PROMETHEUS!

Hi guys, well to say that I'm obsessed with the movie ALIEN would be an understatement. I remember first reading about it in a Sunday paper way back in 1978! I remember the article saying that in the movie was a planet made of bones and a terrifying alien creature the likes of which have never been seen before. I was intrigued!

The first time I saw it, 1979, was the first time I'd gone to see a movie by myself. I was 15 years old. That was how desperate I was to go and see it! I remember standing in the foyer of the Regent Cinema in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia; looking at the images of the movie that had been put up on the wall. That image of the Space Jockey sitting in that chair had me mesmerised. What was it?

Then in the cinema I sat, watching anxiously, as Kane climbed up that ledge. He winces with exertion as he makes that last heave up. Then! That moment! A moment I will never forget! The surge of music, the camera pulls back.....................and there it was.................The Space Jockey!

I couldn't believe it. I was stunned. Never before had I seen anything like it. Or its ship. This was so unique, so original and I hadn't even seen the alien yet!

That movie sparked my interest in so many different things. Science. Story writing. Design. Movies. Illustration. My imagination went wild and from that, evolved all the different things that I'm involved in to this day.

ALIENS was the first date I went on with my wife to be! She wore THAT red dress! I wasn't quite as impressed with ALIENS as I was with my date though! ALIENS was good, but not as good as ALIEN. It didn't have that certain something? ALIEN 3 came next, and I went to see that with my wife too! At first I hated it! Killing off Newt and Hicks was such a stupid idea I thought at the time. But years later I saw the uncut Directors version and I changed my mind. It was quite brave a movie to make and considering the problems that I later found out about that surrounded it, we were lucky that it was made at all. Then came ALIEN RESURRECTION. Holy fucking mother of god! What were they thinking! I was so disappointed! I couldn't believe what they had done! They had ruined everything! It was over. Through their greed and lack of love for the art of movie making they had killed off something that was so precious to me. I would never know who the Space Jockey was, where he came from, why he existed and why he had all those eggs on board that awesome ship! It was over.

I began writing my own versions of ALIEN stories. But none matched up to what people were crying out for. People seemed to only want more movies like ALIENS. Soldiers in space killing "xenomorphs"! I hated the idea. My stories were of a more peaceful nature. I always saw the Space Jockey as a peaceful being. Its warning signal to stay away from the planet a good gesture to save others from its fate. I likened it to a whale or dolphin, yet more sophisticated and, of course, alien.

Then early this year I began to hear that Ridley Scott was interested in going back to where it all began. To go back to the Space Jockey! I couldn't believe what i was hearing. Could it be? Could it happen? Well, now we've all seen the trailer! Prometheus is 6 months away!

So; why am I posting about it here? Well, why not? It's my Blog. Everything on this Blog came out of what happened to me in that Cinema way back in 1979. I've watched the trailer so many times. I've noticed so many things! But as I've read through various sites and Blogs I've noticed people haven't noticed the things I have. And maybe people aren't aware of some of the things Ridley Scott has said about this new movie. So, here I will share what has caught my eye and explain why this movie is in fact not what so many people seem to think it is. It is not a prequel to ALIEN, you'll see why.............

First we see a Dropship over an alien world. A big storm is brewing on the surface. Then the Dropship descending past some huge mountains.



People seem to think this is the same planet that we last saw in ALIENS. No, it can't be. For many reasons. Firstly Ridley Scott has said that Prometheus is set 30 years before ALIEN. The planet we see here has an atmosphere, clouds and water. LV426 was a moon, it was small. It was barren and lifeless. It had no atmosphere, that is why in ALIENS we see the Terraforming. To give LV426 an atmosphere. In Prometheus we have a new alien planet, and it may not be the only one!

I do not believe this is the Space Jockey's homeworld. I think that is something the Studio is keeping a secret until opening night!

The giant human head. Why is it there? Notice the markings carved into it? They look a lot like the sort of clay tablet writings of early mankind. Could there be a connection? Notice also the varying sizes of the ampules around it. What is in them?

Anybody recall the famous illustration by Ron Cobb in this shot?

