Afro American Figures Any Suggestions ?

Hello All ,
                   These figure will be joining my NAM Marines at some point . I wanted to increase their numbers some , and as I have a few uniforms to fill , that only have T shirts and Flak vests I went for a couple of relatively cheap Muscle bodies , along with a couple of Worldbox bodies which I must say I am quite impressed with . I brought 4 bodies and head sculpts in a hope I could mix match them to get good matches for heads to body . Here is how it went .

 1. I think most are basketball player sculpts , but I am not to worried of the origins , what I did find quite hard was finding clean shaven types . I put this head on a ZC toys body , I am quite happy with how it looks .





2. This sculpt went on a Worldbox AA figure , again I am quite happy with the look .



3.  Another sculpt fitted to a Worldbox body , again looks O.K. to me .



4. I ran out of luck with reasonable matches on this 4th head and body , the sculpt didn`t match to well colour wise to the body .
This is a Coomodel Body , with is a Mike Tyson Sculpt .  



If anyone has matched the Mike head with a good colour matching body , or the Coomodel body with  a colour matching head I would like to hear about them . I hope you find this post of some interest anyway . Most the neck inserts needed trimming to get a good fit .

I agree the first three matches are pretty good. You could try matching the last head with the first body. Or take some matching oil pastels to a TBLeague body. See here:

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t260-painting-seamless-bodies-updated-september-2020#8367

and

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t260p41-painting-seamless-bodies-updated-september-2020#8563

and

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t260p41-painting-seamless-bodies-updated-september-2020#9166

Thanks Ian , those bodies are a bit rich for me to be honest , and I certainly don`t have the bravery you have to paint such bodies . I got a couple of necked sculpts that would match the Coomodel body , and I might , and I emphasize " might " try your neck removal technique at some point , though that still leaves me looking for a body to go with the M.T sculpt , which is a fair way off that ZC body if I am honest .

The first three work well. Sorry I can’t be of much help about the Tyson head.

If you need to match a body to a head, the best way to do it is to just repaint the body (rather than mess about with the head). If it's a plastic body, then that should be relatively straightforward, especially if you only need to repaint the areas of 'skin' that would be showing (like neck, part of chest, hands, etc).

That's how I would approach the solution to matching the Mike Tyson head. If you'd want any help or tips with repainting the body, feel free to ask.

Thanks to GubernatorFan`s tutorial .

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t310p41-head-conversion-tutorial-updated-with-part-iii-june-2019#50158

     
I had a go , as this sculpt I knew was a good colour match , and I had a double , but he also had a neck . It`s not as perfect as Ian`s ones , but I can live with it . Thanks again Ian for the tutorial .









 I might try and tidy it up a bit more , but as Ian warns , cut to far , there is no going back .

You're welcome. Looks like a pretty great match, and a good sculpt too. I don't think you are done cutting yet, but if you're not sure, take it slow. And remember to re-heat as needed. The neck opening is a bit wider than the neck coming out of the body, so think about how it will look if you remove that left-over part from the head sculpt.

Yes that`s what worries me Ian , if I cut it further , it will get wider wont it ? I realize it`s not perfect as is , but I fear I might take it to far . Would you suggest something along these lines ? It looks like it will make the opening wider to me .

I wouldn't want to suggest something you may end up regretting. Doesn't it sit a little too high now? If you take off some more, won't you be able to make it sit lower and more naturally? Maybe then, even if wider, the opening would work. Moreover, it makes sense to have a little room in the front, would be visible only from a very specific angle and would otherwise be useful for articulation. But, again, you decide what you are comfortable with (I would have cut it along the line where the neck meets the underside of the jaw on principle, then worried about the fit later; but then again, I'm used to using these heads on TBLeague bodies where I can stuff the neck to made it wider if needed, and this is not the case here). If you have a similar head that you really don't care about, maybe experiment on that first.

I have encountered some neckless male headsculpts where the neck opening was purposefully made a bit wider in the front (under the chin) to allow for more movement, so it is sometimes done out of practicality. That said, depending on how slim or wide the neck in question is, it may have a slight gap from certain angles -- some people are willing to accept that in order to have better posing ability.

 At the very least, I would take a bit more off that piece of the neck that is remining the front part under the chin so that the head can sit a little closer to the adam's apple. Just be careful to angle it properly around the jawline so there doesn't end up being a gap *there*. With a short haired headsculpt, a gap under the chin is far easier to hide in photos than one under the jawline like that (or so I've found).

Thanks for coming back .  I understand you not wanting to stick your neck out . ( Pun intended ) I have already stuffed out the top and sides with foam stuff , it can sit much lower as is if desired , I thought it looked about right . The head is quite a big noggin for a DML sculpt ... I will have a look in my heads tin and see if anyone wants to volunteer .

Please feel free to copy the pics here and offer a suggested line for cutting .

Oh I love puns! Punsters of the world unite! And I love it that you have a "heads tin."

Skywalker, would love some tips on painting a plastic body. I had a project planned to do Mace from Call of Duty but abandoned it because I couldn't find any muscular bodies that fit that character.

theflyingman -- sent you a PM

Just to illustrate where I cut the neck -- on principle -- your needs and preferences may vary.



Disclaimer, the soft rubbery neck may be slightly overstuffed in this instance.

Thanks Ian , I will take all the help you can throw at me . I need to trim mine up some more I can see that , but it is scary till your used to it I guess . Of course using a stiff and not rubbery neck , does add a little disadvantage to fitting .

Chip wrote:Thanks Ian , I will take all the help you can throw at me  . I need to trim mine up some more I can see that , but it is scary till your used to it I guess . Of course using a stiff and not rubbery neck , does add a little disadvantage to fitting .

Happy to help.

Fantastic work! Great conversion tip too!