Kyle Reese (WIP)

Alan , that is very understandable , I got a few props, myself, I starting making with my hands , and filing , sanding and just countless , ruthless hours , making stuff from aluminum, and I just got burned out with painting and still haven't painted anymore....since 1 month and a half now...you do loose the so called MOJO...LOL...it takes motivation to get back in the swing.....so much time and energy go into these....and hey we still have real life duties to perform, and when you have time, and want to spend an hour or so getting back into on a weekend , when things calm down, and you feel like it, then you jump in , only when your heart is in your work.....that's what makes it come out the way it does, beautiful work....you got talent , just don't do or take anything on , till you are ready....your skills aint going anywhere my friend...LOL

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Also almost forgot....about Hicks , there are several scenes that are without his helmet, and do have a few good shots of him in the film , that have a few closeups ......so in 2027...I want one...LOL....sorry Alan , just couldn't resist my friend....talk with you soon

Hahaha, you a funny Guy... (see what I did ;) ) but I have been averaging one a year, so your estimate is probably not far off :D I actually grabbed some frames from Aliens to help me try to understand the contours of his features. He's actually probably a bit rounder in the face in Aliens.
 
Alan, the build is looking tremendous. I know where you are coming from with losing the inspiration. My sculpt is starting to turn a corner now, but this only really happens about 2 seconds after I'm ready to smash the thing to pieces. I have to just keep working through the bits when they don't work and have the confidence to make big changes if necessary. The payback is you get a real buzz when it does start working.

I've spent about 2 weeks on the Rancor face. I'll get it great from one reference picture and then I move to another picture from a different angle and try to marry together the new information. It is frustrating and you need the patience of a saint. I'm starting to really appreciate just how much hard work goes into your sculpts. Not just hard work, but subtlety which people just won't understand until they see your work in the flesh.

One other thing which makes a difference is making sure the lighting on a sculpt more or less matches the photo reference. I have therefore been doing mine in a cave :)

Anyhow, keep going! Perhaps think about a change of scale for your next build? The Tiny Arnie head you made worked brilliantly, so it may be a nice change to work bigger or smaller?

Take care,
Chris

Hi Chris, yes, working from different photos can be trying. It kinda annoys me a little bit when someone throws up one photo and says the nose isn't round enough (based on that one photo), or the lips need to be thicker, thinner, wider, or whatever... I'm working from literally 1000s of stills from the film and pictures from the web, and the sculpture probably doesn't look exactly like any of them. What people have to realise is that we will have taken the shape of the eyes from one set of photos, the mouth from another and the nose from another. I've said it before, lighting and angles can make contours look more pronounced than they really are, and the camera lenses can make features look larger or smaller than they really are... and the actor can lose a few pounds during filming which probably isn't really noticeable until you are really studying the images. The trick is in looking at all the reference and trying to distil them into a single 3D image with the 'look' you would like to achieve. I generally don't like to show the reference for that reason. With Kyle, I haven't got him 100%, maybe 80-85% there. But I'm hoping the paintwork will complete the likeness.... (please :D)

Al
 
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Michael Biehn's face is odd. Especially the lips.

You've done an impressive job here. Can't wait to see it come to life with color.
 
Well he did gain some weight during the making of Aliens, to some degree and aged some as well....so some of the facial features are bound to change contour a little I would guess ....yeah I and I seen what you said , about being a funny Guy....LOL...I know what you may be doing has to be extremely hard to do and focus tremendously without your eyes crossing :p :D :p but one day, I would love to have , just one of your works of art , to cherish with my collection, you are the only sculpture artist I have talked to, that I wanted to have a creation from....don't know why, you just have that gift, and you capture every essence of the character you create, I am truly an enormous fan of yours Alan. I hope we meet one day....you are a real stand up guy :p ...LOL...and a true gentleman as well as a professional.... your work is inspiring to me and several others, you work will be a legacy to others , I mean that my friend
 
Well he did gain some weight during the making of Aliens, to some degree and aged some as well....so some of the facial features are bound to change contour a little I would guess ....yeah I and I seen what you said , about being a funny Guy....LOL...I know what you may be doing has to be extremely hard to do and focus tremendously without your eyes crossing :p :D :p but one day, I would love to have , just one of your works of art , to cherish with my collection, you are the only sculpture artist I have talked to, that I wanted to have a creation from....don't know why, you just have that gift, and you capture every essence of the character you create, I am truly an enormous fan of yours Alan. I hope we meet one day....you are a real stand up guy :p ...LOL...and a true gentleman as well as a professional.... your work is inspiring to me and several others, you work will be a legacy to others , I mean that my friend

Thanks, Guy, hopefully I will get there in the end and create all the characters that I would like to.

