I received the Sideshow Predator 1 Jungle Hunter maquette already some months ago and decided to go give it also a repaint job as I did with my Predator 2 maquette (read about it here). Again I decided to involve my friend, pro-painter & Predator-collector Neny Dee for a repaint of the unmasked headsculpt - it turned out phenomenal. The base and armor I repainted by myself with acrylic paint - lot's of drybrushing and for the base I went for a wet & moody look by introducing clear acrylic paint on misc. parts (leaves, the little creak in the center).
The stock version of Sideshow is still available on their website. I can heavily recommend it, the sculpt is great and if you're OK with the factory paint you'll definitely like it as well in the normal state.
Enjoy a video tour of the repaint and lots of pictures below:
Comparison of the biomask - left is the original one:
Comparison photos with the Predator 2 city hunter repainted headsculpt:
So I decided to invest in the Predator 2 Maquette by Sideshow Collectibles. After early reviews I got really interested in this piece and bought it right away (lucky me some hours before it sold out...) - the presence and overall quality looked really good. Fedex shipment from the US to Switzerland only took 5 days and Sideshow had an amazing shipping quote of 40 USD...unbelievable for a 15kg piece.
I was not disappointed, the first impression is damn fine - and I had this nice "woow"-feeling! It oozes of room presence and i really dig the armor paint with lots of color shades that you could not see on most photos. For 1200 USD you get a lot, but after closer inspection it lacks a bit in detail-love. Especially the paintjob on the unmasked headsculpt on mine was in some areas sloppy. If you're a hardcore Predator collector it's probably a must and you should track down one now.
It seems the first inhand reviews had a very positive effect and to acquire one directly at Sideshow will be a challenge: all exclusive versions are sold out and the regular edition is on the wait to distributors. Maybe you can try an get on the waitlist at Sideshow. The exclusive comes with additional hand sculpts with 2 items: breather mask of the left hand and a nicely sculpted disc for the right arm - not a must but i really like to display him with Spear and disc - totally badass.
Unfortunately i had one noticeable paint flaw that bugged me to hell: a yellow-white paint spot on his cheek. I decided to repaint it and at the same time i took the chance to repaint the gum area on the mandibles to a rose tone. Out of the box it was more yellowish than fleshy. See photos below with the repainted gums.
