1/6 VTS VM053 Hypersonic Mission - Navy Test Pilot (Top Gun: Maverick Darkstar Pressure Suit)

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He would've been here yesterday but I delayed him for a day as I didn't think I'd be in when the postman got here.

(As it happened the postman was late so I wouldn't have missed).

There's no consistency with the in hand photos. In some he looks huge next to Mavericks from different companies, in others he looks about the same height. In some he appears very skinny, and in others more filled out.

Height isn't an issue for me as I was thinking of swapping the sculpt to de-Cruise him. Skinniness is an issue. The Darkstar pressure suit looks like a slimmed down S1034, probably to make Tom look less cumbersome and more heroic. The VTS figure appears to be much slimmer than their old DAM U-2 Dragon Lady pilot.

The helmet isn't movie accurate, but rather a re-use of the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird. For the movie they simplified the rear of the helmet and modified the visor to display the US Navy eagle decal:

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Reshaping the visor meant they had to resculpt the lower part of the helmet to correspond with the gap.

Thankfully VTS didn't go to the expense of making a new helmet, and kept the old S1034 model, so while the black Darkstar suit is ostensibly a fictional creation (I've never seen a black S1034) with some extra padding underneath it could feasibly represent an SR-72 'Son of Blackbird' pilot, aka Darkstar.

As such he can join the other three historical examples as a probable/possible real life pilot. You never know, with Lockheed's involvement in the movie SR-72 pilots may well be wearing black when it takes flight, if it hasn't already done so.


So now my own first hand impressions...

The figure is a bit skinny, especially in the arms.

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The sculpt looks like a caricature of Tom Cruise, like Tom crossed with Mr. Bean chewing on a wasp. Or maybe VTS were still in Gangsters Kingdom mode while having him sculpted?

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Unlike the previous DAM figures, they've used a muscle body this time, so the sculpt is neckless. That limits the sculpt options I had in mind, so I may keep it on and put the visor down.


He is too tall for Tom. The figure measures about 12" above the boot soles. According to Celeb Heights he's estimated to be 5' 7 3/4", which is only 11.29" at 1/6.

I was considering a body swap, mainly to used a necked sculpt, but the hand pegs are non standard. They're very long and thin, with the ball joint buried deep inside the glove.


EDIT:

The gloves fit an Alert Line body perfectly.

Though I don't know how to get him out of the suit yet.
 
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I gave up looking for a way to remove the suit as it wouldn't really provide any benefit if I have him with the visor down.

One thing about being slimmer, he's much more poseable than the older guys who can only stand with their legs wide apart. I actually quite like the new look, as it gives the impression of being more modern, or futuristic, or ironically retro in that it evokes Firefox.

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Something got lost in translation this time around though. The rubber tube that connects the portable ventilating unit to the suit doesn't stay attached because it's too big for the connector (located under the silver cap attached by a thread).

I tried white tack in the tube but that didn't work. I tried gluing, but after a while the hose started to peel away from the connector due to the tension in it.

Nice box though. Looks good in black.

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The helmet is a tight fit for the sculpt as his nose gets in the way. It was easier doing it with the head removed from the body, but only pull it off the ball joint cup. If you pull the ball joint out itself there's a serious risk of breaking the helmet because the ball joint is a very tight fit for the neck.

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(The helmet wasn't perfectly aligned for the photos, but can be easily turned inside the connecting ring).
 
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