Queen Studios: Alita: Battle Angel - Berserker Life-Size Bust

[superdude]

After some initial concern early on, it looks like this really has turned out as good as the proto. And is probably one of the best production pieces I've seen from any company in a while.

Really glad I finally decided to order one before they disappear.

[Augen]

Originally Posted by Shoo

If you mean the one in the pic (instead of wondering about the whereabouts of your bust in transit), that's France, but I think Samuel Bodart has a contact, so he gets certain stuff quite earlier than usual.

Yes, thank you.

My guess is this means they are on boats now, so roughly 3 more months until I get mine.

[BillyCurly]

Originally Posted by Fu_Manchu

Better if you judge these works in person. They look very different in pictures, you have to see them in person. They are so human-like that is scary. Queen are the kings of painting silicone skin.

I think you miss understood me. I HAVE seen Queens work in person, and they paint too much. I have collected silicone for almost 20 years and next to my professional customs its NIGHT AND DAY in realism for the paint app. Everything can be made to look good in a picture, but when I put my T2 arnie beside my stan wintson studios arnie, the difference was crazy. One looked real and one looked really cheap after comparing.

But at first glance it looked.............OK. Then I looked at T1000 and and just looked like a heavy base paint job and took away the translucent realism silicone can have. If they have changed since then and improved, good, but to say they are the kings, they are not even in the ballpark compared to my customs by elite artist like Bob Causey, Mike Hill, Richard Martin, Elsa Neri, Andy Wright, Howard Senft, Rich krussel, Steve Wang and so on.

These guys are masters, some better than others, but they do one offs and put alot of time in one piece and make it as real as can be. Queen mass produces and you just cant get that type of Quality control with mass producing. PLUS they are learning as they go, each piece gets better, and for the price your paying for a queen or Infinity bust or torso, its laughable for anyone who says they are so over priced. Yes they are raising their prices, but if any of these busts were done by any of the artists I mentioned above, the price would be any where between double or up to 15 000. Trust me, I have works of everyone and you get what you pay for.

Back in the day before my divorce and court problems, I had alot of extra money to spend on this hobby, and I only collected life size, and then it turned into only life size silicone. I have some pieces that are one offs that are 25 000 dollars, and for that price or even 7000 for a bust, you get every pennies worth. The only people who would say that queen or infinity are crazy expensive and overpriced, dont know how much labor goes into a silicone piece. First the silicone matters, you can get cheap silicone that wont last for pennies or you can get medical grade platinum silicone by Smooth On in the states. All MAJOR artists use it, but its super expensive. Then you get into the labor. Just punching a head full of individual hairs to get a full head of realistic beautiful hair in itself is up to or more than 40 hours for one head. So do the math on 40 hours just for HAIR!

Infinity really used cheap silica Gel and after me and other fans really gave them a hard time, they were VERY stand offish when asked what they were using, then they said they switched to platinum silicone, but never proved it after fans started attacking them stating their product would only last 15 to 20 years before breaking down and cracking, drying out and flaking, to the point they were sending silicone or silica gel repair kits to fill in cracks. You cant fix a bust, once its wrecked , thats it. Its not like resin or latex.

The product by Smooth ON should last 60 years MINIUMUM! Probably over a century as its the same stuff they use for stuff that goes into human bodies. QUEEN was smart, they started getting attacked for this "SECRET SAUCE" recipe and would not share what they use and fans who were educated attacked them for good reason. Nobody wants to spend THOUSANDS of dollars to "RENT" a bust for a Decade and a bit and then it falls apart. Too much money to throw away. SO QUEEN did the smart thing, they wrote a Header addressed to all clients and broke down every product they use from eyes to the BRAND of silicone and life expectancy. This was the smart thing to do. Infinity still has not done this and everyone buying their product should know your piece maybe only good for 20 years if that before it falls apart.

The silicone busts I have that are nearly 20 years old RIGHT NOW still look as new and fresh as the day I got them, and I ran into a few artists that tried to cheap out with lesser silicone, and it didnt hold up nor did the silicone special paint needed. It would just peel off like your skin does when you tan too much.

Yes, I learned that lesson on a 10 000 dollar piece, thats when I learned everything to know about silicones and the differences and I went to town on both companies not being upfront with clients buying their products not knowing these facts. Queen thanked me and even asked my opinion and help on a few projects which I was happy to do. INFINITY LIED and denied they every said certain things. Funny thing is, I saved those statements and reposted them for everyone to see. After that, I got attacked by them personally and they banned me all because I exposed their lying for all fans to see and then fans starting on them really fast.

That is the difference between companies that care about the long run and their clients compared to the ones that dont. Queen welcomes input from clients, as some know the character or process better than they do in some cases, INFINITY gives you the piece your going to get and you better not question it.

Funny how after they said they switched to Platinum silicone, all of their busts or Torsos went up almost a 1000 usd OVER NIGHT! I dont trust them even tho they have made some great looking busts, but alot of customers end product was a huge let down from prototype shown. Queen just gets better and better and remains open and humble. AND from my experience , second to non customer service when you deal direct and not through a distribution company.

Sorry for really long post, Im on very little sleep in last week and my mind is just going from one thing to the next, but I just wanted to some up Queen and their quality. For what you pay, you HONESTLY cant complain. Cheers

[67L88Stingray]

Not going to quote all that, but lots of good info there. Infinity is shady as hell from what I have seen. Queen has been the opposite and have gotten help from Toynami/Cinemaquette who actually produced this bust for them. They speak very highly of Queen.

[darthwhitey]

Thanks for posting BILLYCURLY...great info here...I've also collected a few custom silicone busts over the years from the artists you mentioned and you're spot on...the prices for custom work is MUCH higher...you get what you pay for...I've got a couple of these new silicone busts on preorder...we'll see if they turn out as good!

