Great Photo!

Well this is the info I have.

Stephen Lane at Propstore has an original complete Sentry gun that has not been touched, repainted or anything. It is a deep shade of green. He also has the dual purpose Hero PR that has been repainted black for A3 and multi colored for the pop video shoot. However a lot of these top coats have been scraped off and underneath you can see small traces of the same green as the Sentry gun paint.
Finally talking to one of the armorers who worked on Aliens for Bapty's and helped build the PR's (he has some cool video footage of him test firing one of the full auto hero PR's!!) all the PR's, Sentry guns etc were all the same color of.............Green.

Thanks for helping. If anyone has any other photos or details they would like to share it would be appreciated.

Mark

Im going with silver, much more "Sci-Fi"

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My stuff :- http://www.yourprops.com/view_items.php ... onedog7563

Mark

I would refute the version of events that say’s Prop Stores Sentry has not been touched. It’s something I’ve spent a great deal of time studying and it is most certainly not in screen used condition. There has been a certain amount of remedial work done to it.

Sorry I wasn't totally clear on that. I was refering only to the paintwork, not the piece as a whole. The paint is original - and green.

Thanks,

Mark

I'm just curious Mark, what exactly would it take to convince you beyond a shadow of doubt that the rifles were Brown Bess?

Or are you trying to convince us that they were OD green?

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

I’d be interested to see what information you have that leads you to believe that the paint work is untouched Mark.

I’m not committed either way but It’s been reworked at some point in its life and elements have most definitely been changed. So who’s to say it didn’t receive a fresh coat of paint ?

Hi Kevin,

I am not trying to convince anyone of anything.

I do want to make the right choice color wise.

Conclusive photos would be nice!

So far in the "green corner" I have a Sentry gun that is definately green and testimony of an armorer who actually worked on the PR's at the time.

In the "Brown corner" just some photos that are inconclusive and "we know" posts that aren't helpful. I am not trying to upset people, question their knowledge or otherwise annoy people! I have a totally open mind and would like to get to the bottom of the question mark over the color.

As you know we are investing a lot of time, effort and money into developing the most accurate PR ever, and I would like to address the choice of paint color now.

Where better place to ask?

Thanks,

Mark

Basically from Stephen Lane.

He is as straight up a guy as they come.

He also knows the people from Bapty's very well.

Also you can usually tell if something has been touched up with paint. Unless the Sentry gun has been totally stripped of paint and completely repainted it hasn't been touched.

Thanks,

Mark

I know it's an old Polaroid but...



Compare the gun with the patches of brown, green and black on Apone's armour.

Also if you get hold of the famous Japanese/Starlog magazine I think there is more good evidence there. Unfortunately mine's at home so I can't look right now but I will later.

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Mike

"We're not heroes - we're from Finchley"

Hi Mike,

Thanks for that, great photo!

I would agree it looks brown (ish!) on that pic, but a bigger image would help. I blew this one as big as I could without it blurring.
Interestingly the PR looks the same color as the sling over his shoulder.
Is that BB too or green?

Any more help is appreciated!

Mark

I think the sling has a shoulder pad wrapped around it, which does look the same colour as the PR.

_________________
Steve
Corporal in 69th Regt. 1st Batt. Homer’s Heroes.

"I'd like to die at the age of 80 in my own bed, with a belly full of wine and a girl's mouth around my c**k."

The bit i dont get then is this, if the original colour was indeed green, why would someone re-paint them brown bess, which in the flesh, is clearly brown and not green ?????? i would understand it if it was the other way round, as in most scenes of the film, the guns etc do appear to be green.

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My stuff :- http://www.yourprops.com/view_items.php ... onedog7563

I can see we are certainly passionate on the subject, and I do believe I've said as much privately before this thread was started...(for which I take responsibility)

I think people can prefer whatever they like and in so many cases it all comes down to just that... Preference.

Yet the age old battle between ultimate screen accuracy, (like the bent nail in the lightsaber to hold the release on) and those who prefer an idealized prop will rage on in perpetuity.


I have no opinion and I have no proof, preference or cause.
I am a servant of the trade and do as I am told.

That being said, chew on this pic for a while...decide on your own what you prefer. So far no one has offered a direct comparison up so here it is.



Matt

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"Stand up for something...Or get knocked down for nothing..."

I believe the pulsey's and asorted equipment were BB. However I know for a fact that the Sentries were green (poss OD green).

Also I am certain the propstore gun has been reworked with a new front shroud plus extra 'plates' in various places physically.
Paint-wise it has yellow lettering in places where there was none on the prop as seen on set and has no white lettering where there should be some - this clearly indicates some form of painting going on.

