Converting Eric Bana Hector Head from Pangaea

As someone with a modicum of understanding films and with a decent grasp on the relevant history and literature, I did not enjoy the movie Troy. And that is an understatement. Despite all the acting talent and detailed costuming, etc., there is so only so much you are going to get out of not only butchering Homer in the first place, but also failing to deliver anything decent in the end. But enough about that. Pangaea produced two very nicely detailed sets based on this film, Greek General (Achilles) and Trojan General (Hector) -- I reviewed the latter HERE. The head sculpts are not quite at the apex of sixth-scale detail (of course they are from a few years ago), and the hair in particular suffers from thick stranding and bland coloring. But they are still pretty good and that made me think of possible improvements. In the case of Hector (Eric Bana), the head sculpt was designed with a removable hair piece so that it would fit well inside the tight helmet. The hair piece was made from fairly hard plastic, included the pair of rather stuck-out ears, and did not fit very well over the armor. This head was a natural for conversion to actual hair.

First I covered the magnet atop the head with a thin layer of Kneadatite that I painted in a flesh-like color. When this cured/dried, I followed my usual Morezmore-based technique of gluing on tufts of hair around the head starting from the bottom by the neckline (you can see the method in more detail HERE). I picked a relatively curly/wavy dark brown to match the on-screen appearance. After finishing and leaving it overnight, I removed any loose strands, gave it a rinse and then applied a solution of water and shampoo+conditioner to get something like the desired style; the hair tie in the back is a bent piece of flat wire (I might add a few of the other optional hair bling pieces down the road). I also did a little bit of grooming and some touch ups on the paint job with acrylics and color pencils to improve the likeness a little more. I think it turned out ok.






original set (left); modified set (right)

What do you think?

Other head conversions:
https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t2006-converting-jason-momoa-ht-aquaman-head

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t2126-converting-arnold-schwarzenegger-kp-conan-head

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t2335-converting-sebastian-stan-ht-bucky-barnes-head

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t2471-converting-bernard-hill-asmus-king-theoden-head

#custom #kitbash #hair #ericbana #hector #troy #pangaea #trojangeneral #male #film #ancient

That. Is. Fantastic. Really great work, Ian. I think this is one of your best.


Oh, and I agree — the movie Troy was an absolute $#@t-show, and complete travesty to Homer’s epic.

Wow! You actually made that sculpt look like him!! I'm super impressed -- excellent job!

And oh loooord.... how much I loathe that Troy movie. And the fact that the same people who did it also made the GoT show....as a fan of those books, it was just as awful to experience their version of it as you can imagine... ;p

Stryker2011 wrote:That. Is. Fantastic. Really great work, Ian. I think this is one of your best.
Oh, and I agree — the movie Troy was an absolute $#@t-show, and complete travesty to Homer’s epic.

Thank you very much. This is very flattering.  And agreed on Troy.

skywalkersaga wrote:Wow! You actually made that sculpt look like him!! I'm super impressed -- excellent job!
And oh loooord.... how much I loathe that Troy movie. And the fact that the same people who did it also made the GoT show....as a fan of those books, it was just as awful to experience their version of it as you can imagine... ;p

Thank you very much. Considering the imperfect likeness of Pangaea's head sculpt (the part I can pinpoint is the shape of the lower face/jawline), that is high praise indeed.

Before I saw the last episode of Game of Thrones, I would have said I'm somewhat surprised it could have been the same people responsible for the vapid waste that is Troy; having seen it and what were supposed to be their brilliant final choices, I can totally understand that now. Hey, they subverted expectations by getting the story wrong!

Great work on the head sculpt. the rooted hair certainly looks much better than the original I agree with your comments on the movie "Troy;" but just as Hollywood has never been particularly good at accurately portraying historical events, it probably sucks even more when it comes to mythology. You have to ask yourself just what who went to the see movie have actually read the Iliad versus how many have heard the story of the Trojan horse? I'm sure everyone has heard the latter, but I'd be surprised if one percent of the audience has actually read the Iliad, which unfortunately, allows the director and screenwriter an enormous amount of latitude to butcher the story. The purpose of movies is after all, not to educate but to entertain.

These things being said, your talent at putting in rooted hair where there was only plastic before never ceases to amaze me and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

Outstanding work Sir, the way you styled the hairline on the forehead really makes it perfect, along with all those tiny touch ups. I think that head can be of universal use, be it fantasy or real world or SciFi, he can do them all.

And also nice to list all your other Rooties down there.

