Statue BLITZWAY- Enter the Dragon- Bruce Lee Tribute 1/3 scale Statue Ver. 2 spec

[mrchris]

no argument over what is the best natural photo so far,my feelings towards this had grown so much over the last few days,only to be knocked back down by the fact the wounds are sculpts not decals and are permanent.so we have the best likeness of a bruce lee statue with the one thing that's easy to do wrong.i for one can't figure how that happened.

 

[desisandy]

Great pics Explosive thanks for posting all the great pics man, all the detail description much appreciated . . Can you take some pics from low angles .
Other pics seems to elongated the statue Arms and stuff .Your pics looks very proportion.

 

[desisandy]

no argument over what is the best natural photo so far,my feelings towards this had grown so much over the last few days,only to be knocked back down by the fact the wounds are sculpts not decals and are permanent.so we have the best likeness of a bruce lee statue with the one thing that's easy to do wrong.i for one can't figure how that happened.

I feel your pain Chris . Was pretty much expected that this is a good statues ruined by cheap scars and sweat app.
But I guess you could drip effect the top two abs scars and smudge the bottom to thicken it up.
Won,t be perfect screen accurate but the scars changes scene by scene but will help ease the gap size.And painted more reddish tone to movie stills.
That deep red is so wrong..
At least you can get some good help to do the paint up . Am going to be stuck with just as. Will not be sending it away to get scars or sweat repaint. Costing $$$$$$ already.

 

[mrchris]

i'll have to sweet talk my sis-in-law. painting over and dripping blood in the correct colour isn't the hardest mod to do..the sweat is another thing.i think most guys will keep as is.strange though GOD had some little issues,yet this has more and cost more..either way it will come down to personal choice with this.

 

[Tyderium]

I'm not sure why the cuts were ever raised sculpts either when they were simply just painted marks in the film. Everything about their execution is confusing.

But I had largely ignored the cuts because I knew they would be the first thing to go if i got the statue. Now that it looks like these are painted raised sculpts it has turned the prospect of trying to fix the stomach into a big cluster *****k. Such a shame and quite amazing that what should really have been a simple cosmetic app has been royally stuffed up.

Just venting...and it's frustrating because the excellent pics have really been showing this piece in wonderful new detail and peaked anticipation again.

 

[xpl0sive]

Yeah they have certainly made them too dark. But as far as the film goes, yeah they looked fake but I guess that is part of the iconography of ETD now - the bright red, faked slashes. It is what I expect on the statue.

But the main thing is how wrong the spacing is on the ab cuts. With those things now looking permanent, it will be hard to fix. Frustrating. Mind boggling that the easiest thing to get right - as it has been on every other much cheaper figure - is the one major thing that is wrong.

But, yeah. Another GREAT photo
Skin colour looks spot on there.
Probably my favourite shot of this so far.

Yeah I get ya, in terms of accuracy going for a bright red, fake looking paint for the blood would have been more appropriate, but sometimes I think 100% accuracy isn't always best when it comes to collectibles. I personally think in this case, going for something that looks more like real blood is appropriate, as it gives the statue a sense of realism on display, whereas if they had painted simple streaks of plain red, it would give it a toyish like appearance IMO. Blitzway's still look fake though, so what I'm gonna do is mix some clear red with a bit of black ink so it's a little darker but not too dark like the Blitzway scratches, and paint over it.

As for the spacing, nothing can be done there unfortunately. You can paint the scratches a little thicker and add some runs etc...to make the spacing less noticeable, but that's it really. It really is silly how badly they got this wrong considering how nice the rest of the statue looks.

Glad you like the photo mate. It certainly is the best one I've done in terms of portraying accurate skin colour. Really came out nice and neutral and didn't have the yellow tinge.

just looked at the photo... why the hell sculpt the cutsI could put up with the PEC cuts,but seriously,sculpt the ABS that far apart,the proto wasn't perfect,but at least the cuts were thicker.at first I thought the 1st/left pec cut had the remains of a run of sweat,giving the appearance of a sculpt.this may not bother most,but looking at your latest stunning photo,it's so annoying the easiest part of completing the statue is the worst aspect of it.

LOL knew you'd be devastated when you saw it. I'm sorry man, I know how bummed you must be feeling. It does bother me as well, probably not to the same extent as you though. I did feel a little let down when I first made the discovery, but I did get over it. We'll just have to do our best to paint over them and try make them look as nice as possible.

Best photo I've seen! Can't wait to get this in hand!

Thanks mate! Hope you get him tomorrow and I hope you like what you see in hand

Glad you like the pics FriendlySamurai

no argument over what is the best natural photo so far,my feelings towards this had grown so much over the last few days,only to be knocked back down by the fact the wounds are sculpts not decals and are permanent.so we have the best likeness of a bruce lee statue with the one thing that's easy to do wrong.i for one can't figure how that happened.

I'm really sorry to hear that mate. I definitely share your frustration and I was looking at the statue thinking the same thing myself. Not much you can really do man. It's either accept it for what it is and try make it look nicer with a repaint of the cuts, or pass on it.

