The DIE HARD Thread

[shells075]

Of course Die Hard is a Christmas movie!

Oh well another year goes by and another year without an official JM DH fig! Thought we might get something for the 35th anniversary.

 

[HellboyFanChuck]

Hello friends,

I'd like to put together a 1:6th Bruce Willis from Die Hard 1. May I ask, who makes the head sculpt?

Any suggestions on getting the best 1:6th body since he has a white tank top on? All advice is greatly appreciated!

Thank you kindly!


~Chuck

 

[HellboyFanChuck]

Bump for advice? Thanks!

 

[cmiller99]

It really depends on how much you're willing to spend.

The best 1/6 custom McClanes are built from the MJ Choi sculpt offered nearly ten years ago. It's a bit oversized, but it's still the best likeness of McClane out there. Getting an original wouldn't be cheap, but if you're serious about it, have a look over on customonesixth and maybe post a wanted ad.

If you're looking for something cheaper and you don't object to buying recasts, recasts of the MJ head of varying quality are still plentiful. But they're unlikely to be as good as the original.

As for the body, I would either try to pick up a full kitbashed figure from someone, or wait until you have a head sculpt in hand before proceeding with body research, because like I said, the MJ sculpt is a bit oversized and the recasts were a touch smaller, so you likely won't know exactly what you're working with until you have it in hand. I think back in the day Hot Toys Bruce Banner and Han Solo bodies were popular for McClane bashes, but there may be better options out there now. Seamless male bodies weren't really a thing back then.

This is all half-remembered from years ago, but I hope it helps.

There's years worth of kitbash inspiration in here: https://www.collectorfreaks.com/threads/the-die-hard-thread.25057/

 

[HellboyFanChuck]

Hey friends,

So I have 1:6 scale gun question. I'm trying to build a custom 1:6 Bruce Willis from Die Hard 1. I'm gonna need to get his 1:6 machine gun and 1:6 pistol.

What companies make the best 1:6 machine guns and pistols? I tried google but all I'm seeing are some pretty awful 1:6 guns. I realized I needed advice here. Help! lol

What brands make the best 1:6th guns for Die Hard 1? I need the pistol and his machine gun.

Where can I find the 1:6th walkie-talkie?

And can anyone please tell me who makes the 1:6th wife-beater shirt? I'll probably need to buy several to try and dirty those up!

Thank you for the help!


~Chuck

 

[Indian Jones]

Hey friends,

So I have 1:6 scale gun question. I'm trying to build a custom 1:6 Bruce Willis from Die Hard 1. I'm gonna need to get his 1:6 machine gun and 1:6 pistol.

What companies make the best 1:6 machine guns and pistols? I tried google but all I'm seeing are some pretty awful 1:6 guns. I realized I needed advice here. Help! lol

What brands make the best 1:6th guns for Die Hard 1? I need the pistol and his machine gun.

Where can I find the 1:6th walkie-talkie?

And can anyone please tell me who makes the 1:6th wife-beater shirt? I'll probably need to buy several to try and dirty those up!

Thank you for the help!


~Chuck

Hi Chuck,

Hope you are well. How dedicated are you to screen-accuracy? As the body proportions are going to dictate how your outfit fits and looks. Monika AKA Hegemony77com in the UK makes nice vests. They are of good quality and have good tailoring. Though, I found that my cheaper, no brand vest was more screen accurate on my custom body and so, I am using that instead.

The Heckler and Koch that was used for the film doesn't exist in 1/6 form as it was modified for the film to look like an MP5A3. So, that is the closest in 1/6 and the one you should seek out. VTS TOYS make a good one resembling the non-stunt versions in the film. I believe the dummy, stunt versions were plain without any colouring. You can also take a look at any you can find in the old Soldiers of the World Military Gear/ Special Forces/ Soldiers of the World figure sets.

The pistol is a standard Beretta 92FS. There are plenty of these available in the States, much more than here in the UK - same for any 1/6 gun in general. DAMTOYS, Hot Toys (T-1000 figure) and a few other makers have made good quality 92s, though I am unsure if the latter figures 92 is screen-accurate for Die Hard.

