Another Aliens thread

[dwartist]

WOW! fabulous project I'll be following with great interest. Re 6x6 - I ve painted a couple of these (have a browse of the blog) and they're really nice (particularly as they've done some improvements to the earliest releases - quite a few 3D print lines though). I can do a couple of comparison shots next to the Caiman if that'd help and though I have no copplestone minis I have all the hasslefree (unpainted) minis so can put some alongside the 6x6 too.
Both Khurasan (yes I know it'll be ages) and Antenociti are releasing new tanks in 28mm that might fit so watch out for news. I'm sure you're happy with the 'Caimans' as your APC's but Timeslip Creations http://www.timeslipcreations.com/ did have a very nicely cast resin (and hollow) Aliens APC for future reference.
edit: just checked Timeslip's site - the APC is not shown!

[6milPhil]

Quite stunning work, the gun swaps are a touch of psychosis which suggests even greater things to come. 

[Rob_Jedi]

Hey Dwartist absolutely love your stuff, your Hasslefree troopers have been an inspiration. Especially the way you paint camo. Doing the camo on all the BDUs is totally daunting but not sure yet if it'll drive me bonkers or be easier than I thought.

I'd love to see what the 6X6 and the Caimen look like side by side.

Now to aircraft, apart from Akula and his lovely and damn expensive to buy now Aoshima Dropships (I wish I'd bought one when they had them in a local hobby store years ago). I've got an IG Valkyrie ready to be assembled but it's more a support than a dropship. What if anything have other people been using?

[dwartist]

thankyou for those kind words...I'll do some pics later. Dropships? How about converting this? http://www.starshipmodeler.biz/shop/index.cfm/product/2689/132-terminator-2-aerial-hunter-killer.cfm

[AKULA]

Now to aircraft, apart from Akula and his lovely and damn expensive to buy now Aoshima Dropships (I wish I'd bought one when they had them in a local hobby store years ago).

You can still get the Halcyon Dropship 1:72 plastic kit on fleabay.....

cheaper than the aoshima diecast and still a lovely model.

[Commander Vyper]

I got mine when Matt upsized to those die cast ones.

[Rob_Jedi]

thankyou for those kind words...I'll do some pics later. Dropships? How about converting this? http://www.starshipmodeler.biz/shop/index.cfm/product/2689/132-terminator-2-aerial-hunter-killer.cfm

Ah Pegasus Hobbies bless you I've always wanted a model of the Hunter Killer. I bought the toy from the last movie and keep wishing I'd bought a few so I could convert them to Firefly like Shuttles. I shall pick up one of these kits for sure.

[dwartist]

as promised

[Rob_Jedi]

Thankyou, wow they do look nice together. There is a real nice future angled planes look to it that makes them look good together.

The 6x6 has a hard time looking like a MBT next the sheer size of the APC though. Hmmm I will likely have the same issue with any 1/48 kit but I don't really want to go into 1/35, would end up looking super tank size.

The 6x6 would make a very nice light tank.

[Miniman]

Great collection and nice work on the gun conversions.
You have amassed quite a lot of work for yourself haven't you.
Love the bases. I want that APC also.
I noticed an alien warrior in your APC pics, a conversion? Are there more?

[Rob_Jedi]

Great collection and nice work on the gun conversions.
You have amassed quite a lot of work for yourself haven't you.
Love the bases. I want that APC also.
I noticed an alien warrior in your APC pics, a conversion? Are there more?

Thankyou. The alien in question was my attemt a couple years ago to convert a GW Bloodletter into a xenomorph. I was pretty happy with the result at the time but the prospect of converting a whole box of them put me off somewhat.

http://robjedi.blogspot.com.au/2009/09/aliens.html

Here's what he looked like all puttied up. It was basically a cut off the sword, smooth over the head with putty conversion and add a tail which I was lucky enough to have a few spares from a previous con that I always meant to stick onto some genestealers. For the resurection of my Aliens project I considered hunting for Horrorclix Aliens but doing so now is prohibitively expensive despite the generous offers of a LAFer to part with some sealed boxes. Instead through a couple other LAFers I managed to get a bunch of Eureka Chaos Weasels and a big pile of Leading Edge Aliens that I can't wait to get my mits on. Should I revisit the converting bloodletters option I'll do up a better more detailed head and make a mold and cast up a bunch to save the hassle. Or you know sculpt an entire multipart alien from scratch and have that cast...

I've seen someone on TMP took my idea all the way and did up a full set using nid tails
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=306666

[dwartist]

this is a biggie... http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/bucephalus-grav-tank.html and if you don't want grav the turret would update a merkava nicely (comparison pics if you want them)

[Rob_Jedi]

More progress



As I mentioned before I sanded back the circles on the turrets to clean up their lines.







I also got in some Kotobukiya option parts from HLJ I figured was worth trying out for a few dollars. This kit is basically addon gatling gun muzzles. I figured the front guns on the Caimens needed improving from the 2 tubes they have now. The smallest gatling muzzle was slightly larger than the molded on guns so I put a short piece of plastic tubing over the regular guns and then glued the muzzles to those. I think it looks much more like the movie APC guns now.



Last night I dug through the cupboard and found where I had hidden all of these kits. The result:





A nice hanger backdrop for taking photos of the collection as it progresses.



I've also been digging through my library for reference stuff I collected over the years



Other new aquisitions. Infected bases from Secret Weapon (was playing X-wing for hours in the game store and felt like I should buy something)



and a new Merkava kit from Academy and from the back of the cupboard again an old cheap chinese kit also in 1/48 which may just be a scaled down 1/35 kit from Tamiya. Looking at the 2 kits I kind of think it's the better of the 2. Also an IG Valkyrie that I bought when they came out and never did anything with. I may do some gun swapping to de 40K it a bit.

So this is all good for the USCM but what about the aliens??





Barks came through for me selling me 14 Ozmade/Eureka Chaos Weasels which are damn difficult to photograph since they are so shiny and black. I'm not planning on repainting them at the moment but may rebase them to the Champ bases.



I think they do the job pretty well but I can't wait to get the LE xenos from Comsquare for a proper hoard



There is also the always impressive Konami Alien Queen figure. I also got a LE Queen which I am cleaning up and working out how to pin together and resculpt her broken off little arms.



Looks like the xenos have noticed you boys



dramatic zoom out...

[Michka]

This is not helping me work on my Blade Runner project at all. Thanks for that. 

I so want those hanger sets. Now I have to go check out Hobby Link Japan.

I also want me some Chaos Weasels. I bet those look pretty good next to the LE aliens.

[Rob_Jedi]

Haha and I haven't even shown you all the doodads and trollies and crates and stuff that comes with them. Will clip all of them off the sprues next and take photos with my recent sci fi crates from Fenris and Spartan scenics.