Building your MARINES - CORRECTLY

[kam veitch]

Wow some very nice paint apps there - Kam and Manannnin you are going to have some very cool looking figures when you're done. Nice to see those two snyderman Hudson sculpts getting some love - with the assistance of the two skilled artists who painted them, I am really seeing Bill Paxton in each.

Thanks. Still a lot of work to do on them, both Hicks & Hudson, but nearly there.

 

[Manannin]

Wow some very nice paint apps there - Kam and Manannnin you are going to have some very cool looking figures when you're done. Nice to see those two snyderman Hudson sculpts getting some love - with the assistance of the two skilled artists who painted them, I am really seeing Bill Paxton in each.

Bigbisont your post made me laugh - I have experienced exactly the same frustration. I bought the Han headset first because it was slightly easier to find and then thought I had lucked out when I snagged a Chewie one (mistakenly thinking it would require less work). Look forward to seeing your customisation of each.

Thanks! I really love the paint work on both of my heads, Mark is a paint ninja. He's doing a Rocco Hicks for me too. Can't wait!

My only issue with the Snyder hudson is the neck hole is very small so I am having issues finding a suitable neck/body right now. But hopefully shouldn't be too much of a drama.

I have a chewie and Han headset too, and planned to just paint them for now. I am not sure if I could mod something that fiddly without self combusting...

 

[bigbisont]

Chopped and glued.


I plan to let Gorman and Vaz share one (Gorman gets it if I fell like doing an early film look, Vaz gets it in the late setup)




(Vaz getting a repaint soon)


For the 2nd one, I am carving out Hicks' hair on a rocco. I won't be leaving it one piece that clips over the head on Hicks. I have something...different planned. Updates to follow...

 

[kam veitch]

Looking good. I have two too laying around. Will finish marines first and then get to the communicators.

Will get a few things anytime, including painted head for Hudson so expect pics soon.

 

[bigbisont]

Thanks Kam

This is the way I attacked Hicks. (It needs a lot of cleanup. I'm going to try and blend the hair better to make it look like it goes under the headset).

With the helmet on, the new cuts will not be visible. With the helmet off, he will have his headset.




I will also try to carve a relief into the low spots of hair on top of the head to make them look as if it is the headset peaking out.

(And yes, I went with the maddeningly frustrating to look at, yet 'screen accurate', reversed comfort pad on top of the ear on the right side.)

 

[olbertfrog]

Wow thats sooooo cool !

 

[8 Immortal Master]

Guys I want to swap my stock Hot Toys Hudson body to a new realistic non-glossy body. What body do you guys recommend that won't break my bank and will offer the most pose ability, realism and best fit with the stock unmodified BDU's and armor? Thanks for the help

 

[djpurpose]

Bigbisont how did you carve out the head sculpt to accomodate the head set?

 

[kam veitch]

Guys I want to swap my stock Hot Toys Hudson body to a new realistic non-glossy body. What body do you guys recommend that won't break my bank and will offer the most pose ability, realism and best fit with the stock unmodified BDU's and armor? Thanks for the help

Whats not breaking the bank for you? 30-40$

I used a body with neck (Indiana Jones one) and will try this new with neck now, but price is about 65$, I bought it because of the neck option and the seamless arms.



by the way, got the painted head and did some changes on Hudson. Now almost finished.

 

[8 Immortal Master]

Whats not breaking the bank for you? 30-40$

I used a body with neck (Indiana Jones one) and will try this new with neck now, but price is about 65$, I bought it because of the neck option and the seamless arms.


by the way, got the painted head and did some changes on Hudson. Now almost finished.

That looks awesome! So is the body you're using for Hudson in this pic the Indiana Jones body? Is it a good fit? Thanks!

 

[kam veitch]

That looks awesome! So is the body you're using for Hudson in this pic the Indiana Jones body? Is it a good fit? Thanks!

yes, thats it, I am using an Indiana Jones body. But from what I read and experienced most of the neck adapters came faulty from the factory so you will have to replace it almost for sure.

 

[bigbisont]

Bigbisont how did you carve out the head sculpt to accomodate the head set?