I have to say, I never be watched Troy, for no particular reason. (Although I heard they cut the part were they liberated Troy Airport, sad.)

I remember watching multiple long/multi-parted Odysseus-centered movies as a kid.
And I remember reading the Illiad in Latin back in school. But forgot all the Latin...xD

My best Mythology teacher of my childhood though was the RTS game Age of Mythology, were Greek, Egypt and Norse Mythology were all real in a Fantasy world. Your main hero is an Atlantean General, you also build the Trojan Horse, rescue Odysseus from Circe, travel the underworld to Egypt, help a Valkyrie stop Ragnarok from happening in the North and prevent a Cyclops from freeing Kronos...and in the end Atlantis sinks. But...well the info texts about each mythical unit and god are accurate at least! xD

ThePhotogsBlog wrote:Great work on the head sculpt. the rooted hair certainly looks much better than the original I agree with your comments on the movie "Troy;" but just as Hollywood has never been particularly good at accurately portraying historical events, it probably sucks even more when it comes to mythology.  You have to ask yourself just what who went to the see movie have actually read the Iliad versus how many have heard the story of the Trojan horse?  I'm sure everyone has heard the latter, but I'd be surprised if one percent of the audience has actually read the Iliad, which unfortunately, allows the director and screenwriter an enormous amount of latitude to butcher the story. The purpose of movies is after all, not to educate but to entertain.  
These things being said, your talent at putting in rooted hair where there was only plastic before never ceases to amaze me and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.  

Thank you very much! Glad you liked it. To be honest, I didn't think this one of my best creations, although the hair did turn out quite good -- I think I'm still a little distracted by the head sculpt which came so close yet not spot on; but there is only so much (or little) one can do about that.

I actually agree with your point about movies being designed to entertain, not educate (not necessarily a point I support, but it is fact) and with your paint about them still serving as a possible gateway for those interested in this history to get into the subject and learn more (hopefully including the real story, or something closer to it). I just worry that most would be satiated with the beautiful scenery, epic music, and eye-candy for everyone, and not only notice the inferior and pointless choices made by the filmmakers, but also fail to realize (a) there is a true-er story out there and (b) it is not inferior (and probably superior) to what we get. I will admit that I am less likely to go on the warpath for a movie set in a period I don't care about (e.g., I'm perfectly satisfied with Oliver Stone's JFK, which is not to say I believe it as chapter and verse). So I suppose the problem is not the entertainment focus of these films in itself -- I don't ask that they educate, but I would hope that they do not mis-educate (which is exactly what they do). Whatever happened to "translating" a plot into a new time/society/setting, giving the characters new names, and thereby not butchering history or literature?

Ovy wrote:Outstanding work Sir, the way you styled the hairline on the forehead really makes it perfect, along with all those tiny touch ups. I think that head can be of universal use, be it fantasy or real world or SciFi, he can do them all.
And also nice to list all your other Rooties down there.
I have to say, I never be watched Troy, for no particular reason. (Although I heard they cut the part were they liberated Troy Airport, sad.)
I remember watching multiple long/multi-parted Odysseus-centered movies as a kid.
And I remember reading the Illiad in Latin back in school. But forgot all the Latin...xD
My best Mythology teacher of my childhood though was the RTS game Age of Mythology, were Greek, Egypt and Norse Mythology were all real in a Fantasy world. Your main hero is an Atlantean General, you also build the Trojan Horse, rescue Odysseus from Circe, travel the underworld to Egypt, help a Valkyrie stop Ragnarok from happening in the North and prevent a Cyclops from freeing Kronos...and in the end Atlantis sinks. But...well the info texts about each mythical unit and god are accurate at least! xD

Thank you so much! Glad you liked it. It was a little touch and go at times, so I'm almost impressed myself.

There are worse things than watching Troy -- but not many of them, unless you're watching it specifically to see how a film can fail to be both accurate and truly epic (despite its pretenses).

I believe I have seen some of those very series; or the old Ray ...hausen stop-motion sword-and-sandal movies. Yep, they were more modern fiction, too, much of the time. Oh well.

I am usually pretty clueless whenever the subject of video- or computer games comes up, but Age of Mythology (and Age of Empires before it) I have played (and once in a very blue moon still do) and quite enjoyed. Of course, the mythology is ... questionable ... but no more so than Troy.

