GIMLI Customs...

[thenammagazine]

Nice job. You may still need to modify the clothes shorter but that should make it look really good. I'm still tempted to cut off 1/4" on the legs and hemming up the skirt.

Thanks for the compliment, but it's relatively easy. As for the clothing, I thought about that too, but the overcoat only hangs down to the top of the boots (I can live with that) and the fatsuit I ordered should make him a bit more chubby and raise it up the overcoat a bit more too.

 

[thenammagazine]

Good recipe thenam... I might just try that. Got any pics of the body BEFORE taking that midsection out?

Sheesh, so demanding! . Actually, thank Wor-Gar for the pic.

​

 

[Wor-Gar]

Thank you... and I thank myself.

 

[thenammagazine]

Thank you... and I thank myself.

Everything in moderation...

 

[Darklord Dave]

That's not bad, certainly cheaper than $60 for another hobbit body. But the shoulders are about the same width as the Buck aren't they? I know dwarves are supposed to be stocky, but Gimli really was just a smaller normal proportioned human.

 

[thenammagazine]

That's not bad, certainly cheaper than $60 for another hobbit body. But the shoulders are about the same width as the Buck aren't they? I know dwarves are supposed to be stocky, but Gimli really was just a smaller normal proportioned human.

With the fat suit and the shoulder armor from the rotocast, it'll even things out. Bulking up the mid section and giving Gimli the gut he has will make the shoulders look slimmer (optical illusion). Plus, it'll help fill out the DiD outfit more as it seems to have been made for some other figure than the one they gave us in the box.

 

[pixletwin]

Honestly if mine ends up looking anything like Dwing or with what thenam is doing I will be happy. Thanks for those pics nam.

 

[thenammagazine]

Honestly if mine ends up looking anything like Dwing or with what thenam is doing I will be happy. Thanks for those pics nam.

Hey, no prob. I was just being lazy though and didn't want to go the whole huge customization route!

 

[pixletwin]

What did you use to but the midsection?

 

[thenammagazine]

What did you use to but the midsection?

Actually, I just kinda twisted the body until the top abs section was sideways and the rest of the body (upper and lower) were flat. Then I took a pair of needle nose pliers and crimped down hard enough on the seam to have the plastic start to crack and separate, then it pretty much split on it's own. If that doesn't work, you can easily use a razor blade to work away a bit of the seam (since this part will be trashed anyways) until you can get the end of a small flathead screwdriver in to pry it apart.

 

[pixletwin]

Sounds scary.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Will a nutcracker work?

So you just glue the upper torso to the mid-torso?

 

[thenammagazine]

Sounds scary.

Nah, a nice hard squeeze should make it crack and split it right open.

 

[thenammagazine]

Will a nutcracker work?

So you just glue the upper torso to the mid-torso?

No, I don't think a nutcracker would work...

Yes and no. Once you get the top ab section off, you'll need to split the upper torso and hook the lower torso into it. Then just reglue the seams on the torso and it's done. Or, if you don't want any movement in the torso I suppose you could remove the pivot screw from the lower part and just hardglue it down. I opted for the movement though. Splitting it open was easy and if you've ever taken apart a vintage 3 3/4" G.I. Joe, reassembly will be cake.

Edit: If you guys are trying this now and would prefer faster help, feel free to AIM: thenammagazine or YIM: nationalairsoftmagazine

 

[pixletwin]

I am having issues visualising what you are talking about.

Which part of the chest did you throw away?

 

[thenammagazine]

I am having issues visualising what you are talking about.

Which part of the chest did you throw away?

Contact me on YIM or AIM. It's easier. And I'll walk you through it first.

 

[pixletwin]

Ok. I'll let you know when I am ready. I appreciate the help.

 

[thenammagazine]

Ok. I'll let you know when I am ready. I appreciate the help.

No prob. I know firsthand how frustrating it is.

 

[icruise]

I got my DiD Gimli today. It's a weird balance of really good and really bad. The outfit is mostly really nice, but the chain mail cloth with the sparkles sucks bad. And I'm not fond of the head. I do really like the weapons though. Not sure why you need so many of them, but I'm not complaining.

Anyway I thought I would throw together a figure using the DiD and the rotocast ToyBiz figure. I used the head, helm, forearms/hands, shoulder armor and boots from the ToyBiz figure, and the rest is the DiD. I was sort of making things up as I went along, so if I had to do it again I would probably not do it in exactly the same way. I used an xacto knife to cut off the pieces from the ToyBiz figure that I would be using and dremeled out the shoulder armor, forearms, and boots. I cut off his feet and hands and stuck the leg stumps directly into the boots, with the pants wrapped around them. This worked really well to get the pants looking like they should, and also made him a bit shorter (yeah, this makes the knees too low, but you can't tell when he's dressed, as his pants are pretty baggy). I whittled down the DiD body forearms so they would fit inside the ToyBiz ones and used epoxy putty (the green stuff) to attach them permanently. The shoulder armor isn't really firmly attached -- it sort of snaps over his upper arms.

I repainted the head and helm, but everything else is stock. I should probably do some weathering of the outfit later. I left off the mail and I don't think I'm going to worry about trying to get a replacement for it. The ToyBiz head is probably a bit too small for the body (or at least the large hobbit heads may make it seem that way) but I'm fine with it. I don't really want to buy the other TB figure just for the head. These pictures aren't the best, but I didn't want to wait until I could use natural light.

 

[thenammagazine]

I got my DiD Gimli today. It's a weird balance of really good and really bad. The outfit is mostly really nice, but the chain mail cloth with the sparkles sucks bad. And I'm not fond of the head. I do really like the weapons though. Not sure why you need so many of them, but I'm not complaining.

Anyway I thought I would throw together a figure using the DiD and the rotocast ToyBiz figure. I used the head, helm, forearms/hands, shoulder armor and boots from the ToyBiz figure, and the rest is the DiD. I was sort of making things up as I went along, so if I had to do it again I would probably not do it in exactly the same way. I used an xacto knife to cut off the pieces from the ToyBiz figure that I would be using and dremeled out the shoulder armor, forearms, and boots. I cut off his feet and hands and stuck the leg stumps directly into the boots, with the pants wrapped around them. This worked really well to get the pants looking like they should, and also made him a bit shorter (yeah, this makes the knees too low, but you can't tell when he's dressed, as his pants are pretty baggy). I whittled down the DiD body forearms so they would fit inside the ToyBiz ones and used epoxy putty (the green stuff) to attach them permanently. The shoulder armor isn't really firmly attached -- it sort of snaps over his upper arms.

I repainted the head and helm, but everything else is stock. I should probably do some weathering of the outfit later. I left off the mail and I don't think I'm going to worry about trying to get a replacement for it. The ToyBiz head is probably a bit too small for the body (or at least the large hobbit heads may make it seem that way) but I'm fine with it. I don't really want to buy the other TB figure just for the head.

I, uh, noticed you ditched the chainmail there bub. To quote Anakin with a touch of creative license... ""I don't like [glitter]. It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere." I'm still finding bits and pieces of it all over my place from that damn coat. I don't know what they were thinking with that. They could've just gotten away with giving him black sleeves and making the material a darker gray. I have a chainmail coat inbound from a Viking that will do leaps and bounds. As for the ToyBiz rotocast head, that's something I found funny. For some reason the rotocast actually has a smaller head than the "soft" version. I actually preferred the rotocast gauntlets because they have cut wrist joints and the boots from the rotocast can go on the feet like any other 1:6 boots. Looks great though, and as usual, a phenomenal paint job.