Reconnaissance

War Journalist - Kitbash

2010-05-10T02:51:00.003+01:00

Since I've been trying to look for the Toymaster's War Journalist figure I thought I'll do a quick kitbash of my own war journalist - 'The Cameraman'.

Basic ingrediants:

Hot Toys James Dean head from CIA GOI
Hot Toys TT body from Saizo
Hot Toys Gloves
Soldier Story Glasses
Soldier Story Shemagh
Misc Black top
Crazy Owners Flannel shirt
Hot Toys Bottom from NSW
Very Hot Kneepad
Soldier Story Bumbag
Toys City Camera
Very Hot Laptop and case
Misc. Adidas x Bape Superstar

Can't beat a home video stripper!

2010-05-03T01:38:00.000+01:00

Hot Toys Marcus Wright

2010-04-26T21:20:00.005+01:00

When Hot Toys announced the release of Terminator Salvation I was excited to see what they will come up with. I've to admit the film wasn't the best but the concept and character designs were what I like in a post apocalyptic film

Hot Toys had released several characters from this film, with John Connor, T-600, T-700 and the T-700 diorama, but my favorite is Marcus Wright. When I saw the preview release I thought Hot Toys had produced one of the best coat in the 1/6 world. The fitting and material for the great coat is just amazing, there is a thin wire in the bottom of the coat for you to adjust the shape. The weathering on the jacket makes it more realistic but the overall weathering of this figure is top class.

The Marcus Wright box set comes with an extra damaged head, extra hands shotgun, knife and extra leather jacket which is again very good quality. The True Type body that came with this figure seems to be an old True Type, with big chest, but the arms are cast in rubber, the right arm being damaged with the exoskeleton showing. I feel HT have put a lot of effort into this, trying to make it as authentic and movie accurate as it can be

The paint work Hot Toys have improved vastly, they added extra texture and layers so the head looks more realistic. It doesn't beat Enterbay's yet but it is getting there. With the extra head and jacket, I got myself another True Type body with narrow shoulders so I can get two Marcus Wright one undamaged one damaged. For the damaged Marcus I purchased an extra set of leather gaiters, a pair of Toys City CIA molded boots, which were the same as Hot Toys and I used the leather pants and tee from an old Saturday Toys Biker set to complete the figure. Looks quite cool, though not movie accurate.

The leather jacket is just amazing and HT have done well in sourcing soft leather to make it look and fit like the real thing. The jacket in the film was designed by Belstaff and was original worn by Blair Williams. If you seen I AM LEGEND, you'll noticed Will Smith wore a similar jacket, which Belstaff was involved in.

(Tee that came from Saturday Toys biker set, no pun intended!)

Marcus Wright gets a new body.

2010-02-19T00:42:00.002Z

When Hot Toys released Marcus Wright they original gave him an older version of the True Type body, with bigger chest piece. I felt with Marcus Wright's fitted shirt that it made him look like he's got man boobs. So I used the newer version of the narrow shoulder TT body and just replaced the arms. Looks much better. Will display pictures with overall clothes fitted.

(Original body on the right)

Rescuing Hot Toys True Type knee joint

2010-02-16T00:57:00.005Z

Some small problems with Hot Toys True Type body are some joints are easily breakable. Most common are the wrist joints and knee joints. The problem is caused where the screw is tightly fixed to the joints, since it is tightly screwed whenever you move the joint it causes tension on the plastic and tear.

When my HT muscular body's knee joint broke I was devastated, since HT muscular body are hard to come by and expensive! I tried to see if Hot Toys was able to replace just the knee joint, as it is a small piece, but they weren't able to do it without proper receipt. Since the muscular body was purchased individually off eBay, Hot Toys weren't obliged to replace anything for me.

I did temporarily solve this by using glue, but after a few movements the joint broke again.

Trying to figure how to fix this problem I remember Barrack Sergeant bodies were similar to Hot Toys ones. I originally purchased a few BS bodies since I thought they were very similar to Hot Toys. As you can see from the picture below, the one on the left is Barrack Sergeant and the one on right is Hot Toys.

