Screamin' Air Assault Martian

This kit took me forever to build. The final version you see here wasn’t hard at all, but this kit taught me quite a few important lessons. As this was my first regular sized figure kit, that was exactly what I had hoped it would do.

I purchased this kit from ebay - source of all that is available and discontinued. I made a few incorrect presumptions about the kit. It is not from Burton’s movie and it did not show the full face, it was tentacled. Nevertheless, when the kit arrived, I was most pleased. It’s a cool kit. I loved that the head glowed in the dark; I don’t know why a glowing head was cool, every version of this kit I’ve seen has the head painted, but it was cool just the same. I put this kit away but slated it to be an early project when I moved to Gaffa, my new home.

True to my intention, I began this kit right after I moved. It’s multi-media consisting of resin, vinyl and plastic pieces. The resin pieces were well cast and the vinyl torso, well it’s vinyl so you know it’s good. The kit was not without it’s problems though. First of all, the clear plastic helmet didn’t fit over the head. It had shrunk, or the head had expanded or, what I think happened, it never fit at all. This last impression was confirmed when I talked to a friend of mine who owned a hobby shop. It was industry knowledge that the helmet on this kit didn’t fit. Since Screamin’, the company who produced the kit, is no longer around, another model company fatality, I was on my own. My friend said that serious modeler’s made their own. I guess I’m not a serious modeler. My martian doesn’t wear a hat.

The other serious problem was that the kit came with 2 right feet and no left foot. There’s no way you can make a right foot look like a left foot without a mirror. This time I took the path of a serious modeler and I made a new left foot. I used Super Sculpy and created what I think is a very passable replacement for the missing part. Luckily the piece wasn’t very complicated, but I’m still proud of my work.

I trimmed and sanded the parts and figured on a pose. All the parts are separate so you can pose this guy anyway you want. It also came with alternate hands and a loose weapon. I wanted mine to stand and look menacing. I knew I wasn’t going to hang it in an air attack pose. I assembled the parts with CA glue and puttied around the neck to blend the head into the suit. The gun originally had a fine resin strand on the top, like a scope. This proved too fragile for me. When the kit arrived, it had already broken off one side. I just scraped that detail and went with the base gun.

I mixed paint with Liquitex Basic acrylics. I got a very nice green tone and I mixed a brownish red for the backpack and a blue for the breastplate and hosing. I masked off the head, pack, breastplate and hoses with Mold Builder Liquid Latex Rubber and went to town on the green.

Then the model sat around for a couple of months. Sometimes a project just does that. Maybe you lose interest, maybe something’s not right with it, maybe you get busy, who knows, but this little guy stalked my workbench for about five months as a green shadow by the painting booth watching me work on plastic starships.

When I finally returned to my favorite Martian, I noticed a few problems. These weren’t new, I had noticed them when they happened, but figured I could repair it. It really became apparent when I painted the back pack. The paint was chipping off. It would not adhere at all to the resin. Mr. Air Assault Martian was about to teach me some very important and basic lessons in modeling, particularly when working with resin. Wash the pieces well to remove all mold release agent and use primer

I had washed the parts in warm soapy water with a brush, but I guess I didn’t do a good enough job at it. For a while I thought it was just that I was using acrylic paint, but the paint was adhering in places, - most places in fact - just in certain hard to reach with a brush places wouldn’t be painted. It was clear.

It was time for the “Big Dip.” I hate doing the Big Dip. It’s a last ditch solution for a desperate modeler, one that I’ve used too many times on figures. I immersed the kit in a strong solution of water and Pine-Sol to remove the paint. Surely there are other ways to remove paint, but this method doesn’t poison you. The Big Dip works like a charm, but it can be a problem brushing off the paint because the acrylic becomes gum and clogs any brush you might use to the point of ruin.

After the paint was removed, I scrubbed the kit with soap and water. I held off using acetone because I didn’t have enough of it. I just made damned sure I got every crevice and fold and detail thoroughly cleaned. Then I rinsed the pieces and rinsed them again and another time out of spite and hatred. After it was dry, I reattached the parts which had fallen off during the Big Dip and subsequent abuse.

I then did a little research and found a good primer to use for resin. It was hard to get an actual brand name off the boards - maybe people are afraid to mention names for fear of lawsuits or something. I dunno. Someone finally emailed the information, which I pass along to you, dear reader, as a kindness for fellow modelers: Plasti-Kote One Coat Spot Filler & Primer, available in automotive parts stores. This stuff etches the resin and makes a good base for paint. Just what a primer is supposed to do.

I primed the kit, allowed it to set for a day or two - I was not going to take any more chances anywhere, thank you very much.

I masked the several areas again and painted the green. I mixed new colors, this time using a little Liquitex Acrylic Iridescent Tinting Medium. This stuff made the colors look metallic and, together with a gloss coat, gave the colors a depth I’ve never been able to achieve before. A very nice effect..

Unlike when I started the kit, I was comfortable with my airbrush and knew how to mask better. The airbrushing went very well. I highlighted the details with a little drybrushing of a lighter shade of the primary colors - green, blue and red/brown. I picked out the details with a brush.

I painted the head with a brush too. The instructions gave a good reference for color and I stuck with it. I coated the head red, and then drybrushed yellow over the brain part. The tentacles were first painted black and then I drybrushed blue over them. There’s an inner garment visible inside the collar of the suit around the neck. I painted that black and then drybrushed the metallic blue on it. The kit is based on a comic book character, the color palette should be limited.

When finished, I masked the head, since I didn’t think the head should be shiny,.and hit it with my gloss sealer (Future floor wax). This sealed the kit and really brought out the iridescence of the color.

When I finally got after this kit, it didn’t take too long and I’m very pleased with the final result. It’s one of my favorite pieces.