Mark Stryker Old West Theme (Characters)

Thanks, All. Ian, I actually bought the entire Pope box set — figured it would make sense to use the body and hands, and it wasn’t all that bad for the price. But now I have some Pope stuff that I don’t need…

Stryker2011 wrote:I actually bought the entire Pope box set ....

Oh, that's where the "old farmer" head sculpt is from! I had that "Jihad Pontifex" set on pre-order for the longest time. It finally began to look like it would never be released, so I gave up. The vendor offered to transfer my deposit over to another purchase, so it worked out well... other than, I do not own an "Armored Pope."

(I just looked - the vendor with whom I pre-ordered still does not have the figure in stock, although there are plenty of them showing up on eBay, including parted out.)

I didn’t get the armored version, I bought the cheaper version from Timewalker when they were having a sale, but it’s sold out now. The armored version is still on PO though.

I actually vaguely remembered you getting the set, but wasn't completely sure. Excellent use of the aged male head anyway.

Yeah, there definitely isn’t enough “old people” in this hobby.

Another new character added. The town blacksmith Charley Kittrick. He needs tools. (All clothes made by AJClothiers specifically for the World Box Fat Man body). I had to cut off the neck of the head sculpt and damn near hollowed that thing out as much as possible, and I still can't get it to sit down far enough to suit me -- those bodies have super thick necks.

Beautifully done, Mark, seemingly simple but has so much character. Yes, I have noticed that World Box bodies have rather long necks. Opening the neck hole as much as you can (which appears to be what you did) should help. Also consider putting some relatively thin packing foam (or something) on top of the shoulders so that the shirt would rise a little and seemingly shorten the neck.

Henry looks timeless, I think I know several people who look like him but drive tractors or are in the garden all day.

Charley has character, it's Vincent D'Onofrio? There are really fee heads that fit the Big body from the start, I think I did a lot of cutting and powertooling on my Marlon Brando too.
I guess Charley rents the barbers reclining chair sometimes for his dentist side business?

Oh wow, great addition. I absolutely love the apron, that turned out so well!

Frustrating about the neck, I agree the worldbox bodies can be annoying incompatible with certain 1/6 parts. GF's idea about the foam to pad out the shoulders might help a little. Is the neck post overly long and preventing the head from sitting lower, or is it really just the width of the neck itself?

skywalkersaga wrote:Is the neck post overly long and preventing the head from sitting lower, or is it really just the width of the neck itself?

I think it is probably both, but I'll let Mark confirm it.

It could be a combination of both. I can't dig any deeper into the head, though I can possibly trim a bit more around the cavity (but it's getting pretty close); I may have to cut the ball of the neck peg off, or trim it down and see if that helps, but if not, I'll probably have to start trimming the very top of the "meat" of the neck itself. Even the Wolverine bodies have the issue of the grossly thick neck -- not really fitting most head sculpts without some form of modification.

Would a shorter neck joint help -- since you mention cutting the ball?

another awesome creation Mark!

The Headsculpts and clothes You choose for Your characters are just excellent ! You need a village idiot to. With Your talent by choosing Headsculpts i´m sure You will find one.

This is such a great Headsculpt. Maybe with a blade of grass in the corner of the mouth ?

Stryker2011 wrote:It could be a combination of both. I can't dig any deeper into the head, though I can possibly trim a bit more around the cavity (but it's getting pretty close); I may have to cut the ball of the neck peg off, or trim it down and see if that helps, but if not, I'll probably have to start trimming the very top of the "meat" of the neck itself. Even the Wolverine bodies have the issue of the grossly thick neck -- not really fitting most head sculpts without some form of modification.

Gotcha. That's so frustrating, cause they are otherwise nicely made bodies. The only WorldBox body I own at the moment is the very large one, and it happens to fit the head I am planning to use for it, but only because it is a very non-standard headsculpt (I think it's a copy of some kind of BJD type head, rather than a typical 1/6 action figure head).

ETA: Hope there isn't a similar issue with the upcoming female WorldBox bodies...

Those set pieces are looking great, the craftmanship is amazing. And those new characters too.

Thanks, Everyone, for the kind words.

Ephi, a “Town Character” as the village idiot was called, would be kind of fun. My ideal version would be to get a sculpt of Jack Elam made (he played a lot of villains in his early days, but due to his crazy appearance, he often played the lovable goofball in his later films).

So Great, can´t wait to see Your first gunfight !

That movie looks wild. I've heard of it, but never saw it. Looks kind of funny.