First thing to do was to remove the Hot Toys knee joint. The best method I found s to use two small screwdrivers and simultaneously push out the joint plug. Make sure to clamp onto the leg first. See the picture below to see where to push the joint plug.

Having done that is time to remove the Barrack Sergeant knee joint, this is more tricky and must take care in doing so. The only way to remove it is to saw on the thigh where the plastic is sealed together and then pry it out. It's quite easy to do but you need to take time and care. This applies to the calf area for the lower knee joint plug.

Now that you have the Barrack Sergeant and Hot Toys joints all you have to do is use the BS joint and replace it with the HT joint plugs. Be aware that the top and bottom plugs are different size but with fit on the BS joint accordly.

You may find it difficult to remove the screw on the HT joint plug, since the screw is fasten onto the plastic. What I did was cut the plastic out as shown in the picture below on the left and push the screw out.

The end result is very good, having fixed two True Type bodies and it seems the Barrack Sergeant joints are more robust than the HT ones. Though it's a shame I had to waste two good BS bodies. Hopefully Hot Toys can rectify this small problem.

(Barrack Sergeant knee joint on the left and HT on the right)

(Combo of HT and BS)

(End result)

Hot Toys Marcus Wright headsculpt update

2009-06-19T14:26:00.002+01:00

Finally HTs have updated their Marcus Wright headsculpt. This resemble Sam Worthington more than the original released pictures and it's a good thing Hot Toys went a little extra to improve on it.

(New headsculpt)

(Original headsculpt)

(Sam Worthington)

USMC - 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion

2009-06-07T18:33:00.005+01:00

This is Soldier Story's USMC. Couldn't take any decent photos since I don't have the flash light for my camera. Only thing added a skull balaclava from Soldier Story and a knee pad.

Marvel x Rockin' Jelly Bean!!

2009-06-05T00:03:00.006+01:00

I've been a big fan of Rockin' Jelly Bean, ever since seeing his work in a magazine. The guy is a genius with a pen, creating hot retro looking babes on speed! I am lucky enough to have one of his early prints. His latest work is a fusion with Marvel's Invisible Woman.

It's a statue that stands 240mm. Not sure who sculpted it but it captures 100% RJB style. Hopefully Marvel will do more collabs with Rockin' Jelly Bean.

Spec Figures 4

2009-06-03T00:22:00.006+01:00

I'm so happy to get this today. Spec Figures 4 magazine/book (so-call mook) is a collaboration of Japanese 1/6 customizers showcasing their military figures. So far there are four edition, with the latest presenting the U.S Army, the previous were based on British army and U.S Marines.

The work presented are amazing with each customziers focusing on every little details. Also there are tutorials on how to weather down clothes and how to make your own 1/6 bdus and boots. Though there are a lot of pictures, which are easy to follow, all text are in Japanese.

I enjoy reading through these books since they capture various eras of military forces, giving people ideas and knowledge on how to customize their figures.

I purchased mine from Hobby Link Japan and I advised people who are into 1/6th should get a copy as well, since the pictures alone offer a wealth of information. Here's a few pages of the book.

Hot Toys - Dutch from Predator

2009-06-01T02:41:00.009+01:00

I recently received my Dutch figure from the Predator film. I'm a big fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger and used to watch most of his early eighties film when I was a kid. The first time I noticed Arnie was in Predator, he just reminded me of comic superheroes. So I was very pleased to hear that Hot Toys was doing the Predator line, though HT did do a Predator before but it was the Predator in Alien vs Predator.
(Click on pictures for bigger image)

The headsculpt was crafted by Yulli a talented Korean sculptor and looks exactly like the man. The boxset comes with the following items:

- M16 with M203 grenade launcher
- Pistol
- Drop leg holster
- Combat knife with sheath
- Machete with sheath
- Tactical gloves
- Boots
- Grenades
- Cigar

The gear here is great, though some people have said that some items didn't exactly match the film such as one of the knifes and the pistol should have been a desert eagle.

