Goblins chased by U.N.C.L.E. (full articulation upgrade Part 2)

What's going on here?











Simple. The security organization known as U.N.C.L.E. takes its job seriously, and this extends to allegations of unauthorized cooperation with alien or supernatural entities, which is a potential offense against the Crown. Moreover, the organization feels the need to uncover and scientifically explain any and all mysterious phenomena. So when an agent spots two seemingly standard Star Ace goblins being inexplicably fully articulated, he duly pursues until he gets to an explanation...



Which is that they are not sporting the awful under-articulated and brittle to the point of breaking Star Ace body...



No, they have been upgraded to the Mr Z child body, as already illustrated in Part 1, here:
https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t4477-fully-articulated-goblin-griphook-star-ace-mr-z-kitbash

Unlike the original ad hoc kitbash, the current version has been a bit improved in terms of functionality (although that is not readily apparent visually). More electrical tape wound around the child body neck post allows for securer and more functional connection between head and neck. The holes in the Star Ace goblin hands have been widened and deepened a little with a Dremel, so they can fit properly on the Mr Z wrist pegs (my first stab at Griphook used the Star Ace wrist pegs, which were not a secure fit on the Mr Z body and made the arms look too long). The most complicated part of the customization were the shoes. Both goblins were given the Head Goblin shoes (Griphook originally sported a more modern-looking pair), but these have an unusual construction. A plastic piece is screwed into the shoe with two tiny screws, while the ankle peg passing through it is trapped, its wider ball end being on the underside. To change this to the Mr Z ankle pegs (since adapting the Star Ace ones resulted in a very tenuous fit), one has to unscrew the screws, remove the plastic piece, pry out the Star Ace ankle peg, and replace the plastic piece reversed (bottom side now on top) and screw it back in. Now the Mr Z ankle peg is accommodated, with some effort. This worked well on the buckled, narrow shoes; Griphook's original pair, illustrated below, was more difficult, and I had to widen the opening for the peg with a file and replace the plastic piece in the direction in which it was intended -- I plan on using this pair for a child figure.



I hope this is of some use. The goblins, which I intend as random goblins, not the Harry Potter characters, work very well now, and are fully articulated, poseable, and functional. Mr Z's child bodies may require some effort to make them work with pieces released by other companies, too. Apart from Part 1, the modified goblins made appearances (before the final customization discussed here) in supporting roles here:

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t4903-chez-louis-pour-la-toussaint-updated-with-part-ii-review-photo-heavy

and

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t5149-chez-lestat-pour-thanksgiving-updated-with-addendum-december-22-2021

and (already modified as discussed here) in the Christmas display here:

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t5164-merry-christmas-and-happy-new-year-special-programming-mildly-adult-humor

Nice work, Ian. You’re turning into a Alex 2.0 with the modification work.

Glad you were able to make use of those Mr. Z child bodies. And interesting modification w/ the shoes. The improved figures look great guarding the gifts under the tree. I'm looking forward to eventually using those Mr Z bodies for some custom creations in the future.

Stryker2011 wrote:Nice work, Ian. You’re turning into a Alex 2.0 with the modification work.

Thanks, Mark. But no, I have neither the skill nor the ambition to be compared to Alex (shovelchop) when it comes to modification and customization. I just really wanted to make the shoes work, and figured I ought to be able to do so. Eventually, it worked out, even if it wasn't quite as easy as my presentation makes it seem. Or I could have settled for a very tenuous ad hoc grip with the unmodified Star Ace shoe/ankle peg assembly. But I appreciate the lavish compliment. And thanks for commenting.

skywalkersaga wrote:Glad you were able to make use of those Mr. Z child bodies. And interesting modification w/ the shoes.  The improved figures look great guarding the gifts under the tree. I'm looking forward to eventually using those Mr Z bodies for some custom creations in the future.

Thank you very much. I hope that you do, and that whatever you end up using with them works reasonably easily. I picked up a parted-out child head from that child joker or clown set (the normal, non-make up version) to use with the Mr Z body, but haven't gotten around to putting it together yet. The set itself is nice, but the body it comes with is pretty poor.

