its just mostly the top of the head from the profiles auction and im only working off one pic where it has the neck attached unfortunately. I havent listened to any music working on this yet, usually have tv on, but im sure it can only help, especially the aliens tracks!

As for the teeth, i think you may be right, i was actually just looking into ordering some apoxie sculpt this way the teeth wont crack or disform. Ive worked with it before and it doesnt have to be baked which is a plus.

Yes any new refrence pics would be really appreciated...Ill PM you my email!

Thanks Ray! but im sure yours was still great...plus your scratchbuilding skills are insane, i cant believe how quickly you built the apc and even the progresson the moldy crow!

 

[complex plastic]

Wow, you are a very talented sculptor, that is very impressive.

Cheers,

 

[jessec]

Very nice! Looking good so far....

 

[Ray22]

Lol, Joez if you think 5 months working on the APC is a short time it feels like forever. I finished the mold its 2 pieces and the damn thing weighs close to 20 pounds so I definitely need to finish making the rotocast machine simple 2 axis hand cranked becuase try to hand turn this block of rubber for 10 minutes or so will get tiring, the Moldy Crow now that has been a quick model I would have it finished now but have been working on the APC mold, any updates on your sculpt?

 

[GoblinKing]

That alien is amazing!

 

[blbarrett]

Great job, looks like a fun project, but not a simple one