With Arnold's muscular presence HT decided to use their rubber bodies for this figure, but with this they've added, just a little, articulation to the arms. Both arms are removeable from the body with its ball-joint socket. I think it's a good idea HT have done this, as you're able to move the arms without stressing the rubber, because the previous muscular bodies were one piece torso which caused tear due to posing the figure in different positions. Still the rubber will be stressed around the elbow area when the arm is posed in a 45 degress position. Wonder if HT will figure a way round that! One thing I dread with these rubber bodies are they may deteriorate in the future, since preivous rubber bodies have deteriorated, but now HT seems to have better material, so touch wood these last longer than me, haha.

Enterbay - Green Hornet

2009-05-29T23:33:00.004+01:00

Enterbay's next Bruce Lee chapter will be Kato in Green Hornt. Here are the details:

Product：BRUCE LEE - KATO from THE GREEN HORNET
Release Date：2009-06
Edition：WORLDWIDE LIMITED EDITION OF 5000
Product Status：Pre-Order NOW!
MSRP：$190 USD

N.B: Price listed above excludes shipping

• Approximately 30 cm Tall
• Authentic likeness of Bruce Lee as "KATO" (one head sculpt)
• 2 x hair styles (One for posing with hat and one for without)
• Movie-accurate KATO outfit ( 2 different looks)
• Removable as-seen-on screen Mask and old style chauffeurs hat
• 2 x KATO Throwing Darts

• 10 interchangeable hands ( 8 black gloved hands)
• Technologically advanced new Original Action Body BL 3.5 (improved ankle joints)
• Features 15 points of Articulation
• Bonus Paper Binocular
• New high-performance Original Figure Stand FS-200 (100% All metal and extra foldable base)
• ENTERBAY's 360°Eye Ball System
• Certificate of Authenticity Card The Green Hornet Exclusive Design Premium Packaging Box Set (each edition comes with it’s own carry bag)
• Worldwide limited edition of 5000 pcs

Officially sculpted by: ARNIE KIM

Arnie Kim has worked his magic once again, with a younger version of Bruce Lee. The details are amazing as always. What I like with this is the improved ankle joints, which is bit of a nightmare with the early BL bodies. The joint aren't stiff enough to hold any decent position and the figure usually takes a dive to the ground. It's good the R&D team have sorted something out, but it's yet to be seen if the joints holds out.

(The sculptor Arnie Kim)

Enterbay - 龍爭虎鬥

2009-05-21T00:46:00.005+01:00

In 2007 Enterbay released their third series of Bruce Lee figures from the film Enter The Dragon (龍爭虎鬥). Two versions were made, A and B. The B version comes with a different headsculpt, a white tunic, a black catsuit, a nunchuck and a few hands. The best thing about version B was the catsuit, as my most memorable moment of the film was when Bruce Lee was in the catsuit sneaking into the enemy's base.

Version A consist of:

Blue suit
Brown suit
Extra pair of hands
Boxing Gloves

I chose Version A because I like the plain expression. Also if I wanted the catsuit I can always try and make one.

The headsculpt was produced by Arnie Kim, an South Korean sculptor, he has been sculpting Bruce Lee heads for a long time, but now I feel he has started to capture Bruce Lee's essence.
The nice thing about the headsculpt is the moveable eyeball system, which gives the character more expression. The paint job is excellent compared to other companies, though they seemed to have given my Bruce Lee extra blushes than required.

The body is beautifully sculpted, but the articulation is limited compared to Hot Toys True Type. One minor fault of the body is the feet joints which is quite loose, therefore it would not hold some poses upright. I think the best way Enterbay can retify this problem is by using the ball-joint system like Hot Toy, as it provide more poses for the figure and keeps it in posture.

It's quite cool that they've included the boxing gloves as they were used near the beginning of the film when Bruce was sparing.

Enterbay and Arnie Kim have done an excellent job in bringing a realistic 1/6 version of Bruce Lee. It's one of my favorite figures so far, just with the craftsmanship that has gone into it.

Darren Carnall's Creative Corner

2009-05-19T23:27:00.004+01:00

Just wanted to introduce a fellow Englishman, Darren Carnall.

The guy is a wizard at painting headsculpt as well as resculpting. He's resculpted few headsculpts from Sideshow including Legolas, Ewan McGergor as Obi-Wan and Arnold Schwarzenegger from Terminator 2, all look hundred times better than the original. Also his paint application on these are truely amazing with life-like resembalance.