Some valuable resources and sources for you include, IMDB, RPF, Prop Store Auction and other auction sites, the 4K UHD of the film on a colour accurate display, eBay and Etsy.

For the radio, one go-to in the past for some customisers have been HT's Phil Coulson, or Nick Fury. The walkie-talkie is similar to McClane's after light modification. Otherwise, there are a plethora of 1/6 radios available on eBay.

I hope that helps and I wish you the very best with your custom McClane - fun times ahead!

Indian Jones

 

[HMC117]

My custom John McClane

 

[Indian Jones]

WIP:

 

[Wor-Gar]

Great start!

 

[Indian Jones]

Great start!

Cheers, buddy! I've put over 300 hours into working on him across about 3 months thus far - I was doing 12 hours a day for about 2 weeks straight. He's my passion project.

He's about 70% done, I'd say. The body took most of my time, efforts, energy and focus. I studied Willis's anatomy closely and built and tested many different bodies. This and my Raiders Indy are the figures I am most proud of, but this takes it due to the time and hard work I've put into him - and money!

I finally managed to get a very nice MP3A5 (most accurate one available in 1/6 that I could find) the other week. 1/6 guns are harder to get here in the UK. So, these photos with his older Koch are outdated, note.

Base and feet are magnetic. I did a final body reinforcement to allow him to stand very solidly on the base, so he's as solid as now.

He's going under my Christmas tree very soon!

 

[HellboyFanChuck]

Thank you guys for your awesome advice!

May I ask? What BODY do you guys advise I buy? I can't figure out which 1:6 body to use. I've noticed some of the bodies I see make the headsculpt look HUGE. I'm trying to make the body look a little more natural to the size of the headsculpt.

Any advice?

Thanks guys!!!

 

[Indian Jones]

Thank you guys for your awesome advice!

May I ask? What BODY do you guys advise I buy? I can't figure out which 1:6 body to use. I've noticed some of the bodies I see make the headsculpt look HUGE. I'm trying to make the body look a little more natural to the size of the headsculpt.

Any advice?

Thanks guys!!!

Here are some details you should be studying and looking at to help you, Chuck. I've outlined the key aspects for you:

Bruce Willis's height: 1.83m

Bruce Willis's anatomy: - notable points include a medium build overall with large, broad cylindrical, barrel-like chest, wide neck, giraffe neck that arches forwards, low sitting head, sloped, rounded shoulders, slim legs, long arms, long slender hands.

You should always remember that you are always working to the limits of the clothing/ outfit(s) available and how that will look on your chosen body. So, you would do best to strike a balance between as close as you can get to the person's anatomy and physique within the bounds of what/ how your outfit fits. I personally started by crafting a body that I thought was as close to Willis's that I could build. I then fit his clothing around that.

Below are some good reference photos that should help you. Bear in mind photos not from the same year/ time as Die Hard/ '88 and lens/ focal length differences, which effect the proportions of things on screen:



Note that the prop team had Willis wear a few vests at once (layered) - to Willis's chagrin, apparently - and they removed them one at a time throughout shooting. Most folks making a McClane opt for a heavily battle worn and bloodied version, so layering the vests in the fashion of the film wouldn't make any sense if you plan on creating the same look. But if you really wanted screen-accuracy and are making a clean McClane, you could layer the vests. That said, I don't think it would work very well in 1/6 scale. At most, I think 2 vests layered could work, though.

It seems that most people opt for a TTM19/ Wolverine style body but this isn't wholly accurate to Willis. However, it's broad chest is in its favour. And so, padding anywhere between the upper and lower abdominal quadrants of a chest like this will help get closer to Willis's chest shape. Folks often do this for figures in general.

Willis is approx. 2cm shy of the height of Harrison Ford and the ANH MMS261 Ford body is very accurate to ford and usually my base reference. So, seeking out, or building a body of the same height, or a few mm shorter than an ANH body would be ideal.

My McClane originally came on a cheap TTM19 clone and I think it looked quite horrendous overall:




Now:




I hope that helps.

 

[shells075]

I used the JCVD body from Art Figures