Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Scifi and Fantasy => Topic started by: Motleysprue on February 13, 2026, 11:24:48 PM
-
I thought I would have a go at this one - The Martian Warrior from the late-lamented Mobius Models of the US who did a nice range of monsters from shlocky old movies with a heavy dose of inspiration from Aurora classics.
The model is a bit of a gorefest for family viewing, with a bisected victim moulded into the base. So I cut him out with a Dremel, filled the void with poured resin in two stages and gave the outer surface a bit of texture.
(Veteran posters bear with me as I have literally no idea what I am doing in terms of posting on this website.)
I invested in a new airbrush as unaccountably the one I bought for bobbins on the interweb did not work very well. Next shot shows results of initial coats of paint. I found an excellent WIP report on a rival website (!) posted by The Spadgent useful for thinking about colours and effects.
I also figured I would stick some LEDs in the lamppost globe and also inside Mr Gack Gack's helmet.
Note that the picture frame and empty beer can are not elements in the diorama. They were just lying around.
Funny how strongly the features of the Martian warrior remind me of a particularly nasty boss I had early on in my career! You can see what a fine job I have [[not]] done in filling in the join lines in the Martian's head. Overall, this is quite a seamy model cast in soft plastic. But a high quality sculpt as per all the Mobius models.
The lamp post is kinda smaller scale than the Martian (at least judging from the Tim Burton film, based like the model, on a Topps trading card series). But it is also relatively tall if you want any light from the globe to fall on the diorama. So I shortened the metal pole a bit with an angle grinder.
The scene was liable to be a bit bare without the dead earthling. So I decided to incorporate a cheeky earth pooch, doing what dogs naturally do when confronted with a lamppost. (Apologies if this contravenes any forum rules on good/bad taste, but I couldn't find anything against it).
The dog came from a local toy shop, suitably altered to the appropriate action pose and with his head tilted back to fix The Gackster fearlessly with his beady eyes.
I will leave it there for now. Hopefully I may have achieved the superhuman skills needed to post description interspersed with pics by the time I return. All constructive criticism welcome in the meanwhile. Thanks!
-
This is going to look good! Great work on the head so far. BTW, Moebius Models (https://www.moebiusmodels.com/) is still around.
-
This is going to look good! Great wok on the head so far.
What he said
-
This is going to look good! Great wok on the head so far...
And on the piddling pooch ;D
Welcome aboard Motleysprue (and great handle, BTW!).
-
Thanks for your responses. I think Moebius got bought out by another business after a period of inactivity but I don't know if the new owner has made any kits from the old toolings yet.
(http://)
-
I finally assembled the Martian (completely 'armless, so far)
-
I did the weathering on the lamp post by painting Vallejo rust over a black undercoat, sprinkling on a bit of latex masking fluid, spraying green over the top and then rubbing away the masking fluid to expose the rust.
Penalties of overthinking. Installing LEDs in the Martian's helment and lamp globe meant the battery cases fitted in the base of the model were just a tad deeper than the height of the base itself. So I had to cut and rout out an MDF base with a recess in it for the model base to sit on top of:
-
This is a kick :smiley:
-
Reasonably happy with underlighting fitted in helmet. The helmet itself has a thick overlap between the two halves.
-
I also stuck a green LED (death ray? pilot light? whatever?) in the central boss of the Martian's suit. And I trimmed the lug connected the head to the top of the suit so Mr Gack Gack could look round in mounting horror at the piddling pooch
-
My other half responded to the semi-finished model by asking "does it play a tune too?" The only rational response was to fit a minirecorder in the base (with the speaker under the grating in the gutter, with slots drilled out for the purpose). This plays Slim Whitman's "Indian Love Call" as per the Mars Attacks movie. The Martian's brain does not explode as a result, but there is a limit to what you can achieve with a plastic model!
-
Here is the finished model. Just shows how a person can overthink things if he really tries. I'm reasonably happy with it and will probably retrofit lighting in some other completed Moebius models before (eventually) moving on to a Mothman build which has interesting possibilities in terms of painting. Dunno how I have managed to post the same fuzzy pic twice so sorry about that!
-
My other half responded to the semi-finished model by asking "does it play a tune too?" The only rational response was to fit a minirecorder in the base (with the speaker under the grating in the gutter, with slots drilled out for the purpose). This plays Slim Whitman's "Indian Love Call" as per the Mars Attacks movie. The Martian's brain does not explode as a result, but there is a limit to what you can achieve with a plastic model!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBh895KdXAU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBh895KdXAU)
-
Excellent job, Mr Motleysprue! Well done! :smiley: :smiley: 8)
-
Another in the “I like this” basket :smiley:
-
Good stuff! I love the act of defiance by this pooch (possibly his last act ... but he's done Earth proud) :smiley:
-
If I could speak Martian congrats I would!!! Superb work, love the dog, highly enjoyable to view, Gack Gack!!!
-
That came out great! The lighting, especially inside the Martian's helmet, looks sinister.
-
Run Away !! Too scary for me ! Excellent job :smiley:
-
Thanks for encouraging responses, folks!
-
Quite nice!