1/6th Scale Sideshow Tauntaun

[Anthrapoid]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

Sweet, can't wait to hear your impression of him and see some pics

The problem with hairing the Hasbro piece is he was a but too big proportion wise to begin with, and there is not much you can dremmel off since the sculpted fur is pretty short and the rubber/plastic is not that thick. So adding fur onto it will always make it look better.

I think a similar thing would happen with the Sideshow piece, sure you could grind it down assuming it's not hollow (although sometimes they are) but man would that be a lot of work.

I completely took apart my Hasbro Tauntaun; (it's back together again, except for the head) I had intended to give it a ball-and-socket neck joint so the head could tilt as well as turn. the vinyl is plenty thick enough to grind off 1/8 inch of the fur texture with no problems, even on the small front paws. The glue and fur would replace the same thickness, if it's applied in horizontal layers from the feet upward.
Now that I'm getting the SS in a day or two, I'd be happy to sell my Hasbro to anyone who wants it. I did give it a good repaint. I also fixed heavy wire inside the horns so they curve and point in the right direction, instead of hanging down under the jaw as out-of-box.

 

[Fremen]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

That is so funny. The bigfoot pic.

 

[qbomb71]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

Not as bad as I thought it could have been. Will probably order. For those who have it, is the seam unsightly or just photos badly?

 

[galactiboy]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

Stupid to have a switch out head gimmick that makes both versions look unsightly due to the seam. Would have rather they just offered two tauntauns. If you want to display both Luke and Han on their mounts you have to buy two anyway.

I have to agree... again I think it was a cool idea, but like the Dewback there really isn't a reasonable place to make a break in the sculpt and not cause a disruption to the flow. I did figure that maybe it was also a packaging choice, you know since the head couldn't be attached for shipping might as well make two, but he's even sent as a full statue

So maybe rather than 2 heads, just give us two slightly cheaper (maybe $50 or so) statues. They probably would have sold a lot more this way.

I completely took apart my Hasbro Tauntaun; (it's back together again, except for the head) I had intended to give it a ball-and-socket neck joint so the head could tilt as well as turn. the vinyl is plenty thick enough to grind off 1/8 inch of the fur texture with no problems, even on the small front paws. The glue and fur would replace the same thickness, if it's applied in horizontal layers from the feet upward.
Now that I'm getting the SS in a day or two, I'd be happy to sell my Hasbro to anyone who wants it. I did give it a good repaint, and I fixed the horns so they curve and point in the right direction, instead of hanging down under the jaw as out-of-box.

Okay, but do you really want to dremmel off an 1/8 of an inch all around a piece... sure it maybe cheaper to buy a hasbro and some hair but the amount of hours put into that kind of project will 1) probably more than balance out the cost and 2) still not look all that great as the base shape is wrong. Whenever I approach a personal custom project I consider the time involved in whether or not it's worth the trouble.

I've done some hair work on 1/6 items... it's a lot of work to get it to look right and personally I don't think the Hasbro is worth it. The Sideshow piece is probably a better starting point... but again, good lord would that be a lot of work

 

[ApeManRyan]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

Looks great!

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

Honestly it would be a giant waste of time covering either this figure or a Hasbro with fur. If you want a furred Tauntaun (who wouldn't?) then perhaps use one of the Sideshow heads, but create a body from scratch, built on an armature. If you have the ability to do the fur, you should have no problems making the body.

 

[Invictus Sol]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

Wow, this came out really nice, IMO. I only notice the seam on the left side. Right and head on I really don't notice it, so I think it could be posed so that it's minimized. Very cool. Hope Luke and Han are up to snuff!

 

[Mike86]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

Dammit I like the way this turned out. If the Hoth figures are good Sideshow might get more of my money..

 

[Anthrapoid]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

I've done some hair work on 1/6 items... it's a lot of work to get it to look right and personally I don't think the Hasbro is worth it. The Sideshow piece is probably a better starting point... but again, good lord would that be a lot of work

galactiboy, I think you misunderstood me; I'm letting the Hasbro go. If I do this job, I'll be doing it to the Sideshow Taun.

