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Medieval Timeline upgrade modification - Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:26 pm

This is a combination of modifications, applied to what was originally a nearly 20-year old set by Dragon, Chris Johnston (Paul Walker) from Timeline (2003). The old Dragon set was probably nice for its time, although it is not quite on a par with more modern action figures in this scale, which have more realistic likeness and better articulation, and usually come with more accessories. Timeline was a pretty good film, and has been held up as the right way to do historical fiction (if you are going to be making up things, do that to made up historical settings and characters rather than distorting actual ones). I am somewhat surprised that it got this much attention in sixth scale, but glad it did. I just wish I had picked up more of these sets when they were more readily available. I finally got this one a few weeks ago, and decided to see what would happen if it were transferred to a better body and given a better head. (By the way, see those knots with a single loop? If anyone has a link to an image explaining how to tie them, please send it along. Thanks in advance.)

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The body swap was easy enough, as the relatively loose clothing fit on a TBLeague M33. The boots presented a problem as they would not readily come off the Dragon body, restricted ankle articulation, and might not have fit easily on other feet (whether TBLeague or not). I went with the two-part molded ThreeZero boots from one of their Game of Thrones figures (Jon Snow?) at first. They worked great. The head was a bigger challenge. Ever since his untimely demise, Paul Walker has been rendered in sixth scale repeatedly, not always very successfully, but invariably in reference to his part in the Fast and Furious franchise. These all portray a more mature Paul Walker, with a shorter and neater hair, and more stubble. I ended up going with a GAC Toys head (or a knockoff of it), slightly repainting to make it match the TBLeague suntan skin tone and soften the stubble (in retrospect I may have overdone that, as Paul's character in Timeline does have a visible stubble). Of course, the big hurdle was the hair. I went from this (already repainted)...

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to this mess...

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to this (finished, apart from minor futzing).

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There was no way I was going to be able to replicate the messy slightly curly hair in the film with real hair entirely accurately, but I decided it was close enough (it was not perfectly replicated with Dragon's sculpted hair either). The color is a little on the light side, but my next darker option was too warm a brown to work well. So I went with it. Here is the upgraded figure.

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Overall, I was pleased with the poseability and stability of the figure, and the look seems ok. I ended up making one more change, from the ThreeZero boots to medieval/fantasy leather shoes from a POP or maybe CM set, as something more appropriate for someone dressed like a medieval peasant to wear. I think they are better for this purpose, although much less stable, as they curve up at the front. Here they are, although they are not very visible...

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I doubt it is perfect or that I could improve much on it at present, but it is a nice example of the potential of so many of these old sets.

As always, what do you think?

#timeline #medieval #fiction #chrisjohnston #paulwalker #dragon #gactoys #tbleague #custom #kitbash #modification #hair
Search in: GENERAL TALK  Topic: Medieval Timeline upgrade modification  Replies: 16  Views: 784
Dragon 1/6 Weapon Collection - MG 42 Machine Gun w/Ammo Drum

Dragon 77013 - 1/6 Weapon Collection - MG 42 Machine Gun w/Ammo Drum

Product size: 20.5cm

Box size: 231 x 56 x 32mm

Features:

- Authentic paint job
- Highly detailed parts
- Adjustable gun sling
- Poseable gun sight
- Detachable ammo magazine

The boxes in which these collectible weapons are contained are themselves a work of art! The cases possess an elegant texture and bear a distinctive Dragon Action Figure logo. The box lids close snugly thanks to the clever use of built-in magnets, and their rectangular shape allows multiple weapons to be neatly stacked all the while remaining safe in their protective cases. Also, to help distinguish one weapon from another, there is a sticker on the box end identifying what is contained inside.


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Dragon 1/6 Weapon Collection - MG 42 Machine Gun w/AA Sight & Tool Box

Dragon 77014 - 1/6 Weapon Collection - MG 42 Machine Gun w/AA Sight & Tool Box

Product size: 20.5cm

Box size: 231 x 56 x 32mm

Features:

- Authentic paint job
- Highly detailed parts
- Adjustable gun sling
- Poseable gun sight
- Detachable ammo magazine

The boxes in which these collectible weapons are contained are themselves a work of art! The cases possess an elegant texture and bear a distinctive Dragon Action Figure logo. The box lids close snugly thanks to the clever use of built-in magnets, and their rectangular shape allows multiple weapons to be neatly stacked all the while remaining safe in their protective cases. Also, to help distinguish one weapon from another, there is a sticker on the box end identifying what is contained inside.

