Alien Oerlikon Bust [Closed Mouth Edition] WIP by Bruce Hansing
Bringing Purity to life
Collectors always lurke for the ultimate piece to "complete" their collection. We all know, of course, completion never really happens, and once you finally managed to hunt that piece down, the next ultimate piece is already waving at you the very next corner. The answer to my ultimate item is quite clear: it only can be a close to movie-accurate version of Giger´s Alien from the ´79 space terror masterpiece - in big scale, at least in 1/3. One day...maybe...
Well...this one day can be very soon sometimes. When I saw Bruce Hansing´s Instagram Post of his latest piece of art I was immediately blown away only from seeing the pictures. They show a very alive looking version of the true original xenomorph by the dark master H.R. Giger, beautifully hand-crafted as a life-size bust (actually it is the complete head with torso) by Bruce himself. What a breathtaking, fierce-looking revisit and hommáge to Giger´s original design from 1979!
So I gathered all my courage and messaged Bruce if one of his pieces is on open season. Not long after Bruce answered...and the answer was not only very kind, but positive! Obviously a no-brainer that I took this rare chance and secured me a spot! I hope you enjoy the following pictures of the maker´s process as much as I do. Bruce kindly gave permission to show here some work-in-progress steps of the OERLIKON ALIEN: one of the most iconic, forever terryfying creatures in movie history.
Signed & Numbered Metalplate / Molding the Headskull
About this Bust
"Back around 1996/97 I was asked by Giger to mould his original Alien for his upcoming museum in Gruyeres. I took a few photos to document this at the time, and then earlier this year [2019] an old customer of mine asked if I would consider sculpting a copy of the upper torso, head etc as per one of my photos. I agreed and thought it would be a fitting tribute to the man that inspired me in my career. The head uses real vertebrae along the centre as does Gigers, individual teeth set into the gum that will be chromed, will have the lip wiring that Rambaldi developed and was still in Giger's Alien head and of course will include the clear dome and airbrush paint finish." Bruce Hansing. Source: instagram.com/brucehansing
Techniques Bruce uses:
- Vacuumformed dome
- Many layers of “washed” thinned out paint
- Shellac coating
- Airbrush artwork
- Polyurethane varnish for super high gloss
- Chromed Teeth
Filling and Sanding the Chest Piece
Progress of the Base and fitted Tubes on the Back
Painting the Torso, 1st Stage
Base dark colors going on to the torso:
Starting with dark colours, browns, blues and black and up next getting lighter with the bones.
Painting the Torso, 2nd Stage
The colours and the painting of the details are complete, though the finish still seems very “flat”. To give the Oerlikon that alive-looking, organic feel, the next stage will be ignited: Enter the Shellac.
Gloss Coating the Torso
The gloss coating adds huge depth to the colour scheme. Next step is to implement the chromed teeth before fitting the lower jaw.
Chroming the teeth and finishing the mouth area
High gloss is going on in mouth area to breath more and more life into the xenomorph. The finish will be very organic! The teeth are already inserted but masked out with tape.
The finished Alien Oerlikon Bust No. 10 / 12
The colour scheme really worked fantastic on this one: random and natural, but then tied in at the last point. The beauty is ready now to settle down in it´s new shelter!