ALIENS up-link tower

[Dropshipbob]

I had this sprawling complex planned for my Colonial Marines to investigate ala the colony in the movie ALIENS. I decided to start with something "small" to see how it would go, so I went with this "up-link" tower...which is just another word "satellite tower". It started out as a plastic 32oz drink cup turned over with other odds-and-ends stuck to it. It's mostly done, just adding a few more things here and there and then painting the whole thing.

Try not to mind the googly eyes, I needed them for their dome shapes, they will be painted over. The big open square on the front will be filled with a box that will have wires and control panels and then THAT will be covered up with a removable panel.

 

[K-Tiger]

I think you're off to a good start.


So, gonna go buy that Concept Warrior/Carter Burke two-pack?

 

[Videoviper]

Nice start I think we are allowed planning secret space city dios

 

[Dropshipbob]

Thanks guys. I did some more work to it this weekend, added on a few details to the back of the transmitting shields, also started to throw on some black paint to get it all looking uniform.

K, you betcha! I'm not sure the sign is in scale, but we never got to see anything next to it in the movie to give us an idea on it's size, so who knows.

 

[Dropshipbob]

UPDATE!!!

Painted up the entire tower, added in the wires and control panels in the recessed area as well as the protective cover, as well as other details. Base is a piece of MDF with the edges sanded down and the whole thing covered with paper clay then textured. The scattered rocks are real, drive-way chat and chunks of broken-up plaster. The black square is a copy of the floor grate that came with a HIYA toys Alien warrior. Yes...there are patches of lighter greys here and there on the tower, that was on purpose, it's supposed to simulate paint repairs covering up worn away paint or graffiti.

Next step: painting all the ground work

 

[NSA]

Lookin' good

 

[Dropshipbob]

Thanks! Gotta finish this soon, I'm worried I'm losing steam.

 

[Dropshipbob]

Another update...

Laid down the base coat of ground color. Next up, lots and lots....and lots of drybrushing.

 

[Preacher13]

I love those milk tops for dios.

 

[Dropshipbob]

Tell me about it! One of the few things I like bringing back home from McDonalds!

 

[Dropshipbob]

I'm calling this one finished! Two things that bother me, the dry-brushing I did on the floor grate outside the terminal access is a bit too yellow, I swear it's not that vibrant in real-life, probably just an effect of the flash. The actual access area on the terminal sits way too low as you can see in the photo....the figure has to be posed bending over to be able to get into it...I don't think it was like that when I actually started building it, maybe the figure I used to get the dimensions was on the small/short side? Nothing can be done about that now, the techs working on it will just have to suffer lower back pain.

On the other hand, I'm really happy with how the ground work turned out. I wasn't going by any methods I was familiar with, I just kind of guessed at the whole thing.

 

[Preacher13]

This looks awesome. You should put some actual dirt or ash or something on the ground. Then you can make footprints and tire tracks, etc.

 

[Preacher13]

Love the crew guys

 

[Dropshipbob]

I was actually going to do just that! The main material for the ground is stuff called celluclay, which is just a finely ground paper mache type stuff, acts like clay, air dries.

While it was still wet, I was going to imprint footprints and tire marks from the vehicle in the picture, but the clay was too wet and stuck to everything. I was going to wait and let it dry out a bit, but I waited too long and it dried out too much.

Glad you like the crew, they are Star Wars figures repainted just a little and with decals on their back, they turned out pretty good.