Thanks for the solid review. I think I may finally give in and buy some of these for the 'little green men' I'm working on - I want them to be short-ish but not too short (perhaps with some modding like you've shown here I can give them some extra height if need be). I've been using some Bratz doll body just to get by for now. I also really want to get one of those Zootopia Mr. Z figures, or try my hand at customizing one. But where do you find properly scaled clothes for these bodies, parted out? They seem to only come in sets...

I haven't found any clothing yet, AlKel, and I've resigned myself to eventually just making or modifying some. I think also some small doll clothing could be modified. There's plenty of doll clothes that are too small for tbleague bodies that could be taken it and/or heavily altered.

Very nice modification. I really enjoy the humorous situation that you created here.

Randam Hajile wrote:Very nice modification. I really enjoy the humorous situation that you created here.

Gubernator is the master of humorous situations.

and i agree you GF are making 'education threads' (how i like to call them in my head) not just a dry thing but a fun adventure to read.

Nice job with the shoes and fully articulated little men.

AlKelAstra91 wrote:Thanks for the solid review. I think I may finally give in and buy some of these for the 'little green men' I'm working on - I want them to be short-ish but not too short (perhaps with some modding like you've shown here I can give them some extra height if need be). I've been using some Bratz doll body just to get by for now. I also really want to get one of those Zootopia Mr. Z figures, or try my hand at customizing one. But where do you find properly scaled clothes for these bodies, parted out? They seem to only come in sets...

Thank you very much! I do believe these are the bodies they use for the Zootopia characters -- at least the younger ones. I suppose they needed small bodies, decided to make their own, and sensibly made them available as base bodies. I agree, it would not be exceedingly difficult to rig something up (essentially a small ankle extender) to make them a little taller (they are slightly shorter than the original unarticulated Star Ace bodies, but didn't bother me). Clothes are an issue. Besides the goblins, the child Joker set has some that fit, I don't know if I've gotten around to showing that yet.

Randam Hajile wrote:Very nice modification. I really enjoy the humorous situation that you created here.

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it.

Valiarde wrote:Gubernator is the master of humorous situations. and i agree you GF are making 'education threads' (how i like to call them in my head) not just a dry thing but a fun adventure to read. Nice job with the shoes and fully articulated little men.

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it and the others. I wish I got to do more, but time is a little short these days.

Very cool Ian!

BAMComix wrote:Very cool Ian!

Thank you very much, Dal.

I do love your tutorial posts.You make it look so easy and fun - both the shooting and the modifying.
LOVE Henry's expression in this, and in that suit. Works so ridiculously well!

Diana wrote:I do love your tutorial posts.You make it look so easy and fun - both the shooting and the modifying.
LOVE Henry's expression in this, and in that suit. Works so ridiculously well!

Thank you very much, Diana. It often is easy -- I don't have the skills or ambition of (say) Ovy or Shovelchop to take on most very difficult customizing. Messing with these shoes (especially the Griphook ones) was slightly more difficult, but worked in the end. As for Henry, this is one of several ad hoc temporary kitbashes I have lying around that I haven't gotten around to disassembling yet -- I made him to pose with my sixth-scale vespa alongside other sixth-scale motorcycles, inspired by Napoleon Solo, played by Henry in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. He got the job done, and occasionally comes in handy as a random additional figure -- in this instance, to inform on the little guys' size, and, while at it, to inspire the mini-plot of the vignette.

Fantastic detective work by U.N.C.L.E, such mysterious joints should always be studied. I've been thinking on getting one or two of those small bodies to make some Jawas, though as of now I've been mostly window shopping to see how if there's any other alternatives.... doubtful.

AlKelAstra91 wrote:Thanks for the solid review. I think I may finally give in and buy some of these for the 'little green men' I'm working on - I want them to be short-ish but not too short (perhaps with some modding like you've shown here I can give them some extra height if need be). I've been using some Bratz doll body just to get by for now. I also really want to get one of those Zootopia Mr. Z figures, or try my hand at customizing one. But where do you find properly scaled clothes for these bodies, parted out? They seem to only come in sets...

I just checked ebay recently for something else, and came across quite a few clothing items parted out. not sure what type of clothing you are after, but search '1/6 Lakor baby' on ebay and you might find something useful.

skywalkersaga wrote:I just checked ebay recently for something else, and came across quite a few clothing items parted out. not sure what type of clothing you are after, but search '1/6 Lakor baby' on ebay and you might find something useful.

That's a good option for this, I agree.