Sculpted, Painted & Attached Wolf Skull:The Feral Predator From The Movie "PREY" Build WIP

Stryker2012 wrote:Wow! Impressive result. That helmet looks cool.

Thank you sir! Unfortunately I took my eye of the ball sightly and let the helmet get too round and not the more 'edgy' diamond shape and a few inaccuracies on the sides but hopefully should be simple enough to get rid of the worst of it.

Done my usual faffing around changing things to make more accurate in shape and with some details. Added a stronger magnet and thin foam to the inside of the mask.

It's really coming along now

BAMComix wrote:It's really coming along now

Thank you! I finally found a use for this terrible 'gold' paint, it's good for old bone colours! It's basically shiney mustard like that old injection moulded gold plastic that falls to bits on old toys like Transformers from the 80's and 90's.













AND SEPIA OF COURSE LOL...









STILL NEED TO DO A BLACK INK WASH ON THE CHROME/SILVER AND SPONGE ON A HIGHLIGHT COLOUR FOR THE BONE, AN OFF-WHITE OF SOME SHADE.

shovelchop81 wrote:

BAMComix wrote:It's really coming along now

Thank you! I finally found a use for this terrible 'gold' paint, it's good for old bone colours! It's basically shiney mustard like that old injection moulded gold plastic that falls to bits on old toys like Transformers from the 80's and 90's.

AND SEPIA OF COURSE LOL...

STILL NEED TO DO A BLACK INK WASH ON THE CHROME/SILVER AND SPONGE ON A HIGHLIGHT COLOUR FOR THE BONE, AN OFF-WHITE OF SOME SHADE.

I often use the sponge method on much larger projects. so I'm really interested to see hwo it turns out on something much smaller .

BAMComix wrote:
I often use the sponge method on much larger projects. so I'm really interested to see hwo it turns out on something much smaller .

I use it all the time on small stuff, usually anything that needs to be aged or weathered like weapons, armour etc.. lots of other stuff too.

shovelchop81 wrote:

BAMComix wrote:
I often use the sponge method on much larger projects. so I'm really interested to see hwo it turns out on something much smaller .

I use it all the time on small stuff, usually anything that needs to be aged or weathered like weapons, armour etc.. lots of other stuff too.

Cool! sounds like I've been missing out.

BAMComix wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:

BAMComix wrote:
I often use the sponge method on much larger projects. so I'm really interested to see hwo it turns out on something much smaller .

I use it all the time on small stuff, usually anything that needs to be aged or weathered like weapons, armour etc.. lots of other stuff too.

Cool! sounds like I've been missing out.

Well it's just a technique I picked up in my more 'arty' days studying art & design, graphics and illustration before I later switched to more 3D orientated stuff with my degree in product design. The nice thing about sponge work is you can add all sorts of textures such as sand, baking soda and shredded cork etc.. to create great 3D tactile finishes and effects without worrying about uneven dispersal problems, clogging airbrushes or leaving brushstrokes with regular brush application.

Right I think he's finally finished! I need to complete his dio and apply some matte varnish to the helmet, I've given up on the shield idea for now as my printer still won't connect to Win11 even with a new USB lead and updated drivers for a 64bit processor. I'm not convinced the result would be that amazing anyway and I want him posed with his boltgun in that hand and the shield would probably get in the way. Pics of the finished helmet (sans varnish), made the connectors for the weapons on his back, careful to use more unusual star-head fastners (philips screws would just look cheap, nasty and not very alien high tech imo), got use my new (well second hand but high quality hand powered drill, it's like Swiss watch compared to those Chinese pieces of cr@p I've been using in the past).
A couple of lousy teaser pics for you at the end, couldn't resist after all this work and time!

















PRETTY MINIMALIST SO NOT OBNOXIOUS LOOKING WITHOUT THE WEAPON ATTACHED





PEG KEPT FALLING OUT SO HAD TO IMPROVISE, LOOKS OKAY I THINK









OH YEAH, NEED TO PAINT THE RED LASER LIGHTS TOO











CHEEKY TEASERS

I think you managed to achieve a very convincing boney quality to the mask in the end. No more The Fly!

Excellent work. Looks excellent after the paint up. Pretty cool how you figured out how to attaché the weapons to him.

Excellent!

GubernatorFan wrote:I think you managed to achieve a very convincing boney quality to the mask in the end. No more The Fly!

Stryker2012 wrote:Excellent work. Looks excellent after the paint up. Pretty cool how you figured out how to attaché the weapons to him.

BAMComix wrote:Excellent!

Thank you guys! Just remembered he should have a wolf skull attached to his belt (he didn't arrive with one so technically he doesn't need one) but it looks cool and has a part in the story.

FFS....Just found this on eBay!! Okay I wouldn't pay £70 (inc postage etc..) for one and it wouldn't fit my custom head sculpt as it's made for regular Predator heads but still find it ironic...



OKAY, NOW THE WORLD'S JUST TAKING THE PI$$!



It does explain how his boltgun looks shorter on his back in the movie though! It's telescopic...lol. ffs...

These too?!



Maybe he has a shield? I actually know this seller and have bought some custom Pred masks off him in the past, very good sculptor.

Nope, no shield... I guess he is as excited as I am to repeatedly sculpt a very complicated set of patterns 24 times over!!

These look very good too. But you've got to pat yourself on the back with the quality of yours, without having used digital software and 3D printing.

