Custom Hellboy

[kingbumble]

How do everyone.

I have a HT Hellboy and, somewhat unfortunately, the poor chappy took a dive from the top shelf of my display cabinet and broke his arm. What made this worse was that the break revealed an old repair which I didn't know about (i bought the figure from evilBay ages ago and it wasn't mentioned). The arm had been reglued, but the glue must have rotted the rubber of his arm as the entire end came away, socket and all. I've repaired it as best I can, but rather than have a bandaged (cunning disguise, eh?) Hellboy I thought what the hey and decided to replace his body with that of a more poseable one.

I initially wanted to use the KP Heroik body, as it seemed it would be a suitable match, but as I was unable to find one for a decent price I ended up getting an ACI Spartacus body instead. Hands, feet and head all seem to fit fine, which is a bonus, and painting up the torso shouldn't be a problem. My main issue is what to do about a tail?

I have no modding experience at all so this is my first venture into the world of customizing figures. What do people think would be best? I could easily sculpt a static tail from sculpey around a wire to stop it snapping, but is there a better way? How about making a poseable tail - is this possible?

Any input would be of great help, and much appreciated.

Pictures will be forthcoming once there is something to take pictures of

 

[lt0778]

take the tail from the old body if you break apart the section where the tail goes you should be able to remove it without breaking it. then you will just need to figure out how to attach it to the new body.

 

[skooternb]

take the tail from the old body if you break apart the section where the tail goes you should be able to remove it without breaking it. then you will just need to figure out how to attach it to the new body.

Create one or two little pegs on the tail where it would attach and then drill matching holes in the butt of the figure and glue it in. The pants and jacket should cover the seams.

 

[kingbumble]

I can't see a way of removing the tail from the old body without totally wrecking the old body. I know it's already damaged but I'd like to keep it in reasonable condition in case I decide to switch back at a later date

 

[robbiethepainter]

Maybe see if you can pick up a SS or bootleg version cheap and rob the tail from it?

 

[kingbumble]

A question about painting:

Is it always worth sealing paintwork with a layer of dullcoat? Or is acrylic model paint tough enough to not warrant a protective layer?

 

[Cheungkinmen]

A question about painting:

Is it always worth sealing paintwork with a layer of dullcoat? Or is acrylic model paint tough enough to not warrant a protective layer?

Some acrylics have very resistant resins and don't need a protective layer like the Vallejo Game color, BUT it is recommended to apply a coat or 2 nonetheless.

In other words, yes, always apply sealant.

 

[kingbumble]

cheers very muchly

 

[galactiboy]

I can't see a way of removing the tail from the old body without totally wrecking the old body. I know it's already damaged but I'd like to keep it in reasonable condition in case I decide to switch back at a later date

If the body is already rotted and broken... you probably can't do much more damage to it I'd be interested to see how this turns out. Those damn rubber bodies don't have a long shelf life and I'd like to have a plan B for when it starts cracking or rotting away.

 

[kingbumble]

Actually, the tail came away really easily. The glue holding it in place wasn't overly strong, so i was able to wangle it free. I drilled a matching hole in the derriere of the replacement body and popped it in place. Looks really good actually. All i need now is for the dull coat to arrive so i can apply it and put the whole thing together. I've taken pictures along the way which I'll post once it's all finished, hopefully in a day or two.

I have to say, changing the body has made a massive difference to this figure. It's so much more dynamic now, and rather than having him standing there with his arms at his sides, he can now look pretty darn cool. I'd recommend everyone to give it a go. It's also nice not having to worry about the figure rotting away to mush

 

[robbiethepainter]

Post some pics. I'm waiting till my breaks down before I Frankenstein mine.

 

[skooternb]

Same here. Although I was repositioning him last night and his right knee just snapped off very easily.

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[robbiethepainter]

I've replaced both knees on mine. Im waiting for the rubber to go before I mod the torso.

 

[skooternb]

I've replaced both knees on mine. Im waiting for the rubber to go before I mod the torso.

I'm wondering if I should just replace the entire part on the bottom with other legs from another true type that I have. You never see the red legs anyways.

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[galactiboy]

I would... seems the red plastic was pretty brittle. Although I had a lot of knees snapping on the individually sold TT from around that time period. So it might have just been across the board the figures were having issues.

I haven't had a broken knee yet on mine, but did notice the armpit has a tear from how I had it posed. I should have known better, but I was bored of him just standing with his arms down

 

[skooternb]

This is the sad damage.


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[kingbumble]

Ok, I'm done with the body replacement.

This is the arm damage

So I got an ACI Spartacus body from eBay. It was listed as damaged so it was cheap, but there was only the tiniest of scuff marks in the paint and, as i was painting it anyway, that wasn't an issue

Painting started:

Comparison with the old body:

Tail removal was a doddle

Painted and dullcoated

Colours match rather well, thankfully

 

[kingbumble]

Getting him dressed:

All finished

The best thing of all is that the old body is still useable should I wish to change it back, albeit with a poorly wrist

Apologies for the poor pics, I'll try to take some with proper lighting and decent poses at some point

What do you guys think?

 

[skooternb]

I think that looks awesome!

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[robbiethepainter]

Looks like a perfect replacement body. Nice job.