Tom Hering’s Mars Attacks

I made the following changes to the Moebius “Mars Attacks” Martian Warrior kit.

1. The mounting holes on the base were filled in, and new holes were drilled that allowed me to move the Martian more toward the center of the scene, and to turn his body so it faced more toward the front of the scene. This created a tighter, more balanced layout, and a more aggressive stance for the Martian. I also replaced the plastic mounting pegs on the Martian’s feet with new pegs made of clothes hanger wire. (If you want to compare my model with a straight-out-of-the-box version, don’t use the photo on the back of the kit box, as it too shows the Martian in a modified position. Instead, look up the IPMS/USA review of the kit online.)

2. The mounting peg for the Martian’s head was rounded off, so I could rotate his face about 1/8 turn to his left. That way, together with turning his body, his face would show better when the model is viewed from the front. He’s also looking straight ahead now, in the direction his body is moving – again contributing to a more aggressive appearance.

3. I scratch built a ray gun power pack, which is worn on the Martian’s right hip. The pack is visible in cards 1, 11, 18, 19, and 24 of the original Topps “Mars Attacks” series. I used 1mm vinyl beading cord for a power line that connects the pack to the grip of the ray gun (see cards 11, 18, and 19). I also made the power pack about twice the size it appears in card 18, because I wanted it to look like it could deliver a lot of juice.

4. I added a front piece to the sewer grate cover.

5. I created a newspaper in my computer graphics program, and had it printed out at high resolution on acid-free paper at a local copy store. (The victim’s necktie was created the same way.) After cutting out, folding, and bending the newspaper, I soaked it thoroughly with Testors Dullcote to protect and stiffen it. The story the model tells is now about a man being killed by a Martian warrior – just as the man is standing on a street corner and reading the breaking news of a Martian invasion. (The “photo” on the front page is actually the painting from card 10, “The Skyscraper Tumbles.”)

6. I added buttons made from sliced sprue to both sleeves of the victim’s suit coat.

7. I used a razor saw to cut the globe off the street light. This allowed for easier, neater painting.

In painting the Martian, I used my 1984 Renata Galasso reprint set of the 1962 “Mars Attacks” cards as a reference. Rather than painting the Martian’s suit a turquoise color, as seen in the kit’s box art (and as recommended in the kit instructions), I custom mixed Model Master oil enamels to match the green color shown in the original trading cards. For all the recesses on the arms, gloves, legs, and boots, I made shading colors by tinting the base colors with a dark green (and I kept the shading subtle). The collars and tank hoses on the Martian suits sometimes look gray or blue in the cards, but I think that’s just a 2D painter’s way of showing contrast and highlights in black areas. So I went with pure black for these features, and used a gloss finish to highlight structure and details.

After applying an overall base color of dark flesh tone, the face and brain of the Martian were coated with a wash of Burnt Umber artist’s oil, drybrushed with a light flesh tone, and tinted with pale green and pale orange pastel dust. The pupils of the eyes were punched out of some leftover red decals.

Most of the model was hand brushed. Only the street light, tank hoses, ray gun, and power pack were spray painted (using rattle cans of flat black and gloss black). Matte areas of the model were sprayed with Testors Dullcote, and glossy areas were hand brushed with a triple coat of Future floor polish. All the blood is Future tinted with red food coloring.

The bands around the bottom of the helmet halves were painted black, inside and out. Then the halves were cleaned with a micro fiber cloth, dipped in a bath of Future, and allowed to harden for six hours. (Hold the halves with tweezers when dipping, let excess Future drip off for a few seconds, and then place the halves on a piece of paper towel – moving them to a new spot on the towel every two minutes for ten minutes so they don’t stick.) Dipping the halves in Future not only made them look super clear, but allowed them to be assembled by using Future as a liquid cement, i.e., applying Future to the joint with a detail brush and letting it run along the seam (wet Future bonds to dried Future). The halves were held together with very-low-tack masking tape until the joint dried, in about 30-45 minutes. (Tip: stick two Q-Tip buds to each piece of tape – off to each side of the joint. This keeps the tape away from the joint, and so prevents the Future from running under the tape.)

Tom Hering