A top bloke to talk to, though at the moment he's got like a million comissions to do. Shows how much people like his work.

Check out his work through here: http://www.darrencarnall.com/

(Aragorn Repainted head)

(Original Sideshow headsculpt on the right, DC's magic work on the left)

H1N1 Flu Mutation!

2009-05-17T02:36:00.006+01:00

News report of the H1N1 flu outbreak. Click link to see.

www.bbc.co.uk

'There has been a small outbreak of “zombism” in London due to mutation of the H1N1 virus into new strain: H1Z1.

Similar to a scare originally found in Cambodia back in 2005, victims of a new strain of the swine flu virus H1N1 have been reported in London.

After death, this virus is able to restart the heart of it’s victim for up to two hours after the initial demise of the person where the individual behaves in extremely violent ways from what is believe to be a combination of brain damage and a chemical released into blood during “resurrection.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the alert to phase six, its highest level, and advised governments to activate pandemic contingency plans.

In Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, President Felipe Calderon urged people to stay at home over the next five days.

There are many cases elsewhere - including the US, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Israel, and New Zealand.

BBC health correspondent Mark McGrith says the raising of the WHO alert on Wednesday suggests a global epidemic, or pandemic, is imminent.

In the latest developments:

* The Netherlands confirms its first case of zombie swine flu, in a three-year-old boy recently returned from Mexico. After passing away early this morning, he rose from the dead and lunged at his mother.
* Ghana has become the latest country to ban pork imports as a precaution against swine flu, though no cases have been found in the West African country
* China's health minister says that the country's scientists have developed a "sensitive and fast" test for spotting swine flu in conjunction with US scientists and the WHO. The country has recorded no incidence of the flu yet. There methods, however, have been uneffective in spotting the H1Z1 strain.

At the meeting of health ministers in Luxembourg, a French proposal for a continent-wide travel advisory for Mexico will be discussed.

It is unclear whether the EU executive has the power to impose a travel ban.

Several countries have restricted travel to Mexico and many tour operators have cancelled holidays.

Other members are resisting calls to implement travel bans or close borders, on the grounds - backed by the WHO - that there is little evidence of their efficacy.

The EU ministers will also try to agree on how to refer to the new virus.

The European Commission has been calling it "novel flu", replacing the word "swine" to avoid prompting a fall in demand for pork and bacon.

On Wednesday, Egypt began a mass slaughter of its pigs - even though the WHO says the virus was now being transmitted from human to human. '

Zombies alert!!!! Luckily the website is a hoax or I'll be getting my Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide out to read. The weblink posted is the cached of the original website, since the original has been taken down by government officials. Slags!

Hot Toys - Marcus Wright

2009-05-17T02:06:00.006+01:00

Should really be keeping up with my blog, what a slacker!

Well the next Hot Toys release will be Terminator Salvation's Marcus Wright. The figure will include:

· Dressed in his movie accurate trench coat, t-shirt, pants, leather-like leggings and boots, and also interchangeable leather-like jacket.

· Accessories include harness, knife, shotgun and 3 sets of interchangeable hands.

· Interchangeable Marcus head featuring skeletal face

· Articulated and battle damaged left arm

· Authentic Sam Worthington likeness.

· Figure stand with Terminator Salvation logo and Marcus Wright nameplate

Artist info: -Head Sculpt by GOX (Eom Jae Sung) -Head Art Directed by JC. Hong -Head Paint by JC.Hong

The figure looks amazing and looks screen accurate, though shame they couldn't get the face accurate to Sam Worthington. The trench coat is a killer and makes this is one of the coolest figure around. The figure doesn't have much accessories, but Hot Toys have included a lot with this set with the extra head and outfit, all you need is to purchase an extra True type body.

I hope the movie lives up to expectation after seeing the crap that is T3!

Hot Toys Truetype Bodies

2009-04-16T21:30:00.011+01:00

I recently purchased two Hot Toys TT Bodies, they were my first purchase of a complete body, usually I buy them loose from ebay. I was quite lucky to still be able to source a Bronze skin-tone with David Beckham's head as most places are sold out and they were first released couple of years ago. The other head resembles Prison Break charactor Michael Schofield.

