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| Dangerous aliens. |
This
sculptor seems to come from another world. A very dangerous one indeed. He was
responsible for the sculpting of Sideshow’s alien statues on SDCC 2016: the
Alien King, the Predator Maquette and Wolf Predator Legendary Scale Bust. Those
really put the spotlight on him. And as the community voice rules, we’re here to
talk about this otherworldly pieces with the man who worked on them all:
Amilcar Aldana Fong.
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1 – Your pieces causes quite a sensation on
SDCC this year. Is it coincidence that you get all the aliens characters or is
it a personal choice or people at Sideshow knows you’re good with monsters and
pass them up to you?
Amilcar Aldana Fong (AAF): Well, I think the short answer
would be they know that I love monsters and because of that, I developed a kind
of taste that seems to fit with what they want. So every time they want to
create a new piece based on a monster character they count on me.
2 – Among the three pieces which one was the most
complicated and which one was more fun to do?
(AAF): Well, I actually designed and sculpted just one
of them, the Wolf Predator Bust. But I helped them to design the Alien King and
to conceive the pose for the Predator 1 figure. The Alien King was the most fun
of the three. We had to play and create and imagine a new alien member of the
hive...WHAT CAN BE MORE FUN THAN THAT?!!! The other two characters were already
stablished, so it was a matter of making a very good representation.
3 – Do you have a preferred one among the
three? And among all your work what are your favorites?
(AAF): The Wolf Predator and the King Alien were some
of my favorite projects. I can also say that the work we have done for
Sideshow’s original line Court Of The Dead is marvelous.
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| One of Almicar's favorites. |
4 – I assume all of them were created digitally
am I right? Or were some of them manually sculpted or partially hand sculpted?
(AAF): The Wolf Predator Bust was entirely made by
hand. Also the Predator Maquette. The Alien King was made digitally.
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| 100% hand sculpted. |
5 – I saw that in order to create the Alien
King, Sideshow had the collaboration of preps artist John Rosengrant (co-owner
of Legacy Effects). We all saw his side of the history on Sideshow’s video. I would like to know your take about the
partnership.
(AAF): Me and the David Igo (Sideshow art director)
and Anthony Mestas (project manager), as well as artists like Simon Lee and
Allen Williams, were involve in the creation of this new character. After the
design was approved it went to Legacy Effects and also had to pass through the
vail of FOX. So it was an amazing opportunity to work with the Legacy team. I
mean, they were involved in the creation of the Queen Alien for Aliens. So as
an artist, as a kid and as a professional it was a privilege.
6 – We have seen in the last couple of years an
astounding inflation on Sideshow’s prices. So much so that many longtime fellow
collectors are about to give up the hobby altogether because they can’t handle
the prices anymore. What can you say about that? Is there a real reason or just
the laws of demand and supply? The collectible market had a boom of popularity
and so did the prices?
(AAF): I really cannot say anything about it since I
am just an artist. However, whatever price they put on the Wolf Predator Bust,
it is worthy. It was such a complex piece, and took so long to be developed,
from the making to the production, I mean it have been more than two years to
bring that piece onto the stage. So, I don’t know anything about price and
market demand, but I can say that it took a lot of effort to get that piece
done at such high quality.
7 – Another usual complaint of the community is
about the number of defective pieces they receive from Sideshow. Especially
painting defects. Do you know if the company is taking measures to avoid it to
the max?
(AAF): I can say they do their best to bring best
quality with each piece and product. That is all I can say.
8 – Sorry, I needed to ask those last two, as
they are centerpieces of the community debate about collectibles; so let’s get
back to sculpting: is there a part of the job you like more than the others,
like body sculpting or head sculpting or something else?
(AAF): It is ok, I understand. Well, I wouldn’t say
parts of a character or a piece. I would say that I do really enjoy any project
that put to the test my imagination.
9 – How was to you the migration from
traditional hand sculpting to work on computers? Was it hard, did you resist or
was all smooth sailing?
(AAF): Computer programs are the present and the
future. My nature as an artist is to constantly move among mediums. Pencil,
pen, markers, clay, ZBrush, KeyShot, you name it. For me it is just a matter of
keeping my mind open to the new tools the technology nowadays offer.
10 – When you do your personal projects, if you
do for personal amusement and practice, do you use the computers or go back to
the roots and dirt your hands in clay?
(AAF): Today I face my personal work in both realms,
the traditional and the digital.
11 – The Maquette Predator can’t come without
an unmasked head (even the non-exclusive version) it would be an offense to the
fans to be otherwise. So considering this, can you tell us what the exclusive
item will be? There’s a lot of curiosity around this matter.
(AFF): I don’t know much about it. Sorry.
12 – What is your all-time favorite character?
(AAF): King Kong and Alien (from Alien).
13 – Which character you would love to sculpt
but didn’t have the chance yet?
(AAF): I think I would love to give my personal
vision on many characters. Not just sculpt it as it is.
14 – How does it feel working on Sideshow?
(AAF): It is AWESOME! They are very open to hear your
opinions about the project you are working on and that is not, as far as I
know, very common.
15 – Do you also know painting? Did you have an
input in the coloring of Wolf Predator? It’s a figure with a very complex
paint-scheme. Lot’s of different weird color texturing. And about the Predator
Maquette, were you involved in the painting and the use of mixed media?
(AAF): No, I am not involve in the painting process. I
usually think in forms and lines, not color. It is a realm that still alien for
me!
16 – When they decided to put several aliens
lurking around Alien King did you think “great idea” or “holly cow, now I’m
f*ckd”?
(AAF): The idea came from a Simon Lee Shabant (Chavant
clay) sketch where he used a tiny alien to stablish the size of his version of
the Alien King. And we all say, let’s use it!!!
17 - Since we spoke so much about aliens I
would like to know what would you astonish the most: to see an alien or to see
a ghost?
(AAF): A ghost of an alien.
18 – Three bands you really enjoy and three
movies you love.
(AAF): Bands - Buena Vista Social Club, QUEEN and the
music composed by James Horner. Movies - King Kong (1933 version), Alien, The
Thing (Carpenter version).
19 – What advices would you give to a person
who wants to become a collectibles sculptor?
(AAF): How the general shapes talk about the
character personality or behave and its world are the most important aspect.
Pay attention to that and the level of detail won’t matter at all.
20 – Leave a phrase, or a quote or a bombastic
news to our fellow readers.
(AFF): THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS IN THE WORLD CANNOT
BE SEEN OR TOUCHED, THEY ARE FELT WITH THE HEART.
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Thank you for your time in this planet, sir. I
hope you enjoyed your stay. Now serious, congratulations for your superb work.
If I had the bucks, I would buy an Alien King but I’m probably one of those who
will be saying goodbye to collectibles very soon and cannot afford this awesome
piece. Peace!
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