# War of the Worlds Martian (classic)



## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Finished Pegasus' vinyl kit fairly quickly. It's a good excuse for washes and dry-brushing.


Pegasus WotW Martian (1953)


The overall orange was an old bottle of Poly-S that must be at least 30 years old, and is still hand-brushes just fine.


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

Very nice John. It does look like there is a lot of detail for washes, etc.
Steve


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Fine work JP. Definitely a subject that lends itself to washes.


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

I thought it was this going to be this Classic.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

[Igor] Well you were wrong then, weren't you? [Igor]


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

I found a rare behind the scenes photo of the guy getting into that costume. So late to deliver to the set, the paint was still tacky. I'll see if I can find & post.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Fine work as always, John - but how the heck did he run so fast on those little stumps? :freak: Or, was it just that we never got to see ALL of the Martian...?


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

I'm always amazed at the high quality of your work! It looks just like the one in the movie!



There's only one thing I'm not too crazy about with this one. I find the little nameplate difficult to read, because there isn't enough contrast between the letters and the background. I must confess---I suffer from color vision deficiency (CVD). (Most people refer to it as color blindness.) If others don't have a problem reading it, then disregard my comment.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

phrankenstign said:


> I'm always amazed at the high quality of your work! It looks just like the one in the movie!
> 
> 
> 
> There's only one thing I'm not too crazy about with this one. I find the little nameplate difficult to read, because there isn't enough contrast between the letters and the background. I must confess---I suffer from color vision deficiency (CVD). (Most people refer to it as color blindness.) If others don't have a problem reading it, then disregard my comment.


Is it possible to adjust your screen/monitors to compensate for your specific deficiencies? (specific to contrast)

Is the writing on the book cover visible to you?


On a more personal note, have you had a recent eye exam? (I didnt stay at a Holiday Inn last night, but I saw one.) :cheers2:


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

Milton Fox Racing said:


> (1) Is it possible to adjust your screen/monitors to compensate for your specific deficiencies? (specific to contrast)
> 
> (2) Is the writing on the book cover visible to you?
> 
> ...



(1) I have no idea how to determine what the settings should be for me to see what everyone else sees. Think of it this way. Supposing when you grew up, the color purple looked very similar to blue to you. People without CVD could easily distinguish between blue and purple, but you couldn't. Only when the two colors were side-by-side could you be able to see the reddish tint in the purple that the color blue doesn't have. How do you adjust a monitor to change only the color purple so it is redder?......and how much redder should it be? You wouldn't know what shade of purple others see, because you don't have their vision for comparison.


(2) Yes. I can see all of the writing on the comic book cover.


(3) I haven't had an eye exam since 2017. I plan on getting new glasses this month, so I'll be getting one in a couple of weeks. I don't think there is anything that can be done to correct CVD. The way my eye doctor explained it was that it's similar to video cards in PCs. Some people can see millions of colors on their monitors, because their PCs have excellent video cards. I have a cheap video card in my PC, so I can only see thousands of colors on my monitor. When the color called for isn't one my video card can display, then my video card chooses the closest match to one it can. It displays that color instead. That's similar to what happens with my eyes. That's why I have difficulty differentiating between certain shades of blue and green and certain shades of blue and purple.


I remember when I was painting the left arm of Aurora's Glows in the Dark Wolfman, I accidentally used Testors Gloss Green. I'd been using a lamp in my room as illumination at that time. It seemed a bit too dark, so I got up and turned on the fluorescent lights. At that point, I realized I'd been using the wrong color. Oops!


I also recall not being able to distinguish a lot of the blue crayons from the purple/violet crayons in art class once the paper was torn off. Luckily it was during the sixties, so I played off my occasional purple skies as psychedelic interpretations of reality!


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Sounds like you have explored it all. I have a friend who basically sees no color and like you he goes by tones and shades (grey scale) differentiations. :cheers2:


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

phrankenstign said:


> I'm always amazed at the high quality of your work! It looks just like the one in the movie!
> 
> 
> 
> There's only one thing I'm not too crazy about with this one. I find the little nameplate difficult to read, because there isn't enough contrast between the letters and the background. I must confess---I suffer from color vision deficiency (CVD). (Most people refer to it as color blindness.) If others don't have a problem reading it, then disregard my comment.



Thanks Phranq!
The name plate is gold lettering (Sharpie!) over a medium gray stone with lots of dark wash to make the letters pop. Looking at it now, I do see that the gold and gray are very close in... tone? value? I can see where it would difficult to see. I was initially going to leave the letters the same color as the rest of the stone, and rely on the wash and some drybrushing to highlight them. Like a tombstone.


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

Milton Fox Racing said:


> Sounds like you have explored it all. I have a friend who basically sees no color and like you he goes by tones and shades (grey scale) differentiations. :cheers2:



I'm lucky I see a lot of different colors. I've heard of people who see mainly only shades of gray. I'm sure it makes life a lot more challenging.



Although I can normally distinguish red and yellow easily, for some unknown reason I sometimes have difficulty with flashing yellow and red traffic lights. To be safe, I sometimes stop at flashing yellow lights when I'm not sure. I can only imagine the difficulties your friend must have.


