Asmus Toys : Legolas (wip thread)

[Rzeznikk]

Hi everybody.
New guy here. I have the Deluxe version. I am gathering as much info about this guy as possible.
Will you, oh savvy ancient ones of this thread, share the set of most common tips/tricks/issues/fixes/common mods/best practices that have resulted out of these 3 long years(!!) of this thread's existence?
Thank you all!
Best,
m.

If you are interested in going the real hair route here's what I did.

First thing you'll need to do is find some Tibetan lamb fur. Blonde. I got mine as a freeby from a guy on eBay when I purchased a different color. But you can find it for relatively cheap.

Next you'll need to remove the hair piece that is attached to the back of the head. Then using super sculpy firm recreate the back of the head. Use a hair dryer to "bake" it. Once hardened you can start glueing the hair on. I use modge podge for the hair glue.

I start in the back and work up. Cut long strips and you can trim them later. Work in rows moving up the back of the head to the front. You'll want to use a fine scissors to cut and stray strains of hair from the widow's peak. Slow and patient.

I had my wife braid the braids since I can't I get that small of braid. She volunteered. Lol

The braid actually is a separate piece of hair that I had her braid and I glued into place. I didn't want to run the risk of pulling the glued hair out.

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[mikeljanin]

If you are interested in going the real hair route here's what I did.

First thing you'll need to do is find some Tibetan lamb fur. Blonde. I got mine as a freeby from a guy on eBay when I purchased a different color. But you can find it for relatively cheap.

Next you'll need to remove the hair piece that is attached to the back of the head. Then using super sculpy firm recreate the back of the head. Use a hair dryer to "bake" it. Once hardened you can start glueing the hair on. I use modge podge for the hair glue.

I start in the back and work up. Cut long strips and you can trim them later. Work in rows moving up the back of the head to the front. You'll want to use a fine scissors to cut and stray strains of hair from the widow's peak. Slow and patient.

I had my wife braid the braids since I can't I get that small of braid. She volunteered. Lol

The braid actually is a separate piece of hair that I had her braid and I glued into place. I didn't want to run the risk of pulling the glued hair out.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Wow! Thanks for sharing this! It looks terrific. Was thinking on doing it myself, but what I have is regular doll hair. I'll check that lamb hair, it looks fantastic.

 

[Rzeznikk]

Wow! Thanks for sharing this! It looks terrific. Was thinking on doing it myself, but what I have is regular doll hair. I'll check that lamb hair, it looks fantastic.

Thanks! Yeah definitely check out the lamb fur. Works wonders!

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[asgardianboy]

Amazing my friend.
Would love to try my hand. Only thing that holds me back is the possibility Asmus doing it better in the near future......
Anyway, your contribution and pics has been noted on my Future Projects pad.
Thanks thanks thanks!
Best,
m.

If you are interested in going the real hair route here's what I did.

First thing you'll need to do is find some Tibetan lamb fur. Blonde. I got mine as a freeby from a guy on eBay when I purchased a different color. But you can find it for relatively cheap.

Next you'll need to remove the hair piece that is attached to the back of the head. Then using super sculpy firm recreate the back of the head. Use a hair dryer to "bake" it. Once hardened you can start glueing the hair on. I use modge podge for the hair glue.

I start in the back and work up. Cut long strips and you can trim them later. Work in rows moving up the back of the head to the front. You'll want to use a fine scissors to cut and stray strains of hair from the widow's peak. Slow and patient.

I had my wife braid the braids since I can't I get that small of braid. She volunteered. Lol

The braid actually is a separate piece of hair that I had her braid and I glued into place. I didn't want to run the risk of pulling the glued hair out. View attachment 420222View attachment 420223View attachment 420224View attachment 420225View attachment 420226View attachment 420227

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[asgardianboy]

Do you guys think boots can be removed from the head in a non-traumatic way?
m.

