Asking for help disassembling Hot Toys DX18 Maul's legs.

[asgardianboy]

Hi everyone.
I have purchased a HT DX18 Maul body whose legs I am trying to remove for kitbash purposes.... to no avail.

I hope there is someone in the room with far more expertise modifying HT bodies. Apparently, they no longer are the standard bodies w/ interchangeable parts they used to be, where you could detach and atach body parts by removing or unscrewing and inserting or screwing. Now, everything seems to be glued into place and unchangeable.

I am actually interested in the lower robotic legs, but don't seem removable from the thighs. They are also very fragile, so I just can't try and force them out. That was the 1st blow to my world domination plan..... The first of many.

Here is the body, anyways (sorry about the dust on all pictures... in hand, it is not so noticeable):

Thus far, I have removed screws on both thighs, only to realise they are glued together so strongly that screws do not matter at all:

Same applies to hips. They are firmly glued together. Screws are just window dressing:

I have removed one of the screws in the hip articulacions (the spheres). On this pic you can see how tightly glued the thighs are (see thigh to the left):

These hip articulations (the spheres) consist of 2 halves screwed together:

After removing the screw in one of the spheres, one of the 2 halves making up the sphere has come loose (finally something that is not glued!!) but I just can't extract it & fully remove it!:

This is another view of the loose half of the unscrewed sphere:

My last hope is that removing this half of the sphere might reveal how to unscrew the entire leg (though I might be in for another unpleasant surprise...). That is why it is paramount to me removing it. However, no matter how I rotate the thigh to allow more empty space around the sphere, I JUST CAN'T EXTRACT THAT DAMNED LOOSE HALF.
So, finally, my question: has any of you guys tried anything similar? Any experience with this? How can I remove the half sphere & the leg, or even the lower legs?

Any help will be more than welcome.

Thanks everyone.

 

[agonistes86]

I'm not familiar with this body, so this might not work, but you can usually take apart the legs at the knees.
On regular bodies the knee cap inserts into both the upper and lower legs, and is usually held in place with a peg on each side.
Based on your pic, it looks like at least the upper leg works in the usual way (I can't tell how the lower leg connects to the knee cap, or if it's even one piece, making it single jointed). You would need to get a good grip, including the knee cap, and pull hard.
Hope this helps!

 

[prvtnoclass]

I don't have any experience with this body type. But having looked over the pics and making sure i understand what you disassembly end game is, i would suggest prying apart the thigh as carefully as you can. It seems like they used a fair amount of glue and the screws seem to hold things together after gluing.

In think that's your best bet. If you end up making the thigh a little too get it apart, it should be one of the easier parts to fix for a repurpose.

 

[asgardianboy]

Sorry for the extremely long blackout and absence of feedback, everyone. I have had nightmarish times at work for the last 2.5 weeks.
Now I have the time, so I am going to get at this right now and I am going to finish it. Let's see:

I'm not familiar with this body, so this might not work, but you can usually take apart the legs at the knees.
On regular bodies the knee cap inserts into both the upper and lower legs, and is usually held in place with a peg on each side.
Based on your pic, it looks like at least the upper leg works in the usual way (I can't tell how the lower leg connects to the knee cap, or if it's even one piece, making it single jointed). You would need to get a good grip, including the knee cap, and pull hard.
Hope this helps!

That is what I thought when I purchased this body, but believe me when I tell you that this is no regular HT body. Everything seems glued to the point where screws are needless, but they still are there. You remove them, nothing at all changes.
Pulling strongly of such a fragile plastic is also not an option.
It would seem the whole leg has to go.

I don't have any experience with this body type. But having looked over the pics and making sure i understand what you disassembly end game is, i would suggest prying apart the thigh as carefully as you can. It seems like they used a fair amount of glue and the screws seem to hold things together after gluing.

In think that's your best bet. If you end up making the thigh a little too get it apart, it should be one of the easier parts to fix for a repurpose.

Yep. Seems the only way to solve this. I have also been told to warm things really really up, with boiling water. I am going in right now.
Wish me luck.

 

[JZIZNER]

Sorry for the extremely long blackout and absence of feedback, everyone. I have had nightmarish times at work for the last 2.5 weeks.
Now I have the time, so I am going to get at this right now and I am going to finish it. Let's see:



That is what I thought when I purchased this body, but believe me when I tell you that this is no regular HT body. Everything seems glued to the point where screws are needless, but they still are there. You remove them, nothing at all changes.
Pulling strongly of such a fragile plastic is also not an option.
It would seem the whole leg has to go.


Yep. Seems the only way to solve this. I have also been told to warm things really really up, with boiling water. I am going in right now.
Wish me luck.

Any luck? I want to combine this figure with the clone wars maul

 

[asgardianboy]

Any luck? I want to combine this figure with the clone wars maul

The 2 halves of the spheres at the hips can be pulled apart once the screw that keeps them together is removed, and the one half attached to the torso, which is monolithic w/ the corresponding leg, can be unscrewed. Once the whole leg is removed, you are left with a torso that I think is compatible w/ at least any HT leg (maybe other manufacturers too).

 

[asgardianboy]

Any luck? I want to combine this figure with the clone wars maul

After I removed the screw holding the 2 halves of the sphere at each hip, I finally managed to remove the loose half, and to detach the other half from the hip. I so obtained 2 entire legs, each of which was monolithic, and a torso w/ arms. As far as I know, legs and torso should be compatible with any other HT legs/torsos, maybe also from KO bodies & from other manufacturers.
Hope this helps.

 

[JZIZNER]

Yeah. Thanks for the reply. I ordered a dx18 maul off eBay and I want to combine those mechno legs with the clone wars tattooed clone wars body. Hope it works. First ever crazy kitbash lol

 

[asgardianboy]

Yeah. Thanks for the reply. I ordered a dx18 maul off eBay and I want to combine those mechno legs with the clone wars tattooed clone wars body. Hope it works. First ever crazy kitbash lol

Nice idea, hoping for pics of your contraption! ;-)