Fullsize Alien Warrior Build (Xenomorph)

[Metalalien]

Here is a paint test to see how it looks on video...

 

[Palantirion]

Love it! The hue shift is dynamic, and the pearl (or metallic?) gives it even more life.

 

[Metalalien]

Love it! The hue shift is dynamic, and the pearl (or metallic?) gives it even more life.

Thanks! I'm real happy with it. The shimmering is a green FW ink. I was finally applying a matte coat (been riding bareback up till now) and the green really popped when it was wet before the matte dried. I think it's really gonna stand out when the final gloss goes on top.

 

[Palantirion]

Thanks! I'm real happy with it. The shimmering is a green FW ink. I was finally applying a matte coat (been riding bareback up till now) and the green really popped when it was wet before the matte dried. I think it's really gonna stand out when the final gloss goes on top.

-Sounds great! Also remember that dark colors will shift darker when glossed, sometimes unpredictably. The black shading on my Green Queen shifted darker more than I expected when I glossed it. Looked ok, but wasn't what I expected so I got a little lucky. It's good you're already keeping an eye on the clear when it's wet.

p.s. Regarding matte clears, Liquitex is weird because it NEVER needs stirring - the flattening agent never seems to fall out of suspension. It's the only matte clear I've every experienced that kept itself suspended. Also, it can be applied thick without fogging (which you've now seen). Whereas Tamiya acrylic flat coat HAS to be airbrushed in thin coats or else it can fog unpredictably as it dries. I suspect this is because the flattening agent has too much time to settle and maybe is attracted to other agent molecules. Don't know. But I DO know it can ruin your day when you find out! However Tamiya's paints and clears are harder than Liquitex and other soft body non-hybrid acrylics. So there are times I'll use Tamiya for durability. For a big alien's isolation coats I'd definitely use Liquitex.

 

[Metalalien]

-Sounds great! Also remember that dark colors will shift darker when glossed, sometimes unpredictably. The black shading on my Green Queen shifted darker more than I expected when I glossed it. Looked ok, but wasn't what I expected so I got a little lucky. It's good you're already keeping an eye on the clear when it's wet.

p.s. Regarding matte clears, Liquitex is weird because it NEVER needs stirring - the flattening agent never seems to fall out of suspension. It's the only matte clear I've every experienced that kept itself suspended. Also, it can be applied thick without fogging (which you've now seen). Whereas Tamiya acrylic flat coat HAS to be airbrushed in thin coats or else it can fog unpredictably as it dries. I suspect this is because the flattening agent has too much time to settle and maybe is attracted to other agent molecules. Don't know. But I DO know it can ruin your day when you find out! However Tamiya's paints and clears are harder than Liquitex and other soft body non-hybrid acrylics. So there are times I'll use Tamiya for durability. For a big alien's isolation coats I'd definitely use Liquitex.

I almost did the splotching that you did but at this point anyhow.. I like how clean it looks.. like a new motorcycle or something. Maybe i'll change my mind or maybe not I was just re-reading your queen thread.

 

[Palantirion]

I almost did the splotching that you did but at this point anyhow.. I like how clean it looks.. like a new motorcycle or something. Maybe i'll change my mind or maybe not I was just re-reading your queen thread.

I like the clean look of yours too. Plus, your sculpt has a lot of fine detail (compared to the queen) so the paint needs less. And it'll be up high so readability at that distance is more important that what we see close up in pics. And, worst case...you can do splotching later if you feel it needs more texture. Make sure you keep checking it at the final viewing distance. Do the fashion trick - close your eyes for a few seconds then open them...what does your gut say? If it needs more, then it needs more. If it feels right, then it is right.

 

[joberg]

Love the paint job; it has an organic look. I know that if you want to imitate Nature, you'll have a complex paint job ahead of you.
When you see certain beetles, the hues and different colors are mind boggling.

 

[Metalalien]

Love the paint job; it has an organic look. I know that if you want to imitate Nature, you'll have a complex paint job ahead of you.
When you see certain beetles, the hues and different colors are mind boggling.
View attachment 1795769

I ordered a few other colors to play with... now I gotta wait.

