Building your MARINES - CORRECTLY

[Stendec]

Im so close to finishing my Hicks now but Im struggling to finish my headsets. Does anyone have advice on bonding smooth metal to plastic in an area prone to stress? I need to attach the two earpieces to the headband, in the pic below they are held together with electrical tape.

Standard superglue just doesn't cut it even though I have roughed up the two bonding surfaces as much as I can to help improve the bond.Ive heard of gel superglue which is apparently more suited to this type of application though I cant find it anywhere around here. Once they pieces are glued together I can get it painted up in no time. I still have some minor things to do on the figure itself too but otherwise its pretty much done.

 

[icruise]

Nice looking Hicks! I'm not entirely sure which parts you're talking about joining, but you might try using epoxy putty. It's green, so it would need to be painted, but it dries into a kind of plasticky substance that has a little flexibility. Superglue and epoxy glue are too brittle, I think. Games Workshop should sell epoxy putty in their stores, if you have one nearby.

 

[drunk_leprechaun]

wow man, you get that body color to match the heads skintone and that would look like a still right out of the movie!

 

[JediMike71]

Great looking Hicks there Stendec! Man, I'm kicking myself for not getting one of those great looking "spikey haired" Hicks from Les!

Maybe I can get one someday if he starts making them again. Any idea on that Les? Let me know.

I'm sorry I can't be much help with the gluing of the headset. It looks great, and I agree that if you get the skintone color on his arms to match the color of his head, it'll be a 3-D still of Hicks from the movie!

Stendec...where did you get the material to use for Hicks' wristband on his right wrist? I want to do that, and change out the regular green one Hot Toys included with a more movie accurate one like yours. Let me know.
Awesome!

 

[pjam]

Im so close to finishing my Hicks now but Im struggling to finish my headsets. Does anyone have advice on bonding smooth metal to plastic in an area prone to stress? I need to attach the two earpieces to the headband, in the pic below they are held together with electrical tape.

Standard superglue just doesn't cut it even though I have roughed up the two bonding surfaces as much as I can to help improve the bond.Ive heard of gel superglue which is apparently more suited to this type of application though I cant find it anywhere around here. Once they pieces are glued together I can get it painted up in no time. I still have some minor things to do on the figure itself too but otherwise its pretty much done.

Looks Awesome Bro. You are THIS close now! Really great stuff!

 

[Mudshark]

This is one of, if not the best Hicks I've seen yet!!! Fantastic job so far. When he's finished he's definitely going to be hard to beat!

Okay, as to your headset issue, the epoxy putty suggestion by icruise is a good one. Most epoxy putties aren't really intended for bonding purposes, but they do work in some cases. I'd recommend white Milliput for what you're doing, if you want to give that method a try. It may do the trick if the piece isn't handled too much. Probably wouldn't hurt to try, in any case.

I can't guarantee I have a better solution for you, but I know a few other tricks you might try. If you can post a good closeup pic showing the way you want the parts to fit, then maybe I can think of something that will hold everything together securely without spoiling the looks of the finished piece.

 

[JediMike71]

Okay...now here's my custom Bishop in the new Gameitoy GSG-9 jumpsuit. I like it much better than the previous GIGN jumpsuit I was using for him. That one had too many pockets and buttons on it for my taste. It looked less like Bishop's oufit in the movie to me. This GSG-9 one looks much better! I may dye it a lighter blue color someday. I also have to glue on Chris Chulamanis's great fabric USCM patch on the top of his right sleeve. I may get a 1/6 scale laptop for him someday like pjam did for his awesome Bishop custom. Check out my new pictures and let me know what you think.

 

[Stendec]

That new jumpsuit looks pretty damn close to me, nice score Mike. The Ripley boots adds alot of detail and authenticity as well . . awesome custom. One change I'd recommend is that you repaint his face since he was notably pale in the role of Bishop. Maybe Lance was naturaly pale back then but I always thought it was a conscious film makers decision to give him a distinguishing look given that he was a synthetic.

The wristband on my Hicks is just a piece of material cut from a pair of old cotton pant, looped and glued together. I painted the LIFER tag on the body armor the other day too, inbetween the brackets so it was pretty hard going lol

Ive had requests to post some details of all the changes I made to my figure so next week I'l take some detailed pics with info on all the modifications I made.

 

[Mudshark]

Looking forward to seeing those pics of Hicks. Btw, did you find a solution for gluing your headsets? They look extremely detailed, like you put a lot of work into them. Please include some closeups to show off your handiwork!

 

[Stendec]

I still havent figured out the headset thing yet. I think gel glue is the best option because it allows for some movement without risk of the bond snapping apart (which is the problem Im getting with regular superglue). I actually used the white milliput putty you mentioned to detail most of the headset (microphone, earpiece etc) but its too brittle to hold the headband and earpieces together.

 

[Mudshark]

I still havent figured out the headset thing yet. I think gel glue is the best option because it allows for some movement without risk of the bond snapping apart (which is the problem Im getting with regular superglue). I actually used the white milliput putty you mentioned to detail most of the headset (microphone, earpiece etc) but its too brittle to hold the headband and earpieces together.

