Just wondering how many are customizing or planning on customizing their Indy figures. Some have already swapped heads with the Crystal Skull Indy with its exceptionally articulated body and the Cairo Indy head for a better classic Indy. Some other ideas I had was to make an Indy in German Disguise when a good "hatless" classic Indy is released and to put some swastikas and emblems on my German soldiers. I really want the blond German guy who loses his hat trying to stop Indy from hijacking the truck. Monkey Man could use his motorcycle too, although we could potentially see this as a deluxe figure in a later release along with Indy and Henry with sidecar. What ideas do you have?
Indy and Henry w/German motorcycle
Flying Wing Vehicle w/pilot and wheel chocks
Deluxe Indy w/elephant
Temple of Doom Rope Bridge "Battle Pack" w/Indy, Willie, Shorty, Mola Ram and Thuggee Warrior on bridge diorama
Raven Bar Marion
Toht
Dietrich
Belloq in White w/hat
Deluxe Mine Carts (one w/Thuggees, one with the heroes)
I was wondering if any of the 21st Century Toys Ultimate Soldier 1/32 scale figures could be used for customizing German soldiers. I would like to make a decent Dietrich that would stand out from the generic officers since they all look the same. I definitely want some more variety. I was disappointed that the deluxe 2-pack is the same as the regular carded figure just one has a darker shade of green tunic. That's the one I'm planning to use for Indy in disguise. The bazooka I will try to customize from an Ultimate Soldier since the one included with KOTCS Indy is a Russian RPG-7 and the one Indy uses in Raiders is actually a kitbash of 2 or 3 different bazookas, all of which were historically inacurate for the period. I hope Hasbro makes a Flying Wing and the tank from Last Crusade but who knows. Perhaps there are some other Ultimate Soldiers vehicles to use to customize.
All I've done so far is make the articulated Cairo Indy, like many others. I don't like the map room Indys head sculpt so I plan on getting a hatless Indy and making a real fabric turbin for him. But that's all I can think of so far.
One of the great "no-brainer" customs would be the German Messerschmitt 109 fighter plane from Last Crusade. Just buy and repaint one of the 21st Century Toy versions...Even comes with a 3 3/4" scale pilot!
One of the great "no-brainer" customs would be the German Messerschmitt 109 fighter plane from Last Crusade. Just buy and repaint one of the 21st Century Toy versions...Even comes with a 3 3/4" scale pilot!
Not much but I did see a German Wermact soldier from 21st Century Ultimate Soldier that could possibly be used to replace the heads. You would have to remove the neck and dremel it to fit on the ball joint neck. Plus he comes with removeable hats.
I picked up a second KOTCS jacket Indy and swapped out the head with the one from the deluxe Pitfall Indy. Instead of using tape like tnswman, I coated the balljoint on the neck with a layer of Liquitex clear coat to tighten up the joint and it worked great! I assume something like clear nail polish might also work. I also removed his jacket and put the bag on underneath it for a more authentic Raiders look. Here he is:
I picked up a second KOTCS jacket Indy and swapped out the head with the one from the deluxe Pitfall Indy. Instead of using tape like tnswman, I coated the balljoint on the neck with a layer of Liquitex clear coat to tighten up the joint and it worked great! I assume something like clear nail polish might also work. I also removed his jacket and put the bag on underneath it for a more authentic Raiders look. Here he is:
Very nice! That's what I'm planning to do, except I'll swap the KOTCS jacket for the Pitfall jacket, since the Pitfall jacket has a nice dusty/weathered look.
I made a custom ROTLA Indy too, it was the Indy w/idol, I was didpleased with his lack of a neck, so I got the ball joint wet, put hot melted glue in the indys head and put it back on the joint at the height I wanted his head to be, adn when the glue dried in a manner of secconds, ther it was! And I re did his belt, the holster was cracking off his belt so I removed the holster and whip holder and glued them to to a peacie of fabric and made the his new belt, I'm very pleased with it.
Very nice! That's what I'm planning to do, except I'll swap the KOTCS jacket for the Pitfall jacket, since the Pitfall jacket has a nice dusty/weathered look.
I thought of doing that exact thing but, on the Pitfall Indy, the bag is sculpted as part of the jacket and the strap for the bag is sculpted as part of the torso of the figure
I thought of doing that exact thing but, on the Pitfall Indy, the bag is sculpted as part of the jacket and the strap for the bag is sculpted as part of the torso of the figure
So why not just cut the bag off the jacket, put the jacket on the much superior KOTCS body, and get rid of the Pitfall body? Or do you still want to save the Pitfall body?
So, is swapping the heads as easy as popping them off and putting them on another body? And you have the option of making the joint tighter by using nail polish?
I'd be interested to see how the head of Cairo Indy would look put on the body of Crystal Skull Indy (with jacket). That's a custom I might consider doing if it would look good.
So, is swapping the heads as easy as popping them off and putting them on another body? And you have the option of making the joint tighter by using nail polish?
I'd be interested to see how the head of Cairo Indy would look put on the body of Crystal Skull Indy (with jacket). That's a custom I might consider doing if it would look good.
The Cairo Indy has a much smaller socket in the head, so it would require some additional work. I am sure you could enlarge the socket with a dremel or something. The Cairo Indy head does fit perfectly on the Raiders Indy w/idol though, with no modifications.
The deluxe heads (pitfall and temple trap) have an ever so slightly larger socket than the KOTCS heads. They do "pop" on to the bodies, and won't fall off, but they are rather loose...kind of lolling around if moved.
Billy, thank you so much for the run-down on the head sizes, which is invaluable knowledge when considering customs.
Putting Cairo Indy's head onto Temple Indy sounds tempting, but how does it look? There's still the no-neck problem, but I would think the face likeness would be better. I might try this, since I ended up with an extra Temple Indy. Would wanna buy an extra Cairo Indy, though, as I don't wanna ruin the one I have.
Also, do the deluxe heads fit snugly on the bodies for the basic Raiders figures?
Finally, do you just pull the heads off, or do you have to use the boil and pop method?
I know how to fix the neck problem, I did with mine, I just made th sockett a bit bigger with an exacto knife, filled the head sockett up with hot glue, got the ball joint wet (so the glue wouldn't stick to it) put the head back on at the height I wanted it to be, got it wet again, and bam, I had an Indy with a neck looks good and moves great.
Billy, thank you so much for the run-down on the head sizes, which is invaluable knowledge when considering customs.
Putting Cairo Indy's head onto Temple Indy sounds tempting, but how does it look? There's still the no-neck problem, but I would think the face likeness would be better. I might try this, since I ended up with an extra Temple Indy. Would wanna buy an extra Cairo Indy, though, as I don't wanna ruin the one I have.
Also, do the deluxe heads fit snugly on the bodies for the basic Raiders figures?
Finally, do you just pull the heads off, or do you have to use the boil and pop method?
Here are a couple of shots of the Cairo Indy head on the Temple Indy and vice versa:
You won't ruin either of these two figures swapping their heads. They pop right off and pop right on and right back on with no problems. No boiling, heating, taping, gluing, cutting, sawing, melting, or crying involved I promise.
And no, the deluxe heads do not fit on either of these figures at all without some sort of major modification. The ball joint on the neck of the two basic Raiders figures are way smaller than any of the other Indy figures.
looks good and moves great.