Some think this is a helmet. I say no, reason, Noomi Rapace plays an archaeologist named Elizabeth Shaw. Why would an archaeologist want to look at a helmet on a medical table? This skeletal head is found next to a Space Jockey body in the ampule room where the giant human head is.



As Prometheus is set 30 years before ALIEN there is no Weyland Yutani Company. The Company in Prometheus is Weyland Corps, as can be seen here, both as logos and in name.

This is Science Fiction at its best! What a shot! However what is going on here? There is a missing vehicle! The two tracked quad bikes are there, but only one of the Personnel Carriers! And why is there a road!? Also, notice what appears to be stalagmite formations. Interesting!

What have we here? A UFO? Is it human, or Space Jockey?

Why is  Meredith Vickers, played by Charlize Theron running to what looks like an escape pod?

In this quick shot we see Meredith again. This time perhaps in a Space Jockey ship? Wherever she is she has managed to activate a star chart. Notice the Space Jockey sleeping pods in this room also.

Wow, what an image! Many people seem to think that the Space Jockey ship has blown up. But if you look carefully.................

the explosion is happening behind it (centre of red circle). Smoke is billowing out of the entrance portals in the Space Jockey ship (big red arrow), but it is intact. Note the debris of what I think is the remains of a human ship (small red arrows).

OK, now we come to the image that has everybody so excited, and rightfully so! However most people seem to think that the humanoid on the right is a Space Jockey. I don't believe that to be the case. Reason? Look at the size of his head (small red circle), now compare that to what the size of a Space Jockey's head would be (big red circle). Even with a helmet on he wouldn't fit in that chair.

However! What I think nearly everybody has missed are the sleeping pods! (marked with a red outline). Looking at the closest one, on the right, we see markings very similar to that on the big human head. Also a clear 'window' on the top, pretty much directly under the bum of the humanoid figure.

This is NOT the same room we saw in ALIEN. It is a little different in design. And has what looks like 4 Space Jockey sleeping pods! The red arrow points to a hallway. Is the humanoid waking up the Space Jockey's because contact with the humans has been made? Or does he perceive a threat that needs to be dealt with and needed to wake up his masters??

Here we see Captain Janek. On the logo of his cap I can make out “WEYLAND MAGELLAN”. Is the Magellan the Drop Ship we see in the trailer, or is it the Prometheus? At the beginning of the trailer we hear Charlize Theron crying out "Prometheus, Prometheus.....". Is it a distress call?

Wrong! As somebody has just pointed out to me (3-1-12). The second word on the cap badge begins "MEG......". So it can't be Magellan. So, what could it be?

Or, could it be spelt "MEGELLAN"??

Is this crew member picking up the Space Jockey skull?

Here we see the Space Jockey ship crash landed on the planet. The arrows point to smoke still pouring out of it and the red circles show what I think is wreckage of the human ship that blew up next to the Space Jockey ship in the upper atmosphere.

Supporting evidence of a destroyed human ship (red circles). Noomi and Charlize have obviously escaped the human ship, but now risk getting flattened by the falling Space Jockey ship! What the heck has taken place here!!

More reckage of the human ship falling all around Charlize, and the Space Jockey ship crashing down too!

So, I hope my little analysis has shed some light on Prometheus for you and that I have made my case in defence of what Ridley Scott himself said. This is not a prequel to ALIEN. The planet is not LV426 and that Space Jockey ship, although of the same design, is not the same ship we saw in ALIEN. And NOBODY has seen a Space Jockey yet! Their images will, I have no doubt, be kept very secret right up until opening night! Just like the original alien in ALIEN was.

I can't wait, it is going to be something very special!

Cheers

Richard.

A new "What if?" site is born.

For those of you into Alternative History or "What If?" type military profiles and plastic models, you may be interested to know that there is a new site that has just been created for exactly that purpose. It's called "Beyond the sprues". So if you're into that sort of thing, and lets face it, it is becoming more and more popular every year, here's the URL so go check it out!

http://beyondthesprues.com

World Of Tanks!