[Fu_Manchu]

Originally Posted by BillyCurly

I think you miss understood me. I HAVE seen Queens work in person, and they paint too much. I have collected silicone for almost 20 years and next to my professional customs its NIGHT AND DAY in realism for the paint app. Everything can be made to look good in a picture, but when I put my T2 arnie beside my stan wintson studios arnie, the difference was crazy. One looked real and one looked really cheap after comparing.

Are you saying that you have a Stan Winston Studio made Arnold bust, sorry but I don't believe that. At least phrased like that. Probably you have the Howard S. one which used a resin cast of the Stage 5 one as a base and the lineage ends there because is miles off of the original props, and the Queen one.

Originally Posted by BillyCurly

But at first glance it looked.............OK. Then I looked at T1000 and and just looked like a heavy base paint job and took away the translucent realism silicone can have. If they have changed since then and improved, good, but to say they are the kings, they are not even in the ballpark compared to my customs by elite artist like Bob Causey, Mike Hill, Richard Martin, Elsa Neri, Andy Wright, Howard Senft, Rich krussel, Steve Wang and so on.

You are mixing there a lot of names some of them are masters some of them are scholars compared to others, and some are simply good.

For example Howard has improved his sculptures but his paint techniques are still subpar, you simply cannot put him in the same sentence as Nick Marra or Steve Wang.

I was referring to comercial pieces, but if you want to compare to some of the artists you listed I would dare to say that yes, they have superpassed some of them.

I won't post pictures because I'm lazy but I never seen a treatment of the fine details of the skin like microscopic capillars, mucoses, little moles, eyelid borders, that faded frontier between the lips and skin and so and so, everything is made like what a real person has in his face and there's a crazy ton of work behind to deliver that.

And they make them this way since the very first bust they made, Logan, which is a masterpiece in person by the way.

If you consider that just 'OK' that's ok. Is not in the same ballpark than a Howard or Andy bust? It's your opinion, I would say the inverse. You have the right to defend the inversion you made.

[Brandon]

Thanks, BillyCurly! I remember seeing your posts on FB. I'm glad you and others called them out on using cheap materials. As someone who's new to LSB, I wouldn't have even noticed it until years later. I've got pretty much all of their DCEU bust on order so I hope they've straightened up.

[BillyCurly]

Originally Posted by Fu_Manchu

Are you saying that you have a Stan Winston Studio made Arnold bust, sorry but I don't believe that. At least phrased like that. Probably you have the Howard S. one which used a resin cast of the Stage 5 one as a base and the lineage ends there because is miles off of the original props, and the Queen one.


You are mixing there a lot of names some of them are masters some of them are scholars compared to others, and some are simply good.

For example Howard has improved his sculptures but his paint techniques are still subpar, you simply cannot put him in the same sentence as Nick Marra or Steve Wang.

I was referring to comercial pieces, but if you want to compare to some of the artists you listed I would dare to say that yes, they have superpassed some of them.

I won't post pictures because I'm lazy but I never seen a treatment of the fine details of the skin like microscopic capillars, mucoses, little moles, eyelid borders, that faded frontier between the lips and skin and so and so, everything is made like what a real person has in his face and there's a crazy ton of work behind to deliver that.

And they make them this way since the very first bust they made, Logan, which is a masterpiece in person by the way.

If you consider that just 'OK' that's ok. Is not in the same ballpark than a Howard or Andy bust? It's your opinion, I would say the inverse. You have the right to defend the inversion you made.

I own alot of silicone busts and it goes without saying some are better than others, every artist has their strengths and weaknesses. Howard is hit and miss, but if he is doing a piece he wants to do and its not just a money job, he can paint exceptionally well and detailed.

Howard bought the molds directly from winston studios for Terminator, Stage 1, stage 4 and stage 5 I believe along with a T1000 mold.

You can say what you want, but the winston mold he built and painted is so lifelike it instantly made the queen version look like a beginners paint job. This is not an OPINION, its a fact.

When I have delt with just about every major artist out there and compare them to each other, some are better than others, and some are over rated, but all of them are better than Infinity and Queen. Maybe you had a bad experience.

I cant take you serious if you are going to compare and say that Queen has surpassed these independant artists that dont mass produce. All the names I listed are people I know, and have pieces I had them make. I KNOW what quality Steve makes compared to Hill compared to Bobby etc etc. I know what queen has put out because I bought some of thier product, and while the silicone mold is good, they have a team of painters with all different levels of ability. They mass produce and paint that way and it shows when you put a piece they make beside say a mike hill. Not even in the same league.

Yes I can say Ive seen all those fine paint apps that you mention because most paint that fine detail. SOME even layer in viens between the silicone so its not painted and looks like its under the skin because it is.

I know some who bought the logan piece, and that was there first one I believe and it was a hit or miss, some look alright and some look god awful, but they were just beginning and they have improved immensely. But you get what you pay for and they are not on the level of ANY of the artists I listed. I have first hand experience and own or have owned pieces by just about every guy out there. I have even made and helped make pieces myself so I know how its done properly and the right way.

If you think Queen is the Cats hat, your entitled to that opinion, but Ive been collecting silicone along time and have ALOT of pieces and I could list best to worst but Im not out to insult anyone. I will just say that everyone mentioned is still better than what queen can achieve right now. And the price reflects that. Peace.

[Darth Milo]

Queens paintjob looks pretty amazing and lifelike to me.

[MegatronG1]

Moral of the story, attachment to worldly things is probably a bad idea in the long run. I'll take a cheap poster over something 4x pricier than a statue and 40x more fragile. Less worries are priceless.