54 replies to this topic

[Iron-Cow]

Hey gang,

About a year ago, I stocked up on several Diamond Select Trek figures in hopes of making a Quark, Nog, Rom, Garek, Soran, Morn, and maybe a few others as custom action figures to be in scale with the Deep Space Nine figure line.

I never got too far with the project, but I'm thinking about revisiting it.

Anyway, here's my question: the characters I mention above... I bought the 5" Playmates figures of all of these, and am thinking about using Hydrospan to cast the parts and scale them up to 7" scale. I've scaled some Star Wars parts up before, and was surprised how crisp the detail is; I'm curious to see how the Playmates parts will look.

Part of the reason I haven't done this yet is the expense of the process, and the time factor going into it. That said, I am toying around with the idea of making extra casts for sale to Trektoy members, if there's people who would be interested.

Now, the Playmates figures have pretty decent sculpts, though a tad on the cartoony side. Still, that might work pretty well with a more realistic paint job and a larger scale.

Before I begin on this, though, I've got two questions:

1) assuming I could offer up extra casts for sale (I'm guessing they'd be in the $15 range for heads), would there be any interest?

and 2) out of ALL the Deep Space Nine merchandise out there, what are the *best* sculpts for characters that never got the figure treatment, regardless of scale. (As in, is the 5" Garek better than the 9" doll version?) I really want to make a Gul Dukat, but I'm not sure what's out there...

I can resize parts from almost any size and get it to the size I need. It's a costly, time consuming process, though, so I wanted to brainstorm ideas with you guys before I go too much further.

Any thoughts? And... thanks in advance!

Matt
aka Iron-Cow

[Tiberius]

There are more 5" figures that were manufactured, but I think the better sculpt (details) are from the 9". I have a 5" Guinan, but find that she looks like a generic black woman, so I bought a larger version to make the attempt. I need silicon before I can get going, but I would rather use that sculpt to try.
I would also like to buy a Tuvok and Janeway, in order to make them into Flashback figures.
Obviously a Morn-like character would have to be taken from the smaller scale...

[TheHSBR]

I would be very interested!As for the characters you listed the only ones you have options for using a bigger scaled head is Garek (9"), Dukat (9"), and Quark (Ertl Model). Of those I think the Dukat and maybe the Quark looks significantly better. Im not really sold on either version of Garek. As for some of your other characters you may not need to resize at all. For Soran you could use a Heroes Mr. Linderman head (its the same actor). Heres my version with my less than perfect painting ability....


I basically resculpted the hair and did my best on the stubble without having an airbrush. The sizing of the head may be a bit big but I think it fits fine.

As for Nog I used a First Contact figures (5.5")body and a 4.5" series 1 ferengi head:


I really liked the way this one came out and since Nog is much smalled, the size change fits pretty good. The likeness isnt all that terrible either! The biggest problem with Nog is that there isnt a good playmates figure to use a base since he was only produced as a pack in figure.

So in short I am very interested and feel free to post any other questions!!

[Iron-Cow]

Hmmmm.... I looked up the 9" Gul Dukat, and you're right: that does look pretty sweet. I think I could even scale down the chest piece, too.

The Jem'Hadar has possibilities, too.

Is there a complete gallery of the 9" stuff that's available? I tried looking on eBay, but most of the pics are kinda small, or in the box. Personally, I'm only interested in the DS9 characters, but if someone has a set that they wouldn't mind letting me borrow so I can remold them, I can make you a set of DST-scaled casts for free in return? Just tossing out ideas.

Still, I do see some possibilities:

-Kira (pre-Nemesis outfit hairdo)
-Gul Dukat
-Jem'Hadar (though the rest of the outfit would still need figuring out)
-Voyager characters?
-Garek (though the likeness on the 9" looks a bit off?)
-Guinan
-Quark vinyl model kit?
...any others?


And TheHSBR - I love that Nog custom of yours! I saw that photo ages ago, and it's what got me wanting to expand the line. I want to try and scale up the tiny Nog pack-in figure just to see if it's salvageable, but if not I've got that exact Ferengi head on standby to use as well. Great recipe!

[data_2006]

I also would be very intrested in any costum figures you can offer to expand the DST line!

