HT original Predator- photo thread

[Kovach]

Man, I'd love for HT to release a HT Predator body so I can replace my P2 body... it just looks wrong now

 

[wookster]

My Pred review just went up for those interested-

PREDATOR REVIEW THREAD

 

[tylerdurden]

tylerdurden: I thought the same thing about the ankles at first myself. I thought "why in hell didn't they use those great double ball-in-socket joints they normally use". I found though that the joint they used (which is exactly the same, just larger, as the wrist) offers about the same level of movement as the traditional HT ankle joints. It just requires a lot more futzing to get it right. They also seem to be way more stable than the ball-in-socket joints and look better to boot. I wouldn't complain if they started to do this on more figures.

On the glossy/matte subject. This is just my personal tastes, not really commenting on your comments so much as you comments made me think on it (did that make any sense? I have a migraine at the moment). I personally really dig glossy paint when done on the right subjects. I have all the Max Factory Guyver figures and am a big Guyver fan. I heard a lot of people complaining about the Neo ZX-Tole's high gloss paint job. Saying it made it look like a cheap toy. I love it, it makes sense for the character (he's basically a giant beetle) and to me it makes it look a lot nicer (than ZX-Tole for example who doesn't have a gloss paint job). On the Pred I also really love the glossy paint. It really makes the detailed paint work shine (both literally and figuratively) and it seems accurate to the film, he usually looks pretty dang glossy in the movie.

On the subject of exposed joints vs rubber bodies. See previous comments about personal taste. On the Pred articulation is very important to me. I want to be able to pose him as crazy as possible. So I'd prefer non-rubber. I've also started to think that the articulated injection-molded bodies are a lot more expensive to produce than the rubber bodies. That's based mostly on comments by Ashley Wood on the costs of producing soft vinyl vs injection plastic. I'd also want to say the paint work would be impossible to do on rubber but Abe has those rubber arms with loads of detail paint work on them, not all that different from the Pred actually. Abe and Hellboy where my first rubber bodied figures and I gotta say even more so now I'm a fan of the not-rubber bodies. You just plain don't get a lot of movement from them.

dedguy, thanks for ur comments on my p1 review. ok, will definitely experiment on the ankle joints. maybe mine was just too tight, which is better than loose joints, eh.

the shiny paintwork on the head doesn't bother me that much, it's something i can live with cos the headsculpt is so good.

as for the rubber bodies issue... well i know the articulation is miles better with a normal truetype and the like. but i just wish there could've some in-between solution so that we don't see the ugly exposed joints. cos to me it really breaks the excellent realism of the rest of the figure.

that aside, predator is standing proudly on my shelf now. he's my new favourite!

 

[Bustajesse]

Yes. That's where I got mine from a couple of days ago.

yeah i just got the exclusive through sideshow this week as well.

im getting mine from sideshow today:chew:chew

Awesome, thanks guys. I ordered mine through BBTS so they should be getting theirs soon. I can not wait

 

[Pineapple]

Anybody have a really good pose for him with his mask on?

 

[dedguy]

So for those who where asking here's a comparison between my modified mask and the original. With these mods the mask is pretty damn close to screen accurate I think. Now I just need to add the wires/tubes to the side of the mask. Here's what I did:

- The first thing I did was remold the mask in near-boiling water. I basically just pulled the cheeks apart which in turn causes the crown to lower and curve back more and the chin to be pulled in so it's not so pointy.

- I then ground down the inside of the mask with a dremel tool. Mostly shaving down the inside of the cheeks which are meant to grab onto the sides of the face.

- I then lined the mask with carpet tape as it will no longer stay on without assistance. I also don't put the mandibles on when the mask is on. They take up too much room and make even the modified mask stick out at the chin.

 

[Alice]

Much, MUCH better.
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NAUGHTYSCHOOLTEEN

 

[dedguy]

Yeah makes a BIG difference. Was very important to me as I love the look of the Pred with the mask on. More so than without.

 

[Alice]

Nice that it's such an easy fix. A buddy was concerned that more extensive mods would need to take place to get the mask to be more form fitting. The mask being so thin from a frontal view is something that's always irked me about a lot of 1:1 masks as well, because on screen it always looked pretty wide, and that bothered me a bit with the fig as well.
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Honda b engine history

 

[bobamike]

has anyone had problems with the l.e.d. working? mine doesnt work.I hope its just dead batteries.

 

[MaulFan]

Mod looks really nice, but the ammount of changes and some of the specifics, I'm not comfortable with doing on my own figure for quality protection and longevity, I fear damage possible down the road going that route.

That's the big issue with the HT bios and trying to mod them, they're made to perfectly fit and stay on the heas so if you change them, you have to find new ways to keep them on.

 

[wookster]

I think Dedguys mods look fricken great, but I am a box-fresh collector. Unless I have multiples of a figure to experiment with (yeah right, at these prices!) then I keep them as they come out of the factory.
I don't deny that many customisers improve on the standard issue, but it's not what my collection is about.

 

[dedguy]

Yeah I got into 1/6 for the modification. I love taking something that's already good and making it better if I can.

 

[Reinhardt]

dedguy: your mod is awesome! the difference is staggering. I'll definitely be doing the same thing to mine.

 

[Fason]

 

[dedguy]

So I drove all over town... well just to a Radio Shack and a Lowes looking for wire for the undamaged helm since it lacks the wires to be accurate (even the damaged helm only has two wires instead of three). Didn't really care a lick about the light up feature but I wanted those wires. Found some 22ga wire at Radio Shack but it looked too thick and had writing on it that might have been a pain to get off.

On the way home I realized I had some leather cord with a gloss finish that might do the job. Didn't think it would look right but I gave it a shot and it works great. I may take some pics but I don't want to swamp you guys with another batch of helmet pics with minor changes.

 

[wookster]

Hey DG just hit us with the pics, keep'em coming, I can't speak for anyone else but I love em.
You should start a thread or do a blog showing a before and after with a full tutorial.

 

[Alice]

The more pics the better.
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******* Movies

 

[Bigjay715]

My baby came in earlier this week and he finally joins his family

 

[JacktheRipper]

love ded's pics and mods. Only wish he'd post more over here. He's was killing me with his building a better hellboy thread.