Excellent work as usual.

Always great to see your builds Shovelchop81. I miss those from the old OSW days.

GubernatorFan wrote:These look very good too. But you've got to pat yourself on the back with the quality of yours, without having used digital software and 3D printing.

I think he uses a mix of techniques but yeah, probably mostly 3D printing for these, at least the prototypes, might still be using resin to cast them though.

cdn_rhino wrote:Excellent work as usual.

Always great to see your builds Shovelchop81. I miss those from the old OSW days.

Hi! A blast from the past!! I've done a silly amount of scratch builds on this site too and they actually still have photographs unlike my build threads on OSW now a days...

Dio time! I'm making use of the base that came with the 'classic' predator from the movie 'predators'. I removed the large alien dinosaur like skull (the elder predator will probably get it) and have started making it look a bit more like northern American woodland rather than an alien planet. I think the stretched out skin on the wooden frame has a very native American look to it, I have some real feathers I can work on just to give it a bit more of a native american vibe. I'm adding moss made from green plastic shavings (from modifying the Hulk all those years ago I believe) and will add darker earth as well as the plantlife. I had to fix the post for the stand as it was bent way forwards.













How it was before I removed the skull









It's plastic not weed lol.



Will need to be a darker green later

shovelchop81 wrote:Hi! A blast from the past!! I've done a silly amount of scratch builds on this site too and they actually still have photographs unlike my build threads on OSW now a days...

I'll have to check out some of those older posts later this evening.

It's a shame so many of the older posts have lost the pics over there. probably something to do with when the forum was changed over to the new ownership, and how photos were linked. Did you not keep all your photos backed up in files for personal historical references? I totally do that with mine. Far too many photos to lose.

Awesome updates too.

cdn_rhino wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:Hi! A blast from the past!! I've done a silly amount of scratch builds on this site too and they actually still have photographs unlike my build threads on OSW now a days...

I'll have to check out some of those older posts later this evening.

It's a shame so many of the older posts have lost the pics over there. probably something to do with when the forum was changed over to the new ownership, and how photos were linked. Did you not keep all your photos backed up in files for personal historical references? I totally do that with mine. Far too many photos to lose.

Awesome updates too.

Pretty sure I got everything online in Imgur and had downloaded all the Photobucket stuff to a folder when that site went to hell. Not much help to anyone else though if they want my threads for build ideas, experiments and references etc.. which is one of the reasons I like to post WIP threads.

Finished the dio, added paint, clear coat to make it look wet and protect the moss, got something usable out of the seagull feathers with a bit of ink and scissors.

Excellent job on the stand/diorama base!

Great re-working on the base, looked a fun project and suits this figure very well.

That guy turned out awesome. And the dio fits him.

The amount of intricate detail is just awesome, look at your guy all cool and stuff! The dio is great too, small but filled with little details.

GubernatorFan wrote:Excellent job on the stand/diorama base!

Thank you!

Tanzenwolfe wrote:Great re-working on the base, looked a fun project and suits this figure very well.

Fairly simple but fun, thank you!

Stryker2012 wrote:That guy turned out awesome. And the dio fits him.

Cheers Stryker!

Theboo-bomb wrote:The amount of intricate detail is just awesome, look at your guy all cool and stuff! The dio is great too, small but filled with little details.

Thanks TBB! Yeah, it's kind of a dio/stand.

Spent the last few days sculpting and painting something nobody will ever notice is there, typical lol. The wolf skull that he keeps as a trophy early in the film and introduces a new gadget to the Predator lore, a spray that instantly dissolves everything except the bone, the skull is also used to wound the Predator slightly at one point so plays a big enough role to be included. There is a really nicely made one on eBay for £17 but it's in Mexico and I'm in the UK and skint, plus I wanted to build something.

Reference pics











Starts off a bit rubbish but I get there in the end lol.

I agree, he is scarier without the skull mask, so he's using the reveal as an additional secret weapon! Great job.

Brilliant to add that wolf skull. And I was a bit worried about that mustard yellow paint, but it actually does work great once finished up.

Nice job with that wolf skull! I needed animal skulls and antlers on several occasions, but never had the patience to learn to sculpt them.

You know that's one of the reasons I love that 3d Printer, especially for skulls, as you can print those CT scans of real bones/skulls.

GubernatorFan wrote:I agree, he is scarier without the skull mask, so he's using the reveal as an additional secret weapon! Great job.

Cool but I'm confused, the post is about the wolf skull lol! Although I'm pretty chuffed the hand holds the face mask so well.

Stryker2012 wrote:Brilliant to add that wolf skull. And I was a bit worried about that mustard yellow paint, but it actually does work great once finished up.

Thanks Stryker! It gives it an extra tone rather than just sepia and white.

Ovy wrote:Nice job with that wolf skull! I needed animal skulls and antlers on several occasions, but never had the patience to learn to sculpt them.

You know that's one of the reasons I love that 3d Printer, especially for skulls, as you can print those CT scans of real bones/skulls.

I'm the opposite, absolutely no patience for CAD or anything to do with it lol, not that I could afford a printer anyway. This cost me a £1's worth of Milliput . I love your CAD weapons and armour etc.. I just prefer working with my hands plus it makes the projects a physical occupation which I need in my life as an agoraphobic weirdo!

It's so cool to see him finished. He came out superb after all your hard work. Well done!