[TheHSBR]

Mark has some great photos of all the playmates stuff on trektoy.com. BadBunnyMike has also done a great job here: http://www.newforcecomics.com/trekref/ Between those two sites you should be able to find whatever you need. I personally cant help you with the 9" stuff but any of the 4.5" stuff you are welcome to.

[Iron-Cow]

Cool.... thanks for the links!

I know I definitely want to add a Gul Dukat to my shelf and some point, along with Quark and some of the other major DS9 characters.

Amazon has the 9" Dukat fairly cheap, so I might invest in that to see how it looks scaled down.

How big of a demand is there for the Voyager stuff? Did they ever make those uniforms for the DS9 crew?

[Andy]

Cool.... thanks for the links!

I know I definitely want to add a Gul Dukat to my shelf and some point, along with Quark and some of the other major DS9 characters.

Amazon has the 9" Dukat fairly cheap, so I might invest in that to see how it looks scaled down.

How big of a demand is there for the Voyager stuff? Did they ever make those uniforms for the DS9 crew?

Just my two cents: the 12" model Quark is much better than the Playmates version. Garak is better looking in the smaller scale.

Also, Count me in for whatever you come up with!

[TheHSBR]

I would actually be more interested in the Voyager stuff than the DS9. They never made the uniforms from the series but others on the boards like Gothneo and JMW have done some pretty nice recreations of them using the Nem mould. My interest would be to create EU stuff using the standard NEM uniform. I can tell you from the polls I took before when we contemplated having the heads custom scuplted and then cast there was a pretty good chunk of interest in VOY. That was almost a year ago though.

[WORF22]

i have the Quark vinyl model kit going to scale him down soon.

[Iron-Cow]

i have the Quark vinyl model kit going to scale him down soon.

Oops... apparently now, so do I. Just won one super cheap off ebay.

I'll keep you posted if I can scale him down any time soon and it'll save us both some effort. Probably grabbing the 9" Dukat today as well, to do them both at the same time. I wish Dukat's chest armor were closer in shape to the tv version, but I'll see what I can do...

Matt
aka Iron-Cow

[WORF22]

Oops... apparently now, so do I. Just won one super cheap off ebay.

I'll keep you posted if I can scale him down any time soon and it'll save us both some effort. Probably grabbing the 9" Dukat today as well, to do them both at the same time. I wish Dukat's chest armor were closer in shape to the tv version, but I'll see what I can do...

Matt
aka Iron-Cow

I ran home at lunch time, took some pics.

Dr. Carson Beckett
Anubis head
7 of 9
Quark



















as far as Nog i took a page from HSBR's book.

[data_2006]

They all look really good! are these the scaled versions or molds of the original size?

[Tiberius]

I was thinking last night, that TOS figures might be a good body for the smaller Ferengi. I think you could use the upper body articulation for the top coat, and have the rest of the shirt part of the rigid torso. I was thinking this might also work, if you cut the TOS shirt to the shape of the jacket, and add some Greenstuff to make collars. I know it will stick to the rubber, as I have made pockets for my T&T Odo/Worf on top of the rubber skirts.

[Iron-Cow]

Hey, WORF22... those are looking great!

And, Tiberius: I love the idea of the TOS figures. I actually have a bunch extra of those I was thinking about selling, but I'll see if I can use one for Quark first.

Right now I have the Quark model and the 9" Gul Dukat on their way to me. I'll see how many of the parts I can mold, as well as scaling up Garek and possibly Morn from the 5" line. Can't wait to see how these turn out. I reeeeeeeally miss DS9.

[WORF22]

They all look really good! are these the scaled versions or molds of the original size?

molds of the original 12" size heads well a cast of them i should say.

[Iron-Cow]

Food for thought... There is a Captain Janeway mini-bust out there, right? Wouldn't that be the best headsculpt to recast/shrink down?

[WORF22]

ferengi attire

[Gothneo]

aaaah! Late to the party here!

But yeah, I'd buy some good cast's of Quark, Nog, Jake, and pretty much any other DS9 character you do Iron Cow!

and yeah... that Quark head looks good Worf22!

[Matty-lad]

Hey all,

You can count me in for anything that expands the DST figure line.


Take care,
Matty-lad