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#newproduct #DML #Dragon #WeaponCardSeries #HeavyMachineGun #military #accessory
Dragon 1/6 Weapon Collection - DPM Machine Gun

Dragon 77009 - 1/6 Weapon Collection - DPM Machine Gun

Product size: 20.5cm

Box size: 231 x 56 x 32mm

Features:

- Authentic paint job
- Highly detailed parts
- Adjustable gun sling
- Poseable gun sight
- Detachable ammo magazine

The boxes in which these collectible weapons are contained are themselves a work of art! The cases possess an elegant texture and bear a distinctive Dragon Action Figure logo. The box lids close snugly thanks to the clever use of built-in magnets, and their rectangular shape allows multiple weapons to be neatly stacked all the while remaining safe in their protective cases. Also, to help distinguish one weapon from another, there is a sticker on the box end identifying what is contained inside.


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Dragon 1/6 Weapon Collection - DPM Machine Gun (Whitewashed)

Dragon 77010 - 1/6 Weapon Collection - DPM Machine Gun (Whitewashed)

Product size: 20.5cm

Box size: 231 x 56 x 32mm

Features:

- Authentic paint job
- Highly detailed parts
- Adjustable gun sling
- Poseable gun sight
- Detachable ammo magazine

The boxes in which these collectible weapons are contained are themselves a work of art! The cases possess an elegant texture and bear a distinctive Dragon Action Figure logo. The box lids close snugly thanks to the clever use of built-in magnets, and their rectangular shape allows multiple weapons to be neatly stacked all the while remaining safe in their protective cases. Also, to help distinguish one weapon from another, there is a sticker on the box end identifying what is contained inside.

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#newproduct #DML #Dragon #WeaponTagSeries #PDMLightMachineGun #military #accessory
Product:BLX
Scale:1/6
No:BLX002A/B
Weight:4.8KG
Material:resin
size:58CM*27CM*46CM
Perorder is available before:May 8, 2021
Release date:Fourth quarter of 2021
Notice:The Figure and weapon are not included

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#newproduct #BiLuoxuan #BLX #Mountain&Sea #Water&Fire # BizarreAnimal #dragon #accessory
Part II in Post 13
Part III in Post 24

Part I

This will eventually be placed in the Tutorials section.

What do the following four head sculpts have in common? I mean, other than their sex and arguably enviable looks. Smile

Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures Hmrp0110

They are all partly repainted to match the TBLeague bodies that carry them. In the first three instances these are Hot Toys sculpts, and between the expense of procuring them and the excellence of the detail, my repaint is very subtle, essentially a thin film to lessen the gap between the slightly lighter and cooler skin tone of the original sculpts and the the quite tan TBLeague body. In the fourth instance my repaint was a little less subtle, for various reasons.

Sometimes you get lucky with a head sculpt matching the body right out of the box, like this HY gladiator John Cena. Sometimes you do not, like this Dragon Sam Worthington (which also required quite a lot of modification to fit bodies with integral necks like DAM, TBLeague, etc).

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It is this last head sculpt that I have been meaning to repaint for quite a while, but its pale and yellowish skin tone is so big a contrast that it was going to take something more than the very subtle repaints I normally give head sculpts. Here it is again, compared to the slightly repainted Hot Toys Chris Pratt.

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Here is what we need: several acrylic colors (I prefer Vallejo) to mix to approximate the TBLeague suntan skin tone (in this instance), and some Liquitex Professional Ultra Matte Medium (thanks, Sky!) to keep the paint from curing too shiny.

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The mix that I find works well in approximating the TBLeague male suntan skin tone (as used for M31 to M36A) is cork brown with lesser amounts of dark vermillion, iraqui sand, and leather brown. I also used some burnt umber and German black brown (not shown) for some darker details on the face. Lip color (the bane of my repainting experience) was achieved by mixing dark vermillion, cork brown, ivory, and some blue. It came out a little fresh, but is pretty close to the reference photo I used. I could probably have used even more Liquitex matte medium (which appears white in the photo).