SAS

_________________
Alan T. Alien
1st Lt Smith, SA "Sidewinder"
A13/TQ1.4.19720EX CMA
Founder of UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters
Founder of Special Armaments Section (Heavy Weapons)
"People don't understand. people like me"

Hi SAS,

It would not be logical that they would paint the Sentries different colors from the PR's etc., they would all be the same.

We are trying for a color match on the Sentry guns floor standing ammo box as that has definately never been repainted as it still has the original graphics on it.

I guess we may have to produce two versions, one green and one BB. Those who are undecided will just have to buy both........!!

Thanks for your input.

Mark

ahhhhh Screw it............. us guys are all color blind anyway. I say use Brown Bess or Olive Drab where ever you want. Just as long as you are having fun. As a side note, why doesn't someone from the UK ask Sgt. Apone ...I mean Al Matthews cause being an ex Marine, he would have picked up on the color differences in a heart beat.

Mike

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There is nothing more impressive than a bloody big Alien wiggling on the end of a sharp stick!

Hi Mark,

Your questions and opinions are neither upsetting nor annoying. Heck, new discoveries are made all the time with props we thought we knew. I for one, appreciate the thought and care that you guys are investing into this piece.

As Matt mentioned earlier, a lot of it has to do with personal preference and I agree with that whole heartily.

For my own taste, I would prefer Brown Bess or a close match to it dressing the shrouds. It is an excellent choice of color, responds so differently under various lighting conditions, and has a higher quality look to it as opposed to the commonly used OD.

For the sake of this thread and your request, I went back and reviewed a much older article on my site. Here is another comparison photo. Correct me if I am wrong but, you may have one of these two PRs right now.



According to my contacts at Bapty (this was some time ago) this is what I learned of the paint issue:

==========================================
This photo depicts the only two, original, ALIENS screen used pulse rifles remaining at BAPTY PROPS LTD. In the photos, the dual unit ( top ) originally painted brown bess for the film as were all the pulse rifles. The ones that weren't sold off or stripped back to there components were re-sprayed OD green as BAPTY PROPS LTD couldn't hire them out as everyone thought they did not look very 'militaryish' being brown bess.
==========================================

These are my words paraphrasing the info that was disclosed to me so I am not putting them in quotes.

Hope this helps and please do keep me posted on the latest.

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Tom

It is logical when you consider BB is only available in 14ml tinlets and you have to paint two props that are over 4' long and under 4' high

SAS

_________________
Alan T. Alien
1st Lt Smith, SA "Sidewinder"
A13/TQ1.4.19720EX CMA
Founder of UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters
Founder of Special Armaments Section (Heavy Weapons)
"People don't understand. people like me"

Like I said... It may be screen accurate, but it's ugly as sin. Go OD, GO!

Thank you Tom!

Yes the bottom one in your pic is the one I am the proud owner of, and it is Brown Bess in color! The dual action unit is Stephen Lane's and I think you would have to prise it out of his cold dead fingers!

Interesting comments on the BB color. I spoke in person to one of the armorers who worked on the PR's at Bapty's for Aliens and he was absolutely adamant they were green and the same color as the Sentry guns. At that time I thought they were probably BB from watching the movie but he was 100% sure they were green. As he helped construct them for the movie who am I to argue?

Thanks again,

Mark

gotta be BB for me. i even like how brown it is in real life...

Yes agreed in that context. But why go to the trouble of painting them in a color you can only get in tiny tins? Also the sentry guns looked fine on screen, so why not paint the PR's the same color?
I doubt the producer or Cameron had any idea the PR would reach such iconic status, I would imagine they had more important things to think about. So why not just paint them all green? Or a brown color that is more readily available?

I can see the point of BB etc for the armor when Terry was trying to get a unique camo pattern and it was painted in small areas anyway.

Thanks for your input!

Mark

There's one thing you should know - the PR on the bottom of the pictures had it's shroud color removed completely in (iIrc) 2004 and was afterwards painted BBish (I'm not sure if it's really BB). So it can't be used for color identification.

Cheers,
Stefan

One other note:
It's been rumored that BB was available in spray cans around the time Aliens was produced. That'd explain the why BB could have been used for larger areas. However, I haven't found anything definite on this (though I must admit I haven't been looking too hard).

Cheers,
Stefan

Thanks Stefan!

That PR is the one I have and I knew it was repainted, but not when. Any idea why? What olor was it before the repaint?

Mark