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Post by ikkiphoenix on Aug 29, 2017 8:58:15 GMT -6
Hey, I recently got a KO Megahouse No. 18 statue, that I am very happy with, except for one thing —the legs. They're way too long. About 3/8 of an inch.They are disproportionate to the rest of the body. So I want to mod it and shorten the legs a bit. I was wondering if you guys had any tips. I'm thinking that the best way to go about it is to Dremel the legs off at the boot-length. And then drill into the boots, make a bigger (but equal) cavity in each boot, about 1/2 to 3/8 of an inch, and thus fix the legs and make her more accurate to the character/likeness... and I know this statue is not exactly accurate in all the "proportions"  . But the other disproportions I don't mind too much. The legs, on the other hand, are an eye sore. I measured the arms's lengths, and they are the same length as the No. 18 SFH, yet her legs are way long in comparison. The proportions are off, plain and simple.   It should be easy enough. |
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Post by ikkiphoenix on Aug 29, 2017 9:05:43 GMT -6
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Post by Branjita on Aug 29, 2017 10:40:40 GMT -6
To me the legs are the best part, the chest is the part I couldn't live with, but that's off-topic I guess. It's very likely that the boots are a separate piece from the legs. If so, you just need to put the legs in freshly boiled water (2 minutes in the microwave for 1 cup of water, 4.5 to 5 minutes for 2 cups of water in a glass measuring cup) for about 45 seconds, dry them off and shake the hot water out, then pull the boots off while holding a towel to protect yourself from a boiling hot drip of water on your skin. Then you can simply use an x-acto knife and slice through the hot plastic of the legs like slicing through a hotdog. Don't microwave the figure, just the water. And there's likely pegs on the bottom of the legs, and you could either quickly half-ass the job by slicing the bottom of the legs off and super glue the boots on or trim the pegs and then be all fancy and extend the length of the leg by slicing the leg like a longer peg. Then you could just snap the figure back together if you did a very neat, precise job.
You could use a hair dryer instead of boiled water, but it takes longer and I only use a hair dryer when the figure is too large to fit in a glass measuring cup. I find using a hair dryer extremely inconvenient and a big waste of my time and effort generally.
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Post by ikkiphoenix on Aug 29, 2017 11:06:01 GMT -6
To me the legs are the best part, the chest is the part I couldn't live with, but that's off-topic I guess. It's very likely that the boots are a separate piece from the legs. If so, you just need to put the legs in freshly boiled water (2 minutes in the microwave for 1 cup of water, 4.5 to 5 minutes for 2 cups of water in a glass measuring cup) for about 45 seconds, dry them off and shake the hot water out, then pull the boots off while holding a towel to protect yourself from a boiling hot drip of water on your skin. Then you can simply use an x-acto knife and slice through the hot plastic of the legs like slicing through a hotdog. Don't microwave the figure, just the water. And there's likely pegs on the bottom of the legs, and you could either quickly half-ass the job by slicing the bottom of the legs off and super glue the boots on or trim the pegs and then be all fancy and extend the length of the leg by slicing the leg like a longer peg. Then you could just snap the figure back together if you did a very neat, precise job. You could use a hair dryer instead of boiled water, but it takes longer and I only use a hair dryer when the figure is too large to fit in a glass measuring cup. I find using a hair dryer extremely inconvenient and a big waste of my time and effort generally. Great, thanks. I have never boiled plastic to the point that it could be cut straight without a saw, but I would think that boiling the plastic to that point, that it could potentially present a whole new set of problems as well. For instance, it could elongate/stretch the legs at the knee & thigh, and disfigure it. It could also melt the paint application or "boil" the plastic/paint around the knee area which is the area that will be exposed. Then again, I have next to zero experience working with PVC and customizing figures & statues. My exp. lies in smithing & machining, and it mostly entails cutting & polishing. Having said that, I am very crafty with a Dremel and a drill. I have fixed many a figure with the smallest of drill bits and done magic/miracles. I definitely feel more confident using those tools. And in this case, since the sawed off part would be out of sight, I think it would work just fine. Also, for some reason the legs don't look that long in the pictures, but trust me, in person, they look really, really long. The arm length's are exactly the same length as the SH Figuarts No. 18, yet the legs are over an inch longer. |
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Post by Branjita on Aug 29, 2017 15:08:02 GMT -6
Well, I put a lot of figures into freshly boiled water and have almost never had an issue. I haven't done this particular figure, but it's unlikely to be unique. I've been customizing DBZ figures since 2001, though Irwin DBZ and Jakks DBZ ones mostly. You shouldn't be dipping the figure deep enough to deform the entire leg(s), as you only need to submerge the area just above the boots. If things deform, the plastic will be soft enough to re-situate the figure into the position you want the legs. You can then put it under cold running water in the sink or freeze it. See this video here dragonballfigures.com/post/161/threadGenerally, if doing this, I would boil, yank the boots off, trim the legs after making them have replacement extended pegs to go in the boots (or slice the peg off and plan to glue), and then put the legs back in the water so they'd be pliable enough for me to reposition them to go in the boots. Don't overlook the fact that when you take off 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of material, the figure is no longer going to (likely) stand properly anymore, and so you'll either have to (1) cut a little, put the boots on, cut a little more, put the boots on, and then cut at angles to get the boots to stand properly or (2) cut and then try to deform the legs to account for the change in angles and all that. That figure is in a very unusual pose, and it's not going to be a simple straight cut that solves this. It's never a simple straight cut honestly. It takes trial and error as well as pre-planning the angles to cut. |
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Post by ikkiphoenix on Aug 29, 2017 15:52:18 GMT -6
