Hot Toys – MMS204 - The 1/6th scale ED-209 Collectible

[a-dev]

I think we've got the Maglor of ED-209 here.

I'll probably leave mine stock to be honest but great job on all this.

 

[Anthrapoid]

Yeah.... I just can't help myself. I completely understand not wanting to alter the original state, but I'm never going to sell this, so what the hell. The missiles not being covered by the guard just stands out like a sore thumb to me, and the up-angled targeting device too. Other than that, it's gorgeous. I do have one other very minor gripe, and that's the legs; both legs have the EXACT same paintjob, right down to the simulated silver paint scratches right above the toes of both feet... clone paint jobs. I can fix that easy enough though.

 

[a-dev]

I do have one other very minor gripe, and that's the legs; both legs have the EXACT same paintjob, right down to the simulated silver paint scratches right above the toes of both feet... clone paint jobs.

Really? That's a bit 'low end' of Hot Toys.

 

[Anthrapoid]

Yeah, the shin sections starting right above the toes...dripping oil, metal scrapes... exactly the same left and right. The same thing with the left toes, and right toes... same paint exactly. The middle toes, however, have different paint jobs, only because HT was forced to make separate molds for each middle toe; each one has a little rectangular depression on top which is opposite the other, hence different molds. I guess that means each front toe goes down a different production path, and so they get different paint jobs too. The paint that they were able to clone though, they did.

 

[Reinhardt]

Anthrapoid, all I can say is hardcore man! Very nice work. So what's your verdict on the dome? Going to make a resin one? How about the legs? Going to attach them, and then film yourself detaching them?

 

[Anthrapoid]

Anthrapoid, all I can say is hardcore man! Very nice work. So what's your verdict on the dome? Going to make a resin one? How about the legs? Going to attach them, and then film yourself detaching them?

Hey thanks. I highly recommend the first mod at least, so the missiles can rest down behind the guard. it really looks so much better, and noticeably more screen-accurate.
The HT dome: I am 95% certain it's silicone, which is good- the bad news is, it's extremely thin. You can push your finger into the nose area, and feel holes cut in the plastic under it. You can feel with your fingertip how thin it is. I don't know if the holes under the dome are intended to better let the sound through or what... but to answer your question, YES I am going to make resin domes. Unfortunately it's going to take a while, because I'm dealing with health issues right now, and money is tight. (thanks in no small part to all my preorders)
Because of my health problem, I think I'll be printing the decals first. Then if all goes well, I will order the materials for the domes about 4 to 6 weeks from now, and start selling domes the following month. No promises at this point, it might take longer. I'm working out the logistics in my head even now, as to how I will take the mold from my ED's dome and cast replacements.

To demonstrate what the process involves, I offer a small window into the life of a mold maker; here's the plan so far:
(If you can't wait, feel free to try this at home yourself- but it's trickier than it sounds, unless you're familiar with mold making.)

1) Cover ED-209 with plastic bag, and tape all around edges of dome- leaving only the dome exposed
2) Prop-up ED for complete stability (I'm making this mold with ED standing)
3) Lay a flat 2" wide clay lip around dome edges, on top of taped edges (to avoid clay contact with plastic)
4) Build a clay wall 3.5 inches tall on top of clay lip surrounding dome
5) Run bamboo skewers in a # pattern across top of mold wall, mold them firmly into place with clay
(to help support the weight of the walls, and the weight of the liquid silicone to come)
6) Lightly coat dome with petroleum jelly separating agent
7) Fill mold with non-shrinking grade silicone
8) Cure
9) Remove new mold from ED
10) Clean mold of petroleum jelly (and ED's dome too, for that matter)
11) make plaster mother mold, or 'cradle' in which to rest silicone mold, inside up
12) Mix black pigmented resin, and START POURING
13) Cure resin domes to full rigidity
14) de-mold domes
15) Now the hard part: Remove rubber dome from MY ED-209, trying not to damage in the process... seems to be firmly glued on.
16) Test-fit replacement dome
17) Use Dremel grinder to thin underside of domes where required, and/or add more liquid resin to under side, for accurate thickness.
(these two steps could be avoided IF I made a two-piece or 'sandwich' mold, top and bottom. The reason I can't do that in this case, is because the surface texture of the mold will make it more likely that small bubbles in the resin will adhere to the inner surface of the mold, ruining the surface of the finished piece; a closed mold won't allow me to monitor this. Therefore, I will make a one-piece open mold laying flat. That way the bubbles in the wet resin will rise up and away from what will become the textured surface of the domes, leaving them bubble-free. The down side of doing it this way is that I can't control the poured thickness very well, so I might have to mix some fresh resin to add a bit of thickness to the under side of each dome, and/or Dremel them down individually. It's worth the extra effort though, to ensure a clean bubble-free surface.
18) Use Dremel to sand edges smooth if needed
19) Wash domes
20) Optional: I might add a very light metallic sheen with acrylic paint, for greater film-accuracy- topped with a protective coat of clear semigloss.
(or at least I'll experiment and see how it looks.)