Ephiane wrote:So Great, can´t wait to see Your first gunfight !  

I like how Hannah looks....so elegant and minimalist...

And also the typical cowboy looks of the Stryker..

build some bad guys and you are good to create the Blue Dead Redemption XDD....

I remember Jack Elem, as I was a child of the 70's and 80's. A character like that would add quite a bit of fodder for some humorous scenarios with the heroes and villains of your Western world. Too bad custom-made headsculpts are so expensive, I'd love to see him wandering around town causing some amusing trouble...And a sculpt of yourself would be really neat, you could be the hero of your own town lol!

Melancholia wrote:I remember Jack Elem, as I was a child of the 70's and 80's.  A character like that would add quite a bit of fodder for some humorous scenarios with the heroes and villains of your Western world.  Too bad custom-made headsculpts are so expensive, I'd love to see him wandering around town causing some amusing trouble...And a sculpt of yourself would be really neat, you could be the hero of your own town lol!

Thanks. Yeah Jack was an interesting character actor. Ironically, I just saw an episode of Gunsmoke where he was the villain, and Miss Kitty shot him at close range. I’d prefer him as a lovable goofball. As far as me as the main character — that’s the case here. The Mark Stryker character is using a head sculpt that my wife told me looks like me when I was about 30 years younger.

Stryker2011 wrote:

Melancholia wrote:I remember Jack Elem, as I was a child of the 70's and 80's.  A character like that would add quite a bit of fodder for some humorous scenarios with the heroes and villains of your Western world.  Too bad custom-made headsculpts are so expensive, I'd love to see him wandering around town causing some amusing trouble...And a sculpt of yourself would be really neat, you could be the hero of your own town lol!

Thanks. Yeah Jack was an interesting character actor. Ironically, I just saw an episode of Gunsmoke where he was the villain, and Miss Kitty shot him at close range. I’d prefer him as a lovable goofball. As far as me as the main character — that’s the case here. The Mark Stryker character is using a head sculpt that my wife told me looks like me when I was about 30 years younger.

Stryker and Hannah make a great-looking couple, perfect in the lead roles.  I'm just amazed at some of the items you found in 1/6 scale, you must have really scoured the internet.  I wouldn't even know where to begin...besides Ebay of course

Melancholia wrote:
Stryker and Hannah make a great-looking couple, perfect in the lead roles.  I'm just amazed at some of the items you found in 1/6 scale, you must have really scoured the internet.  I wouldn't even know where to begin...besides Ebay of course

Etsy is one of my go-to sources for 1/6 accessories. : )

Yep. Etsy has been a godsend when it comes to 1/6 scale accessories. I want to make some room boxes like the Stryker home, the sheriff’s office, the saloon, etc., so I’ve been looking at Dollhouse stuff (you can occasionally find stuff that is sized “close enough” to 1/6 scale) on sites dedicated to dollhouses. Etsy is better at it, however, with stuff made 1/6 scale such as windows, doors, lights, etc. The era I’m working in has been a bit tricky as the types of homes in the Old West varied based on not just the financial situation of the people, but the resources that were generally available in the environment. The southwest was a dry, rugged land that didn’t offer a lot of building materials, and the cost to have them shipped in was very high (which is why the false fronts of most commercial buildings was so prominent — it was designed to make the establishment look better than it was — the insides were generally pretty shabby). As much as I’d like to be a bit more “realistic” I’m probably going to end up going a bit more Hollywood, at least to degree, as it’s easier to find stuff that matches.

That's true, I forgot about Etsy, which is strange considering I've been buying most of my action figure clothing and accessories from it lately. I've known about it for many years, but always assumed it would be more costly than ebay so never bothered with it, but I found that to be untrue, so it's been a great source lately. I've also bought tons of things from Aliexpress, even though that takes a lot of patience having to wait so long for delivery. But their prices on 1/12 items are hard to beat

I’ve found some of the same sellers on both eBay and Etsy, and I’ve found that the majority of manufacturer made stuff is generally cheaper on Etsy by a few bucks (it’s probably all the insane eBay fees), but the custom made stuff isn’t exactly cheap. And I’m still waiting on a couple items that I ordered from Etsy sellers back in early September — it’s all relative, I guess.

Yeah, Etsy prices vary wildly depending on what it is. But I like that you can find and buy custom and one-of-a-kind items there, and often directly from the artist/creator. While custom clothing and accessories can be much more expensive, it is also sometimes worth it in order to obtain exactly what you want rather than just 'settle' for the cheaper stuff.