 

[Palantirion]

Love the paint job; it has an organic look. I know that if you want to imitate Nature, you'll have a complex paint job ahead of you.
When you see certain beetles, the hues and different colors are mind boggling.

-Funny you should bring that up...My favorite queen paint job is from Resurrection, and in certain scenes it looks to have a metallic green shimmer dancing over the brown details. I think, now in hindsight, that this was a lighting effect and not part of the paint - but point being it gave me an idea years ago which will now be applied to an upcoming queen project (yes another one). I'm intending to push the beetle boundaries, we'll see what happens...

Can't wait to see what tricks Metalalien has in store for us...!

 

[Metalalien]

I got my other colors... they show pretty good on video but stills not so much.. some shimmering gold and red...

I will have to wait until the gloss coat for the shimmering ti pop I guess.

Oh and panting the tail is as big a pain in the ass as it was to make it...lol

 

[joberg]

Yep, that tail looks wicked

 

[Metalalien]

I'm calling the paint job on the head done... did some dry brushing silver and some finally touches.. Now I have to permanently attach the jaw and blend that in.. and gloss coat it. Lips will be a separate project.

 

[joberg]

Great paint job You've mentioned the lips...what about the tendons on the sides?

 

[Metalalien]

Great paint job You've mentioned the lips...what about the tendons on the sides?

Yep it's going to have all that.. got to do some experiments to see what I make it out of might be clear silicone I'm not sure

 

[Palantirion]

Yep it's going to have all that.. got to do some experiments to see what I make it out of might be clear silicone I'm not sure

- Since the jaw is fixed position you could, maybe, use UV glue (or putty) laid down on a silicone sheet. Glue works good for thin things, it's pretty viscous, but not sure how well you could build up relief. Putty would be better for that. Of, honestly, at your scale you might be fine with an acrylic sheet as a base and then clear silicone caulk over it. Only problem there is the difficulty of painting over it to blend. Might be possible to use Liquitex Gloss Medium as a primer - works on stainless but I've not tried it on silicone so you can tell us. Or...is there a clear latex caulk at Home Depot? If so then that would be much easier to sculpt and paint over. Also, if using latex then it's possible to skip the acrylic substrate because you could squeeze and shape latex directly on a silicone mat...or on wax paper so you can work over a traced outline of the jaw.

Done rambling, GL!

 

[Metalalien]

- Since the jaw is fixed position you could, maybe, use UV glue (or putty) laid down on a silicone sheet. Glue works good for thin things, it's pretty viscous, but not sure how well you could build up relief. Putty would be better for that. Of, honestly, at your scale you might be fine with an acrylic sheet as a base and then clear silicone caulk over it. Only problem there is the difficulty of painting over it to blend. Might be possible to use Liquitex Gloss Medium as a primer - works on stainless but I've not tried it on silicone so you can tell us. Or...is there a clear latex caulk at Home Depot? If so then that would be much easier to sculpt and paint over. Also, if using latex then it's possible to skip the acrylic substrate because you could squeeze and shape latex directly on a silicone mat...or on wax paper so you can work over a traced outline of the jaw.

Done rambling, GL!

I have a few ideas... When the Alien is finished painting and hung from the ceiling again (soon) I will turn my attention to that. Thanks for all your help! You and joberg!

 

[Metalalien]

a few more angles... I guess the shimmer isn't going to how until the gloss coat...

 

[Palantirion]

a few more angles... I guess the shimmer isn't going to how until the gloss coat...

- Cameras have a hard time picking up metallics. Our brains process like 1000 eye samples per second of different white balances and light metering, whereas cameras do 1 at a time. The head looks great already. When you clear it the darks will drop a lot and it'll get more definition. The gloss will probably hide some of the metal flake with its own glare, from certain angles, but then it'll pop more from other angles. Gonna look great!

 

[joberg]

As Palantirion said, cameras have a hard time picking up metallic paints...I'm sure the gloss will highlight some of it for sure

 

[Metalalien]

Joining the lower jaw to the upper...