Rocky the Eridian from "Project Hail Mary" - Alien

Rocky is the lovable alien from the upcoming movie "Project Hail Mary" based on the book by Andy Weir (Author of "The Martian"). Ryan Gosling will star as Ryland Grace, a brilliant science teacher who finds himself alone on a "Hail Mary" mission beyond our solar system. He is the only hope to save life on earth. He teams up with Rocky, an engineer on a similar mission to save his home planet, Erid.

We haven't seen any images of Rocky, but this is how I imagine him based on the author's descriptions. I am NOT an experienced 3d modeler, this was my very first "artistic" project. It was a labor of love and frustration trying to bring this amazing character to life.

Check out my Rocky the Eridian Collection to see Rocky in other poses: Jazz Hands Rocky, Excited Rocky, Sad Rocky, and Fist My Bump Rocky.

Rocky is a complex, textured model that requires support to print. I recommend using tree-style supports with two layers of BambuLab PLA Support Material. I chose to hand-paint Rocky's garment after printing since I didn't have filament that would give me the effect I wanted.

Here's a brief excerpt from the book where our Hero Ryland describes what he is seeing upon first meeting the alien he names Rocky.

Rocky is smaller than a human. He’s about the size of a Labrador. He has five legs radiating out from a central carapace-looking thing. The carapace, which is roughly a pentagon, is 18 inches across and half as thick. I don’t see eyes or a face anywhere.

 

Each leg has a joint in the middle—I’ll call it an elbow. Each leg (or should I say arm?) ends in a hand. So he’s got five hands. Each hand has those triangular fingers I got a good look at last time.
 

Looks like all five hands are the same. I don’t see any “front” or “back” to him. He appears to be pentagonally symmetrical.

 

He wears clothing. The legs are bare, showing the rocklike skin, but there’s cloth on the carapace. Sort of like a shirt with five armholes. I don’t know what the shirt is made of but it looks thicker than typical human clothing. It’s a dull greenish-brown, and inconsistently shaded.

 

The top of the shirt has a large open hole. Like where the neck goes on a human’s T-shirt. That hole is smaller than the carapace. So he must have to put that shirt on by pulling it downward and sliding the arms through their respective holes. Again, like a human’s shirt. But there’s no neck or head to go through that hole on top. Just a hard-looking rocky pentagon that sticks up a little bit from the crusty skin.