Michael Biehn's face is odd. Especially the lips.

You've done an impressive job here. Can't wait to see it come to life with color.

Yeah, his lips are very distinctive, but difficult to understand how the shapes fit together. As for the paint, yeah me too, just hope I can do a decent job.

Hi Alan, this is looking pretty damn good. How far away from moulding and casting this beauty?

Thanks Garlic, I'm thinking I might be moulding him next weekend... maybe. :)
 
I did this Photoshop mock-up for Alan just to see what the build could look like when painted. It's a bit rough and ready but I'm sure you'll agree that Alan's skills are unbeatable. I swapped the chrome eyes for photos of Michael Biehn's eyes :)

1001550_184173445098446_1781302084_n.jpg
 
That IS Kyle Reese!!! If the paint job on Alans first casting is half as good as the photo-shopped image it should look incredible :)
 
When Chris showed me this photoshop paint, right away I asked him if he had manipulated the image in some way to make it look better. He said he hadn't, but I still didn't believe him really (sorry Chris :D) and I got out the original to compare, and indeed this is my sculpture under his paint. I had always hoped that the paint would bring out the likeness, but this is beyond my dreams (I know the real eyes make a huge difference) but if I can get anywhere near this with my paint job, I will be over the moon. Chris has done an incredible job, thank you.


Oh and here is a gif I did to swap between the original and the painted.

 
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Damn! I have always been envious of Alan's sculptor skills but now I have to be envious of Christrom's Photoshop skills, too! Beautiful and amazing, both!


Sent from my iPhone using Ta
 
Great idea to show both images as a GIF, shows that it's a true representation. I'm bowled over by it to be honest!!
 
I'm bowled over myself, I have to keep looking at the gif to see where Chris changed the original image... but he hasn't :D It's amazing how the paint around the lips, and that pale line, fully brings out the mouth. Also the stubble makes such a difference. Kyle's stubble is quite thick in the movie and I was going to try sculpting it, but I'm not sure I need to if this effect is possible with real paint.
 
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Just a quick comment on the plinth. Have you checked someplace like Hobby Lobby? They have all kinds of unfinished wood I use for display stands. They come in a wide range of sizes and several shapes. I have seen square, rectangular, round and oval. I use them all the time and they cost next to nothing. I have also seen them at Micheals, so I bet most craft stores would have them.

Here are some examples...

Finished Wolf Medallion display.jpg

6th Doctor temporal scanner revision 2 display.jpg

(Please note that the display is painted fleckstone grey)
cyberman head 11.jpg
 
I don't know what to say, except......feeling lightheaded...rooms getting dark....(passes out)...(wakes back up)...looks at computer screen again , at the Kyle Reese sculpture....Aaaauuuugggghhhh....passes out again.........................................................................................................................
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Just a quick comment on the plinth. Have you checked someplace like Hobby Lobby? They have all kinds of unfinished wood I use for display stands. They come in a wide range of sizes and several shapes. I have seen square, rectangular, round and oval. I use them all the time and they cost next to nothing. I have also seen them at Micheals, so I bet most craft stores would have them.

Thanks, only thing is I'm in the UK, so shipping might kill it. But I have just discovered someone on face look who looks like he can make anything I like in future.

I don't know what to say, except......feeling lightheaded...rooms getting dark....(passes out)...(wakes back up)...looks at computer screen again , at the Kyle Reese sculpture....Aaaauuuugggghhhh....passes out again.........................................................................................................................
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Hahaha, thanks, Guy.

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A little progress :)





 
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