The Predators 2018, Building The Ultimate Xmass Grinches! WIP Hot Glue Blood/Gore Effects, New Blade Weapon For FP & Next WIP Reveal..

shovelchop81 wrote:

I thought you meant humans in the same universe/franchise/series like Dutch Shaffer or the Space Marines etc..

Oh, no. NECA never have been totally scale specific.

CHEERS!

Thanks for the explanation. It's funny, aside from them having space travel technology, and really cool weapons, it's always hard to think of them as little more than savages, but all of that would make sense. Just because they look like "animals" doesn't mean they're idiots. Ahh, the arrogance of Human thinking rears it's ugly head again.

Stryker2011 wrote:Thanks for the explanation. It's funny, aside from them having space travel technology, and really cool weapons, it's always hard to think of them as little more than savages, but all of that would make sense. Just because they look like "animals" doesn't mean they're idiots. Ahh, the arrogance of Human thinking rears it's ugly head again.

They're far more intelligent than the average human, it would be like saying Jabba the Hutt was stupid but x10! LOL. Predators actually look down on humans as an inferior species, like we hunt wild boar for example even though we know pigs are intelligent.

shovelchop81 wrote:

Rogerbee wrote:Looking good,

I guess the NECA might be a decent paint reference. Looks like other pics. That said, their paint on the Ultimate Gremlins is actually way off when compared to pics of the screen used ones.

CHEERS!

The stills do seem to have quite a degree of colour variants and the movie doesn't help with real lighting changes then compensated on the CGI model so that changes too...hell I'll just blame the CGI guys and stick with the dark green and red as that's been my plan all along and I didn't invent the colour scheme, it just seems to be the most consistent allowing for all the variables involved, hell he's invisible half the bloody time!

After going through all my movie still pics up close on my tablet I realised why I had thought he was green not grey, it's his own blood! Because he has bioarmour rather than regular armour the mg and smg bullets pierce his skin before bouncing off causing no serious damage but still rupturing capillaries etc.. like a little cut on your face, looks bad but it really isn't. So all that blood smeared over him (which is bright green of course) from the hundreds of bullet strikes gave him a green appearance in a lot of the battle scene stills.

Done a grey base layer.

Annoyed by the paint flaking problem I realised I had a solution practically staring me in the face, I still had some grey liquid latex in my cupboard! I gave the already applied paint a good scrub with a sanding pad to get rid of the worst of the flakes and allow areas for the new latex coat adhere to so hopefully it won't peal off. I then mixed a bit of black ink in with it to darken it without compromising it (I'm pretty sure acrylic paint wouldn't mix well but don't actually know if I've tried that before) and then just sponged it over the entire body of the figure making sure I got it into all the nooks and crannies as anchor points in case the adhesive properties aren't as strong as I hope they are; drying now so we'll find out later.

splitting and flaking acrylic, not terrible for this type of figure but still undesirable.













After a scrub







All done





Not quite this type of latex bodysuit but same idea sort of...pics like these are why I get seriously distracted on imgur and forget why I opened the app in the first place!

Well that seems to have done it, still need to be careful not to rip it but he has 'smooth' finish and is still well articulated, I also added the lighter (no black ink) latex on top where the NECA figure shows lighter patches of grey. Sponged on the red lines then used a red sharpie as my Gory Red got over dilluted by mistake, I was running out of it , then gave the whole body, hands and mouth parts a black ink wash and wipe down. Looks quite vivid for a Predator so I may tone the red down a bit, not sure need to see it with fresh eyes after a night's sleep. Still need to finish the head hence no pics of that yet.









































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LOOKS LIKE I WENT TOO LIGHT WITH THE GREY..





THE ADDED SPIKES LOOK MORE LIKE NIPPLES SO THEY NEED TO GO TOO.

Right, redone the colouration so he's darker using latex and marker, also made sure to take some natural light pics as the flash had made the previous result look worse than it was. Will probably add a black wash again and some medium grey pastel for highlights. Removed the 'nipple' spikes as well.

