As Mr Scratch glared down at me from the bookshelf with a knife in his hand and half the pot of acrylic red paint smeared over his suit, I realised something. At Cauldron Lake Lodge, Hartman used people to create things. These creations would become reality by the aid of the Dark Presence underneath the lake. So if Alan Wake is real, I've inadvertently created a evil psychopathic serial killer and I'm terribly sorry about this. However to counteract this unfortunate fictional twist, I've decided to make an Alan Wake Munny. The Champion of Light can face the Herald of Darkness and all will be well again!
PLANNING
I had the basic set of equipment from my last escapade but there are some things that I had to get specifically for this model. For instance, Alan Wake likes the colour grey - he likes this colour a lot. In fact I'm pretty sure that the fog was caused from his love of the colour emanating from him. He also likes the colour green, although not as much as he decides to hide his green shirts UNDER his grey tweed jacket.
List of Equipment:
- 4" White DIY Munny (x1)
- Das Modelling Clay (x1)
- Black Acrylic Paint (x1)
- White Acrylic Paint (x1)
- Brown Acrylic Paint (x1)
- Green Acrylic Paint (x1)
- Almond Acrylic Paint (x1)
- Paintbrush (x2)
- Paint Palette (x1)
- Cocktail sticks (x5)
The original Alan Wake model is more complex compared to Mr Scratch. Mr Scratch is smooth, with black waist coat and a bright white shirt with his hair is slicked back.Alan on the other hand is more relaxed with numerous layers of clothing to fight against the bitter Autumn weather in the Pacific Northwest. Each layer has a different colour. And his hair is more fluffy compared to his doppelganger...
SHAPING THE MODEL
Like with the other Munny statue, began applying the modelling clay to the head first. Once again this was the most difficult section. On Mr Scratch, the challenge was getting used to the clay and applying a quick drying thin coat, the issue I faced with Alan was getting the hair to the right shape. I had reference photos loaded on my netbook as I began molding the clay and they helped immensely. Like with the first model, it was more of trial and error than anything else, although I was concerned that the figure may become too top heavy. Fortunately this was sorted out later in the project.
After the hair was completed I wanted to smooth it down with a small amount water just enough so it would be easier to paint and fewer cracks would appear. I also found out that you can detach the head which will come in handy when it's time to paint, but a little creepy when you discover this accidentally like I did. I wasn't too fussed if it wasn't completely smooth especially since it was curly in the game. Also it gives the model more realism.
After the head was drying on the table, I turned my focus to the legendary tweed jacket. There are three layers to the top part; the tweed jacket, the green shirt, and finally the black hoodie underneath. I used the hoodie as basic layer, so it was the Munny vinyl itself. I applied the modelling clay put about 4mm of it on the statue. Like with the Mr Scratch model, I didn't include any on the sides to avoid issues with the arms not being able to move. The green shirt doesn't extended below the bottom of the tweed jacket so, in a sense, it made it easier to mold. I removed the unnecessary sections of clay and began molding it like I did with the waistcoat. After the entire area was cover, I took a nearby ruler and used it to remove the section where the tweed jacket is open. I then made another marking 5mm away from the edge which would be the green shirt poking through. To make it clearer that this was a different layer, I smoothed it down to make it become a thinner layer and removed any excess clay.
The details on the t-shirt and tweed jacket did lead to some complications. Both layers have a collar which is visible, however the green shirt underneath the jacket overlaps the jacket's collar. I rolled out some clay, and used the ruler (like I did with the sleeves for Mr Scratch), I then cut a collar for the tweed jacket and for the shirt. One of the collars was placed on top of the other but allowed a 3mm gap to show that it was two separate layers. I then applied it to the model and smoothed it down to make it appear as thought the collars were part of the clothing and not something added after. I used a cocktail stick to clarify the edges of the layers.
There were still a couple more things I had to do before I could let the clay dry. Firstly, I added the hoodie at the back of the model. I did find that I had to have it smaller than expected due to the issue of counterbalancing the statue. Luckily, the newly added clay allowed the model to stay stable. Secondly, was the issue of that darn tail. I expressed my confusion at it in the Scratch post, but it's just so...confusing! I'm pretty sure Alan is not a rabbit...It would explain his obsessions with woods though. In any case, I had to use modelling clay to remove the shape the tail. Thirdly, I wanted to smooth the clothes using a small bit of water, again just to make it easier to paint. The final thing that I wanted to do was to make small impressions in the clay using a cocktail stick to show the pockets; if you look on the reference photos, the pockets are large and a clear feature on the tweed jacket.
With that all being done, I finally assembled the model and left it to dry.
Later that day came the time to paint.I used masking tape to make sure that the face was left clean for when I needed to apply the almond colour paint. If you did get some paint on the face, it's not that much of a deal as you can easily paint over the top, however it is easier to paint the hair like this. This was the reason why I decided to paint the black first and the almond paint after the hair had dried.
This model is the first time I used taupe paint. It's a grey with a hint of brown which I thought could represent mud after running through the forest. I was slightly nervous that the brown would show up too much and Alan would look like he stepped out of LA Noire, but in the end it worked out quite nicely. After the taupe paint had dried, I could paint the more delicate additions; the hood and the elbow pads...Which I think look strangely cute on the finished product.
As the paint was drying, I was making the gun and the torch. I decided I wanted the gun to be simple, after all the shape of the gun was more important than the torch. The torch is slightly more complex, but still simple to do. Both accessories were made out of the Das Modelling clay and painted using the black and almond coloured acrylic paint.
Before long, all the paint had dried and everything was put together. And now Mr Scratch isn't so lonely...Sorry Alan
Total Hours Spent: 7 Hours
Total Money Spent: £9.90