Wow ! That really turns a Figure into a real actor. You nailed the Hairstyle of him. I know that was just a role he played in the movie, but i really want he win against that arrogant Achilles Can´t say what it is, but this man looks absolute sympathic to me. The Eyes... Banas Eyes have something benevolent, dreamy. That Bust is a really great idea to work on Headsculpt.
You spend time to correct my grammar and Thread titels sometimes, please allow me that little fun, Gube....

Indeed amazing work on the head sculpt, great job!

Outstanding work. I'm not a fan of these kind of figures or real hair for that matter, but this is a true work of art and it turns a 1:6 figure into a museum piece. Hats off to G. F. for his mastery of this technique.

Wow! Great/awesome work converting the sculpt. Nailed the hair style down strand for strand.

Every time you work your magic, it looks way better than any sculpted hair ever could. Great work my friend.

I’m sending all my heads to you from now, Guv.

Ephiane wrote:Wow ! That really turns a Figure into a real actor. You nailed the Hairstyle of him. I know that was just a role he played in the movie, but i really want he win against that arrogant Achilles Can´t say what it is, but this man looks absolute sympathic to me. The Eyes... Banas Eyes have something benevolent, dreamy. That Bust is a really great idea to work on Headsculpt.

Thank you very much for the kind words. I'm thrilled you liked it. Yes, I thought he made for a much more relatable protagonist, too. The girls that were with me seeing the movie cried (expecting a better outcome? then again, if the director changed as much as he did, why didn't Hector triumph and live happily ever after!?). Your enthusiastic response touched me so much, I went and got you this (Eric and I are old pals -- or, as they say in Australia, mates)

BAD WOLF-787 wrote:Indeed amazing work on the head sculpt, great job!

PitViper wrote:Outstanding work.  I'm not a fan of these kind of figures or real hair for that matter, but this is a true work of art and it turns a 1:6 figure into a museum piece.  Hats off to G. F. for his mastery of this technique.

ostfront43 wrote:Wow! Great/awesome work converting the sculpt. Nailed the hair style down strand for strand.

actionfiguremovies2 wrote:Every time you work your magic, it looks way better than any sculpted hair ever could. Great work my friend.

Thank you very much, guys, I'm very glad you liked it. Incidentally, I don't think it's my best re-hairing work, but your positive response is very encouraging. PitViper -- contrary to appearances, I'm rarely compelled or inspired to replace plastic with "real" hair, but this, like the others, was one of those times both functionality and appearance were affected negatively by the alternative.

Stryker2011 wrote:I’m sending all my heads to you from now, Guv.

Hehe, you keep saying that, and it might be fun until I decide to keep them! Actually, I'd be terrified to mess up someone else's head, I imagine.

great work there! loved the rooted HS. I wouldn't believe that wasn't Eric Bana. 

Sorry, but i loved the movie...i am a simple man...

brassco wrote:great work there! loved the rooted HS. I wouldn't believe that wasn't Eric Bana. 

Sorry, but i loved the movie...i am a simple man...

Thank you very much! Glad you liked it.

As for the movie, art is in the eye of the beholder, so you really don't need to apologize for liking it. If it had not pretended to be the story of the Trojan war (and then blatantly going out of its way to get it wrong with no apparent trade-off), I might have felt differently about it. There is a strange Minotaur movie with Tom Hardy that makes the story sufficiently removed from the original to be bearable -- on that count. Almost as removed from the original story was the Immortals with Henry Cavill, but somehow it still ended up a spectacular travesty.

Thanks Gube, i pinned the Picture in my locker. Maybe You like to ask him for a date ? Next Weekend would be fine to me

Ephiane wrote:Thanks Gube, i pinned the Picture in my locker. Maybe You like to ask him for a date ? Next Weekend would be fine to me

Hah! Glad you liked it. Well, I'll see what I can do. But the guy is married, with kids...

Molded long hair is a crime, your upgrade like always results in an amazing looking figure. When his hair was undone it reminded me of a shampoo TV ad.

Theboo-bomb wrote:Molded long hair is a crime, your upgrade like always results in an amazing looking figure. When his hair was undone it reminded me of a shampoo TV ad.

Thank you very much, I'm very glad you like it. Speaking of shampoo, I use a little shampoo + conditioner combo diluted with water to style the hair a little bit, when really needed. I've found actual conditioner by itself makes things too clumpy. That said, I haven't put too much of an effort in styling this particular one.

Yeah this turned out very nice! So many heads can be upgraded with real hair.

Valiarde wrote:Yeah this turned out very nice! So many heads can be upgraded with real hair.

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it. And, obviously, I agree. That's why I've been re-hairing so many.