Just latex





Sharpie red added with flash on





Natural light









Latex on head drying

Looking good so far!

CHEERS!

Rogerbee wrote:
Looking good so far!

CHEERS!

Thanks! Finally found your Gremlin thread! Since this guy is mostly latex too I'll put some silicone oil on him when I'm done and you can be the judge of how it affects the finish, as for proof of preservation well that will take a few years!

I've been concentrating on his mandibles, waist armour and adding grey pastel as a highlight/blender over everything. Still need to finish the mandibles such as painting the rubber inner jaw muscles (the mouth parts don't look nearly as bright in real life) and teeth and paint copper on all the beads of the dredds.

Coming along!

I will still seal my Gremlin with polyurethane as I want to paint on top of it with acrylics in order to redo his eyes and touch up other areas.

CHEERS!

Rogerbee wrote:
Coming along!

I will still seal my Gremlin with polyurethane as I want to paint on top of it with acrylics in order to redo his eyes and touch up other areas.

CHEERS!

Cool, just make sure it doesn't contain any additives that will eat the paint and latex! Although you seem to test everything paint orientated so I'm preaching to the choir there!

Chris said he used it and one of the team from Cabin Fever 3 used it on their display pieces, so it should be ok.

CHEERS!

Rogerbee wrote:
Chris said he used it and one of the team from Cabin Fever 3 used it on their display pieces, so it should be ok.

CHEERS!

All good then.

Been busy repainting his dredds as the beads were the wrong colours, messy job that I should have done before I glued them to the head! I'm mucking around with the dreaded eyes now, bloody hate eyes... need to make all my figures blind! Also been working out his weapon systems for his gauntlets, been a bit of a parts juggle as I've changed designs or been torn between saving a part for another planned build also coming across new products depicting the character changes things like the 1/6 statue I just saw on pintrest of the HP and his forearm blaster. No one else seems to have attempted to depict the grappling hook/speargun weapon he has so that's still open to interpretation due to the lack of source material; you'll see below some pics of the CGI and then the actual physical blue-screen set which is why there are no props to look at! Made his armour out of real leather and painted all his claws, painted/inked/pastelled/glossed his mouth parts and head too.

















I STARTED OFF USING THIS AS A BASIC REFERENCE FOR THE WRIST BLASTER











THEN SAW THIS REALLY NICE STATUE WHERE IT LOOKS A BIT DIFFERENT SO I MARRIED THE TWO IDEAS











WHY COULDN'T I GET A GOOD COLOUR REFERENCE? TURNS OUT HIS SKIN HAS ADAPTIVE CAMOUFLAGE EVEN WHEN NOT CLOAKED!



ALL I'VE GOT FOR THE HARPOON LAUNCHER AS REFERENCE!







MINE SO FAR..

























WHY THERE ARE NO PROPS FOR REFERENCE!

Coming along nicely!

CHEERS!

Rogerbee wrote:
Coming along nicely!

CHEERS!

Thanks!

Just finishing the weapons today, made the grapple launcher and two different tips for it, one closed and one open (impact triggered like a modern mechanical broadhead hunting arrow tip), the closed one can also be placed in the launcher's tip/barrel when not being used. Wrist blaster and blade mounted, need to do detail paint on the gauntlets, fix his eyes somehow (found perfect parts on ebay but it's Chinese New Year ) and make the decapitated FP head accessory etc..

Nice one!

I love the word grapple, takes be back to the days of wrestling on World Of Sport. "Good afternoon, grapple fans!"

CHEERS!

He's almost ready! It's been a long and complex but so far very successful build.

Rogerbee wrote:
Nice one!

I love the word grapple, takes be back to the days of wrestling on World Of Sport. "Good afternoon, grapple fans!"

CHEERS!

GubernatorFan wrote:He's almost ready! It's been a long and complex but so far very successful build.

Cheers guys! Probably the last post I do on this thread as next I'll do a finished figures thread with them fighting in the photobooth, perhaps outside depends on the rain..

