Modify tips for Hot Toys 1/4 Dark Knight Figure

[xpnugget]

Hello yet again fellow gangsters! I got some cool packages from evilbay as well as lforigno- I was a little upset because I couldn't get ahold of an exclusive edition, and the empty cowl is one of my must haves- so I did something about it. Let's go on another journey shall we?

First up, here is my lforigno cape, big props to the big L for super fast shipping, and an awesome cape- MUCH better than the stock hot toys...

Drapes beautifully, has a nice velvety sheen, and I have seen the real deal costume at the Warner Bros. Museum- this is pretty dead nuts on!

Only small gripe is that I wish it had some finish stitching, at least around the neck line for added protection, but I am a happy camper. I know how we all like stitching things...

I wrapped electrical tape around the 'clip area, and stuffed it in. (That's what she said)
- up next, project empty cowl. Stay tuned...

Patrick-

 

[xpnugget]

I found a stock cowl with the regular eyeballs on ebay- and it came with relaxed mouth and pissed off mouth, so now I have extras!

Time to rip this bad boy apart.

I popped the inner magnet out-

Little flat blade screwdriver makes easy work of prying out the eyes-

Ok these are just creepy lookin'

Be careful with that blade, you'll poke your eyes out! ! !

Now it's time to expertly carve away at the mouth area with mah trusty ol' Dremel-

Aaaaannnnd BOOM! I now have a finely finished empty cowl, and I finely sanded it so well that I'll bet you a nickel this one looks better that the empty cowl you get from the exclusive- (I even drilled out the nostrils...)

Hope you guys like- I gotta go to work, peace out!



Oh and P.S.- now that I have an extra set of eyeballs, im thinking that this might be a cool idea if I can source a 1/4 body and a cheap suit...

Patrick-

 

[Maglor]

Congrats on the cape. Looks great.

And that's madness carving up the cowl like that.

I plan to pick up a recast of the empty cowl at some point. You did a beautiful job though. That cowl looks perfect.

 

[c2close]

Nice looking cowl sir. Better than the exclusive. How much you bought the loose 1/4 head? Thanku

 

[xpnugget]

Nice looking cowl sir. Better than the exclusive. How much you bought the loose 1/4 head? Thanku

I grabbed it for $108 with free shipping from Hong Kong, which ends up evened out because I got my qs figure for less than retail, and every exclusive I saw online would have cost more than I ended up paying. I'm actually using this new one as my main head and I made the empty cowl from the stock head that came with my figure.

 

[c2close]

I grabbed it for $108 with free shipping from Hong Kong, which ends up evened out because I got my qs figure for less than retail, and every exclusive I saw online would have cost more than I ended up paying. I'm actually using this new one as my main head and I made the empty cowl from the stock head that came with my figure.

Thank you sir. Your cowl bash turned out really great.

 

[BrooklynWolf X]

I grabbed it for $108 with free shipping from Hong Kong, which ends up evened out because I got my qs figure for less than retail, and every exclusive I saw online would have cost more than I ended up paying. I'm actually using this new one as my main head and I made the empty cowl from the stock head that came with my figure.

How come you did a switch-a-roo? Aren't they basically the same?

 

[xpnugget]

How come you did a switch-a-roo? Aren't they basically the same?

My stock cowl had a small blemish on the chin (which I made disappear) but I could tell that the new ebay head was cleaner, pretty much right out of the box and sent to me. Even the eyballs clicked when I moved them, like it was the first time.

 

[BrooklynWolf X]

My stock cowl had a small blemish on the chin (which I made disappear) but I could tell that the new ebay head was cleaner, pretty much right out of the box and sent to me. Even the eyballs clicked when I moved them, like it was the first time.

Ah gotcha.

 

[xpnugget]

I know that literally nobody would notice or give a crap, but I thought this was cool- I used the inner thigh foam pads from the figure and stuffed them into the empty cowl to create kind of a padded liner- we could say that it's Wayne Industries Applied Sciences Division modular high impact compression gel courtesy of Lucious Fox- you know, to protect your head from Bane's haymakers lol

Patrick-

 

[Tourist]

I know that literally nobody would notice or give a crap, but I thought this was cool- I used the inner thigh foam pads from the figure and stuffed them into the empty cowl to create kind of a padded liner- we could say that it's Wayne Industries Applied Sciences Division modular high impact compression gel courtesy of Lucious Fox- you know, to protect your head from Bane's haymakers lol

Patrick-

That's a neat and creative idea, I like it a lot.

 

[Maglor]

​

I've been tweaking the shoulders since the above pic. I somehow managed to get the right shoulder plate to be both smaller and more square! See below:

I am absolutely in love with his right shoulder. Now if I can just get his left one to look like that...

 

[Double J]

Looks awesome!. Great job on the shoulders. I really need to get my *** in gear and do that glove mod. Looks so nice.

 

[TheGDBatman]

Wow. That is a work of art. I wish I had the nerve to start modifying this guy.

 

[Maglor]

Thanks guys.

Projects finished today:

Painted around the eyes. (ERS plate very easy to remove)
Painted the ab straps a slightly darker black.
Made a metal snap release for the upper armor.


All I have left to do is get that left shoulder to look like the right one, replace all the elastic on the shoulder armor, possibly extend the legs a bit, mod the rest of the gloves, and receive Tony's cape.

Then I will have one hell of a figure.

 

[Double J]

Is the ERS plate glued in? Or does it just snap in?

 

[Maglor]

It is glued in, but it comes off pretty easily. I got it most of the way off just using a tweezers. It was still a little stuck and I just tugged with a needle nose pliers. It's a pretty resilient softer material, so you won't hurt it.

Getting in and out of the head is very easy on this.

 

[xpnugget]

I'd like to see pics of the metal snaps Mag- are they just glued in?

 

[Maglor]

I'll post a pic later...

 

[Maglor]

Here you go:

The part that goes under his arm has a part that plugs into the rear part of the armor. Carefully cut that off and glue it into the spot it was designed to fit into. Then figure out where you want to position the snap. You will see that you need to drill a shallow hole for the nub on the snap to fit into. Drill into that piece you just glued in place.

Then it's just a matter of gluing the two pieces in place (male glued to the part that goes under his shoulder, female for the rear part). I like super glue gel.


I painted them black so that the light wouldn't catch the silver from that angle.


Holds great.

I liked the velcro idea, but was worried it wouldn't stay in place because there is quite a lot of outward pressure.