Each figure has 38 articulation point making it quite poseable. They're quite sturdy so are able to stand without the need of a support stand. There are improvements that can made so the body base can be more flexibility, such as removing some areas so the joints are more adjustable. With some modification these are still the best base bodies around.

Hot Toys Deadman

2009-04-11T20:14:00.006+01:00

This was Hot Toys and Jason Siu's collaboration some years back.  Based on the SAS HALO force, the guy has his own special designed oxygen mask, the usual HALO gear: his parachute, alimeter on his arms which I didn't fit, backpack and his M16A2 plus M203 Grenade Launcher with the big NVS-700 Night Vision Scope.

The figure uses the first basic HT body which meant articulation was to a minimum, but you can get all the basic pose you need.  One thing the old body lack is strength.  You will need a stand to hold this guy up whilst the new TrueType bodies can be posed without the use of a stand.

There were two other versions of this figure, a Japanese only release and a Milk version, which was mono-colour.  Even though this figure is old, it's still one of my favourite figures.

Star Wars Rapped

2008-10-25T03:49:00.003+01:00

Old skool!!!

Batman: the Dark Knight deleted scene.

2008-09-26T03:08:00.000+01:00

Matrix incoming!!

2008-09-26T01:57:00.003+01:00

Every Matrix fan will be wanting one of these come Christmas. It is another Matrix film box set, blu-ray disc, with the The Nebuchadnezzar as the container and measures 60cm. The model,produced by Hot Toys, will be release on December 17th 2008 and cost US$376.

With Hot Toys producing this there may be a possibility that they might produce the characters as well. It be cool to see, since Hot Toys are making some high quality items at the moment.

I've also managed to watch Renaissance, which is a French computer generated animation film. I was impressed with visual having doubt at first because it was black & white, but it worked and gave it the atmosphere it wanted. The film reminded me of Blade Runner due to its futuristic settings and because of the detective theme.

Overall the plot was okay though I thought some parts in the film weren't necessary, like Karas' (main character) love relationship, which I felt was quite weak, more action would've been suffice. It's definitely worth the watch if you're a sci-fi fan. I hope the producer would create another film with Karas again as he's quite a strong character, and with the environment and world they've build, it is well worth exploring.

Star Wars reunion!!

2008-09-11T01:09:00.003+01:00

On 14th September 9pm in the UK, Channel 4 will be broadcasting Justin Lee Collins' mission in bringing back the Star Wars crew from the original trilogy. If you're looking for all the dirts and secrets of old Star Wars actors than this is the programme to watch.

I'm really looking forward to this being a Star Wars fan and that JLC is such a hilarious presenter. I've never seen his previous 'Bring Back' programmes, but having watched his previous show the Sunday Night Project with Alan Carr, this latest flick is a must watch.

Update of Les Mort 13 figure.

2008-08-12T04:35:00.003+01:00

Ebay seller ABC Express have updated pictures of Les Mort, with accessories and suit worn. The figure does look impressive, which is limited to 100pcs, but not sure if that's official. Link here.

New Lara Croft. Wahoo!!!

2008-08-12T02:19:00.000+01:00

Star Wars Unleashed!!

2008-08-11T11:32:00.004+01:00

One game that I am looking forward to is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Set between Episodes III and IV you play as Darth Vader's secret apprentice with the mission of hunting down the remaining Jedis.

The game play looks immense with the ability to use the light saber and the power of the force to influence game play and the game world. The developers seem to have put a lot of effort into this game with the force playing an important part in interacting with different objects and beings in the game. Also the designs looks very impressive, but then Star Wars have always came up with original designs and characters. Vader's new apprentice does look imposing with the way he wields the light saber. I'm just hoping the gameplay does work with this title, as the developers have take a major task to allow the player to interact with different objectives with the use of the force, which is one thing any player would want to experiment with.

One thing for sure is George Lucas' wallet will grow even bigger with this new franchise, as the creative team have permission to create new characters which means Lucas can expand on the ever growing of action figures in the Star Wars world. Hopefully Unleashed will be out round September time.

