Building your MARINES - CORRECTLY

[Wor-Gar]

Does anyone know if the Dragon Cheong figure is a suitable alternative to get the look of the arms that Stendec's figure has above?
Thanks,
- SJ

Cheong has "rubber" sleeves over jointed arms. They work fine, but tend to tweak at the elbows as you would expect. Also, there is a clear separation at the wrist where the sleeve ends which can be mostly hidden by a watch or wrist band but otherwise looks odd.

 

[Space Jockey]

Ah I see, thanks Wor-Gar and USCMhicks. Yeah, I wondered if it was possible to use this Dragon body for a hicks figure and just swapping it, rather than doing what people did for the Vasquez figure (if it's even possible). Personally I don't mind seeing the joints, but someone else asked me the question.

Maybe the Russell figure is the way to go especially if the cheong figure has the shortened arms by the time the gloves are taken off, though I don't know if the hicks headsculpt will move okay on a Dragon body.
Anyways, thanks for the info, much appreciated.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Ah I see, thanks Wor-Gar and USCMhicks. Yeah, I wondered if it was possible to use this Dragon body for a hicks figure and just swapping it, rather than doing what people did for the Vasquez figure (if it's even possible). Personally I don't mind seeing the joints, but someone else asked me the question.

Maybe the Russell figure is the way to go especially if the cheong figure has the shortened arms by the time the gloves are taken off, though I don't know if the hicks headsculpt will move okay on a Dragon body.
Anyways, thanks for the info, much appreciated.

I did the Cheong sleeve gag to my Vasquez as well. Works good for her over the HT stick arms. Now if I could do something about her skinny neck (and yes, she needs a face repaint).

Russell or Walt or Fernando all have similar "rubber" arms, and there's a cop figure that has skinnier arms as well (don't know the name). Not certain of the head attachment.

I left my Hicks on the body he came with, just lightly sanded the arms to get rid of the sheen. I didn't even dirtied up the arms yet. Forgot all about that, and the tattoo. Anyway, I'm OK with the jointed arms for me... but the 'rubber' ones do look better.

Boy, I look at these pics now from like two years ago and I see so many things to do...again. There's been so many awesome marines posted since with insane weathering and detailing.

 

[Mudshark]

I did the Cheong sleeve gag to my Vasquez as well. Works good for her over the HT stick arms. Now if I could do something about her skinny neck (and yes, she needs a face repaint).

I found a way to thicken her neck somewhat. Not the perfect solution, but at least it alleviated the "pencil neck" look of the original. I forget exactly what I used, but I think it was a short strip of vinyl or foam, lightly colored so it wouldn't show under the fleshtone rubber of her neck.

If you pop her head off, you can gently roll the rubber down around her inner neck post, then wrap one or two thicknesses of material around the post. Carefully roll her neck back up over it and that should add some thickness to her neck.

All of my marines have been on hold indefinitely for over a year, but if you want I can dig Vas out and check exactly what material I used to thicken her neck for you. Maybe even post a pic for comparison. Just let me know.

 

[Wor-Gar]

All of my marines have been on hold indefinitely for over a year, but if you want I can dig Vas out and check exactly what material I used to thicken her neck for you. Maybe even post a pic for comparison. Just let me know.

Sounds like a good solution. Would definitely love to see a pic if you got the time.

 

[Mudshark]

Sounds like a good solution. Would definitely love to see a pic if you got the time.

Sure thing. I'll try to get something up here for you this coming weekend.

 

[pjam]

Here's mine... stripped down to Vas' "Where. They. Are." look, as well as her final moments with Gorman. FML head repaint makes all the difference.

As Wor-Gar pointed out, the Cheong arm sleeves were a worthy solution back in the day. The wrists do need a bit of attention and the watch makes a good way to hide the separation. All in all it worked magic for me. I remember this was such a huge deal back then.

And here with Drake, an old DekDave Request shot...