Made him new eyes from the reverse sides of some cut down push buttons off a cheap Chinese digital clock, not perfect but then you don't see his eyes very much anyway.
Finished painting and clear coating all the weapons and armour, started the ripped off FP head with spine and removable helmet (so the figure can still use it) as an accessory for the Assassin Predator (that seems to be the official name now). I'll need to experiment with hot glue, paints/inks and cold water to make some Predator blood effects for the head and the open grapple tip.

Another top Chop job!

CHEERS!

Rogerbee wrote:
Another top Chop job!

CHEERS!

Say that five times fast...



Yes, indeed. Another action figure massacre that will turn out cool.

LOL! And that's before he's let him loose on the shelves. Those LOTR figures could be in trouble!

CHEERS!

Rogerbee wrote:
Another top Chop job!

CHEERS!

Thank you Roger!

Stryker2011 wrote:

Rogerbee wrote:
Another top Chop job!

CHEERS!

Say that five times fast...



Yes, indeed. Another action figure massacre that will turn out cool.

LOL, do you mean me massacring figures by chopping them up? Or the upcoming thread of them fighting?

Rogerbee wrote:
LOL! And that's before he's let him loose on the shelves. Those LOTR figures could be in trouble!

CHEERS!

Now that would be an interesting crossover movie!! I think the Uruk-Hai could do quite well with the help of Saruman and Sauron, the good guys would be screwed though! Especially as Gandalf just buggers off every time they need him...

"You shall not pa... oh, go on then!"

CHEERS!

shovelchop81 wrote:

Stryker2011 wrote:Yes, indeed. Another action figure massacre that will turn out cool.

LOL, do you mean me massacring figures by chopping them up? Or the upcoming thread of them fighting?

I actually did mean the former. You're "massacre" of your figures is like watching the Texas Chainsaw movies, only when all is said and done, you end up making something that looks infinitely better than anything Leatherface ever made.

But on the other hand, a massacre amongst the LOTR and Predators would be pretty interesting to watch.

Rogerbee wrote:
"You shall not pa... oh, go on then!"

CHEERS!

To be fair that was one time he did stick around to save them though.

Stryker2011 wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:

Stryker2011 wrote:Yes, indeed. Another action figure massacre that will turn out cool.

LOL, do you mean me massacring figures by chopping them up? Or the upcoming thread of them fighting?

I actually did mean the former. You're "massacre" of your figures is like watching the Texas Chainsaw movies, only when all is said and done, you end up making something that looks infinitely better than anything Leatherface ever made.

But on the other hand, a massacre amongst the LOTR and Predators would be pretty interesting to watch.

I think repurposing redundant figures might be a bit more accurate... The Elves would do well against Predators and the Dwarves excellent teamwork might prevail with the use of powerful bows too.

Right this is the last post this time, used a new technique I thought I'd share for the blood and gore parts effects. I used hot glue, allowed it to drip to the length and angle I wanted one drip at a time and quickly submerged it in ice cold water to freeze it into shape. You have to take into account that the glue will want to float so you need to slowly angle your drip horizontally to the water as well as keeping the other 'hanging' or 'splatter' angle correct too. Obviously they all still need to be painted, there's an entrance 'splatter' and exit 'hanging gunge' on the wire that will wrap around the target's chest. I also made the Fugitive Predator's gauntlet blades more screen accurate based on a statue set I saw.































BUILDING THE PREDATOR KILLER MECH SUIT NEXT! BEST OF BOTH IRON MAN AND PREDATOR WORLDS! YES IT WAS IN THE MOVIE AT THE VERY END AS A KIND OF TEASER AND TO HELP EXPLAIN WHY THE FP CAME TO EARTH.

Really cool technique with the blood. I never would have thought of the cold water method of freezing it in place.

These new bits look perfect!

Neat idea!

That mech suit looks fun!

CHEERS!

This is awesome in the real, jaw dropping sense! You are the Rodin of Predators!
I wish I had the patience and one tenth of the skill to create such an incredible figure. I can't wait to see more of him being brought to life!