A quick warning to those who have purchased and will purchase the Luxury version. Not sure if it's been mentioned before but please be careful applying too much pressure when pressing the legs into the (Harder/resin) boots on top of the Troll head. The ankle peg doesn't 'pop' into the boot to let you know it's secured and In pressing too hard, a piece of the resin material (don't know what the boots are made of so I'll call it resin for now) crumbled away from the inside and so I now have a hole in the ankle. As the boot is glued to the Troll's head, it's not exactly something that can be replaced without breaking the boot away from the peg within the head so take care and just apply the smallest amount of pressure when plugging Legolas into those boots.

View attachment 363549
View attachment 363551

 

[Wor-Gar]

That's a great hairing tutorial!

There was a guy around here a year back who was hairing figures and was going to do Legolas but he disappeared. I think his name was Shane. But maybe I'll try this. I really want to get rid of the sculpted hair on Legolas.

I suppose I could wait for the Legolas v2 by Asmus.

 

[hoodonit00]

I'm going to throw some unsolicited advice out there. The people that are doing these awesome hair tutorials and customs are at the top of the heap. I've seen a lot of people who have tried rooting hair on a figure and it didn't turn out so well. I wouldn't pop your proverbial cherry on trying to root the Legolas sculpt. Get some junk sculpts and learn how to do it first and then tackle Legolas.

 

[Stryker2011]

I'm going to throw some unsolicited advice out there. The people that are doing these awesome hair tutorials and customs are at the top of the heap. I've seen a lot of people who have tried rooting hair on a figure and it didn't turn out so well. I wouldn't pop your proverbial cherry on trying to root the Legolas sculpt. Get some junk sculpts and learn how to do it first and then tackle Legolas.

 

[Rzeznikk]

I'm going to throw some unsolicited advice out there. The people that are doing these awesome hair tutorials and customs are at the top of the heap. I've seen a lot of people who have tried rooting hair on a figure and it didn't turn out so well. I wouldn't pop your proverbial cherry on trying to root the Legolas sculpt. Get some junk sculpts and learn how to do it first and then tackle Legolas.

I appreciate the compliment, but Im definitely not a pro at this yet. It's nerve racking as hell. If I can do it any one can. Just takes a lot of time and patience. But I agree Legolas wasnt the first head I haired. Try it out on a headsculpt you don't have to worry about ruining. Since you do have to do major modding on the sculpt to remove the plastic hair etc.

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[mikeljanin]

My plan is try with some custom casts first. Once I'm confident enough I'll try on actual headsculpts. Also, here's a great tutorial I found for hair on figures. It's for 8 inch dolls, you know, but looks helpful, specially about the tools and type of glue you need.
https://morezmore.wordpress.com/2015/04/20/how-to-make-dolls-hair-tibetan-lamb/

 

[Sankari]

Amazing my friend.
Would love to try my hand. Only thing that holds me back is the possibility Asmus doing it better in the near future......
Anyway, your contribution and pics has been noted on my Future Projects pad.
Thanks thanks thanks!
Best,
m.

I haven't done the hair on legolas yet, because I tried different fibers that didn't work so well. So far just removed all his plastic hair and drilled his skull to actually root everything.

It looks great, but if I could give a suggestion, try dabbing the end of his hair ( the part that touches the sculpt in more lacquer. I use several stages , first white glue and water, then other glues , and finish with lacquer. After you have the hair on the correct position, you can cut the excess, those bits which aren't lined up with the sculpt.

I hope it made sense ? I don't have pictures of the process here to show you guys

 

[asgardianboy]

I don't quite understand the final part. Could you go into a bit more detail?

Where/how do you get those multi-color fibers?

I haven't done the hair on legolas yet, because I tried different fibers that didn't work so well. So far just removed all his plastic hair and drilled his skull to actually root everything.

It looks great, but if I could give a suggestion, try dabbing the end of his hair ( the part that touches the sculpt in more lacquer. I use several stages , first white glue and water, then other glues , and finish with lacquer. After you have the hair on the correct position, you can cut the excess, those bits which aren't lined up with the sculpt.

I hope it made sense ? I don't have pictures of the process here to show you guys

 

[Sassafras]

Another figure I hadn't planned on AT ALL.