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I mixed the matte medium and the acrylic paint thoroughly to achieve an even color with a toothpick.

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Then I tested how the resulting color compares with the body's skin tone. Since it was close enough, I proceeded to paint the ears and the area between the hairline and the edge of the back of the head. Since these areas will sit right next to the neck, and since (except for the ears themselves) they form a notionally separate surface than the face, I was not worried about making the paint application particularly thin or transparent here. I think the match is pretty close (keep in mind that light, screen settings, and individual perception would vary). Here I should point out that a proper head sculpt paint (or repaint) job would involve stripping the original paint (if any) by dipping in acetone, etc., and starting with thin layers from scratch. My approach is more basic and less ambitious, essentially a touch up. Given the great disparity between the skin tone of the head sculpt and what I needed to match, that was not necessarily the best strategy in this case. But anyway...

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After this, using a fine brush (except for painting tiny details you don't actually need to use a 000 micro brush) with plenty of water, I applied some of the mixed paint onto the face, and then proceed to spread it as a thin layer with a cotton q-tip. In fact, I did not use enough water or start with a small enough area, and while I was fiddling with the camera it began to dry faster than I could attend to it properly with the cotton swab. That is why I had to do some damage control, which provides the occasion of noting that you might want to have a little container with alcohol standing by, so that you can quickly fix any errors by wiping them away with another q-tip dipped in it.

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Repeating this in other areas to cover the face, largely avoiding any fine details I was trying to preserve (like the eyebrows and the eyes), I covered everything that needed to be covered. Panting in thin layers produces an initial dirty and somewhat uneven effect, which is one of several reasons why you would want to go for a second or third layer. I still wanted a little bit of translucency to the skin, but between damage control and the stark contrast between the original and desired skin tone, that was not going to be very noticeable on this particular experiment. While I am not necessarily done tinkering with it, the result is this.

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The dark line over the eyes (which is there in the reference photos I used) is much less obvious and less fake looking in hand than in the macro photos. While I do feel I have lost a little bit of the fine subtle detail of the original paint job (as I expected in this instance), I think the result is passable and, as far as matching the body's skin tone is concerned, successful.

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Lighting makes a big difference in perception, so there are a few more images.

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Finally, this time I did remember to take before and after photos (there is hope for us all!), although I had to resort to some color manipulation to make them properly comparable due to somehow different light conditions.

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What do you think?

Part II in Post 13
Part III in Post 24

#tbleague #dragon #head #repaint #custom #tutorial
Search in: TUTORIALS  Topic: Repainting head sculpts to match body (updated with Part III)  Replies: 43  Views: 4058
YY TOYS 1/6 God of Falling Demon and Shenlong movable doll number: YY-02011
Retail price: 1180 RMB

With Xuan list:
Dragon*1
Nine-character true hand type*9
Hair transplant female head*1
All-inclusive female body *1
Exclusive necklace*1
Windbreaker*1
Skirt*1
Tights*1
Seamless tights*1
Boots*1
Support *1
Cosmetic case*1
Potion of Lowering Potion*3
Rune paper*Several magic wands*1
Deadline: 2020/11/28
Listing date: 1st quarter of 2021

YY TOYS 1/6 Conquering the Demons

Number: YY-02011
Retail price: 1180 RMB

List of accessories:

The dragon * 1
Nine word really decisive hand shape *9
Female hair transplant *1
Fully coated female body *1
Exclusive necklace *1
Dust coat * 1
Skirt * 1
Tight pants * 1
Seamless tights *1
boots * 1
A * 1
Make-up box * 1
Magic potion *3
Character paper * several
Drop wand * 1


Closing date: 2020/11/28
Launch Date: Q1 2021


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#newproduct #YYToys #MagicalGodofFallingDemon #Shelong #female #dragon #Asian
It is a week of reviews, by the looks of it. If interested, check out my review of Peggy Carter and Michael Crawford's review of Selene from Underworld.

Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures Agdt0110

Introduction
Alexander the Great (Alexandros III of Macedon, 356-323 BC) is one of those iconic historical characters that everyone seems to know or name, to the point where one is tempted to take him down a notch. And there were plenty of issues with him and his character, not least his relentless ambition, competitiveness, rashness, and delusions of grandeur. He was certainly a conqueror with an unprecedented scale, speed, and rate of success, and for that he was idolized for generations of Romans and those who took their cultural cues from Rome (elsewhere he was demonized instead). From a modernist or humanitarian perspective there are sides of his character that are less often mentioned but perhaps even more commendable: most notably, although a successful Greek conqueror, he chose not to treat his conquered enemies as the subhuman beings he was taught they were by his society (and by his teacher, the philosopher Aristotle), but instead sought to pacify, unify, and merge the societies he had come to rule, on a remarkably even footing for any time. He probably would have failed even if he hadn't died prematurely at 33, but this suggests that, contrary to popular belief, he had a talent not only for conquering, but also for governing.

At any rate, this is not what this is about. TBLeague (formerly Phicen) has just released its sixth-scale figure of Alexander the Great, occasioning this review. And since Dragon did the only other high-end Alexander in this scale (that I know of), back in 2004, it is a natural point of reference. Both figures are based to a significant degree on the Oliver Stone film Alexander (2004), starring Colin Farrell. Another point of reference for the TBLeague version is a larger scale statue by ARH (HERE and HERE), as confirmed by the ARH logo on the box. Neither the film nor the figures are entirely historically correct.

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Packaging
Dragon's Alexander comes in a box that opens up like a book cover to reveal the figure and its accessories through a clear plastic cover; the back side of the cover contains a shallow clear plastic trey containing the cape and the two-part spear; the figure and the rest of the accessories are contained in a clear plastic trey in the box proper.

TBLeague's Alexander comes in a typical container for TBLeague boxed sets, one where the cover and side flaps are held by magnets and can be removed and propped up like a triptych. There is a missed opportunity here, as they could have followed other companies' lead and printed an appropriate background on the back side (which is just plain black) that could have worked as a backdrop to the figure. The figure and its accessories are held in a couple of black foam plastic treys, each with its own thin black foam cover.

Everything comes safe and collector friendly in both sets.

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Sculpting
Here time of production makes a difference. Standards and possibilities were very different in 2004 from what they are today. Dragon's Alexander obviously is less finely and realistically sculpted, although it is not bad at all for the time when it was made. The face does not look like Colin Farrell, and might be an attempt at the actual Alexander (if so, not very successfully) or possibly Richard Burton's Alexander (from 1956); to me it really looks like Tom Jane. The head is bald, allowing you to swap between a soft plastic hair wig and a lion-head helmet that is fairly accurate to the 2004 film, except for its sculpted plumes and crest. There is plenty of fairly fine sculpted detail on the armor, including a lion's face over the chest, the sword (especially its hilt), and the soft plastic riding boots. The head and rear spikes of the long spear are very sharply sculpted. The body's legs are covered in seamless rubbery material with appropriate sculpting, although they might be a little too skinny.

TBLeague's Alexander has a very finely sculpted head sculpt that also does not look like Colin Farrell. As far as I can tell, this is a generic pretty boy with a possibly "Eurasian" look. The head vs helmet problem has been resolved by resorting to "real" hair, which works well enough with the lion-head helmet. The helmet is a little less accurate to the film in at least some details, but its crest and plumes are more on target. Once again, there is plenty of fine detail to the armor, including a gorgon's head over the chest, sword (especially its hilt), "wrist armors" (sic!), and even more detailed soft plastic boots, and there is also a gorgeous shield carrying a sun or starburst design found on the lid of a box in what is almost certainly the tomb of Alexander's father; the design has been adopted in stylized form as the state symbol of the modern (Slavic) nation of (recently Northern) Macedonia, much to the annoyance of modern Greeks. The sculpted items are given an even more detailed treatment, making them look more weathered and worn, most notably in the case of the scratched and dented shield. The body used is the seamless M35, which has finely sculpted muscles and veins; it is, however, incomplete, missing both the feet and the genitalia.

