Action Figure UPDATED:Custom Nostromo Kane : FINISHED!!!

[tinister]

I was doing a routine inspection of my figures that have been boxed a while and discovered that the rubber spacesuit on my Hot Toys Nostromo Kane has deteriorated. In some places where the suit was in contact with the plastic tray insert - the rubber had become sticky and "melded" with the tray. In areas where the suit wasn't in contact with the tray - the rubber has dried out and cracked. There was also paint flecks everywhere from the paint on the rubber crumbling off.

So I had to removed all of the armor and gear to salvage everything I could. All of the plastic pieces are okay. Most of the nylon straps were toast because they became encrusted with the sticky rubber and melded to the suit.

So left with just the armor and accessories - I decided to make a full fabric replacement suit from scratch. Not at all screen accurate - but the HT suit was far far from accurate. The boots and gloves I've discovered are completely wrong. And alot of the details and colors of the suit are also wrong. I'm think because reference pics from the movie were scarce and also dark.

Would you believe I'm done? Some more pics on the final page.

My friend is printing out the nameplate on his printer, but everything else is done.

Here are the final boots:

And some final little details I added:
- Added red and blue lights to the exterior of the helmet. These were never lit up in the movies, but I thought they would make a cool detail to have.
- Added the little odometer looking dial to the backpack. The original HT just left this as a hole. I painted in the dial and added a clear plastic cover and weathered it like in the movie.
- Added little tubing details to the side the of the winch. Didn't like how HT just left that side plain.
- Last time I modified the two tube attachments on the winch to be more screen accurate. Just added the little scoop-like opening to the top of the tube on the side to make it more accurate.

 

[Wanderer]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Nice start man
More than a little woried about my Dallas figure and, come to think of it, all my rubber bodied figures, some of which have been boxed up in the attic for a good 2/3 years...

 

[tinister]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

I also decided to use a slightly shorter body since my big issue with the HT original (besides the suit being rubber) is the fact that all the gear seemed slightly too small on that rubber suit.

Besides new gloves, boots, and head, I will also make custom shin and arm guards since the original pieces were molded plastic and look it. The new guards will be flexible so that it conforms to the legs/arms better and will look more like they do in the movie.

Will also weather out the entire suit to give it the used and grimy look of the suits in the movie.

Another preview (the quilt pieces in the arms were an ealier failed experiment using a different material).

 

[tinister]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Nice start man
More than a little woried about my Dallas figure and, come to think of it, all my rubber bodied figures, some of which have been boxed up in the attic for a good 2/3 years...

Thanks Wanderer. Definitely dig yours out and check the suit. I think contact witht he plastic tray is the catalyst. If yours is okay - I recommend maybe put a sheet of acid free tissue paper between the figure and the tray.

I didn't read the details on this figure when I ordered them way back and didn't know it was a rubber suit til I received it. All of the armor and gear was so well done that I decided to keep it.

And of course - Kane doesn't look like Kane (looks more like Luke's Uncle from SW).

 

[ShadowX81]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Um.....What is that white thing sticking out of the top of the pants?

 

[Cheungkinmen]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Um.....What is that white thing sticking out of the top of the pants?

.

 

[Rorywan]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

I was gonna ask that too, he's really happy to see Ripley!
Great work Tin, I'm afraid to look at my Dallas now!

 

[tinister]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Um.....What is that white thing sticking out of the top of the pants?

Since the suit is super bulky - I didn't want to waste a good body like a Medicom, or HT, or EB, so I used parts from an old Dragon figure. then I used putty to fill in some of the musculature and to repair some broken and cracked parts. The bridge on the crotch that extends down between the legs was also broken so what you see is my rebuild of it. I need to have it there because I stuff the suit with wool and without that bridge - the stuffing gets pushed up between the legs and body and interferes with poseability. I have to do all the body repairs now since once the suit is all sewn togther - it will almost be impossible to disassamble later.

 

[tinister]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

I was gonna ask that too, he's really happy to see Ripley!
Great work Tin, I'm afraid to look at my Dallas now!

Thanks Rory! Yeah. I was shocked when I found the rubber suit in such bad shape. Probably the worst deterioration I've seen on a figure.