-I started by drawing out the arc the headset would follow (if you don't have them straight and end up angling them, it will ruin the look).
-Next I used a small cutter on a dremel to take out a hefty chunk (always better to do 'not enough' than too much though)
-Then I used a basic utility knife with a new blade to square up the edges and side walls. The resin carves pretty nicely.
-I then used a small drill bit to dig out the area at the top of the cut so that the headset haves can reach up into and under the hair. (I just twisted the bit with my fingers. I did not need to actually use a drill because the resin is pretty soft, and again, you don't want to risk cutting too much).
-Then more utility knife work to square up the hole made by the drill bit.

Good luck!

 

[bigbisont]

Guys I want to swap my stock Hot Toys Hudson body to a new realistic non-glossy body. What body do you guys recommend that won't break my bank and will offer the most pose ability, realism and best fit with the stock unmodified BDU's and armor? Thanks for the help

There are plenty of TTM19 'clones' out there for $23-$30, but be warned, many are cheap for a reason. I got an "emulated" (search that term in ebay for a cheap 'clone') body for my hicks, but I can't recommend it. The elbow joints pop out easy and the 'realistic' skin tone paint is lack luster. The entire thing is super "tanned" so I will need to paint the arms to tone them down. You really do get what you pay for sometimes, so cheap bodies are going to be lacking in some phase.

The stock armor wont allow crazy posing, so no point hunting for a feature you can't use anyways. Virtually all bodies out there are suitably pose-able for what you/we plan to do with these figures.

 

[Bravomite]

Bigbisont, thanks for the tutorial on the Hicks head sculpt mod - very tempted to try something similar with mine. You have achieved an awesome result and I look forward to seeing it painted up. Like the attention to detail on the screen accurate but uncomfortable positioning of the Racal head set for Hicks as well.

Kam you have very cool Hudson figure and your hard work customizing it has definitely paid off. Hope mine turns out half so well when I get round to it. A word of warning with the World Box seamless arm body... I purchased one for my Hicks recently but have ended up not using it. I don't know if it's just the one that I purchased but I felt that it lacked the stability of a Hot Toys body (did not like standing up) and the paint on the seamless arms came off quite easily. If you're not going to pose it around often and support it with a stand then it will look great but I think I am just going to stick with my TTM19. Having said that, in my opinion the hands on the World Box body are great and scale so much better than the standard Hot Toys hands which I have always found to be too big ... now if only the hands were sold separately!

I really enjoy seeing all the great customs on this thread!

 

[8 Immortal Master]

Thanks for all the responses guys. Sounds like maybe I'll do the TTM19 body. Is this made by Hot Toys or ZC Toys? All the searches I've done pull up ZC Toys. Are these cheap clones or the real deal? Thanks

 

[asgardianboy]

That Vaz rocks.... How much did it cost to repaint her?
Thanks man!
m.

 

[djpurpose]

Thanks!

 

[kam veitch]

Kam you have very cool Hudson figure and your hard work customizing it has definitely paid off. Hope mine turns out half so well when I get round to it. A word of warning with the World Box seamless arm body... I purchased one for my Hicks recently but have ended up not using it. I don't know if it's just the one that I purchased but I felt that it lacked the stability of a Hot Toys body (did not like standing up) and the paint on the seamless arms came off quite easily. If you're not going to pose it around often and support it with a stand then it will look great but I think I am just going to stick with my TTM19. Having said that, in my opinion the hands on the World Box body are great and scale so much better than the standard Hot Toys hands which I have always found to be too big ... now if only the hands were sold separately!

I really enjoy seeing all the great customs on this thread!

Thanks man, now I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hope HT does not announce the marines soon or I will cut my wrists.
Thanks for the tip about the body, too late about it, its on its way home. I pose them on stands and do not force the poses so should work both the stability and paint on arms. The seamless arm muscles look a bit juiced for my taste, maybe too much for Hicks. If it does not work for him, I guess I will use him in any othercustom projects I got laying around like the Punisher. About the hands, hope they offered more with their bodies.

Hope to see pics of your projects.

regards

 

[bigbisont]

Thanks man, now I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hope HT does not announce the marines soon or I will cut my wrists.
...

Man you ain't kidding!!! To think about the years and money pumped into these guys to get them accurate, if Hot Toys announced perfect versions for $230, I'll probably have a melt down.

And right as I am getting REALLY obsessive is when they would do it, I bet...
Man, I have a lot of mundane tedious updates I am working on, but I think it will take things to the next level.

 

[Reinhardt]

Some amazing stuff in this thread! Awesome that this thread is still alive after all these years. The marines were the first 1/6 figures I ever got.