Lifesize Predator Display / WIP

[Slave1]

Thanks, Steve.

Just for fun, here's a really nice shot from back when I originally purchased the head from PH prior to the minor tweaks.

Things I really like about this head are in the details . . . check out those quills, and the teeth were done in Sculpy with a darker wash at the bases that really give a tusky sort of appearance.

 

[sparrowed]

L'ulij bpe na' tauk!!

 

[Simmon M]

Keep the progress photos coming! Terrific work!!!

 

[Slave1]

More progress . . .

Metal armature completed to support the torso and fit everything onto:

Pretty boring part, right? Well, it's crucial to putting the whole thing together. Without the armature, you couldn't do this:

And my favorite angle:

I can't thank my friend BobFett enough for helping make this piece a reality!

Good gravy, this is going to be one massive piece. Once the base is built up onto its platform, that will add another 6 inches.

The legs still need to be filled in the rest of the way in the back, and details sculpted in back there, the hand / arm attachment needs tweaked. Then the beast will be painted. Then on to base building, detailing, more tweaking, tweaking, tweaking. Which is where I'll come in. I'll be adding all the quills, the leather, the skull trophies and netting, etc., and a jungle themed base.

 

[BobFett]

Here is a pic for scale - I'm 6'2". It doesn't look like it - but bending that steel pipe to all of the correct angles for an exact fit was a major PITA...

 

[Bubbaman]

The position you choose is great, this predator will be awesome !!!

 

[Slave1]

Bob managed to get that right leg bent exactly how I wanted it. The straight standing Pred displays are not as interesting in my opininon.

As for the joy Bob is receiving from working on such a project, the expression on his face in the last pic says it all.

 

[streetjudge79]

This is probably the coolest build I've seen on this forum. I am SOOO jealous right now!
The pose, the paintwork, all of it is just perfect.

 

[Slave1]

Thanks, Steve.

The head came prepainted from PredatrHuntr, so credit goes to him on that. That really inspired me to get a full body display going.

Bob's doing the hardest part, in my opininon, getting it standing, modded and prepped.

Then it will move on to Joe Evans for painting. The prepainted Morris legs give an idea of how they will look, but they'll get a whole new paintup, along with the unpainted pieces.

 

[Slave1]

A behind the scenes look at the Predator's backside after the test fit was disassembled and more filling on the legs took place. This will all be rounded out and then blended on the sides with the existing Morris legs.

And here's the backpack I'll be using. Unfortunately, it came with the shoulder arm piece broke off. As soon as warm weather starts here, I'll open it up and fiberglass on the inside. And since the details are a little soft, I'm going to try to fix that up too and make it a little more accurate. A new paintjob and wiring details will be added later.

 

[Slave1]

More leg piece filling and testfitting:

 

[Slave1]

Updated at the Hunter's Lair, but not here. Here are a couple of skulls I've picked up recently for the trophy bandoleer.

And of course here is what the real bandoleer looks like:

The garfish skull may be a little large; I'll just have to wait until it arrives to see.


And here are Bob's blades that he is redoing. The one on the bottom is the WIP master that is getting sharpened up and tweaked from the old version.

 

[Slave1]

Updates . . .


Filling and sculpting and test fitting.

And while Bob has been filling and shaping those legs, I've been researching some of the found parts that were used for greeblies on the backpack and gauntlet.

For look at the thread I started over at the Hunter's Lair, take a look here:
Predator 1 Backpack Found Parts! - Predator Weapons & Armor - The Hunter's Lair

Art Andrews has extended the parts search here, and the model guys on the RPF have been immensely helpful in IDing some of those parts: http://www.therpf.com/f11/predator-backpack-greeblies-24-parts-need-ided-146351/index2.html

Here are a few pics of some of my initial finds:

And the blade gauntlet top!

 

[Slave1]

The target date for dropping the display off for painting is next Saturday. The clock is ticking . . .

 

[Slave1]

Here's a shot from a few days ago of more general shaping, filing, sanding, and sealing of the foam on the back. Bob's using a product called Shellshock for this step. As you can see, he's using his own untouched 1:1 display kit that came out back in the day as a guide for how things should look back there.

In just two days the painting will begin. Reference pics have been sent off to Joe on how I want everything to look, and a big roll of leather came in the other day for the loin cloth.

 

[Slave1]

I scored big today. Found this at an auction that had a lot of photography props and nabbed this for $25! It's 32 inches high at the tallest point.

Granted, it needs a repaint and some modding to make it realistic, but it will be a good start on the display base. I couldn't even by the raw materials for something that big for $25!

And a couple of pics of the WIP paintwork by Joe:

The hands are incorrectly positioned, but you get the idea:

 

[Slave1]

 

[Slave1]

 

[dblank]

Looks Great!

 

[BobFett]

Cant wait to see it finished. Glad the thing is out if my kitchen.