To answer your question about the legs: I just said screw it, and put them on. I'm not worried about taking the piece apart.

 

[Reinhardt]

Thanks! I appreciate the small insight into your world. Let's just say that I'm happy you're doing it! :LOL Take all the time you need, I say.

Sorry to hear about your health problems. At least I am happy to hear that despite these problems, it hasn't died down your passion for Robocop Accuracy!

 

[Anthrapoid]

Thanks! I appreciate the small insight into your world. Let's just say that I'm happy you're doing it! :LOL Take all the time you need, I say.

Sorry to hear about your health problems. At least I am happy to hear that despite these problems, it hasn't died down your passion for Robocop Accuracy!

Thanks, that helps. It's not only Robocop though... for the past month I've been modifying the $35.00 1/6 Taito R2D2 from Japan, to stand beside my Tamashii Nations die-cast C-3P0 (amazing item, by the way)... I drilled many holes and installed full LEDs, 9-volt batteries, and made many physical changes... NOW they announce the Sideshow R2D2 coming soon... *facepalm*

Changing that topic quickly, here's another picture:

 

[Ash Housewares]

Yay. Still talking about stickers.

 

[Gigerfan]

The decal in question is absent only on the life-size prop, which is shown in your photo. And yes, on the animation models (there were more than one used in filming) some of the decals didn't match. This is one example of that. The bright tangerine orange decal is very different from the red and white version, including the center and the border. My reconstruction of the orange version was inspired by the orange decal which was produced for the Horizon model kit years ago, with some corrections and refinements based upon careful observation. Also, on the animation models, the decal (both versions) is only present on the right knee... HT put it on both sides, which proves HT didn't do quite enough research about the details.

I couldn't find any shots in the movie where a warning triangle is visible on the left leg of any version of ED either. We don't see it, but it's possible there was on the 1:1. The Horizon kit had decals for both legs.

What you've been saying doesn't proves the figure is wrong, but it is definite proof that there were some minor hiccups in the movies continuity department.

And the missile pod does retract and stow like it does in the movie. It's attached to a sliding swing arm that gives the pod the extra travel needed to fully retract. You just didn't do the extra step and pull the pod all the way down on the rail.

...any thoughts on the rubber dome? Is it actually a rubbery material?

It's a firm silicone rubber.

 

[P.]

Anthrapoid is really a king of details on this figure. liked the rockets/targeting system fix a lot, will try to do it later. sorry, cannot leave you a rep point, as you got it recently )
-------------
moved my ED to my summer house. Gigerfan was right both times:
1) legs do come out of their joints pretty easily. and i guess it will be easier and easier each time.
2) pegs are really very firm and hard. i applied a force of like 20 kilograms in a breaking direction, and not even a thin crack appeared. i think they will be able to hold 3-4 kg of EDs body forever.
===============
hmmmm Gigerfan is right even the third time: rockets do cover behind, heh, cover completely. i pressed a little more, and they are like on Anthrapoid "after" picture. you guys currently bring most profit to this thread.

 

[Anthrapoid]

You just didn't do the extra step and pull the pod all the way down on the rail.