Great pics Explosive thanks for posting all the great pics man, all the detail description much appreciated . . Can you take some pics from low angles .
Other pics seems to elongated the statue Arms and stuff .Your pics looks very proportion.

You're welcome man, glad you enjoyed them!

It's a little hard for me to take pics from low angles with the current tripod I'm using, but I'll see what I can do for you. I might need to get a little creative lol.

The reason you're seeing the proportions looking off in earlier pics is because most of them were taken with mobile phones, which have poor quality lenses in them in comparison to a SLR camera, and probably the angles people take the photos at makes a difference too.

I've been taking these pics with an SLR using a very sharp 35mm lens, with the camera mounted on a tripod which I position level with the statue. The lens does a very good job of capturing a natural looking photo in terms of proportions, but I also have the ability to correct any slight lens distortion using software in post processing. The correction is usually minimal though as most of the time there isn't much to correct as the photo usually turns out pretty close to perfect straight off the camera.

 

[xpl0sive]

I'm not sure why the cuts were ever raised sculpts either when they were simply just painted marks in the film. Everything about their execution is confusing.

They probably thought it would be a good idea so that the factory can paint them easier as it gives them a template to paint onto, instead of guessing. Helps make them consistent. I guess it's them trying something which they thought would work out in their favour and ended up being a massive fail.

 

[Tyderium]

Yep the raised cut sculpts would most certainly have been requested as a guide template for the painters. And you can only assume Arnie sculpted the body so it is a mystery why the ab cuts template ended up as it has.

Like Chris said, the hardest part (in the likeness) has been achieved and the easiest part has been a royal FU. Hard to figure.

At any rate, what's done is done.
There will certainly need to be some constructive thought go into this for those that want to try and fix the abs. Possibly a pooling of ideas and technique

But keep the pics coming mate. They are good to see.

 

[mrchris]

yeah devastated is a good way to put it.but like you said either leave as is or try to make it better.i'll find out in a couple of weeks and take it from there.
even in normal/natural light your top photographic skills make this look almost the perfect statue,but now those errors it has are going to be harder to correct.

 

[FriendlySamurai]

xplosive, the last pic you posted the pants looked really great, did you have to adjust them at the ankles at all?

 

[nongshim]

Mine just got delivered this morning! My wife said it was a huge box! haha

 

[SAB]

Mine just got delivered this morning! My wife said it was a huge box! haha

Congrats!
...and yes, it is the biggest box I've ever personally seen for a statue ...far bigger than the 1/3 GoD box!

 

[xpl0sive]

Yep the raised cut sculpts would most certainly have been requested as a guide template for the painters. And you can only assume Arnie sculpted the body so it is a mystery why the ab cuts template ended up as it has.

Like Chris said, the hardest part (in the likeness) has been achieved and the easiest part has been a royal FU. Hard to figure.

At any rate, what's done is done.
There will certainly need to be some constructive thought go into this for those that want to try and fix the abs. Possibly a pooling of ideas and technique

But keep the pics coming mate. They are good to see.

Lol that's what makes it frustrating really. They nail the headsculpt, make everything else look pretty good then paint on some really cheap looking cuts that are innacurate anyway.

As you said though, what's done is done. Personally I'm over it and not as bothered by the spacing as much as you and Chris. Even though it is innacurate, just think of it as an 'idealized' version, lol. For me it was more the cheapness of the application that bothered me, so hopefully a better paint job will make them look nicer.

What I'm going to do for the blood is use Tamiya clear red and mix in some black ink to darken it a bit so it looks more like real blood. I might create 2 different shades of red, one lighter one darker, and do a light application of the lighter colour first then add the darker application over it.

Some natural light shots to come tomorrow hopefully.

 

[xpl0sive]

yeah devastated is a good way to put it.but like you said either leave as is or try to make it better.i'll find out in a couple of weeks and take it from there.
even in normal/natural light your top photographic skills make this look almost the perfect statue,but now those errors it has are going to be harder to correct.

Inaccuracies aside, its still a really nice statue mate, and will look nice on display. A better repaint of the cuts will go a long way to improve it even if you can't space them out. Maybe just make them a little thicker.

 

[xpl0sive]

xplosive, the last pic you posted the pants looked really great, did you have to adjust them at the ankles at all?

Nah not really bro, just lifted them up as much as possible from the bottom until they wouldn't lift anymore. Didn't need to undo the velcro fasteners around the ankles though as it looked good enough just from doing this.

The pants are fairly tight around the bottom calf area, so when you pull them up it stays put which helps keep the pants up and hold the puffy look. I found with mine they weren't too bad out of the box. Only required around 30 seconds of futzing really. I pulled the material gently from the bottom as much as it would allow, then pulled the pants down just a tad from the waist and then pulled out the material around the thighs and puffed them out a bit and just used my fingers to 'crush' the material in certain spots so it looks like he is moving.

The pants just looked flat and slim in early pics because they get compressed in the Styrofoam from the box and the owners of the statue didn't bother to Futz the pants a bit before taking the pics. There is plenty of slack in the pants to Puff them out, no need for any manipulation. They look just like the proto ones to me.