 

[MrStayPuft]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Love that pinhead (is that his name?) puppet in the background, from the Puppet Master series.

oh, and nice work

 

[tinister]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Love that pinhead (is that his name?) puppet in the background, from the Puppet Master series.

oh, and nice work

Oh yeah - that's Pinhead. Thats a really old figure. the head has a mechanism so you can push a button and it pops up. Everyone always asks about the figure when they seet it.

 

[tinister]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

With all the stuffing I have to squeeze in - it's hard to keep the balance between the left and right legs. I think I got it finally.

You can also see the quilt pattern better in these shots.

 

[Lejuan]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Really nice work Tinister! I have heard about this suit deteriorating, but sticking to the inside of the box is extreme. Can I ask what sort of climate do you live in - are you in Singapore, or someplace equally as humid? Do you have any other rubber suited figures that have suffered this kind of break down?

 

[tinister]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Really nice work Tinister! I have heard about this suit deteriorating, but sticking to the inside of the box is extreme. Can I ask what sort of climate do you live in - are you in Singapore, or someplace equally as humid? Do you have any other rubber suited figures that have suffered this kind of break down?

Hey Lejuan -

I live in California USA. I've only had one other rubber suit figure that developed dryness and cracking and that was one of two Takara Batman Begins figures from a few years ago. But that wasn't as extreme as this one.

My hunch is that because this Nostromo rubber suit had paint on it - that paint somehow added to the chemical reaction with the plastic insert. I'm not sure about you guys - but I remember right out of the box - the suits were a little tacky and already the paint rubbed off in your hands a little. So it was only a matter of time.

The climate here is what you'd expect from California. When it is cold it can be really cold. When it is hot - really hot. It HAS been hot and humid lately for the first time in a long time, but where I store my figures stays relatively constant in temperature (cool).

I keep all my figures in closets - so it's cool and dry. About 1/3 of my collection is in my home office - but there's not direct sunlight and it is pretty cool.

I think the rubber on these suits are just not meant to last.

 

[Lejuan]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Oh man, I thought it was only the tropics where you really had to worry about this kind of thing. I guess the only attitude to take is to enjoy your collectibles while you can, take all reasonable measures to conserve them and hope for the best.

Do you keep your figures boxed because of lack of display space, or do you enjoy the boxed figure as a beautiful object in its own right? I wish I had the space to display some of my boxes - with some of them it's a crying shame to keep them in storage.

 

[tinister]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Oh man, I thought it was only the tropics where you really had to worry about this kind of thing. I guess the only attitude to take is to enjoy your collectibles while you can, take all reasonable measures to conserve them and hope for the best.

Do you keep your figures boxed because of lack of display space, or do you enjoy the boxed figure as a beautiful object in its own right? I wish I had the space to display some of my boxes - with some of them it's a crying shame to keep them in storage.

I keep the boxes because I love cool package designs. I used to design display boxes for a living years ago.

I also don't display every figure - so the boxes make it easier to store figures - and is handy whenever I need to relocate everything for a move as example.

Yeah - there's no point in crying over spilt milk. Now I have no excuse not to make this fabric suit for it.

And YES - I have friends in hot and humid areas and it sucks; they have figures that start to melt after very little exposure to that climate.

 

[galactiboy]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Great work Tinister! Always wished HT would have gone the extra mile and created a fabric suit. The rubber suits look pretty good, but feel a bit cheap.

Really hope mine don't rot away... they've been displayed for a couple years now with no obvious issues. But seems like with some of these figures (like the ED-2009) its only a matter of time

 

[Rorywan]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Excellent stuff Tin!
You probably have these already, but might be useful as ref?

 

[Gruff Old Bear]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Very impressive. I like your can-do approach to the problem.

 

[tinister]

Re: HT Nostromo Kane : Replacement spacesuit (Sneak Preview)

Excellent stuff Tin!
You probably have these already, but might be useful as ref?

Thanks for these Rory! I don't have a few of them actually. I like the one with Kane resting on the ground with the helmet off.

Two bad I didn't do a little research when I chose the orange fabric for the suit. I followed the HT suit and it was completely wrong. Kane had light colored - almost yellow patches as seen in these pics.