And Finally in Full Battle Mode...

 

[THE IMMOBILIZER]

If u guys R realy gonna work on vasquez her neck,
then maybe this is a good one , make her **** look a bit bigger

 

[Mudshark]

Wor-Gar,

Well, I was only able to locate one of my Vas figures over the weekend... unfortunately it's the one I've done the least amount of work on. I took several pics for you, but for some reason the rest wouldn't transfer from my aging camera to my computer!!!

Pics are still in the camera itself, so I'll try again later. Meanwhile, here's the only shot I was able to transfer. Don't know if you can see much of a difference in neck thickness, as this one still needs a little more material added around the inner neck post, but it does seem a tad bit thicker than the picture you posted earlier. (Love that holster rig you made for her, btw!)

I also couldn't find the foam material I originally used (it's around here somewhere!), but I'd recommend trying the sort of thin foam used to wrap new computers, game consoles, and other electronic stuff (like the white stuff behind this pic of Vas). It's thin enough to keep wrapping in layers around the post until you achieve a thickness you're satisfied with, and flexible enough so as not to affect normal neck articulation.

I did the deed by myself, but it would probably go a lot easier if you had a helper: one person to roll down the rubber neck far enough and hold it down, while the other person wraps the foam material. It may take a few tries to get the desired effect. Hope this helps some.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Wor-Gar,

Well, I was only able to locate one of my Vas figures over the weekend... unfortunately it's the one I've done the least amount of work on. I took several pics for you, but for some reason the rest wouldn't transfer from my aging camera to my computer!!! ]

Thanks for the pic. I do see what you mean now. I think that's an excellent solution. I'll have to give it a try.

Just so I understand, the rubber around the neck can pull away from the plastic neck post underneath without cutting? If so, this is a great simple fix.

And thanks about the holster rig. It was a lot of fun to make... of course now it keeps me from putting the smartgun on her. But hey, that's why I have Drake.

 

[Mudshark]

Thanks for the pic. I do see what you mean now. I think that's an excellent solution. I'll have to give it a try.

Just so I understand, the rubber around the neck can pull away from the plastic neck post underneath without cutting? If so, this is a great simple fix.

And thanks about the holster rig. It was a lot of fun to make... of course now it keeps me from putting the smartgun on her. But hey, that's why I have Drake.

That's correct... no cutting at all! After you remove her head you may want to use a small screwdriver or toothpick just to sort of separate the rubber away from the post (it wasn't glued on or anything), then just roll it down (um.. sort of condom-like) as far as it will go to expose as much of the post as you can, wrap your foam, and then roll the rubber neck back up. The toughest part was trying to keep the neck rolled down while I wrapped the foam around it! Anyway, good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions.

Btw, I managed to find a couple of pistols that look close enough to the S&W Mod. 39, so I really want to make a rig like yours when I have time. That's also why I got two Vas figures, one for the M56 SG, and one without it.

 

[Space Jockey]

Some pics from a Hicks commission I'm in the middle of doing on one of Xenoviper's terrific headsculpts.
The Hicks body is my own. Still more work to do on that.

 

[agonistes86]

I finished my Hudson custom a couple of days ago, I've had him for 2 years now but just recently decided to improve him.
I wasn't really going for accuracy, just changing stuff that bothered me, here's a list of changes I made:

-weathered the BDU
-weathered the armor with silver, although it's rather subtle and isn't really visible in the pics
-repainted his eyebrows, the bushy black ones seemed so toyish
-added some SovereignStudios muscular arm sleeves to hide the joints, and painted those (these were actually the reason why I decided to customize him in the first place)

I'd still like to get a better head sculpt, although I don't really like all the ones out right now, so I'll have to see about that. The bored and emotionless expression of the current one is what botheres me most atm, the likeness actually comes in second place, as the overall look of the marine is what interests me most in the fig, not the Paxton character.

