Brown or Black ?

QUOTE: Originally posted by SewerRat I'm about to paint my AMT Alien and I'm having a hard time trying to figure out if I should paint it brown or black ? most of the movies show the aliens as a blackish metallic and some are a earthy brown . By the way this goes to MMF , I found at my local hobby store in the model train section a liquid that they use to make water scenes , would this work as far as the dripping slime ?

If it is called EZ-Water forget about it you need to heat it, plus it has a yellowish tint.
Best bet is to hit the Arts-Supply store and get some acrylic gel. It is used to seal painting and comes in a variety of thicknesses, looks like a whitish paste but will dry 100% clear.

I thnk some Hobby/Model shops sell repackaged acyrlic gel but charge about 3-times what you would pay at the Art supply store, the make I use is Liquitex and should be readily available.

As for the colour of the Alien, I think it depends on the species of the Alien, there were different ones in the movies.
Early version go with a dark brown, Alien 3 was jet-black.

Tip:
Try to get hold of some pearl-powder(comes in a variety of colours) and mix it into your paint prior to painting, this will give the chitinous shine/effect to the skin.
Something like the following:

I have an alien kit that's been on hold for the same reason: the color dilemma. Personally, the paint scheme I've been considering would involve a combination of gloss black, graphite, and anthracite gray. Some may disagree with the use of metallics, but my thinking is that it would help the details pop out more and add to the feel of the Aliens as inhuman killers.

MMF ,

your link didn't work , as far as what type of alien , it's the AMT kit , not much on detail and well you know the rest , the stuff for the train water isn't called EZ-water it's a acrylic gel of sorts , it dries clear from what the people at the store told me ?

I was thinking of doing a dark grey primer , then light coats of gloss black , followed by a dry brush of gunmetal and either steel or silver ?

QUOTE: Originally posted by SewerRat MMF , your link didn't work , as far as what type of alien , it's the AMT kit , not much on detail and well you know the rest , the stuff for the train water isn't called EZ-water it's a acrylic gel of sorts , it dries clear from what the people at the store told me ?

Here is a link that should work:
http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljpage.cgi?WAVOM-066

Sounds like they are recommending Woddlands Realistic Water which, AFAIK, is 100% acrylic gel.
In short the same glazing mediums that you can find in Arts supply stores, except the glazing mediums offer you a larger variety of thicknesses and bottle sizes.

Are you thinking that if I added the pearl coat to the black I would get the effect I'm locking for ? Also the bottle of that gel is about a half a gallon for 15.95 , not to bad , has a set up time of about 3 to 5 hours depending on the use , they say for what I'm wanting to do with it , that the set up time should be quite a bit less .

QUOTE: Originally posted by SewerRat Are you thinking that if I added the pearl coat to the black I would get the effect I'm locking for ?

Yes, I think you could achieve the affect you are after, of course you will need a few tries to see how much powder to add to get a good effect.

QUOTE: Also the bottle of that gel is about a half a gallon for 15.95 , not to bad , has a set up time of about 3 to 5 hours depending on the use , they say for what I'm wanting to do with it , that the set up time should be quite a bit less .

Sounds about right, I would still compare prices and other available products from the Arts Store.
I got a large selection of Liquitex gels at home including their texturing gels for Dio and similar. Most large scale figure builders I know use a LOT of arts supplies.

My local Hobbytown sells a product I think about the same as the peral coat , however this is a metallic type of peral coat ? I wonder if that would look any better ?

QUOTE: Originally posted by SewerRat My local Hobbytown sells a product I think about the same as the peral coat , however this is a metallic type of peral coat ? I wonder if that would look any better ?

It might, sorry, only familiar with the local products. i.e. Wave & FG.

Guess I'll just have to try it and go from there .

What do you think about this idea for a base for the kit

A piece of tile , spackled and shaped into some sort of alien landscape ?

QUOTE: Originally posted by SewerRat Guess I'll just have to try it and go from there . What do you think about this idea for a base for the kit A piece of tile , spackled and shaped into some sort of alien landscape ?

Sounds good.

MMF ,

what is your name ? Saw your website and must say I used it as a reference when I started pinning the Alien Pile , i also have to say that the kit had next to no clean up , no bubbles , no pits and everything seems to fit perfect , I can see why the kit sells for $138 + , shows you pay for what you get .