Historicity. There are no known contemporary portraits of Alexander, but his successors legitimized themselves through him and produced plenty, which were copied in the Roman period. They are consistent in his basic appearance, with a high forehead, somewhat sunken heavy-lidded eyes, and a very Greek nose (almost no indent below the forehead). Neither set has a head sculpt that looks like this (on the other hand, I had a high school classmate named Kingsley who did). The sculpted hair in the Dragon set is more accurate to the traditional portrayals of Alexander than the longer straight locks of the TBLeague set. In both cases, the armor is based on the 2004 film, and that in turn on two sources: the famous Issus mosaic from Pompeii (agreed to be based on an earlier Greek painting) for the armor (see HERE), and the so-called "Alexander" or "Abdalonymos" sarcophagus from Sidon, now in Istanbul for the lion-headed helmet (see HERE). The mosaic shows a painted head of the gorgon Medusa over the chest; the Dragon set replaces this with a sculpted lion's face, while the TBLeague set has a gorgon head, but sculpted in relief in a rather modern, abstract style; this does seem to be based, at least loosely, on what was seen in the 2004 film. Alexander was considered to be fairly short, but both bodies used here translate as just over six feet in 1:1.

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Paint
Here again we are dealing with apples and oranges, if nothing else on account of the year of production. The Dragon set has a fairly basic paint application, flat treatment to the hair (which does not help the already relatively simple sculpted locks), and the dreaded "doll dot" in the glossy eyes. The paint treatment is not extended to the remainder of the figure's body, much of which (excepting the rubbery seamless legs) is shiny and toy-like. The paint application to the rest of the sculpted items is pretty neat, though not overly so. Metallic items are given a dull silverish color, non-metallic ones are in tones of brown and beige. The overall effect is rather drab, but there isn't much, if any, actual weathering (except perhaps a little on the boots). TBLeague has done better, but then again it is doing so almost 16 years later. The eyes are glossy, the eyebrows painted seemingly with individual strokes for each hair. The painted sculpted detail is sharper, and there is more weathering (rather too much on the white plumes); in fact, it is near perfect. The TBLeague helmet's color is more accurate to the 2004 film.

Historicity. Alexander was considered to be relatively fair and ruddy, where the Dragon set makes him a bit yellowish, while the TBLeague one quite tan. Alexander's hair was light for a Greek but still something we would consider light brown, possibly auburn; both sets make him look blonde -- and even more so than the bad dye job on Colin Farrell in the film. The armor from the Issus mosaic appears to be white colored, and that is more accurately conveyed by the TBLeague set.

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Articulation
The Dragon set uses a body that has very decent articulation. However, the head and neck are one piece, and if there is an ab crunch, it is rendered impossible by the armor. The seamless rubber-covered knees can bend to about 90 degrees. The TBLeague set uses M35, a very muscular but also very fully articulated body. It is only slightly hindered here, and for the most part performs very well. There is one significant drawback, shared by both sets: the one-piece sculpted boots. Although in both cases there are molded from soft plastic, that is enough to hinder ankle articulation and to make achieving sure-footed poses difficult. Dragon has the excuse of having made this in 2004, but TBLeague should have known better.

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Accessories
The sets are both fairly limited in accessories. The Dragon set has the lion-headed helmet with two plumes and a crest (which you have to attach), the sword, the scabbard on its leather (or leather-like) baldric, and the long spear (you fit the two halves together), as well as the removable molded hair wig. The TBLeague set has the lion-headed helmet (crest and plumes come attached), the sword, the scabbard which buttons onto the outfit, and the shield (on which see above), as well as the extra pairs of hands, making three pairs total (relaxed, grip, and fists).