I most certainly did pull the missile rack down as far as it would go, then applied potentially dangerous force to see if it would go further. It was at a dead stop, while one missile was still exposed above the guard. I wiggled it, twisted it, and shifted it side-to-side... then I looked inside, and saw the top 'stair step' was coming all the way down to meet the bottom, touching. I think I heard somewhere that two solid objects cannot occupy the same space... That WAS the stopping point. Do you think I would start drilling into a $400.00 figure without analysis?
The right gun pod obviously has internal parts related to the missile launcher, which may have been assemble and/or glued into slightly different positions from one figure to the next. I did what I had to do, but only after thoroughly trying everything else. I'm not stupid.

Now, I have an important WARNING to issue: The rubber flex boot for the waist area is vulnerable to being scarred and CUT by the 'jaw bone' on the under side of the head armor. I didn't notice it all day long, until I decided to try to loosen the head-turning action a bit; I held the figure in my hands and turned the head from side to side, seeing if it would get a bit smoother. I did loosen it a little for easier turning, but then I looked closer...
The inside edges are SHARP!!! The 'jaw bone' armor had either rubbed against the rubber boot as a result of my turning of the head, or it had already been scarred out of the box- I don't know which. I checked it further, and I realized the only way to make sure these two enemies can be kept apart is to tilt the crotch section forward and tilt the head up. In this position, the jaw armor misses the rubber waist boot with good space between the two. If the head is tilted down, KEEP IT FACING FORWARD, don't turn it. The sharp corners of the hard plastic jaw have scarred the soft rubber waist boot on both sides of my figure, and the boot rubber is pretty thin. I considered sanding down the edges of the armor, but it's thin too- it wouldn't make a difference. What WOULD make it safer, might be a thin hidden strip of soft felt or other material, glued along the edges/corners of the jaw armor, to act as a buffer against the rubber boot.
This is a disaster waiting to happen...

 

[Gigerfan]

Anthrapoid is really a king of details on this figure. liked the rockets/targeting system fix a lot, will try to do it later. sorry, cannot leave you a rep point, as you got it recently )
-------------
moved my ED to my summer house. Gigerfan was right both times:
1) legs do come out of their joints pretty easily. and i guess it will be easier and easier each time.
2) pegs are really very firm and hard. i applied a force of like 20 kilograms in a breaking direction, and not even a thin crack appeared. i think they will be able to hold 3-4 kg of EDs body forever.
===============
hmmmm Gigerfan is right even the third time: rockets do cover behind, heh, cover completely. i pressed a little more, and they are like on Anthrapoid "after" picture. you guys currently bring most profit to this thread.

Thanks for confiming that. I'll post some unofficial decals I found later.

I most certainly did pull the missile rack down as far as it would go, then applied potentially dangerous force to see if it would go further. It was at a dead stop, while one missile was still exposed above the guard. I wiggled it, twisted it, and shifted it side-to-side... then I looked inside, and saw the top 'stair step' was coming all the way down to meet the bottom, touching. I think I heard somewhere that two solid objects cannot occupy the same space... That WAS the stopping point. Do you think I would start drilling into a $400.00 figure without analysis?
The right gun pod obviously has internal parts related to the missile launcher, which may have been assemble and/or glued into slightly different positions from one figure to the next. I did what I had to do, but only after thoroughly trying everything else. I'm not stupid.

Now, I have an important WARNING to issue: The rubber flex boot for the waist area is vulnerable to being scarred and CUT by the 'jaw bone' on the under side of the head armor. I didn't notice it all day long, until I decided to try to loosen the head-turning action a bit; I held the figure in my hands and turned the head from side to side, seeing if it would get a bit smoother. I did loosen it a little for easier turning, but then I looked closer...
The inside edges are SHARP!!! The 'jaw bone' armor had either rubbed against the rubber boot as a result of my turning of the head, or it had already been scarred out of the box- I don't know which. I checked it further, and I realized the only way to make sure these two enemies can be kept apart is to tilt the crotch section forward and tilt the head up. In this position, the jaw armor misses the rubber waist boot with good space between the two. If the head is tilted down, KEEP IT FACING FORWARD, don't turn it. The sharp corners of the hard plastic jaw have scarred the soft rubber waist boot on both sides of my figure, and the boot rubber is pretty thin. I considered sanding down the edges of the armor, but it's thin too- it wouldn't make a difference. What WOULD make it safer, might be a thin hidden strip of soft felt or other material, glued along the edges/corners of the jaw armor, to act as a buffer against the rubber boot.
This is a disaster waiting to happen...

