Resculpted Hot Toys 1/6 Ripley Head

I've been doing this slowly over a period of many months, and it's finally finished. (apart from some small cleaning up, and a test cast/paint)

I know a lot of people have been waiting to see this... so here it is, next to the original Hot Toys head.

(One pic taken in natural light, and one with the flash, so you can see everything clearly. As usual... click for larger)

Customising the Sideshow 12" Indiana Jones figure - part 3

...continued. (as always click the pictures for larger versions)

After a test fit, I realised that because of the extra thickness of the primer, paint and varnish... the bottom of the neck was rubbing against the inside of the neck socket, causing this to happen....





...so I took the head off again, and dremelled out the inside of the socket a bit, allowing some more space for poses. (but I still have to be careful aboutt he neck hitting the sharp edges of the body, this will peel the paint off if I'm not careful)



Because of the added thickness to the waist, the belt prong/hole no longer works, so I cut off the prong, and shaved down the thickness of the buckle, and glued it firm to the belt, creating a flatter, more scale-correct look.





This was mostly it for the clothes, I snipped off some loose threads on the shirt, and after some clothes adjusting it looks quite good and in scale. (even if I do think the head is *slightly* too large for this body. (or the body is too small for the head - however I still think that the Hot Toys body is far too wide in the shoulders, this sits much more naturally... so I can overlook it easily!)

Finally (until I add some dust/sand, and glue down the fabric to the body to have it hang better... but this is just a small touch that nobody else would notice anyway) .....I realised that the jacket collars were far too long and pointy, so I cut them to the right length and shape, and (because there were now two loose edges of fabric showing) I glued them together.





I wanted to be able to 'pose' the leather collars, so I had the idea or adding wire somehow... so I took these small twisty tie things that you get with sandwich bags



I cut a piece to the right length, and glued it under the collar, using a glue that stays flexible and rubber-like when it's set.



Annoyingly this didn't work as the glue wouldnt stick to the jacket. It just kept peeling off. So i wanted to figure out a way to get wire into the collar... but didn't think i'd be able to as I'd already glued my collar closed along the edges where i'd cut and reshaped it.

Then I figured somewhere it might work, if only the wire would be able to be fed in. So I stripped a piece of the thin wire out of the plastic of the twisty tie, and woohoo... it could (just about!) be fed into the very leading edge of the collar, behind the stitching.

This lets me pose the collar in any shape I like. (a small detail I know, but for me it's the kind of thing that lets me get closer to how something looks on screen)





Then I glued the collar down to the jacket, giving the shape I wanted.



I cut the corner off part of the shirt near the collars that was too big and square (it's in fact completely the wrong shape, the same with the collar on the jacket... but doing this would give the impression that it was a bit closer to the right shape and size) and glued the edge to stop it from fraying





The shirt was glued to the shoulders, in order to stop the shirt riding up too high on the neck, which makes his shoulders look more slope-y and slim than they already are

Also this would mean I wouldn't have to faff around with the shirt so much getting it to look right.



Finally I put it all together. (I havent weathered the jacket yet... I'll get around to that when I have some time, but at least the figure is in one piece again, and I can weather and dust up the jacket while it's on him anyway)









...so there you have it. My completed (apart from when I weather and dust up the jacket) Sideshow Indiana Jones custom.

Darren

Customising the Sideshow 12" Indiana Jones figure - part 2

...continued (click images for larger version)

As the chest might be showing a little through the larger gap in the shirt the chest was painted to look a little more realistic. (better colours, shading and hair)



The trouser belt was painted to be a darker brown in colour.



I've always disliked 2 piece necks on figures, like Hot Toys uses. The break underneath the head is very distracting for me, and ruins the illusion of scale. I always to follow my goal of "the actor in 12" form", so for me these figures should have a fully sculpted neck with no lines across. (although I do concede that the 2 piece neck gives greater movement and posing options)

I first removed the head (using sharp blades, blunt spoon handles, a screwdriver, my hands... and lots of pulling, twisting, swearing and shouting). After about an hour or so, the hat was removed which would allow me to sculpt and paint the head without the hat getting in the way. I figured out what angle I wanted the neck to be at, and glued the plastic neck piece in place. I then used some Milliput to sculpt in the gaps, and to give some additional 'neck' shape to it.





Over the following couple of weeks this new head/neck was painted up from scratch. The hat was also fully repainted.











continued in part 3...

Customising the Sideshow 12" Indiana Jones figure - part 1

(as always click images for larger versions)

I've been working on this figure on and off for quite a while now, and realised that I hadn't posted any of the details or photos on here. (I've been neglecting this blog lately... I'll have to work on that!)

I started with the shirt. The top fastner on the shirt was removed, and it was cut, folded and glued so that it would be able to be posed with the shirt more open if I wanted.



Some fabric was cut out of an inside seam, and this was glued on the inside to proved cover and added strength where the original 'cut' was on the shirt. After that it was soaked in water that was coloured with black/brown paint to give a more correct colour. Then more watered down paint was painted on to age the fabric, then give sweat stains.

I wanted it subtle though. Invisible weathering is what I was after.







I took the jacket (which often looked too big/not creased and folded enough) and cut open the inside seams.



Then I glued a thin ribbon to the inside by the zipper, and made some 'belt loops' on the inside, and threaded the ribbon through these. Then when I pulled on the ribbon, the jacket pulled in like a concertina, creating folds and crumples. Also it made the jacket appear thinner. Once I had it right, I glued the end of the ribbon to the inside, holding this shape permanently.







I realised that his trousers sit low when they look the best, and he has a flat arse... so i created lower, bigger bum cheeks out of cotton wool and glued them on.





The waist/stomach looked too thin, so I took some kitchen roll, glued some cotton wool to it, and then glued this to the body, providing the correct shape I was after.





Because of the low sitting trousers, the fabric had a tendency to fold in (like Jedi Luke's used to) making it obvious this was a toy, so i added some cotton wool for a more accurate.. umm... bulge.



continued in part 2.....