Historicity. The lion-headed helmet is an odd piece known from the Alexander Sarcophagus, which can be shown to take various liberties with reality -- Alexander fights in a long-sleeved tunic but no armor, while his troops are shown heroically nude. The lion-headed helmet is a blatant reference to Alexander's much advertised descent from Herakles (Hercules), although that does not mean he didn't have and wear such a helmet at least on occasion. More typically, we would expect Alexander to have worn a Boeotian helmet (the shape of which is derived from a sunhat, see HERE), and he is in fact portrayed wearing one in at least one statue; it was also standard for his fellow cavalrymen. The two plumes on the helmet, however, are attested in the sources. Neither sword resembles what is shown in the Issus mosaic, but the TBLeague set's sword and scabbard are accurate to what is seen in the 2004 film. However, they should have been suspended on a baldric, as in the Dragon set, instead of being buttoned to the outfit. The ARH Alexander statue also has a baldric. The TBLeague shield is gorgeous, but questionable. For one thing, the rope that goes around inside the circumference of the shield's inner side is sculpted as part of that surface. For another, it is unclear that the sun or starburst design would have been found on a shield, and if so, that it would not have been simply painted on. Alexander's father's tomb does contain a very elaborately decorated shield (probably a parade piece, as it is likely to have been impractical in battle), complete with a sculpture group in the center and geometric decoration round the edges. As a cavalryman, it is possible that Alexander did not carry a shield, strange as it is for us to imagine. On the other hand, the long spear (22 inches in 1:6 = 11 feet in 1:1) might be appropriate for a cavalryman's lance (kontos); it is perhaps too long for a standard hoplite spear (about 8 feet) and too short for a Macedonian sarissa (about 16 feet). But there is room for variation here, and all this assumes (perhaps wrongly) that the companies did their homework.

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Outfit
Dragon's Alexander wears what appears to be a beige long-sleeved tunic with pleated fabric pteryges (flaps) at the waist and shoulders; there are also beige boxer shorts. TBLeague's Alexander appears to be wearing a sleeveless short tunic (khiton) which is actually a sort of muscle shirt and white briefs, with a leather skirt of pteryges on top. Dragon's cape is beige and clean; TBLeague's is white but distressed (tattered and weathered) and blood stained, in what seems to me a somewhat unrealistic fashion. The Dragon cape is better designed at the front, while the TBLeague one has too much material showing on the front and not realistically bunched tight under the fastening; it does, however, have a wire, allowing for some options in how it hangs (though it does tend to rise up in an annoying manner). TBLeague's Alexander has also been given "wrist armors" that appear to be as decorative as they are (allegedly) functional; you have to put these on the figure yourself. Both Alexanders wear riding boots, the main difference being added detail in the TBLeague set.

Historicity. In the 2004 film, Alexander wears a white long-sleeved tunic without pteryges at the shoulders, and a beige (but not very dark beige) cape; neither set gets this right, although in some scenes there is a sleeveless variant that would fit TBLeague's look. In the Issus mosaic, both the long-sleeved tunic and the cloak are a darkish color (certainly not white), but there are white leather pteryges at both shoulders and waist. The sarcophagus is not of much help, since it shows Alexander unrealistically fighting in just a long-sleeved tunic and boots; but it does confirm the long sleeves and the traces of color suggest a darkish, reddish hue. Again, neither set gets this right. The undergarments provided in both sets are for modern sensibilities -- the Greeks did have undergarments (like loin-cloths) of sorts, except they wore them instead of, rather than beneath, the other clothing. The "wrist armors" that come with the TBLeague set are pure fantasy (as so often, probably ARH's fault), although probably far more interesting and appropriate to our modern eyes than any more conventional bracelets that might have been worn as a sign of wealth and/or rank. On the plus side, neither set tried to put Alexander in pants, as some modern fantasy might imagine him. Late in his reign he made various concessions to eastern fashions in his dress (now that he was also king of Persians, etc., not just Greeks), but he drew the line at wearing pants... apparently that was considered both barbaric and effeminate!

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Fun Factor
I suppose that depends on your expectations and experience. Neither Alexander really has anyone to play with, both have some difficulty standing in any action poses, and the keen-eyed historian might spot a problem or two. Yet, for fairly simple sets, these are pretty fully kitted out figures with plenty of historical or fantastical detail. They can be fun in themselves, or as a basis for more creative kitbashing.

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Value
The Dragon set is almost 16 years old, so fairly difficult to find. Ebay listings have it to $90 (USD) or more, plus shipping. This is a very decent price today, although the set is both limited and has not aged particularly well. But an ambitious customizer could probably do a lot with it. The new TBLeague set can be found for as little as $145 (USD), plus shipping. This is relatively light for a high end figure today, then again the set doesn't have a ton of accessories, a stand, or a backdrop, unlike some of TBLeague's more ambitious offerings.

Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures Agdt1010

Things to watch out for
Not much in either set. The items are either sturdy enough or flexible enough to be reasonably safe when handling with a modicum of consideration.

Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures Agdt1110

Overall
I did not expect very much from either set. I knew the Dragon one was going to come with a dated body type and sculpting technique/technology, and I could see the shortcuts (pleats instead of pteryges, for example); and I could see how TBLeague's was a cross between the 2004 film version and some sort of ARH fantasy in TBLeague interpretation, falling far short of historical reality or plausibility. But partly thinking I might customize them, partly thinking of kitbashing, I got both and don't regret it. I haven't done anything to either yet, perhaps because I like them enough as is. Neither set is egregiously expensive at present, and if you like what you see, or the historical character (however mythologized), or want to customize the sets, you might find them worthwhile.

Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures Agdt1210

Where to buy
As always, you can look or a deal on eBay, and that will likely be the only place where you can easily find any of the Dragon set; for the TBLeague set you can also check out the following:

Big Bad Toy Store for $145
Cotswold Collectibles for $146
Monkey Depot for $145
Timewalker Toys for $146

Hope this has been useful. What do you think?

#alexander #great #macedon #historical #dragon #tbleague #phicen #male #ancient #review
I first posted this thread (actually two separate threads with a gap of nine months combined here into one) back in 2007 on SAG and 6th D. Now I'm going waayyy back in time. You might say that posting these threads was what first got me engaged in sharing with the 1/6 community, even though I had been in the hobby for a while already.

I've aggregated the posts and also added some more pics I didn't show before. Because of the length this is broken up into multiple posts. If you post a reply while I'm in the middle of getting all these posts out I may not respond until the end.

Please bear in mind that when I speak in the present tense in the posts I am referring to events in 2007-8. The project was a "great leap forward" in teaching me new skills at the time. It was also what got me into RC flying, as mentioned in another thread.




I got a serious case of "Schwimmer envy" last month before the new DML Schwimmwagen was rolled out. Believe me, I was sorely tempted to shell out the money to get it, but in the end paying $300 for a static model car was just too much, no matter how nice. So I took out my ol' 21C Schwimmwagen which had been buried in a closet for the last six years, and started thinking about what I could do to it with that kind of money. I decided I wanted to make it RC. Hey, it may be ugly, but at least it'll go! Plus with a little work maybe it won't look half bad, as many of you have demonstrated with your superb work on your own 21C Schwimmers.

With some help from the friendly folks at a local Hobbytown, I figured out that the components from a Traxxas Bandit are almost a perfect fit for the 21C Schwimmer. Of course, it has to be totally hacked apart to do that, so there's no turning back once you start!

The 21C Schwimmer is almost meant to be motorized. The cavernous spaces in the hood and the trunk that give the toy its unfortunate Dumbo shape, the incredibly durable plastic, the ugly but tough and true-spinning monster truck tires, the fact that the whole thing comes apart with screws--I'll bet they designed it that way so they would have the option of motorizing it like the Stuart. From what I know of taking apart the DML Kubel ambulance (yes I bought an extra one to cannibalize for parts), the DML Schwimmer probably is glued together REALLY well and is not meant to be taken apart. I think it would require a lot more work to convert one of those, and I dare say it might be too difficult to be worth it. Plus, it'd break my heart to hack apart something that cost so much and looks so nice!

Here are some pics I took as I was working. I'm actually farther along and need to take some more pics, but I thought I'd show these first.