Well, you must have a defective part, because both my ED's (including the V1) pods fully stow as they were designed, and there are countless photos that show the exact same thing. Further more, the "stair step" you described as the limiting factor actually has nothing to do with the restriction in articulation you described. Your before and after shots looks exactly the same as an unmodified ED. Explain that? Are you saying we secretly modified ours to make you look stupid?

Also, the angle of the extended targeting pod almost perfectly mimics the angle in the movie, so I don't really see what you achieved by modifying it.

And you would really have to try to pinch the rubber boot to create the scenario you're describing, I've rotated all ED's parts to their maximum ranges and see no issue at all with damaging that boot. The only issue you might encounter is the boot twisting slightly when you turn ED's head to face a knee, but it's definitely not going to get scuffed or pinched by the profile you're describing without considerable effort.

 

[Pro Design]

albinos rule!

 

[Anthrapoid]

Well, you must have a defective part, because both my ED's (including the V1) pods fully stow as they were designed, and there are countless photos that show the exact same thing. Further more, the "stair step" you described as the limiting factor actually has nothing to do with the restriction in articulation you described. Your before and after shots looks exactly the same as an unmodified ED. Explain that? Are you saying we secretly modified ours to make you look stupid?

Also, the angle of the extended targeting pod almost perfectly mimics the angle in the movie, so I don't really see what you achieved by modifying it.

And you would really have to try to pinch the rubber boot to create the scenario you're describing, I've rotated all ED's parts to their maximum ranges and see no issue at all with damaging that boot. The only issue you might encounter is the boot twisting slightly when you turn ED's head to face a knee, but it's definitely not going to get scuffed or pinched by the profile you're describing without considerable effort.

Are you kidding me?... I'm a grown man, intelligent and perceptive. I am TELLING you, my missile rack would not stow completely UNTIL I drilled out the stair step- then, with the new addition of 5mm of up-and-down movement, it came down as I illustrated, and not before. This isn't a debate, it actually happened.
About the targeting device: I've been using the Robocop Bluray for reference, and I've seen the film dozens of times- including in the original theatrical release. In every scene, the targeting device is pointing straight in line with the gun arm and the missile launcher. On my ED figure, the targeting device is tilted upward, and should not be. It's that simple.
Let me put it to you this way: Self-propelled missiles are what we call 'direct fire projectiles', as opposed to cannon balls and arrows for example, which are called 'indirect fire projectiles'. Direct fire projectiles travel in a straight line, just as the three missiles did in Robocop. They are not a form of archery, as arrows javelins and even cannon balls are. Therefor, it's logical (and supported in the film) that the targeting device for self-propelled missiles would point directly at the target, not above it.
I don't know what angles the targeting devices on YOUR two figures are elevated to, but mine is conspicuously and inaccurately high, relative to the film. Observe this photo from the movie...

Regarding the rubber waist boot: I'll post some photos tomorrow to prove my point there too. I've noticed you have dismissed and/or contradicted almost every post I have made. You haven't offered a single word of encouragement or approval- only dismissal, misplaced argument and unsupported contradiction. Go back and read your posts, and you'll see what I mean. I know what is happening here; it's not the first time. I am trying to be creative, and I'm getting some positive feedback and kind comments from people. When this happens, there always seems to be a jealous little troll lurking in the bushes waiting to jump out and try to spoil the fun. If you have nothing constructive to say, go bother someone else. I'm trying to have fun here.

 

[franpincho]

jesus.

I sometimes wonder if some of you understand the meaning of the word "fun".


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Anthrapoid]

albinos rule!

especially albinos from Alpha Centauri.

 

[Bezzerkerr]

anthrapoid, your microanalysis of our favorite driod is most impressive.

so going back to my question from a couple pages back, it seems the majority agree the legs aren't able to be safely removed once attached.

 

[Sixx]

My ED-209 has just arrived at my work, which is a nice surprise as I didn't get any shipping notice. The only problem is I'm going to a gig tonight, so my options are leave it hear till Tuesday or take it with me. I think ED's just gonna have to tag along to see Korn.

 

[Anthrapoid]

jesus.

I sometimes wonder if some of you understand the meaning of the word "fun".


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have NO IDEA what the word 'fun' means.