12" Figure Questions

[Gregorbian]

Hey guys,
I want to try my hand at making a 12" Commander Bly and a 12" ARC Trooper (ep. II version).  Here are my initial thoughts about how to go about doing this:

Commander Bly:
- 12" ROTS Clone Trooper figure - sand off the insignias
 - Kama: 2 pieces of tan cloth glued to the belt
 - holsters: 2 pistol holsters (probably from those cheap 12" figures at KB Toys) with some sort of straps (probably the same straps from those 12" KB soldier figures) glued to the belt.
 - Visor: I picked up a 12" accessory set from KB Toys that has night vision headgear that could, with a little reworking, serve as a visor for the Commander Bly.  I will probably attach it by using small plastic rods or maybe even screws glued into the sides of the Clone's head (ala Frankenstein, although higher  ).
 - Pauldron - I plan on cutting some oval-ish shapes out of a soda bottle (probably 2 or 3 identical shapes) and then gluing them together to get the proper thickness.  Then I will cut out a slot and a neckhole to slide it onto the Clone Trooper's body.  This will be similar to how the 12" Sandtrooper's Pauldron attaches (or the same as the 3 3/4" ARC Trooper).  I will then add the left part of the pauldron and the rest of the details with some more soda bottle plastic or fake credit cards.

12" ARC Trooper:
- I want to use a more articulated base body than the Ep. II Clone Trooper body, so I bought a Blue Angel Pilot figure from TRU.com for $8 (I think it's called "Elite Force" and looks to be articulated pretty well).  I plan on doing an armor/bodysuit swap onto this new base figure. 
 - Hopefully the helmet will be able to fit over the Pilot base figure - does anybody know how to do headswaps on 12" figures?  I'm pretty sure that boil and pop doesn't work on these guys.  Should I just cut off the Clone's head and hope that it will fit over the pilot's head?  Should I cut off both heads and glue the Clone's head on the Pilot's body?
 - Kama: same recipe as the Commander Bly mentioned above
 - Pauldron - I could possibly use a 12" Sandtrooper pauldron for this custom.  If I can't locate one, then I will try doing the soda bottle method.
 - Antenna - as of right now, I think I will have to use some more soda bottle plastic and just make sure that I glue enough together to get the proper thickness/sturdiness...

Anyway, what do you guys think of these intended projects?  Any advice on making a 12" figure?  The only ones that I have done before are a body swap on the electronic Fett and a few repaints (like the 12" ROTS Clone Trooper that I made a while ago).  I really have no idea what I'm doing with 12" figures and I'm pretty much making it up as I go along, so any ideas/help would be most appreciated!
if my post makes no sense, please excuse me, school isn't being too favorable to me these days 

[darth_ripley]

those sound like great ideas Greg. the only suggestion that i can offer is to really make your 12" "pop" and look more Koto-ish is be sure you get a different body for the Clones. the Hasbro body is too bulky and looks pretty silly i think. i have used a Dragon body for my 12" clone and Biker Scout and i think it looks great. not only that, he now has a head so he can have a removable helmet. i just had to exacto the helmet opening to make it a little bigger.

i actually like working on the 12" for the time being better than the 3 3/4" but they take up more room when you go to display them LOL!

[Gregorbian]

Thanks for the reply Darth_Ripley 

Should I replace the ROTS Clone Trooper body too?  It has a lot more articulation than the AOTC Clone Trooper (although, obviously not as much as a Dragon body).  Are the 21st Century "Elite Force" figures that TRU.com has (the Blue Angels Pilots for $7.50 each) good base bodies?  I've seen a few web sites that sell "nude" 12" Dragon bodies for $8-$11 a piece, should I spring for those?

Thanks for the help!

[darth_ripley]

the Elite Force are good bodies too...very similar to the Dragon ones. Elite Force are made by BBI i believe.  i would definitely change out the ROTS clone body...even though it is better than the AOTC, its still inferior articulation-wise to a Dragon/BBI body.

this is the website i got/get my Dragon heads and bodies from...they are the most reasonable price-wise of anywhere on the web that i have seen and they ship promptly and take Paypal for payments which is nice. they charge $2.95 for Dragon bodies with hands and feet which is quite a good deal

http://www.toysoldierbrigade.com

Look under Body parts and you will find bodies and heads to choose from, if you want to go removable helmet for your clones.

No prob on the help...if you have any more questions, feel free to ask or PM me

[Gregorbian]

Wow, that's a great web site, thanks again!
For the dragon heads, do I just glue them onto the body or do they snap on somehow?

Thanks for all of your help Darth_Ripley! 

[darth_ripley]

no prob Greg, glad i can help you out 

the Dragon heads just snap on the bodies, onto the neck stem and then you can move their heads up, down and side to side

[Gregorbian]

Thanks again, I have my order all set, I just have to wait for my bank account to be fixed (somebody stole my checking card information and cleaned out my $$$  )

[Gregorbian]

I received the parcel from Toy Soldier Brigade (which is actually located about 10 minutes from my girlfriend's house ... too bad they don't have a retail store  ).  Anyway, I just want to thank Darth_Ripley again - those Dragon bodies are amazing! 
I was working on an ARC Trooper custom and I'm pretty much done.  I wasn't able to find any black pouches for his belt, but I am going to try to hit up my storage and dig out my old 12" G.I. Joe figures to see if I can scrounge anything up.  I'll try to post pics tonight 

[darth_ripley]

Glad i could help you out Greg, can't wait to see the finished 12" Arc Trooper 

[Gregorbian]

Alrighty, here's another question for you 12" experts out there 

I transferred the VOTC Boba Fett uniform and helmet to a Dragon body, however I am not sure how to handle the shoes.  I tried heating them up on the VOTC body and popping them off to transfer them to the Dragon body, however the ankle joints are different and incompatible (not to mention that I broke the joints on the boots ).  I have 3 options that I can see right now:
1) cut off most of the Dragon feet (except for a "stub"), drill a hole for the "stub" and glue it into place (this would make the shoes similar to how they were on the VOTC figure - i.e. no separate, removable shoes)
2) Acquire a Collector's Series Boba Fett figure and steal his shoes.  I could probably use the remaining parts for some sort of Mandalorian mercenary custom or something, as it would seem like a waste of a figure just to take his shoes...
3) Shave down existing boots and paint them to resemble the original boots.  I'm not sure how effective this would be and I think it would be a last resort because I think the pliable material that the boots are made of would not allow me to "sculpt" on any of the boot-darts or seams that are present on Fett's shoes...

Any thoughts?

[darth_ripley]

sorry to be late in responding...i'm not much of an expert i'm afraid.
i think your best bet would # 2 Greg. unfortunately it takes a lot of improvising to get the boots to fit a Dragon body right. i think that i ended up cutting them off the Hasbro body & then i modified the Dragon feet to accept the boots. this was all on a clone. i'm working on a Jango 12" now, but he was simple since it was a loose ultimate Jango...i just cut the Dragon feet up here & there.

Good luck with it!