That familiar "bathtub" chassis, before cutting:
Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures 2007-08-11DSCN10620002
Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures 2007-08-11DSCN10630003
Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures 2007-08-11DSCN10640001

The initial cuts (the front wheel wells needed further enlarging to accommodate steering, as I later discovered):
Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures 2007-08-21DSCN10660006

Motor/transmission, receiver, electronic speed control, and steering components installed:
Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures 2007-09-19DSCN10700001

By the way, the steering servo and components were perfect for the Schwimmer! They are actually turned around so that the original front end of the Bandit faces the rear, and because of that car's unique configuration it can be mounted at an angle that fits PERFECTLY in the available space. And the shocks end up vertical, because they start out angled back on the Bandit. Here's a closer look:
Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures 2007-09-20DSCN10790018
Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures 2007-09-20DSCN10760015

Here's a close up of the rear, with the transmission/motor, receiver and ESC:
Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures 2007-09-20DSCN10780017
Topics tagged under dragon on OneSixthFigures 2007-09-20DSCN10770016

I ended up replacing the original Traxxas 12T motor that came with the Bandit, because that thing was WAY too fast. In fact, it's advertised as capable of hitting 35+ mph, although my own trials (I took it out to play with twice before its surgery!) suggest it was closer to 25-30 mph. That's a scale speed of 150+ mph! Considering the 1:1 Schwimmer had a top speed of 50 mph, and probably rarely went more than 30 or 40 cross country, and I had to find a motor with lower rpm but more torque. I went with one of those cheap silver can motors ($12), which has about a 25-27 turn that effectively cuts the speed by more than half with appropriate gearing. Still, even 12-15 mph is too fast, as it should be less than 8 to be scale speed. Luckily, the Traxxas ESC comes with a programmable "learner's mode" that chops the output by 50%, which drops the Schwimmer down into the range.

#ww2 #wwii #custom #vehicle #RC #german #21c #dragon
To help with sorting and searching through this forum as we accumulate more and more topics (threads), I invite all members posting a new topic to add hashtags at the end of the first post. If you have already created a topic, you can go back to it, and edit the first post to include the hashtags of your choice. I have gone through a few topics started by others and myself and included some hashtags as a test, but feel free to add more of your own, where applicable. We do not seem to be limited in number of hashtags, so some redundancy is ok (e.g., both #lordoftherings and #lotr).

By clicking on a hashtag, you will be able to see all topics (threads) tagged with it -- you will be taken to a page containing the first posts in these topics (there may be further posts with additional info and images, so you might want to enter the respective topics and follow through). In Profile you can follow specific hashtags of your choice.

Working list of common hashtags below. You are not limited to this, and feel free to supply additional suggestions; so as to minimize the number of hits during searches, please do not put the # in front of your suggestions, which I will integrate into the list. At any rate this should demonstrate the principle of the thing. There are basically three types of hashtags that would apply: descriptive (like #historical or #outdoors), franchise (like #starwars or #aliens), and maker (like #easyandsimple or #hottoys).



#aci
#addtoys
#aliens
#ancient
#animal
#artoys
#asmus
#astronaut
#avengers
#bandai
#blitzway
#body
#casting
#cm
#cgl
#civilian
#clothing
#collection
#comic
#coomodel
#custom
#dam
#dc
#did
#diorama
#discussion
#display
#dragon
#droid
#dwarf
#earlymodern
#easyandsimple
#eleven
#enterbay
#event
#fantasy
#female
#fiction
#film
#firegirl
#forrestgump
#furniture
#futuristic
#game
#gameofthrones
#got
#hair
#hasbro
#head
#historical
#hottoys
#horror
#humor
#jamesbond
#jurassicpark
#kausticplastik
#kimi
#kitbash
#kumik
#lethalweapon
#lordoftherings
#lego
#lotr
#magiccube
#male
#marvel
#mattel
#medieval
#metalwork
#military
#minitimes
#modern
#modification
#napoleonic
#newproduct
#ninja
#outdoors
#painting
#pangaea
#phicen
#pirate
#photostory
#playtoy
#police
#powerteamelite
#productreview
#pte
#qmx
#quality
#quest
#question
#repurpose
#robot
#scifi
#sculpting
#seamless
#sewing
#sideshow
#soldierstory
#spiderman
#starace
#startrek
#starwars
#superduck
#superhero
#superman
#tbleague
#terminator
#threezero
#tool
#tv
#uniform
#vehicle
#verycool
#vietnam
#vts
#walkingdead
#warning
#warrior
#weapon
#wolverine
#woodwork
#worldbox
#ww1
#ww2
#xmen
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