Another Star Wars related item I found was this website http://www.chefelf.com/starwars/, which is quite funny. Basically it highlights some questionable moments regarding the Star Wars prequel films to original Trilogy.

One way of acquintance

2008-08-08T01:54:00.001+01:00

Les Mort available

2008-08-07T01:33:00.002+01:00

Les Mort 13 is now available to pre-order at Bambaland store. One wicked figured based on Ashley Wood's D'Airain Adventure.

Medicom's Royal Guard

2008-08-06T02:50:00.002+01:00

Seems like no stopping Medicom with their Star Wars releases, their next installment will be the Emperor's Royal Guards. Figure looks impressive, but very basic figure so hoping the price wouldn't be extortionate.

How2Work new releases

2008-08-06T01:59:00.004+01:00

How2Work seems to be producing some really decent figures lately. ToysREvil reported How2Work will be releasing two new figures, one of Einstein and one of McQueen. The sculptures on both looks very realistic and Einstein seems to be scaled to be shorter than normal figures. If these are the final production then fans will be very happy.

Darren Carnall's Legolas custom head

2008-07-31T12:49:00.005+01:00

Thanks to Darren for sending me a custom head sculpt of Legolas from LOTR, sculpted by him. The face is more realistic to Orlando than the one produced by Sideshow. Hopefully I can give it a repaint when I have the time.

Predator 2 1/6 scale

2008-07-29T01:54:00.004+01:00

Looks like Hot Toys x Sideshow are releasing another Predator figure soon, this time from Predator 2, more details here. The figure looks impressive, with as much details compared to AVP Wolf predator. Having seen this I most probably dig out Predator 2 and watch it again, since the last time I watched this was ten years ago, which was amazing then.

Les Mort 1/6 scale

2008-07-29T01:27:00.002+01:00

So it seems that Les Mort will be released soon, having seen this pre-order auction. The character was created by Ashley Wood for his book D'Airain Adventure.

Wolverine Origin Trailer leaked

2008-07-28T14:44:00.003+01:00

I guess this was shown exclusively to people at the SDCC but someone was able to film it. You could hear the fans going hysteric.

Big Bramble

2008-07-25T03:44:00.006+01:00

Ashley Wood showcased his latest 1/6 scale robot at the SDCC (San Diego Comic Con). His latest model is called Bramble, from his WWR book. The figure looks amazing and should be quite articulated, having seen his previous model Bertie.

I've recently purchased both the Bertie figures, so will post some pics up when they arrive. Cost me a bomb, but I consider Ashley Wood as one of the best artist alive or ever to graced this planet, having followed his early work in Spawn and lucky enough to own couple of his orignal art work. Check out this stuff at http://ashleywoodartist.com/.

Movie Auction Nuts!

2008-07-21T14:19:00.005+01:00

At the end of this month will see a range of Hollywood's goodies being auctioned off, as reported in the Telegraph. From July 31st to August 1st Profiles in History will be auctioning off movie collectibles from films like Indiana Jones, Star Wars and Spider-man.

If I win £1 million in the lottery this week the TIE fighter will be my main purchase. Estimated to reach £100,000, unbelievable!

Been blogged

2008-07-20T03:36:00.009+01:00

Reconnaissance in military term ~ is the active seeking to determine a foe's intentions by collecting and gathering information about an enemy's composition and capabilities along with pertinent environmental conditions, via direct observation, usually by scouts or military intelligence soldiers especially trained in critical surveillance.

I'm no military, but have decided to start this blog to document my interests and hobbies. Basically my own recon mission. Having started collecting models and figures I thought I'll start blogging what's going on in my little world, since there are a lot of weird and wicked being produced by artists and companies that I've got to share. Ultimately I'm just a big fanboy.

Another reason I started this blog is because I plan on doing customization on some figures, mainly 1/6 scale figures (think action man). This is due to having seen work done by Darren Carnall and Feng. I did do some customization and sculpting before, but due Uni and work commitment I never got the project going. Now I feel I have the time do start this interest again, and learn new things that I always wanted to know.

So watch this space!

Nai