This scene depicts the survivors of a marine squad falling back to the APC in the mining colony of Freya's Prospect. I might add a predator onto the catwalk eventually but will let the diorama stand as it is for now.
This is my second Aliens & Marines diorama submitted to Starship Modeller and I believe it's a vast improvement over the one I made a few years ago. That goes in part to the outstanding and officially licensed figures and vehicles now being produced by numerous companies in the last few years. The APC is from Cinemachines and it measures 6 inches long by 2.5 inches wide by 2.5 tall. It was, for the most part, ready out of the box and needed some tweaking here and there.
The centerpiece of the diorama, however, is the figures. Prodos' AVP line makes 30 mm Aliens, Marines and Predators to include Warriors, Queens, Weyland Yutani commandos, sentry guns, and power loaders in plastic and resin. The quality is outstanding, and my biggest fear was that my painting wouldn't do them justice. The marines come in a pack of 5, but I wanted the firing poses only for this vignette. I especially like the forward firing marine with the pulse rifle. A great pose that captures the essence of the USCM. The alien warriors are sold in 5 packs as well, and the detail on them is superb.
The structure was scratchbuilt with plastic parts from the bits bin, and painted with Tamiya Gun Metal, Red and then weathered. I added some caution tape decals, becauseevery Aliens scene needs that industrial-look-in-space vibe, just like Colonial Marines always need their sleeves rolled up!
The case was a $10 mini helmet case from Hobby Lobby. The wooden base was a picture frame for 99¢ at Goodwill. The pulse rifle in the foreground is from Hasslefree Miniatures.
More ImagesImage: Red light.
Image: Colonial Marines closeup
Image: Firing line
Image: Colonial Marines closeup