 

[Tyderium]

What I'm going to do for the blood is use Tamiya clear red and mix in some black ink to darken it a bit so it looks more like real blood. I might create 2 different shades of red, one lighter one darker, and do a light application of the lighter colour first then add the darker application over it.

Yeah, I'll be interested to see how it pans out.
Part of me has been thinking about the possibility of matching the flesh tone and painting away the cuts entirely to have a blank canvas for accurate ones - obviously there will still be the raised sculpt left behind but it may not be that noticeable, especially with the new, proper red cuts distracting from it.
Not an easy job I know.
I'd need to see the thing in hand to work out the best way to tackle it. But already thinking of options. Where there's a will there's a way I think.

Mate would you mind taking another shot with the same lighting and backdrop as your last pic?
But directly front on (as in the proto shot below) so you can't see the top of the base at all - so I guess just a match for match angle of this pic.
It was may fave of all the proto shots.

And quick question - do you feel the skin tone in your last shot (which is by far the best shot of this piece I've seen anywhere) is pretty accurate to how it looks in person? Because the flesh colour in that shot looks pretty spot on to how it should IMO.

Thanks again for your shots and detailed reviews mate, it's helping me and others out a lot.

 

[Tyderium]

Interesting, I never really noticed, but the cuts on the proto are also pretty badly spaced looking at that shot. But they are a little thicker which helps and they are more or less straight.

One thing with the finished statue is that the bottom two cuts curve down where they start on the left side (Bruce's right) - it just looks weird and it has bugged me ever since the factory piece came out.

 

[nongshim]

I just got mine and it's pretty awesome. But I may have an issue with it. Is the torso supposed to be totally upright after putting it in the base? Mine leans a bit to the left so it looks like Bruce is sort of leaning backwards. I noticed the metal rod on the foot was a bit curved at the point where it meets the foot. Is the rod supposed to be completely straight?

 

[mrchris]

that doesn't sound good.have you tried moving/turning the statue around the base until it sits straight,if it still leans,sounds like a faulty foot peg..

 

[xpl0sive]

Yeah, I'll be interested to see how it pans out.
Part of me has been thinking about the possibility of matching the flesh tone and painting away the cuts entirely to have a blank canvas for accurate ones - obviously there will still be the raised sculpt left behind but it may not be that noticeable, especially with the new, proper red cuts distracting from it.
Not an easy job I know.
I'd need to see the thing in hand to work out the best way to tackle it. But already thinking of options. Where there's a will there's a way I think.

Mate would you mind taking another shot with the same lighting and backdrop as your last pic?
But directly front on (as in the proto shot below) so you can't see the top of the base at all - so I guess just a match for match angle of this pic.
It was may fave of all the proto shots.

And quick question - do you feel the skin tone in your last shot (which is by far the best shot of this piece I've seen anywhere) is pretty accurate to how it looks in person? Because the flesh colour in that shot looks pretty spot on to how it should IMO.

Thanks again for your shots and detailed reviews mate, it's helping me and others out a lot.

Interesting, I never really noticed, but the cuts on the proto are also pretty badly spaced looking at that shot. But they are a little thicker which helps and they are more or less straight.

One thing with the finished statue is that the bottom two cuts curve down where they start on the left side (Bruce's right) - it just looks weird and it has bugged me ever since the factory piece came out.

Matching the flesh tone would be difficult unless you were fairly skilled in painting I think. The issue with this is because the skin tone on this statue varies a lot depending on the lighting conditions, due to the translucency. The statue does not appear translucent when you see it in person, but the paint doesn't appear solid like on Sideshow statues. Its hard to describe, but its a similar effect to 1/6 PVC head sculpts. In natural light the colour appears darker and more tanned, whilst under bright lights like LED it appears fairy pale.

Will try doing that shot for you mate no problem. Just gotta remember what settings I used on the camera when I took my other one lol.

In regards to your last question about skin tone, yeah that pic was actually fairly close to what I was looking at in person, in those lighting conditions (no LED's were used, just room lights). I basically moved the statue to various parts of the room to try and capture a different shot and when I placed the statue in that part of the room I felt it looked best in those lighting conditions.

Again though, the skin tone does vary quite a bit depending on lighting used. Its actually darker tone in natural light. I will do some shots today in natural light to give you an idea, and then you can compare to my LED shots to get an accurate idea of how the statue looks in various lighting conditions.

In my opinion, it looks best in natural light as the skin tone is more natural looking and tanned. The LED's give the best effect in terms of creating shadows and highlights, but it tends to make the skin tone appear more pale.

As for the cuts on the statue, I mentioned that a couple of pages back that the proto had the same inaccuracy lol. In fact, I looked at a close up of the proto and compared to my statue in hand and the cuts appear almost exactly in the same spots. The proto is just ever so slightly closer on the bottom cut, but I thnk its due to the cuts being slightly thicker.

I'm just surprised no one picked up on it from the start and it was only noticed (and criticised) on the production piece lol.

In fact, looking at that pic you posted of the proto, I'd say the colour in that photo is fairly close to the production piece lol. In that sort of lighting anyway.

Happy to help in any way I can mate