That's too bad. Milliput is great stuff, but it sounds like what you're doing calls for something special. I wonder if there's any way you could make some sort of a fastener to secure the headpiece to the pads? Maybe use some super-fine wire you could thread through some tiny holes in the pads from behind, where it wouldn't show. You could then bind the ends of the headpiece to them, add a bit of glue to help secure them, then fill the holes with putty to cover it up. Is there any way you could rivet them together, by using a piece of brass rod to pin the ends of the headpiece to the pads, and then glue them in place? I don't know, it's really hard to imagine what would work without a clear idea of what it looks like.

The only other thing I can think of offhand would be to try epoxy cement. If you can find a brand that cures super hard, you'd probably only need a small bead of it on both sides to do the job. The gel glue could work, but I'm just wondering if it would hold permanently. Maybe epoxy glue would be more durable.

Anyway, I hope you find a good solution. Just give me a holler if you think I can help.

 

[JediMike71]

Thanks for your thoughts on my custom Bishop Stendec! I am going to leave the paintjob as it is. Sideshow painted Frank Black pretty pale...at least enough for my taste. I have my Bishop next to my custom Hicks, and he looks really pale compared to Hicks and all of my other marines and Ripley. So, I'm happy with my Bishop's skintone. I thought about adding some brown highlights to Bishop's hair since his hair was not solid black as I have it painted now. Yeah, this new GSG-9 jumpsuit works great! I'll add the USCM patch to Bishop's right sleeve soon. The pant legs come down to the top of the boots like they should. This jumpsuit to me works SO much better than the previous GIGN one I was using. I'm VERY happy with my Bishop now!

Here's the first one I used in the following picture. The GIGN one. See all of the snaps and buttons on it? Not that "movie-accurate" to me. It worked okay....until I got the new GSG-9 one I have on my Bishop now. Yeah, I have different shoes on him in this picture because I hadn't got an extra pair of Hot Toys Ripley boots yet, and cut off the tops of them for Bishop's shoes. But the pant legs were still too short, even with these white sneakers on him.

 

[Stendec]

That's too bad. Milliput is great stuff, but it sounds like what you're doing calls for something special. I wonder if there's any way you could make some sort of a fastener to secure the headpiece to the pads? Maybe use some super-fine wire you could thread through some tiny holes in the pads from behind, where it wouldn't show. You could then bind the ends of the headpiece to them, add a bit of glue to help secure them, then fill the holes with putty to cover it up. Is there any way you could rivet them together, by using a piece of brass rod to pin the ends of the headpiece to the pads, and then glue them in place? I don't know, it's really hard to imagine what would work without a clear idea of what it looks like.

The only other thing I can think of offhand would be to try epoxy cement. If you can find a brand that cures super hard, you'd probably only need a small bead of it on both sides to do the job. The gel glue could work, but I'm just wondering if it would hold permanently. Maybe epoxy glue would be more durable.

Anyway, I hope you find a good solution. Just give me a holler if you think I can help.

Thanks for the great tips Mudshark, really appreciate your help. I need to finish Les' headset this week so I'l need to find a sollution soon. I may be in touch if Im at a loss

 

[icruise]

I've been working a little bit on my Bishop. I think the main problem with the Sideshow paint job (aside from the hair color, which isn't even correct for Frank Black, much less Bishop) is that they added a lot of wrinkles via the paint. It's not a major issue, but I will be repainting mine in any case. I also made his sideburns smaller and added a little hair with epoxy putty so that it will hang down just over his ears as it did in the movie. Still, the stock hairstyle is surprisingly close to Bishop. I have no idea where I'm going to get appropriate shoes, however.

 

[JediMike71]

icruise, do what I did for shoes for Bishop. He wore the same style of shoes as Ripley, but his were the shorter, "hi-top" version. So, I just found a loose pair of the Hot Toys Ripley boots on eBay, and cut off the tops of them. They work out perfectly! It took me a little while to find a loose pair of Ripley boots, but it was worth the time and effort when I finally did!

Here's that picture I posted earlier from Harry Harris's website of Bishop's custom Reebok shoes from the movie. Reebok made a pair for him, and a pair of the taller boots with the velcro straps on them for Ripley just for the movie.

I think my shoes on my Bishop look just like those after I got the Ripley boots and cut off the tops enough to match that picture.

 

[icruise]

Yes, I appreciate the advice about the shoes, but I haven't been able to find any loose Ripley shoes yet.

 

[JediMike71]

Okay, keep checking eBay and other online 1/6 scale retailers like www.monkeydepot, www.war-toys.com, and any other ones you know of that sell 1/6 scale stuff. It took me a few weeks to find a pair on eBay. I checked for them every single day!

 

[Jamal]

That looks like a cool custom you got there, better than most bishops out there man

 

[Mudshark]

It really is a cool-looking Bishop. I think Mike and pjam are the only two who have one so far. Mike's been working hard on these other Aliens characters for months now. He said he's working on Frost and Dietrich too, but he hasn't revealed either of those yet. Maybe he'll have something to show us soon.

Btw, is anybody else working on the other marines? I think monkeydepot and wartoys have already been picked pretty clean by all the Aliens Freaks on this board, but something's bound to turn up on ebay from time to time, as Mike said.

 

[Les Walker]

NICE Bishop! Glad to see your collection growing Mike!