Custom Terminator figure (Arnold) finished...

Hello again. I've been working on this resculpt for a while now in between other commissions, and I've just finished it. Let me know what you think...







I'd seen photos of the Sideshow T800 Terminator figure, and whilst quite good there were things that stopped it being 'Arnold' to me. The body shape and the clothes didn't seem right, looking out of proportion somehow.

The main problem for me though was with the head sculpt. The face itself looked pretty spot on, but the neck... just wasn't Arnie's. It was too small, too thin, and the angle his head was at made him look like his chin was tiny (and Arnie has a rather large jaw) and his head looked huge.

I could see what I wanted to do to the figure, but I never bought this Sideshow figure so I couldn't do anything about it. Luckily I received the Sideshow Arnie head in a trade, so I thought I'd better get started!

I went hunting for a body that I thought represented Arnie's physique better than the large Sideshow body that was used on their figured. And I found a really rather amazing set of leather clothes. Trousers, jacket and t shirt.... all with amazing detail, and made incredibly well. This to me looked more realistic that the version Sideshow put out... although this jacket was modelled on T1 I believe... and not T2. Although I didn't mind about that... it would still look like the Terminator!

Also I got some leather World War Two boots, which were very close to the ones Arnie wore in the film. Certainly close enough for a custom figure.



I made a cast of the head so I could start working on it, and popped it on to see how it would look. (I bought the shotgun off the internet... it's the one that came with the original Sideshow figure)



I spent the following few weeks working on the head during spare time whilst waiting for paint to dry or whatever on other jobs. Also I spent some time working on the body and clothes:

• trouser belt (removed some fabric, glued it thinner), also removed stud fastener from trousers
• folded the jacket belt down and put a spot of superglue there to give the impression the belt it falling down at the sides.... sells the scale better.
• removed metal spurs that were on the custom boots I bought, and glued leather straps and buckle down
• and some dremel work on the body underneath to make the waistline look better underneath the belt

The following photos show the unpainted resculpt sat next to the original head. It was mainly the weird banana shaped neck that didn't sit right with me. It made his chin/jaw look too small.... his upper head look too large, and it was just an unnatural shape for a human neck.

.....especially Arnie's

I cut off the neck completely at the jawline, under the ears and back to the base of the hair. Sculpted a new one, trying to give it that distinctive 'Arnie' shape.

Also I resculpted the ears slightly, making them stick out further on his head. (they were too flat and squashed when compared to photos of the man himself)











Apart from the neck and ears, the facial sculpt itself is pretty damn spectacular. All I changed (and this was more a personal preference than a fault) was to make the mouth corners more defined and downturned... always an Arnie trademark for me, and I shortened the furrow lines on his brow which i felt went up onto his forehead a bit too much.





and then my rushed paint job. Not the best in the world... and a messed up cast that I had to clean up a bit for myself (it was done in between coats of paint on the 3 Aragorns and 4 Anakins I'm painting) .... and halfway through I completely lost my mojo... nothing was going right, it felt like I had forgotten how to paint.... eek

Thankfuly this head is just for my own personal Terminator figure I've put together... so it doesn't matter if it's not perfect. But it gives an idea of how it can look. I'm really quite pleased with it in the end.











next up (inbetween 'real' projects for people... this is done in my spare time... if you can call it that, lol) will be the obvious battle damaged version.... gotta figure out how damaged I want him.

And also the T1 version. Different hair, and slightly more weight to the face.

.....when I can, lol