Hi guys,

well it's been a while since my last post so I thought I'd just update you on what I've been doing. Just got my Tax done, big thanks to my wife Criss for helping me with that! (actually she did it all for me :)).

Apart from that, the usual working like a dog and all the 'fun' of raising a family of five! :/

I've also been discussing with wifey where Gekko is going for 2011/2012 and there should be some results of that discussion on here soon.

Apart from all that I've recently discovered World Of Tanks!

http://www.worldoftanks.com/

It is the most amazing on-line tank battle game I've ever played! If you're into that sort of thing and haven't checked it out go ahead and do so, it is awesome fun! My whole family play it!

In the game I'm known as "gekko1"

My wife Criss is known as "Smiley_69"

My 17 year old daughter is "Raaraa"

My 8 year old son is "zac_8yrs_old"

and my 5 year old son is "noah_5yrs_old"

If you're a regular player and see any of us playing please don't hesitate to say 'Hi'!

See you on the battlefield! lol :)

A couple more.

More MiG profiles.

MiG-21 progress update.

The main undercarriage bays are now glued together, just a few parts left to add and they're ready to install.

The cockpit is slowly coming together too.

REMEMBER!

Airbrush a base coat of white before spraying the blue/green mix!

If you don't, the resulting colour will be slightly too dark. With the white base coat it matches the intensity of the painted photo etch parts very well.

 

A slight problem was encountered handling the photo etched parts.

No.2 points to where the paint on the photo etch part came off during assembly. I managed to find the two tiny pieces and will 'glue' them back on with flat varnish once everything else in the cockpit is done.

No.1 points to where, during the glueing process, the capillary action of the glue flowed in between my finger and the cockpit part! Luckily the ejection seat hides it. :/

No.3 points to an area of the port side panel that I'm not sure what to do with? Should it be bent down? The instructions are a bit vague on this. (No.2 below)

No.1 points to a very slight gap between the photo etch part and the fuselage. I'm not going to try and 'fix' it as its not that big a deal.

Remember to paint the section highlighted by the red rectangle in the undercarriage bay colour before glueing the fuselage together! Same with the outside edge of the front undercarriage bay.

The arrow here points to slightly protruding ejector pin mark that needs to be dealt with before painting and gluing the fuselage halves.

Weathering experiments!

If you haven't watched any of the AK Interactive DVD's on weathering you should, I highly recommend them!

These are the 3 I've been watching over the last couple of weeks.....

Watching Mig Jimenez paint and weather these vehicles is nothing short of amazing! Through his efforts to teach the wider modelling community and AK Interactive's high quality production values, these DVD's are a 'must have' for the modeller wishing to learn more about how to paint and weather their models. Even though only armour is shown on these particular DVD's it shouldn't stop the Aircraft or Science Fiction modeller from gaining valuable information either.

I must admit I've had to watch and re-watch these DVD's many times, such is the depth and wealth of information in them. The main secret to Mig's techniques is 'layers'. One techniques is layered on top of another to get the effect of the finished product.

Over the next weeks/months I will be practising many of the techniques and variations thereof on several of my ongoing projects. I have already begun some initial tests to see what I can achieve after what I have learned. See for yourself......

Here's an old King Tiger turret from a model I build many years ago.

 And here we have some camouflage experiments mixed with some weathering experiments.

Inside the yellow circle is a mystery substance, probably some sauce dropped by one of my children! Not to worry it's only a practice model! :)

 I must say a big "thank you!" to Mig and the AK Interactive team for a very good product and for reigniting my passion for an awesome hobby!

Another robot?

For those of you wanting to see more of the White Glint robot, unfortunately the owner of that robot wanted it back before I had a chance to finish it. I will however be building and weathering a Kotobukiya GN GAN01 Sunshine-L and a Rayleonard 04-Alicia Unsung later in the year. In the mean time I asked my 5 year old son if I could paint one of his toy robots for some weathering practise. He gave me permission! So, over the next few weeks/months (time permitting) I'll be painting and weathering this robot just to see what I can come up with as an experiment!

This is what it looked like to begin with.........

And after two coats of Vallejo Grey Primer airbrushed unthinned.

Stay tuned!