Building your MARINES - CORRECTLY

[bigbisont]

Someone can correct me on this if I am wrong, but I believe Lonnie Hale is only a molder/caster. Most of the sculpts he sold through Frontline were sculpted by Jim Maddox if I am not mistaken.

Perhaps I should cite those entries by "H2 Creative/Hero Heads" then? That is the website which they are/were sold from. If that is the 'team' that produced them, it may be a more appropriate way to give credit.

Unless of course that name was purely website marketing and didn't relate to the sculptor at all?

 

[kam veitch]

Anyone looking for a fullset to make Hicks??

I am selling it.
https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/...-aliens-marines-dwayne-hicks.html#post8540414

 

[Starbeast86]

Cool list Bigbisont. I've just commissioned Joy and Tom Studios (Snyderman) to create a new head sculpt for the least talkative of the marines - Trevor Wierzbowski. It will be a while yet before it is done but I will post some pics up once I have them. I have not asked for the sculpt to be an exclusive so anyone else who wants Wierzbowski (there probably arent many of us!) could order one from them in the usual way once it is finished. Yes I have the aliens bug something bad and plan to complete the full roster eventually. The new Snyderman Hicks and Frost that showed up a couple of pages back were others that I asked them to do and they look really awesome in hand. Currently working on a full repaint of Hicks' armour and will post a pic once I am satisfied with it. Kam I really like your reuse of the star wars stands - consider that idea borrowed.

 

[Staps1138]

Yes, I really like his Frost sculpt - can't wait to see Ski brought to 1/6 glory.

 

[kam veitch]

Cool list Bigbisont. I've just commissioned Joy and Tom Studios (Snyderman) to create a new head sculpt for the least talkative of the marines - Trevor Wierzbowski. It will be a while yet before it is done but I will post some pics up once I have them. I have not asked for the sculpt to be an exclusive so anyone else who wants Wierzbowski (there probably arent many of us!) could order one from them in the usual way once it is finished. Yes I have the aliens bug something bad and plan to complete the full roster eventually. The new Snyderman Hicks and Frost that showed up a couple of pages back were others that I asked them to do and they look really awesome in hand. Currently working on a full repaint of Hicks' armour and will post a pic once I am satisfied with it. Kam I really like your reuse of the star wars stands - consider that idea borrowed.

Thanks for that, the new Hicks looks amazing. Not interested in more than the two main marines, Hicks and Hudson. I envy you guys for getting all of them.

Would love to see the repaint of your Hicks armour.

Thanks. Love those stands. Could have bought more stands as some people did to make a full floor, but dont have the patience, space or money for that.

 

[bigbisont]

Cool list Bigbisont. I've just commissioned Joy and Tom Studios (Snyderman) to create a new head sculpt for the least talkative of the marines - Trevor Wierzbowski. It will be a while yet before it is done but I will post some pics up once I have them. I have not asked for the sculpt to be an exclusive so anyone else who wants Wierzbowski (there probably arent many of us!) could order one from them in the usual way once it is finished. Yes I have the aliens bug something bad and plan to complete the full roster eventually. The new Snyderman Hicks and Frost that showed up a couple of pages back were others that I asked them to do and they look really awesome in hand. Currently working on a full repaint of Hicks' armour and will post a pic once I am satisfied with it. Kam I really like your reuse of the star wars stands - consider that idea borrowed.

YES!!! I am totally in for the Ski man. I also bought 'your' Frost! Thank you very much for spearheading the move to bring more marines!

Call me crazy, but I am more excited for the prospect of a custom accurate Trevor head than I am for the actual pending '79 Ripley.

I actually have the full squad built and outfitted already, but many have 'close-as-I-can-find' heads on them. Soon I plan to dive back in and repaint all the armor as well.

Thanks. Love those stands. Could have bought more stands as some people did to make a full floor, but dont have the patience, space or money for that.

I would also love to take this idea, but I'm not sure how economically feasible that is to track down 16 of them!

 

[asgardianboy]

I'm selling a Big Chap. MIB, box has some weathering.
400€+shipping. Based in Spain, Europe, zip46800. Money transfer or ppal (send money, no fees).
Interested PM me.
m.

 

[kam veitch]

Anyone knows who makes this kind of nameplates like the one Hicks has? I want one for Hudson. Someone told me it was Samuel Bodart, I contacted him and he is not making them at the time. Where can I order it?

 

[bigbisont]

For what it is worth, here is a little 'history of the custom' head for each character that includes images (sorry, tried to get all images in to one file but it just looked sloppy. If anyone else wants to take a stab at consolidating it into one 'easy to quote' reference, please feel free).

HUDSON

-EVA Models (Chris "FNG" Chulamanis)

1st one ever, pre-dating Hot Toys I believe.


-"Hero Heads" (Lonnie Hale/H2Creative)

Image from SpaceJockey

-"Chronotoys"

Paintwork from image done by 'Figuremaster les'

-Joy and Tom Studios / "Snyder-man"

All 3 variants still available! Can be purchased painted or unpainted

-"PoppoToys" (Bill Kern)

(forgive crap paintwork image! That one is mine, still have some practicing to do...)


HICKS

-Hot Toys "Stoner" head (Vietnam Navy SEAL figure)

Story goes they sculpted it, then "hid" it on another figure when they failed to acquire the actor's likeness rights. They also "hid it" on their "Hudson figure" with paint so bad it was unrecognizable.