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

Mark McGovern said:


> Fine work as always, John - but how the heck did he run so fast on those little stumps? :freak: Or, was it just that we never got to see ALL of the Martian...?



I've got to admit, martians are kind of sexy.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Makes me wonder why 4k TVs even exist. Even people with no vision problems can't see that many colors!


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

4K TVs not only have Deep Color, but they also have more detail. That is evident to most people.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Wellokaythen.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Saw an OLED screen this past weekend- it makes UHD 4K sets look blurry.

I really like the upper part of the George Pal Martian- the lower half looks like an unfinished set prop they would move around. I think since we never saw that far down nobody worried about how it would move and the model kit reflects the actual set prop as built for filming (minus the wooden dolly they moved him around with)

YOur colors and finish on that kit are fantastic!- they do look just like as we we see it on screen!


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## rhinooctopus (May 22, 2011)

*WOW Martian*

Here's a George Pal WOW martian I did way back when. It was released (here in the US) by Icarus Designs. Then reissued (with a nameplate) by Action Hobbies (Larry Johnson).

Rhino


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Well that one makes more sense!


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

Hmmm.....


I guess not all martians are sexy.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

I wonder why there is such a rich tradition of having advanced alien species always attacking the Earth in the nude...


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Richard Baker said:


> I wonder why there is such a rich tradition of having advanced alien species always attacking the Earth in the nude...


Right??


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

John P said:


> [Igor] Well you were wrong then, weren't you? [Igor]


Igor: No, it's pronounced "eye-gor."

Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: But they told me it was "ee-gor."

Igor: Well, they were wrong then, weren't they?


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Richard Baker said:


> I wonder why there is such a rich tradition of having advanced alien species always attacking the Earth in the nude...


It's not like we'd know which bits we aren't supposed to look at.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

We can build interplanetary spacecraft and energy weapons, but we have no textile industry!


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

Mars Wants Pants!!

We must protect our clothing from theft!


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

John P said:


> We can build interplanetary spacecraft and energy weapons, but we have no textile industry!


Who needs pants? When you are actually of Scottian decent.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Richard Baker said:


> I wonder why there is such a rich tradition of having advanced alien species always attacking the Earth in the nude...


R. B.,
Never say always! You'll recall that Klaatu in _The Day the Earth Stood Still_ and _The Man from Planet X_ (both 1951) arrived here well-attired. Even the beasties of _This Island Earth_ (1955) and _I Married a Monster from Outer Space_ (1958) at least wore trousers (budget considerations and perhaps the reluctance of the producers to show an alien's naughty bits to audiences of the fifties dictated those garments).

Still, it's true that our Martian only got a skateboard. Makes you wonder if it *was* wearing anything we didn't see...


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

I never said always, but there does seem to be a predominant tendency to have naked invaders (and if not invaders then aliens we meet in other circumstances).
My guess is that producers spend a lot of time making their alien creations and don't want to cover up any of their work.
It might just be me, but the wonderful mutants from 'This Island Earth' wearing clothes just said to me that they ran out of money after the huge head and hand-claws were made...


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Richard Baker said:


> I never said always, but there does seem to be a predominant tendency to have naked invaders (and if not invaders then aliens we meet in other circumstances).
> My guess is that producers spend a lot of time making their alien creations and don't want to cover up any of their work.
> It might just be me, but the wonderful mutants from 'This Island Earth' wearing clothes just said to me that they ran out of money after the huge head and hand-claws were made...


R. B.,
You make an interesting point. In the movies, naked aliens are usually the invaders (TV has never allowed that kind of latitude, although _Star Trek_ continually pushed the envelope). So you get everything from the Ymir in _20 Million Miles to Earth_ (1957) to Natasha Henstridge as Sil in _Species_ (1995). While the Man from Planet X wore a space suit, I can't think of any mainstream (note the use of the word - I don't want anybody citing 1974's _Flesh Gordon_) film aliens who were beneficent *and* naked...dash it!


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Mark McGovern said:


> R. B.,
> You make an interesting point. In the movies, naked aliens are usually the invaders (TV has never allowed that kind of latitude, although _Star Trek_ continually pushed the envelope). So you get everything from the Ymir in _20 Million Miles to Earth_ (1957) to Natasha Henstridge as Sil in _Species_ (1995). While the Man from Planet X wore a space suit, I can't think of any mainstream (note the use of the word - I don't want anybody citing 1974's _Flesh Gordon_) film aliens who were beneficent *and* naked...dash it!


So, by that reasoning, any aliens from outer space who arrive on Earth naked should be considered hostile. Maybe they're just cold?


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Hey, I don't make the "Naked-Invaders-From-Outer-Space" movies, I just watch 'em!


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

Richard Baker said:


> I wonder why there is such a rich tradition of having advanced alien species always attacking the Earth in the nude...


H.G. Wells' original novel actually addresses this issue at some length.



