RESEARCH: BROWN BESS OR NOT...

There is a surprising wealth of information regarding the Pulse Rifle on the internet, such as the Pulse Rifle Info & Source Page, which includes a good selection of useful reference photos and information, this Xenopedia data page, and an analysis of the Hero Pulse Rifle prop (as well as a plethora of other fan pages and forum discussions). I'll try and summarise my main findings here:

The Pulse Rifle that has numerous close-ups in the movie Aliens (such as Hicks teaching Ripley how to use it) appears to be the 'hero' prop (and likely the first rifle made for the film). This hero rifle differs slightly from others in the movie, most noticeably that the design of the barrel vent (the heat-sink looking cage that sits around the upper-most barrel on the gun) differs from other versions built for the movie, in that it has 10 vents/holes, instead of the usual 8, and some subtle design differences. This gun also features a functioning Remington shotgun housed within the underslung SPAS shotgun cage, used to simulate the grenade launcher when firing. Because of this there is a second trigger in front of the magazine shroud used to fire the shotgun/grenade launcher, which isn't present on most other versions of the gun made for the movie. Presumably this is the exact prop Ripley uses in the Alien nest when using the grenade launcher.

BROWN BESS OR NOT?

There is also a lot of discussion on the internet regarding what colour these props were originally painted from the movie. In the film they appear to be a green-ish tiny, somewhat like Olive Drab (a typical military colour). But there are a variety of props from the movie that people now own that appear to have a slightly more brown tint. There's a lot of speculation that this exact colour is one called 'Brown Bess'; a long discontinued Humbrol model paint colour, with the reasoning that it looks more green in the movies because of the lighting and the film's colour-grading. Other people dispute this, and say that there is evidence on old Pulse Rifle props that a more green-tinted colour - closer to Olive Drab - being used originally. It is further complicated by the movie Alien3 repurposing many Pulse Rifle props for the film's finale, where they were painted black, over the original paint-scheme from Aliens.

There are a few different supposed sources for replacement 'Brown Bess' paints, now that Humbrol no longer make it, though many of them seem to be much browner than the original paint. The closest reproduction in recent times appears to be Alclad II's 'Brown Bess' paint. I had considered purchasing this paint, but was put off by the high costs nowadays, as it is now out of stock in many UK online stores, and would need to be shipped in from overseas. I also personally am not a big fan of the brown tone of the Pulse Rifle reproductions I've seen from others. In my view (ie from watching the movie) it was a much more green-tint than brown, and that's what I'm going with. So, following that path led me to select the following colours for the rifle, which I will be airbrushing onto it:

• Revell NATO Olive Matt Aqua Colour Acrylic Paint 18ml (146) - SHROUD & MAGAZINE BASE

• Revell Black Matt Aqua Colour Acrylic Paint 18ml (108) - GUN HANDLE AND PUMP-ACTION

• Revell Black Silk Aqua Colour Acrylic Paint 18ml (302) - EVERYTHING ELSE

• Revell Silver Metallic Aqua Colour Acrylic Paint 18ml (190) - WEATHERING

REFERENCES

Here are a few key reference images from the various sources listed above, which I have been using to try and make sure I'm getting the correct details and colouring (click image to open larger version):