But - read someplace - probably here - that ASMUS doesn't seem to have immediate plans for a new Legolas? (I'd jump in for a rooted hair Hobbit Mirkwood armor version). Looking around - Legolas doesn't seem to be THAT readily available at this point. Not at retail, anyway.

And after getting the excellent Gimli, I figured I'd get Legolas while I could. I'd read or watched all of the reviews. Overall, I'd say Thranduil and esp. Gimli are better figures - but - for someone not collecting all of LOTR - I'm happy with him, and he does look excellent with Gimli. I'm glad I picked him up - even if ASMUS does re-visit one day. Plus, it's nice to have him with Thranduil as well. IMO the hair, on the shelf, looks alright. A great rooting job would help - but as usual ASMUS has great costume details.

Couple of cell shots:

 

[Argo18]

Hi, First time poster. I just got my Legolas and I was a little worried from the reviews that his hair was going to be kinda a yellow mess. I was surprised to see they have updated the head sculpt. Got a few pic's.

Can still see the seam when you zoom right in like in picture 2 but at a distrance for posing I think he looks great. This figure really surprised me.

What do you think?

 

[Doodlebob7]

Hi, First time poster. I just got my Legolas and I was a little worried from the reviews that his hair was going to be kinda a yellow mess. I was surprised to see they have updated the head sculpt. Got a few pic's.

Can still see the seam when you zoom right in like in picture 2 but at a distrance for posing I think he looks great. This figure really surprised me.

What do you think?

I think it needs rooted hair like it should have had and a sculpt from the first trilogy, not the second.

 

[Argo18]

I think it needs rooted hair like it should have had and a sculpt from the first trilogy, not the second.

True. I was mostly remarking the sculpt doesn't have that bright yellow that the first one did. I'd love a sculpt from the first trilogy aswell.

 

[matmurdock]

Look who finally decided to show up!

 

[DioramaMaker]

This is it folks.

This is the figure that broke me.

Thank goodness I toyed with Gimli before this, or else I'd be left with excessive hesitance to pick up any more figures from this line.

For the first time ever, I repacked and put a figure away after trying to set it up for two hours. Had I done this a year ago when I got the figure I would have returned it at this point - I've only ever once done that with a figure that was far worse than this. For fear of sounding...excessively winded - I'll be brief. The quiver straps that are far too short interfere too much with the horrid hair and makes control of the giraffe neck impossible. This combination forces the tunic to hike up and just makes this balance so uneven. Combine this with hands that are nigh impossible to switch, it's been nowhere near fun to futz. I felt like I was dealing with the ToyBiz 12" figure at moments.

If it shows ONE thing, it's the progress Asmus has made is tremendous.

Maybe I'll revisit this in a few weeks. Extend the straps with some well placed elastics. But today is not that day.

 

[mikeljanin]

This is it folks.

This is the figure that broke me.

Thank goodness I toyed with Gimli before this, or else I'd be left with excessive hesitance to pick up any more figures from this line.

For the first time ever, I repacked and put a figure away after trying to set it up for two hours. Had I done this a year ago when I got the figure I would have returned it at this point - I've only ever once done that with a figure that was far worse than this. For fear of sounding...excessively winded - I'll be brief. The quiver straps that are far too short interfere too much with the horrid hair and makes control of the giraffe neck impossible. This combination forces the tunic to hike up and just makes this balance so uneven. Combine this with hands that are nigh impossible to switch, it's been nowhere near fun to futz. I felt like I was dealing with the ToyBiz 12" figure at moments.

If it shows ONE thing, it's the progress Asmus has made is tremendous.

Maybe I'll revisit this in a few weeks. Extend the straps with some well placed elastics. But today is not that day.

Ugh. I'm sorry this was your experience. Not even close to mine, I'm super happy with my Legolas, and didn't find any problem.

 

[Popnfresh98]

Same here. I quite enjoyed posing him, outside of his ability to look up due to the sculpted hair. No trouble with the attire/belts/accessories however.