NECA 1/4 Predator 2 "City Hunter" movie accurate bio-mask

[Alice]

So, after years of lolly-gagging, and not being happy with this thing, I've gone through several iterations. My first version was actually pretty bad. Can't believe people were actually interested in it. It was better than the NECA, probably more so due to my painting ability than my sculpting. My paint actually hid quite a few parts that I really wasn't happy with.

Not being happy with it was the main reason this thing never happened. I wasn't 100% happy with it, and didn't feel it was fair to charge people money for something even I wasn't satisfied with. That, and it always irritated me when I saw some people sell things they had made, and then provide a better, improved version later prompting people to either re-buy or settle with the inferior version they initially purchased.

That said, earlier this year I stripped my original resculpt, and made some improvements. Mainly to the temple areas and the laser shroud. Still not being happy with how it the second version was turning out, I shelved it again.

A few days ago, I pulled it back down, and started working on it again. Dremeled away a lot of the old detail, and I'm resculpting it all from scratch. With some more experience under my belt, and some new tools at my disposal, I'm fairly certain I can get something that I'm happy with, and think is actually worth selling.

Here are some pictures of the original NECA (just for fun) and some shots of the past versions.

First version from 2014.

Second from earlier 2017.

Current WIP.

Interest list thus far:

1. ashkanls (via this thread)
2. Codetalker (via this thread)
3. wolverenz (via this thread)
4. dxdave (via this thread)
5. lars10 (via PM ages ago)
6. Sun (via Hunter's Lair)
7. OM1D
8. Raoh76

 

[ashkanls]

I would want a bio but it all depends on the price.

 

[CodeTalker]

I'm definitely interested but I guess I would have to see how a mold would turn out and a price would be good too!

 

[wolverenz]

Oh you finally decided to mass produce this baby,

Definitely interested in one sir. I'll be supporting this all the way :clap

 

[elvis1976]

Just a friendly reminder but if you decide to sell you need to upgrade to a premium account.

https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?140567-Selling-on-the-forum

 

[Python]

If I had one I'd be in, love your repaint over on the Lair... there is another 1/4 P2 coming up that could do with a new bio

 

[dxdave]

I could be interested too if the price is right.

 

[Alice]

Just a friendly reminder but if you decide to sell you need to upgrade to a premium account.

https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?140567-Selling-on-the-forum

I did give the new rules a look, especially since this is the first time I've ever done anything like this to begin with. I'll definitely sign up for a premium membership if this gets as far as a true-blue sell thread.

I would want a bio but it all depends on the price.

I'm definitely interested but I guess I would have to see how a mold would turn out and a price would be good too!

Oh you finally decided to mass produce this baby,

Definitely interested in one sir. I'll be supporting this all the way :clap

I could be interested too if the price is right.

Well, as far as materials I have access to, I'm already about $150ish into this. I'm not sure how much resin I'll need to make each mask, but my final price may be directly correlated to how much I end up needing per mask. At the moment, I was tossing around a few numbers in my head, but I'm not sure how reliable they may be at this point. I was gauging what I thought would be fair pricing by how much taylerdurdem was charging for his P2 masks. His being 1/6 scale, I'm sure they use far less resin per mask than a 1/4 scale one would. His prices are $25 for a raw mask and $45 for a cleaned and painted one. I was guessing mine would be somewhere around $40 for raw and $60 for painted, but, as I said, those numbers aren't set in stone, and it completely depends on how much the materials end up costing me. Not to mention, I'm also toying with the idea of adding some interior detail as well, so people with the unmasked City Hunter could display one as well without the inside being a blank, ugly mess.

Either way, It'll still be a little while before I'm ready to make my mold, because if I'm going to be selling copies I want to make sure I'm happy with what I'm selling. I don't want to sell something I'm not happy with, and I'm still not 100% happy with it myself. I'm going to pull the paint off, and do some minor tweaking to a couple of things (laser shroud, right temple, brow etc.), as well as try to come up with some interesting interior details.

If I had one I'd be in, love your repaint over on the Lair... there is another 1/4 P2 coming up that could do with a new bio

Thanks. I assume you're talking about the Sideshow maquette. I'm not even sure how the mask on that thing would even work. I'm guessing the masked portrait is a whole head, so I'm not sure how I could go about working that, but if there was a logical way that looked good and there was enough interest for it I wouldn't mind having a go. Or, at the very least, selling copies that people could display along with the unmasked portrait or something.

 

[ashkanls]

Mold I use: AM 128 Silicone Rubber RTV-. I order 1 gallon at a time. If you order more and dont use it in time it goes bad! I have bought the 5 gallon buckets a few times and wasted about 4 gallons through time.

https://aeromarineproducts.com/silicone-mold-making.htm

Resin I use: Smooth-Cast™ 321 Series Liquid Plastic. I order 1 gallon at a time.

https://www.reynoldsam.com/Urethane-Plastic-a/c5_1120_1210/index.html?catdepth=1

When I was selling the P1 18 inch Neca bio I was charging $75 painted with LED's installed.

 

[Alice]

What's annoying is I've looked all over for the Smooth-On products in Australia, and the only place I can find the 321 only has the trial kits for $45. What I have right now is just hobby shop stuff that costs the same price, but I'm not sure how much is even in the trial kits. The only other option is 300 by the gallon, and that'll run me $265.

It's just a pain in the ass trying to get those particular products here for any kind of reasonable price. If I spent that much on materials I'm afraid I'd have to charge too much just to break even, and people would lose interest. That's the problem when dealing internationally. I know some people would be turned off buying a copy if it ends up being close to the price of the whole figure.

