Building your MARINES - CORRECTLY

[thundergod]

Coming along well . That Les' head is awesome! I really wish I'd got on board with those when I had the chance . Ah well

 

[MaulFan]

Wor-Gar, welcome to the jungle, you're gonna dieeee. Seriously though, adding the silver scuff and wear to the armor is tedious, but it's also fun, and the best part is, there's no set design, so you really can't screw up, at least as far as design and location, as long as you do it in a way that looks like worn material, you'll be golden. A good place to start is along all the seems and raised edges of the armor, as they're the most exposed, they'd take the most beating over time, then work on individual hit points along the way. I tried hard to match my Hicks to the film, spent a lot of time looking for good DVD screens to match to, then there was the oriental symbol on the back, which thankfully Mudshark posted a clean image of way earlier in this thread.

 

[pjam]

Way to go WG! Looking most excellent!

Love the wristband, what did you use for that?

Also, the silver scuffing detailing is actually quite easy and fun as you will see and it makes a huuuge difference. I did my Apone cold, no experience and it came out just fine. With your skillz, he's gonna look fantastic... and I want to remind everyone that WG's mic detailing is dead on, silver mic arm, black mic with silver tip. Very nice, now i got to do mine... and I thought my guys were done. Silly Me, we are never done.

Anyway, Congrats on completing the coolest badass Marine!

Finally got to work on my marines...

Starting with HICKS:

Still need to add the silver highlight scuffing on the armor, and paint the arms of course...

 

[MaulFan]

I think I'd have been less frustrated weathering my armor if I had just did it and not tried to match the film suit, that adds some complicity to things. The most fun I had doing up Hicks was weathering the BDU, it was easy to do with a little guidance from DA Josh, and Hicks looks so much better with more bland camo colors.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Thanks Paul and Sean!

Weathering and edging is fun, but I think I had the most fun with the tiny, tiny details -- as Pjam said, painting the mic, repainting the lock and clasp, adding the tape to the knife, adding the new wrist-wrap (which is guaze, Paul), filling in gaps with "dirt", etc. All in all, it was very fun to really remake the HT Hicks to look something like all the fantastic ones I've been seeing here for so long.

Here's my latest pics, with silvered edges (not sure they show up so well except the knees):

So I may have to get that silver sharpie -- it's just too tough with silver paint, takes too many passes. I did a base element of silver on all edges and kness, now I just need to go in with the sharpie and "hard edge" certain points to bring out the real silver.

Hey Sean, I'd love to see your Hicks again, considering you tried to match the silver detail to the movie. Can you post him again?

 

[PROWL]

Coming along well . That Les' head is awesome! I really wish I'd got on board with those when I had the chance . Ah well

I know that feeling

 

[Wor-Gar]

Last pics for today -- HICKS in better light (I adjusted the color on the arms to look more like when it's painted up):

 

[MaulFan]

I love the character so I'm a bit bias, but man, from head to toe, Hicks is just one great looking figure, and the more customizing you do on him, just gets better and better, I absolutely love mine, so glad I was able to get one finally, thank you again so much Mudshark.

 

[Stendec]

Fantastic WG, your kicks is looking badass, very well done.

You did a great job on this guy, especially the weathering. I've seen some figures that have been weathered with just some silver scratches, which just doesnt look right. I think its essential to apply some black washes too in order to achieve the right effect. Your armor is a perfect example of its effectiveness.

Could you share your method for weathering your BDUs to WG, they came out perfect IMO, not too dirty and not too clean Great tip on repainting the lock and clasp too, I'l add it to my list.

 

[MaulFan]

Don't know about Wor-Gar, but I weathered my BDU by taking a small cup of water, poured a small ammount of black paint into it just to make dirty water, mixed it up good til the paint was fully dilluted, then I just "painted" the water onto the BDU a couple of times soaking it until the color was at the point I wanted it to be.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Fantastic WG, your kicks is looking badass, very well done.

You did a great job on this guy, especially the weathering. I've seen some figures that have been weathered with just some silver scratches, which just doesnt look right. I think its essential to apply some black washes too in order to achieve the right effect. Your armor is a perfect example of its effectiveness.

Could you share your method for weathering your BDUs to WG, they came out perfect IMO, not too dirty and not too clean Great tip on repainting the lock and clasp too, I'l add it to my list.

Thanks Stendec!!! Kind words indeed, thank you.

My weathering technique was the same as Maulfan's, and everyone's here I believe: I mixed up some acrylic paint (black and brown) and diluted it with a lot of water. Then soaked the BDUs and rinsed them a few times. I also washed the armor the same way, with a thicker mix of paint wash.