Well, I put a lot of figures into freshly boiled water and have almost never had an issue. I haven't done this particular figure, but it's unlikely to be unique. I've been customizing DBZ figures since 2001, though Irwin DBZ and Jakks DBZ ones mostly. You shouldn't be dipping the figure deep enough to deform the entire leg(s), as you only need to submerge the area just above the boots. If things deform, the plastic will be soft enough to re-situate the figure into the position you want the legs. You can then put it under cold running water in the sink or freeze it. See this video here dragonballfigures.com/post/161/threadGenerally, if doing this, I would boil, yank the boots off, trim the legs after making them have replacement extended pegs to go in the boots (or slice the peg off and plan to glue), and then put the legs back in the water so they'd be pliable enough for me to reposition them to go in the boots. Don't overlook the fact that when you take off 1/4 to 1/2 an inch of material, the figure is no longer going to (likely) stand properly anymore, and so you'll either have to (1) cut a little, put the boots on, cut a little more, put the boots on, and then cut at angles to get the boots to stand properly or (2) cut and then try to deform the legs to account for the change in angles and all that. That figure is in a very unusual pose, and it's not going to be a simple straight cut that solves this. It's never a simple straight cut honestly. It takes trial and error as well as pre-planning the angles to cut. Thanks for the great tips. Yeah, I think I'll do that... to try to pull the boots off using boiling water. And yes, I did think about the fact that the balance will shift, and it will be a bit of a challenge to keep the same stance with the same exact angle, but I'm up for the challenge. That stand is pretty sturdy though. It has two small pegs on the left foot, whereas the right foot has no pegs at all (and the boot can be moved anywhere) so I'm confident that I can make it work, But if the boots have upward pointing pegs, then I might be able to drill new female peg-holes into the leg again. Becasue frankly I don't see the point of gluing pegs, I would just glue the stub into the boot int hat case, i don't really plan on removing it later anyhow. |
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Post by ikkiphoenix on Aug 30, 2017 8:19:06 GMT -6
Ok, so, just to review, I should dip it in the boiling water for about 45 seconds, only? And dip the whole boot portion, right? Let the water come inside the cavity?
Thank you
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Post by Branjita on Aug 30, 2017 8:47:47 GMT -6
Yeah, did you watch the video in that post I linked to? I didn't watch it with the sound on, but that's pretty much the same process.
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Post by ikkiphoenix on Aug 30, 2017 9:17:52 GMT -6
Yeah, did you watch the video in that post I linked to? I didn't watch it with the sound on, but that's pretty much the same process. Oh shoot. No, but I just watched it. That link has a lot of great tips. Thanks again. OK, it seems easy enough. Ill take the boots off later, and report back Also. is that your video? Do you think that Gogeta got soft enough to be cut straight with an Xacto knife? |
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Post by Branjita on Aug 30, 2017 9:42:11 GMT -6
Yeah, that's my video. I would have left him in there longer if I wanted to cut through his entire leg. All plastics are different. Your Android 18 probably only needs about 45 seconds, and if it needs more, that's fine too. It might only need 20 seconds. You can always dip it in the water longer. You just don't want to let it soak for minutes at a time unless you have to. I might leave a Jakks Goku figure in the water for 4 minutes, just because I know nothing is going to happen and it's going to make the hard plastic torso easier to pop open.
With your 18 being a bootleg, the paint could bubble if left in the water that long. It's all an experiment. Do as little time as you can and see if you can yank the boots off and if not, soak it longer, try again, etc.
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Post by ikkiphoenix on Aug 30, 2017 12:05:58 GMT -6
So, I did it. Mission success. I did run into some bumps along the road, but overall it turned out OK. 1. The back/heel of one of the boots did melt a little and the paint came off the rear heel (but no biggie, nothing a little paint cant fix) 2. The legs ended up snapping off at the ankles when i tried to remove the boots. (But still much better than cutting/sawing at the leg like I was going ot do) 3. And I punctured one of the boots, (right front) while I took the polishing head of the Dremel inside to make a bigger cavity. (but it doesn't look bad, then I added a bit of toe rub on the boot and it just looks like a bit of battle damage after she finished kicking vegeta's ass, literally) And she looks like she's just finished checking out the damage on her boot But all in all I'm happy. The figure looks much, much better. i don't think you can appreciate it unless you actually have one on hand and see just how long the legs are. And this is a problem with both the bootleg and the authentic as many people gripe about it. Another huge plus is thta I fixed the stance and she can stand without a base now, which is another huge plus in my book. There was no way in chance she could stand before, not even a little, and again, this is true to the authentic as well. Which BTW, this bootleg is the best DB knock off I have ever seen. I hioghly recommend it, it is literally 99% true to the OG. And they're going for around $25 right now versus 100+ for the authentic. But anyway, please excuse the crappy cell phone pics. Also I havent glued the stubs/legs into the boots yet, but she stands perfectly, and proportionate from the waste down     Also, the stance has the same exact angle from the booty up. |
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Post by ikkiphoenix on Sept 1, 2017 10:20:12 GMT -6
I wound up sealing the punctured hole in the right boot, and polishing it, so I just gotta touch it up with some paint now. I also fixed the rim around the boots and made em much more realistic looking. Overall I am really happy with this statue now. Cause A) the leg anatomy is correct now and B) she stands freely without the need of her stand, which was 100% impossible before. She measures just a little over 6" (versus 7.5" out of the box):   |
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. But the other disproportions I don't mind too much. The legs, on the other hand, are an eye sore. I measured the arms's lengths, and they are the same length as the No. 18 SFH, yet her legs are way long in comparison. The proportions are off, plain and simple.