Anway, here are the pics, hope you enjoy them:

BTW, I don't think I've ever posted in this thread yet, but I've been reading it almost since the start, it was one of the reasons why I got Hudson in the first place, who was also my first Hot Toys fig, so thanks for that.

 

[Ironman1188]

You do realize that the HT Hudson is actually a "Hicks" head.

 

[agonistes86]

You do realize that the HT Hudson is actually a "Hicks" head.

Jep, but like I said:

I'd still like to get a better head sculpt, although I don't really like all the ones out right now, so I'll have to see about that. The bored and emotionless expression of the current one is what botheres me most atm, the likeness actually comes in second place, as the overall look of the marine is what interests me most in the fig, not the Paxton character.

 

[Ironman1188]

Have you seen Lonnie's from Frontline or the one that Les made?
If not you may check them out.

 

[Preshea]

Those sleeves look fantastic. Available any place ?

 

[Mudshark]

Ironman1188 is absolutely right about the head sculpt. Hot Toys did a switcheroo and stuck a "disguised" Hicks sculpt on Hudson's body! A lot of people used that same head (repainted) to kit bash a Hicks figure when prices for the original Hicks went through the roof a while back.

Your work on the figure looks great, but if you don't mind a couple of suggestions, I'd remove the pistol & holster and the stock combat knife. Hudson had a black Gerber Mk. II combat knife in a black sheath taped to his 'nade strap. None of the USCMs used that type of knife. If you're not concerned with screen accuracy, then I'd at least paint that sheath black.

The arms on your figure are outstanding, btw! Are those just rubber arm sleeves or did you use a completely different body for him?

 

[agonistes86]

Ironman1188 is absolutely right about the head sculpt. Hot Toys did a switcheroo and stuck a "disguised" Hicks sculpt on Hudson's body! A lot of people used that same head (repainted) to kit bash a Hicks figure when prices for the original Hicks went through the roof a while back.

Your work on the figure looks great, but if you don't mind a couple of suggestions, I'd remove the pistol & holster and the stock combat knife. Hudson had a black Gerber Mk. II combat knife in a black sheath taped to his 'nade strap. None of the USCMs used that type of knife. If you're not concerned with screen accuracy, then I'd at least paint that sheath black.

The arms on your figure are outstanding, btw! Are those just rubber arm sleeves or did you use a completely different body for him?

About all the details, yeah like I said I wasn't going for screen accuracy, but I'll look into painting the sheath black, maybe it'll look better. I actually painted the mic black and silver like in the movie (took several screen caps myself and read through this thread) since that looked a alot better than the green before. One thing I also like about the Hudson armor is the eagle emblem, maybe I'll try to make that one too when I have the time. I prefer the helmet without the cover though, so I just left that off.

As for the head, I know all the custom heads out there, and although they are great sculpts and look a lot more like Paxton than this sculpt (obviously), I still don't think they're quite there yet, and I don't want to shell out the money to get them when I'm not really satisfied with them. I've read that Darren Carnall is working on a Hudson head at the moment though, I'm really looking forward to seeing that one.

About the body, he's still on the original Truetype he came with, although I did dremel the arms a lot so that the arm sleeves didn't look too thick. The sleeves originally went over the shoulders, but I cut them just over the biceps since they're covered by the BDU anway and to keep more articulation in the shoulders.
Here's a WIP image that shows the left arm already covered with an unpainted sleeve, and the other arm dremeled and sanded (the BDU isn't weathered here yet):

Oh and although I have some spare gloveless TT hands here, I left the current ones on since they really do a nice job covering the seems from the sleeves, and from a practical point of view it would make more sense for a marine to wear gloves for protection and a better grip IMO.

Those sleeves look fantastic. Available any place ?

Yep, they are made by SovereignStudio here on the boards, here's his current thread https://sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63174.

 

[Fu_Manchu]

Hi Agonistes, can you give some tips on how to paint those sleeves? How great do they look as you did!