Kitbashing a Sci-Fi Monster

My favorite thing to kitbash are big monsters. I much rather make a mutant weirdo then a person. Which is usually why when I kitbash people there tends to always be something monstrous about them. My local group is planning to play Planet 28 next year which means we are all creating new warbands to use. My warband is very much inspired by the Cantina Scene from Star Wars and Aliens of Mass Effect video games. Still figuring out the color pallet but I'll share the whole painting process in the future.

While thinking about color theory, I decided I wanted a big brute alien to be an option for my wareband. To get started I looked through my bin of extra miniatures. There I found an Umber Hulk model to use as as the base. The Umber Hulk is an iconic D&D monster which means I have to chop it up. I cut off the head and the arms first thing. I opened up the bits box and found new head very quickly. It added a bug like quality to the miniature and the mouth was off putting. Next i found some Tyranid arms I acquired at Adepticon. I was very happy to finally have a miniature to add them to. I liked how it gives the monster hands but not the expected look. Since this creature is for a Sci-fi setting, I looked for machinery to add. 

Rummaging through the bits box, I found lots of cool bits to add to the shell of the monster. It was a puzzle to fit it all together cohesively. There were definitely times where I ripped bits off the shell after finding something better. I knew I would green stuff any awkward gaps after I finished kitbashing since I wanted the machinery to feel like it's embedded in the creature. 

After all the super glue dried, It was time to sculpt. I mixed up some green stuff and got to work! To start out I bulked up the arms to make the transition more cohesive. Then I added a more refined crest to the top shell of the creature. To connect machinery on the creature, cables were added from the backpack to the chest plate. I felt like the eyes were getting lost due to their small size and added more mass to the face. The lower back plates also felt a bit thin compared to the rest of the model. I added more green stuff to bulk out the back and add balance. 

After all the green stuff dried, I evaluated the model to see if further changes were needed. I am super happy with the silhouette and details on the model. I threw down some coffee grounds on the base and placed it next to the rest of the warband to prepare for paint. 

While I figure out the color theory for the warband, I am leaning towards a mostly green model with pops of yellow. Very much inspired by the original Aliens movie poster. But who knows when I sit down to paint the models, I might change my mind!