> The Martians wore no clothing. Their conceptions of ornament and decorum were necessarily different from ours; and not only were they evidently much less sensible of changes of temperature than we are, but changes of pressure do not seem to have affected their health at all seriously. Yet though they wore no clothing, it was in the other artificial additions to their bodily resources that their great superiority over man lay. We men, with our bicycles and road-skates, our Lilienthal soaring-machines, our guns and sticks and so forth, are just in the beginning of the evolution that the Martians have worked out. They have become practically mere brains, wearing different bodies according to their needs just as men wear suits of clothes and take a bicycle in a hurry or an umbrella in the wet.





terryr said:


> Mars Wants Pants!!


But please, no neckties. The Red Planet abandoned the use of ties 50 years ago as useless male vanity!


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

scotpens said:


> But please, no neckties. The Red Planet abandoned the use of ties 50 years ago as useless male vanity!


It is never a good start to one's day when you begin by tying a noose around your neck...


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## terryr (Feb 11, 2001)

Mark McGovern said:


> R. B.,
> You make an interesting point. In the movies, naked aliens are usually the invaders (TV has never allowed that kind of latitude, although _Star Trek_ continually pushed the envelope). So you get everything from the Ymir in _20 Million Miles to Earth_ (1957) to Natasha Henstridge as Sil in _Species_ (1995). While the Man from Planet X wore a space suit, I can't think of any mainstream (note the use of the word - I don't want anybody citing 1974's _Flesh Gordon_) film aliens who were beneficent *and* naked...dash it!


Don't forget Mathilda May in Lifeforce. A Space Vampire , she was naked and hostile, but also naked and Mathilda May.

On the other hand, Close Encounters aliens were naked and nice.


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

ET was naked, wasn't he?


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

TAY666 said:


> ET was naked, wasn't he?


Yeah, but as every fan of Seinfeld knows, there's good naked and bad naked. ET was a good alien but had bad naked, whereas Mathilda May was a bad space vampire with very good naked. Take your pick...


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Mark McGovern said:


> Yeah, but as every fan of Seinfeld knows, there's good naked and bad naked. ET was a good alien but had bad naked...


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

:lol:


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## Phillip1 (Jul 24, 2009)

John,

This an outstanding paint job, and excellent photos as well!

Phillip1


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

Attractive aliens, hmmm....


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Hobby Dude said:


> Attractive aliens, hmmm....


 Okay, like, _EEEEEWWWWWW!!_


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

Mark McGovern said:


> Okay, like, _EEEEEWWWWWW!!_


LOL! Just messin' round!:wink2::grin2:Im a Hr Giger fan!


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

I had another Alien gif here somewhere, lemme see...Yah, take a peek?:grin2::wink2:


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

The nakedness of aliens was always a bit unusual to me, but I always had a problem with aliens who didn't have digits with at least one being opposable. It seems to me any advanced race of beings would have to be able to do meticulous work with their version of hands to even begin to construct simple machines. I don't see how an alien like the one from This Island Earth could ever design and then build any kind of simple machine---let alone any kind of advanced interstellar spacecraft.


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

I found a Harkonnen image that might be rare, Lets hear it for the Aliens!:wink2::nerd:


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

phrankenstign said:


> ...I don't see how an alien like the one from This Island Earth could ever design and then build any kind of simple machine---let alone any kind of advanced interstellar spacecraft.


phranky,
If you're referring to the Metaluna Mutant, it wasn't supposed to be anything but an especially repellent servant. The Metalunans - Exeter, Brack, et al. - had very humanlike hands and were the builders of the spacecraft. As you can see from the photo, the Metalunans had labor issues with their Mutants...


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## phrankenstign (Nov 29, 1999)

Mark McGovern said:


> phranky,
> If you're referring to the Metaluna Mutant, it wasn't supposed to be anything but an especially repellent servant. The Metalunans - Exeter, Brack, et al. - had very humanlike hands and were the builders of the spacecraft. As you can see from the photo, the Metalunans had labor issues with their Mutants...



You're right, of course. (I haven't seen the movie in quite a long time.) Just looking at that pic makes me wonder how that 'repellent servant' put on his/her/its pants. Can anyone imagine how those big claws could pull those pants all the way up? How did he/she/it even make those pants using claws?


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

He only had to wear pants for the movie. You remember how censorship worked back in the '50s, right? And waredrobe took care of making them and getting them on and off. The rest of the time it was just - "claws to the wall, baby!"


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

I always wondered if the Mutant's pants were part of his body. What's with the texture (veins?) on the flared trouser legs?


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## ThingMaker (Feb 22, 2014)

If you look at the actual suit it looks like his pants are capri type pants, maybe, ending a few inches above the "ankle" bulge. So all the toys and kits with veins on the pants are wrong.

Sean


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

^^ So at last the truth is known. The Mutant had bell-bottom calves!


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

I think H.R Gieger's Swiss space critters did in fact have thumbs. I think the original had twin fingers and a thumb. His style for space critters and space god's were to have the skeleton on the outside, along with tubes for breathing on the outside. We humans have our innards on the inside. So his creations are unique and grotesque and very "copied".:nerd:


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

Hey, Capri pants were fashionable back in the day.:wink2::grin2:


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Not Capris those are the original Steampunk look :cheers2:


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## Hobby Dude (Aug 7, 2019)

I loved that film, and the Forbidden Planet, both very well made 50's classics!


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