If anyone wants to discuss what the market will sustain in terms of price of materials to price they're willing to pay I'm all up for it. Like I said, I'm not looking to get rich, but if people aren't willing to pay enough to even cover the materials I don't know that this is going to go anywhere.

 

[Python]

Thanks. I assume you're talking about the Sideshow maquette. I'm not even sure how the mask on that thing would even work. I'm guessing the masked portrait is a whole head, so I'm not sure how I could go about working that, but if there was a logical way that looked good and there was enough interest for it I wouldn't mind having a go. Or, at the very least, selling copies that people could display along with the unmasked portrait or something.

I was, I was just being a little facetious to be honest but if you could fix it you'd no doubt be on to a winner with those of us who have ordered one. The mask is separate... or was at least as you can see in the video below. I think the original idea was to just have the one head with a removable mask but the fact there are two heads now suggests they changed their mind about this and the bio will most likely be attached. To be honest, I think a completely new head sculpt is needed for the maquette.

I wont derail your thread any further..You did a great job with the Neca version!!!

[video=youtube;gveT0wWPsdo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gveT0wWPsdo[/video]

 

[CodeTalker]

So would a price include the mask also?

 

[Alice]

The prices I posted ($40 for raw and $60 for painted), are, at this point, rough estimates of what I surmise the price could be. At the moment, what would be included in the "raw" option would be one unpainted, straight from the mold mask, and a piece of "old" mesh (I'll explain that in a minute). You would be responsible for cleaning up any mold lines and imperfections, as well as painting it yourself. That said, I might even clean up the molds before mailing them if I have the time to do so.

As for the painted ones, they would be fully cleaned up and painted by me.

There are two reasons the prices aren't set in stone at this time. First, because I'm not sure how much resin I'll need per mask. Second, because I'm still improving the mask itself. I'm detailing the inside to satisfy my need for both form and function. You'll still be able to put it on your masked City Hunter head, but also be able to remove it or simply display it with an unmasked City Hunter with a completely detailed inside instead of just a facade. With that, I think I'll have to mold a couple of small parts separately, and it'll be like a kit. The main mask part, and two or three additional parts to be painted and glued into place on the interior. For people that don't care about that I'll just have to provide a mask without the interior parts for a few bucks cheaper, as I don't want to make anyone pay for something they don't want, but I also want to give people the option of the more detailed mask.

All that said, onto some developments. Please ignore any scratches or white spots, as those areas are in the process of improvements. While working on the interior I had a lightbulb moment. I recalled I had a bit of metal mesh I used for my model kits that was just sitting in one of my supply cabinets. I went and dug it out, and was pleasantly surprised at how close it was to being what I needed, and I'd had it all along. As you can see in the following picture, it's pretty dead on to what was used on screen (during the unmasking in the slaughterhouse). The only "problem" is it's shiny and reflective. I use problem in quotes, because A) It's totally fixable with some paint. I can easily dull the shine and add a bit of faux rust like the film. B) I know some people like the reflective nature of the Jungle Hunter's visor, and, even though it wouldn't be dead-on accurate might prefer that effect on their City Hunter.

Here's a photo of the screen-used visor mesh.

https://www.yourprops.com/Mesh-helmet-lens-original-movie-prop-Predator-2-1990-YP37798.html

EDIT: I also don't want to post any pictures of the interior until it's finished. I don't like posting WIP pictures when things just look like a mish mash of pieces, as I think it looks terrible, but once I get it done and a coat of paint on it I'll post some pictures.

 

[Alice]

Here are a few teasers of the interior. Still have to finish the tweaks to the exterior, as well as cast a few more detail pieces for the interior. It doesn't look too great as is, but I think it'll really pop once I get a finished cast painted up.

Here's a picture I took of the interior of the mouth portion of the mask. There was a little more cleaning and tweaking before I made the mold.

I'm also adding a list of names of people that have shown interest to the first post. It doesn't mean you're locked in for anything. It's just for me to keep track of who's interested, because I've had people from other forums show interest as well. It's just to help me by keeping things in one place.

 

[Alice]

Well, I finished the mold, and set upon the task of trying my hand at actually pulling some casts. First attempt was a total bust. Nothing came of it but a gloppy pile of resin. Second pull was an improvement, but there were so many air bubbles it wasn't worth cleaning. Especially the inside detail which was largely rendered non existent. The third, and final for now, pull was a minor success. After tweaking the mold I managed to get 98% of the air bubbles out, but, for some reason I can't understand, a portion of the top of the bio just didn't take any of the resin at all.

Here are a few pics of the second and third pulls.I'm sure you can tell them apart. The cleaner third pull still doesn't have all of the inside details added, since they're going to be cast as separate pieces, and I haven't made the molds for them yet.

Also, notice that I greatly adjusted and improved the shape and corners of the eye slots to better resemble the actual movie prop. Kinda hard to see, but once there's a painted copy the differences will be more than apparent.

 

[Python]

Some of these may be of interest to you... https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials

I'm sure trial and error is all part of learning though. I'd like to give this a go myself actually.

 

[Alice]

I've actually purchased a lot of those tutorials. Haven't gotten the ones about casting. They're definitely on my list though. I think, at this point, it's definitely just trial and error on my part. A few screw ups are to be expected, since this is the first time ever actually doing any of this.

 

[Python]

Exactly, have fun with it, when you do figure it all out.... be sure to let me know

 

[Alice]

Will do.

 

[ashkanls]

Your pouring your resin to fast and I think its pretty thick resin to begin with.