Custom Wolf Predator Project Underway

[Dizzyarse]

Yes, finally started work on a custom 1/6 Wolf Pred.
I decided to go with a Beserker body for this one. "Oh my god, he is way too beefy" I hear you say! Not with a lot of sanding, filling a re-shaping he wont be.
Oh, and I know the colours look odd... these shots show only the base coats. I am building up in layers to re-texture the skin (which is a kind of point arrow head effect - see reference picture) and need a good primer colour underneath.
Dizzy

 

[edstuff]

Looks great so far man. Happy to see you on this.

 

[Bardoon]

Good work so far! Someone posted their custom Wolf up here recently as well. The guy remolded and bulked up some of the body so it still looked lean, but more muscular like he did in the movie. Might want to try and hunt that one down for a good reference piece!

 

[Centurion]

Love the production still photo.
Gives you an idea how tall the predator was on set.

 

[greygoose]

Good luck with your Wolf. Your P2 turned out great so I'm sure your Wolf will look awesome.

 

[predarnold]

Love the production still photo.
Gives you an idea how tall the predator was on set.

Ian Whyte (Wolf, Scar Predator) > 7' 1" (2.16 m)
Kevin Peter Hall (P1, P2, Elder Predator) > 7' 2" (2.18 m)

 

[Dizzyarse]

And now some Wolf progress shots.
I have been painting up the body this week.
My preferred method is using a brush, and building up layers.
Fist a base oat to prime, and as each layer influences the colour on top you have to be careful with your choices of colours.
After the base colour comes the low-lights. This can be done to give texture (as I had to re-shape this figure I lost all of the original scales during sanding and filling). The highlight layer (white in this case) re-applies that scale texture, and gives a stark contrast between the low-lights and highlights.
After that a couple of washes of the true colour you want the skin to be.
Then comes the start of the detail layer... the spots.
Once it is as close as I can get it to the pattern of the pred suit I will use gloss paint on the scales to make them stand out from the bits in-between and appear to be raised from the matte colour.
Dizzy

 

[Centurion]

Impressive!
Looking forward to the completed project dizzy.

 

[predator357]

great work, i love seeing custom Wolf Preds

 

[edstuff]

I have to admit I was skeptical about you using a newer body for wolf. I didnt say anything because I figured if anyone could pull it off it would be you. I gotta say you're doing a bang up job here man. Seriously awesome.

 

[greygoose]

Shortly after seeing your custom P2 we had confirmation of a new P2 so hopefully news of a new Wolf will happen.

 

[Dizzyarse]

Yeah, no doubt they will announce soon!
Still, on with the build!
Dizzy

 

[WolfPredatorAVPR]

Looking awesome so far...hopefully we got an announcement of the 1/4 scale wolf soon

 

[predarnold]

Looks good but the neck part is too long.

 

[Dizzyarse]

Don't worry... the head fix is on it's way!
Dizzy

 

[edstuff]

You had to fix the neck on your first custom too didn't you? I'd love to see a tutorial on that. I've got an extra falconer body I want to customize.

 

[Dizzyarse]

I will show the head fix tomorrow guys.
For tonight's offering I have the legs.
The original wolf legs are too short and thin to just use as they are, so I had to get a bit creative and cast individual areas of them and fix onto the Beserker body legs.
A little filler in the gaps, and hey presto... and a week of work, and we have Wolf coming together at last.
Dizzy

 

[Dizzyarse]

In the next pics you can see the figure finally coming together.
I do worry up to this stage because until you are about 75% through the build you really do not know if it is all going to work or not!
I am happy... the legs do not look like tree trunks, and his head seems more in scale that on the original figure!
The pictures do lie though... for some reason the only way you can actually see how slim he looks is if the picture is on its' side! The camera must compress the image or something for portrait shots.
Dizzy

 

[Dizzyarse]

Okay guys, time for the head fix.
It is quite simple, the neck needs trimming down with a Dremmel or similar hobby sanding tool, and the neck hole needs to be widened so that it sits right down over the super pred neck.
Sand the hole at a 45 degree angles so that you do not thin it out too much and have holes appear, and keep checking the fit against the neck itself.
Alternate doing this widening with shortening the bottom of the neck... which head and the neck ring you use will affect weather you need any neck length left on the head at all.
Once you are happy that it sits low enough it is time for the magic ingredient... Siligum (made by a company called Gedeo... just Google it).
This is a 2 part silicone gum mixture I often use to make simple molds.
Just rub equal parts of the white and blue until evenly mixed, then pack out the head via the neck hole.
When filled you have about 5 minutes before it sets into a silicone rubber state, so you push firmly onto the neck.
Leave for 5 mins and you have a perfectly attached head with a bespoke rubber seal, which can be pulled off if required, and popped back on.
Dizzy

 

[Elder_Predator2]

The last pic Wolf's head looks miniscule