-"Figuremaster Les" & "XenoViper"'s take on "Stoner" (resculpted "Spikey Hair")

(Imagine & paint work from SpaceJockey)

-"Hero Heads" (Lonnie Hale/H2Creative)

(would love to add image of 'painted version' if anyone has one)

-Joy and Tom Studios / "Snyder-man"

Still available! Can be purchased painted or unpainted.

-"Sculptor" (Rocco)

In pre-preduction. Available soon.



APONE

-Hot Toys default Head (repainted)

(Image from "V-Raptor", Paint by "Maximus Studios")

-"Hero Heads" (Lonnie Hale/H2Creative)


-Joy and Tom Studios / "Snyder-man"

Still available! Can be purchased painted or unpainted

-Kaustic Plastic KP03
Debatable if the likeness was even intended, but I found it close enough to be worthy of mentioning

 

[kam veitch]

amazing recopilation work

 

[bigbisont]

BISHOP

-Sideshow Toys "Frank Black" (Repainted)


-"Ada Chan"


-"Warriors Gate"


-Joy and Tom Studios / "Snyder-man"

Still available! Can be purchased painted or unpainted


VASQUEZ

-Hot Toys default Head (repainted)

(Image from V-Raptor, paint work done by "Maximus Miniatures")


DRAKE

-Hot Toys default head (repainted)



GORMAN

-Cal Tek "Dress Blues" Marine
Another where it is debatable if the likeness was intentional, but look! This is a highly viable option in my opinion.



FROST

-Joy and Tom Studios / "Snyder-man"

Still available! Can be purchased painted or unpainted

 

[Space Jockey]

Very cool list!

 

[kam veitch]

Re: Customizing your Marines: TIPS

I am weathering the armour, darkened it and added some scratches.

Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk

 

[Manannin]

Woah, thanks for that roundup Bigbisont, thats very helpful!

 

[asgardianboy]

Thanks man. It is a great job.
Could this post be somehow pinned somewhere (the begining of this thread?) for us newbies to find it quickly? It is state of the art coming from knowledgeable people, and that's very important to have at hand. Other recent posts deserve that treatment too... Info, if massive, must be organized and highlights must be made easily available...

BTW: I have captured tones of framegrabs from Aliens. I couldupload a zip to my dropbox. Anybody interested?

m.

 

[asgardianboy]

BTW guys: does anybody know if there's anybody of doing to my Vasquez head what that Maximus Miniatures did to his? It is a great paintjob!!

And what about the Bishop head by Warriors Gate? Can it still be bought? Who painted that head bigbisont? Looks amazing...


Thanks,
m.

 

[Manannin]

It depends where you are I guess, there are painters all over the place.

I just got some heads painted by member Cmot Dibbler and I couldn't be happier. Stunning work! Its the Hot Toys Vasquez and a Snyder Hudson. Looking forward to re-assembling them and the armour repaints (which I will be attempting myself!)

 

[bigbisont]

Little rant session here on "racal" headsets.

So a little "fun fact" about the Hot Toys star wars "racal" headsets that come with Han and Chewy...THEY BOTH SUCK!!!

Beyond the basic 'fit' complaint (big hair...small sets designed to fit sculpted hair), neither Han's nor Chewy's are accurate to the film Aliens. Both require significant chopping.

Hicks, Vaz, Gorman, Spunkmeyer and Ripley all wore the headsets at various points in the movie and it was always on their left side temple.

-Han, of course, has it on the right. This means you need to chop it up ever where and reverse it (mic tip, mic prong, flip the ear piece around, and the works. Needs a complete overhaul.

-Chewy has it on the correct side of the head, so everything points the right way, but the placement of the unit on the temple pads is very wrong. I assume it is screen accurate to Chewy's set in star wars, but its completely backwards to both 'real life' and the film Aliens.



Here you see "Chewy's" set with the rear (wide side) of the comfort temple tab rotated forward, and the unit mounted behind the head band. Also you see a traditional setup as worn by Vaz with placement of main unit in front of the headband with the wide part of the temple pad in the rear. Chewy's needs to be chopped, flipped, and re-glued as well. It is easier to modify than Han's, but not by much.

Of course, if you want to get wild, you can do one "Hicks style" which involves the ear tabs being upside down (but pointed the right way) and on TOP of your ears. Or of course he had another set he wore correctly on the mic side, but upside down on the free side... Comfy...



So the point of this rant? There are about 3 'accurate' looks in the film for how the racal is worn (if you count the times the main unit ends up UNDER the comfort tab with metal digging into the actor's temple for some strange reason). However none of them are accurately found in the Hot Toys Han/Chewy racals.

I am rebuilding two right now (1 from each SW figure), and all I can say to others is get your razor blades and super glue out.

 

[kam veitch]

Re: Customizing your Marines: TIPS

Thanks for the headsets tips. I bought them, Hans and Chewwies but havent done anything with them yet.

Attach pics of my paint on Hudsons armour and his head, this last ond not done by me.

Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk

 

[Starbeast86]

Wow some very nice paint apps there - Kam and Manannnin you are going to have some very cool looking figures when you're done. Nice to see those two snyderman Hudson sculpts getting some love - with the assistance of the two skilled artists who painted them, I am really seeing Bill Paxton in each.

Bigbisont your post made me laugh - I have experienced exactly the same frustration. I bought the Han headset first because it was slightly easier to find and then thought I had lucked out when I snagged a Chewie one (mistakenly thinking it would require less work). Look forward to seeing your customisation of each.