Author Topic: Martian Warrior  (Read 160 times)

Offline Motleysprue

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Martian Warrior
« 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!
« Last Edit: February 14, 2026, 12:06:26 AM by Motleysprue »

Online Frank3k

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Re: Martian Warrior
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2026, 01:32:51 AM »
This is going to look good! Great work on the head so far. BTW, Moebius Models is still around.
« Last Edit: February 14, 2026, 07:30:53 AM by Frank3k »

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Martian Warrior
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2026, 01:37:29 AM »
This is going to look good! Great wok on the head so far.

What he said
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Offline apophenia

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Re: Martian Warrior
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2026, 04:55:32 AM »
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!).
"Coloured lights can hypnotise; Sparkle someone else's eyes"

Offline Motleysprue

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Re: Martian Warrior
« Reply #4 on: Today at 02:45:45 AM »
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.


Offline Motleysprue

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Re: Martian Warrior
« Reply #5 on: Today at 02:48:46 AM »
I finally assembled the Martian (completely 'armless, so far)

Offline Motleysprue

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Re: Martian Warrior
« Reply #6 on: Today at 02:53:32 AM »
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: