Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien)
- Thread starter Leigh
- Start date
One day our prince will come....
Looking forward to the updates soon Leigh 
Hiya, Thank you for your continued interest.
Its been a strange year...
Last August I got a job doing something completely different.. lost wax casting. My Boss has me focussing mostly on the wax part of it which is interesting but there's a lot to learn still.
I had been working on Bob, I've wanted to make Bob with at least the ability to be fully poseable & I want it to be fairly simple to assemble & set up. I've put a lot of thought into how I'm going to achieve this over a long period of time & so I started to get on with it. The job came along but it didn't stop me, it just slowed me down a bit.
Then towards the end of March this year My best friend was hit by a car & killed, Everything stopped! & I haven't picked it back up yet. I used to walk his dog for him every day & had formed a good bond with her over the years I've been walking & looking after her. As my friend lived alone with his dog I was asked by his parents if I would take her & give her a new home. We have two housebound cats who had never met a dog before & the dog had never been introduced to them after seeing what she does to stuffed toys.
After some training & a lot of careful isolation they all get along fairly well now but it's all been a bit of a distraction.
Since we're getting on top of things now I've started to think about Bob again & I'm pretty sure I can carry on from exactly where I left off.
I've also run a test for shrinkage with the lost wax casting... I'm thinking nickel plated bronze teeth
When I get to a point where I can take some good pics I'll do an update but as things are there's no a lot to show.
Thanks again
Its been a strange year...
Last August I got a job doing something completely different.. lost wax casting. My Boss has me focussing mostly on the wax part of it which is interesting but there's a lot to learn still.
I had been working on Bob, I've wanted to make Bob with at least the ability to be fully poseable & I want it to be fairly simple to assemble & set up. I've put a lot of thought into how I'm going to achieve this over a long period of time & so I started to get on with it. The job came along but it didn't stop me, it just slowed me down a bit.
Then towards the end of March this year My best friend was hit by a car & killed, Everything stopped! & I haven't picked it back up yet. I used to walk his dog for him every day & had formed a good bond with her over the years I've been walking & looking after her. As my friend lived alone with his dog I was asked by his parents if I would take her & give her a new home. We have two housebound cats who had never met a dog before & the dog had never been introduced to them after seeing what she does to stuffed toys.
After some training & a lot of careful isolation they all get along fairly well now but it's all been a bit of a distraction.
Since we're getting on top of things now I've started to think about Bob again & I'm pretty sure I can carry on from exactly where I left off.
I've also run a test for shrinkage with the lost wax casting... I'm thinking nickel plated bronze teeth
When I get to a point where I can take some good pics I'll do an update but as things are there's no a lot to show.
Thanks again
alienbuilder
Sr Member
Sorry for your friend! Sad news.
The lost wax casting on the other hand sounds very interesting. I work in a foundry for 3 years now, but mostly in the metal workshop. But I know the trickiness of wax well. Not an easy material to work with. Nickel plated bronze teeth for bob would be wonderful! Even though I would prefer polished stainless steel ones.
If you got any questions about lost wax casting, maybe I can help. The shrinkage of the wax is always an issue, unfortunately.
The lost wax casting on the other hand sounds very interesting. I work in a foundry for 3 years now, but mostly in the metal workshop. But I know the trickiness of wax well. Not an easy material to work with. Nickel plated bronze teeth for bob would be wonderful! Even though I would prefer polished stainless steel ones
.If you got any questions about lost wax casting, maybe I can help. The shrinkage of the wax is always an issue, unfortunately.
We work with Brass & Bronze only & we plate in copper & nickel. The shrinkage in both the wax & the bronze combined is minimal which is why I ran this test. The teeth you see here wont be used, I'm intending to cast the teeth with no gum, instead the teeth will be connected to a thin metal strip & then cast the gums in plastic around the metal. Doing it this way will save weight & will give a good bonding surface.The lost wax casting on the other hand sounds very interesting. I work in a foundry for 3 years now, but mostly in the metal workshop. But I know the trickiness of wax well. Not an easy material to work with. Nickel plated bronze teeth for bob would be wonderful! Even though I would prefer polished stainless steel ones
If you got any questions about lost wax casting, maybe I can help. The shrinkage of the wax is always an issue, unfortunately.
daredevil665
Sr Member
Hi Leigh, it would be nice to be able to make a first thin outer layer of rubber, to give it a more realistic, leather-like appearance. Then I don't know if you intend to paint and if it would be paintable. The quality of the gloss and the surface roughness can make a huge difference to the realistic result. I have the impression that the rubber is more suitable for achieving this, but maybe I am wrong. Or a final transparent varnish that has particular characteristics for this purpose, but I don't know which one.
brandonstudio
Member
I just came across this sculpt of yours, fantastic work! If only mine could be half as good as yours!
brandonstudio
Member
How did you make the main large hose that is on the sides of the head? I think originally, they used a Rolls Royce air intake hose. Im struggling to make it. Thanks
Hi, Its Quinflex coolant hose, You'll find it with a Google search. It comes in different sizes. If you have a look through some of my early posts in this thread you'll find some discussion on the size I ended up using. The size is important as the spacing of the ribs in the pipe changes as the diameter changes. HTH