...and to Pixelpiper: Wasting time is subjective. I like the way the Sideshow Tauntaun's feet fit into the Hoth base, and I like the sculpt/pose overall. To me, fabricating a whole new body would be a huge waste of time, when I can just deploy my cajones and replace the sculpted fur with a carefully applied film-accurate upgrade. besides- it would be a lot of fun for me to see it slowly transforming, and then painting it would be fun too. Making a new body form, at least to me, wouldn't be fun.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

...and to Pixelpiper: Wasting time is subjective

Time is absolute. Whether it's a waste is subjective, I'll give you that. I'll say that creating an armature and rough body to match the pose of the Sideshow would take virtually no time at all compared to the amount of time it will take to remove sufficient material from the original plus fur it.

Here's how it could break down. You buy a Tauntaun, keep one of the heads, use the statue as a template for your armature. Then sell it with the remaining head if you want to make back some money. I'm pretty confident I could make a base body to match the original in an afternoon.

 

[Anthrapoid]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

I edited my post to include the 'fun factor'.
"I hate doing things that aren't fun." Richard Leakey~

As I said before- I really do like the Hoth base, and the way the feet fit into it. I want to keep that aspect.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

I'd love to have a furred Tauntaun, but I'm not sure I'd find any of the process fun - I think the whole furring process would be pretty tedious honestly. I'm also a collector of finished products as much as I like bashing and creating my own stuff, so I'd still want to have a stock example from Sideshow.

 

[Chakaman]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

As mentioned, looks good from the front. That may be the best way to display it anyway? Dunno.


I really like this, but wish it just came with one head. I will probably pick it up later.

 

[Anthrapoid]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

I can understand that. When I did my wooly mammoth, it took six weeks. All the layers started at the feet and worked upward. it was a big job, on a figure that is much bigger than the Sideshow Tauntaun.
In the case of the Tauntaun fur job, I want to lean the final result a bit more toward the Tippett animation model in appearance; several traces of dark skin showing through on the lower legs, and a slightly 'mangy' texture to the fur. The fur would be somewhat shorter than the life-size prop too.
For me, the 'fun factor' involves putting myself in a state of mind as I imagine Phil Tippett may have been in while creating the original. When he made the animation model, it was the first time the thing existed in the universe. I like to try to capture that feeling when I'm doing any laborious custom or mod.

 

[darkeyes]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

I guess there is no way he is fitting in a Detolf.

 

[jedibear]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

The first pics showing up...yes!


The paint looks great....terrific detailing on the head. Saddle and tack look good (bedroll is a little new and poofy looking...did they change material from the proto there)?

Don't want to condemn it over that seam just yet...need more pictures. Could lose some of it's impact in the right display/lighting conditions. Wish they had gone with a bit of a "jagged" edge (like tufts of overlapping fur) with that seam...could've looked better than the straight "cut". Again, gotta see more pics...it's really apparent now that someone got a little heavy-handed the photoshop on those preview images...

I want to like this...the dewback is such a well-rendered, almost overwhelming (in a great way) piece on display. To think I almost missed it....don't want to take that chance here...but gotta see more views of this one....

 

[galactiboy]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

I gotcha anthrapoid... I still think it's crazy, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it, just not for me And judging from the work you did on the Mammoth and your attention to detail with decals, I'm sure you'll blow minds

Honestly it would be a giant waste of time covering either this figure or a Hasbro with fur. If you want a furred Tauntaun (who wouldn't?) then perhaps use one of the Sideshow heads, but create a body from scratch, built on an armature. If you have the ability to do the fur, you should have no problems making the body.

That's my thinking as well... use the sculpted parts that you might not be able to replicate (I know I couldn't sculpt that head or feet... but then make a thinner (and possibly more accurate) armature and cover that with fur. Heck, you could even get really fancy and make it poseable... grinding off the fur sounds awful and likely to cause cancer from all that dust

I'd be curious how thick the Sideshow Taun Taun is... some of their polystone pieces are incredibly thin-walled.

 

[slynger]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

That Tauntaun is looking great in those pics. My only gripe would be that seam, SS has to do better at getting creative in hiding those. That seam just screams, "Look at me!" Other than that, the rest of him looks great.

 

[Fremen]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

So here's a look at mine. This video is overexposed so I've lost some of the great detail and colour on this guy.

I am very happy with this. She looks fantastic in person and I will be picking up a second one in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1_RxTMJEV0

 

[TaliBane]

Re: 1/6th Scale Sideshow TaunTaun

So here's a look at mine. This video is overexposed so I've lost some of the great detail and colour on this guy.

I am very happy with this. She looks fantastic in person and I will be picking up a second one in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1_RxTMJEV0

Thanks for the video! I really wish I was getting it. I wonder if anyone will sell me their extra Taun head (I'm assuming no one would separate it from the set.)