My only new trick was to pour that murky water into a spray bottle and then spray the BDUs a few times, concentrating on the armpits and knees. I then did a final wash with a less diluted mix, again on the thighs and knees mostly as this is the only part of the BDU that shows.

On the clasp, I noticed in some pictures (cross-checked with the film) that the lock clasp is actually gold not silver... so I brushed on some gold paint. Thanks for noticing that little detail.

I still need a bit more silver edges on the armor, and I gotta paint the arms, and the tattoo. I also need that little "pouch" thing that hangs above Hicks' ammo strap on his right side. I see you have it. Got to get me one of those. Then he'll be set. I also love what you did with those grenades -- I gotta do that too.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I'm bumping this for ya Maulfan, as my post took us to the next page. Great Hicks, thanks for reposting the picture.

I'm torn as to posing Hicks with or without helmet -- Les' sculpt is so good that I hate to cover the hair with the helmet...but I really like the helmet too. Decisions, decisions...

Don't know about Wor-Gar, but I weathered my BDU by taking a small cup of water, poured a small ammount of black paint into it just to make dirty water, mixed it up good til the paint was fully dilluted, then I just "painted" the water onto the BDU a couple of times soaking it until the color was at the point I wanted it to be.

 

[Mudshark]

I love the character so I'm a bit bias, but man, from head to toe, Hicks is just one great looking figure, and the more customizing you do on him, just gets better and better, I absolutely love mine, so glad I was able to get one finally, thank you again so much Mudshark.

No problem, Sean. Glad I could help out.

 

[MaulFan]

No problem, Sean. Glad I could help out.

You Rock Bro

Wor-Gar, if you're using Les' head, I suggest going helmetless, one to not hide Les' awesome work on the spiked hair, but also, the hair doesn't allow the helmet to come down on the head as far as it should, it looks a bit weird to me the way it sits on there, BUT I assume you have a Stoner/Hudson with the slicked back hair, so keep that head and use that when you want the helmet on, that's what I plan to do, this type of HT neck is very easy to change.

And thanks for the image bump, wasn't necessary so very kind of ya.

 

[Stendec]

I agree that the helmet does sit a tad high on the spikey haired head but it doesnt bother me. I did have to pull the rubber helmet liner out of my helmet in order for it too fit though. Maybe it would have fitted all the same but I didnt want to force it in there and risk damaging the paint.

Its great that the helmet does fit the FML head since it gives you all the options. With the old Reese head I was never able to put his helmet on so its only recently that I've been able to display him fully geared up and it looks damn cool.

For the most part though I'l be displaying mine with my headset since it shows off the headsculpt better and without the shoulder lamp and shotgun sheath as he was in the later scenes of the movie.

 

[Les Walker]

Great looking shots WorGar! I am glad to see your set coming together.
As for fitting the helmet on this new head, it will fit, but yeah, I saved my Stoner repaint for a better fitting head for that. I hope to get a headset from Stendec though, and will most likely always display my SHHicks with that, sans helmet. Either way, I hope this new head works out for you guys.

Note, due to the response to this Spikey Hicks head, I may be able to make a few more in December/January or so. I am way behind on other work now, so it will be a while. And, I am not too ready to tackle too many more 5 O'clock shadowed heads for a time. Hope you guys are ok with that. But, Spikey Haired Hicks is not dead, just resting.
Glad you guys like this new head.

 

[Jamal]

Man, its so amazing how these marines come to life with that Hicks head. Its awesome man, and they shoulder lamp looks so great

 

[Mudshark]

Glad you guys like this new head.

I expect my SH Hicks heads to arrive any day now. The anticipation is getting unbearable! By the way, a while back you mentioned possibly doing an acid-scarred later version of Hicks. Is there any way we can talk you into getting one in pipe sometime before next year? As I mentioned before, I'd definitely be down for a couple of those! No doubt there would be plenty of others who'd want them, too. Whattya say bro? (Anyone else care to chime in here?)

 

[Wor-Gar]

Thanks again for all for the kind comments!

I should be getting my lamps and tracker back from Glenn's "electronics shoppe" shortly, that's why my Hicks has no lamp pack... but he'll have a working one soon.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Does anyone happen to know how many packs Hudson actually has on his belt in the movie?

The HT figure comes with 3 pouches and a holster on his belt, plus a large bag to sling over his shoulder... but I'm not sure what is accurate. I'm pretty sure he didn't have a holster.