Well, I've owned a Dragon 1/6 scale "Pete" F-14 Tomcat pilot for going on six years now. Over time, I've accidently busted his helmet, swapped it out for one that doesn't fit, lost some of his kit, and have generally given up on him.
Well, this week I started looking at the Hot Toys, F-14 "Tom Cruise Lookin' dude" pilot. I didn't want to shell out $150 for the figure, so I've decided to go my own route and upgrade my current Dragon Pilot to a mid to late 80's VF-84 pilot to showcase with the upcoming JSI release.
First things first.
1. Had to get rid of that "Pieter Panzer-schnitzel" head that Dragon seemed to slap on all their guys in the early 2000's. Bought an aftermarket painted head from Hong Kong and feel it'll be a HUGE improvement. Very happy with this one.
2. Lost Pete's .45. Well, got a Twilight .45 from the Monkey. Diecast metal with plastic grips, spring-loaded slide action and two removable mags. Cool
3. Ditched the broken HGU-68 and HGU-55 helmets and decided to go more old school with a white HGU-33 and MBU-12 mask. Helmet will be masked and painted with Testor's yellow and multiple gloss coats. Picked up decal paper also to do the VF-84 chevrons, skulls and various markings on the helmet.
4. Picked up the Dragon MA-1 flight jacket and helmet bag accessory pack. Ditched the jacket to keep the helmet bag that comes with Tomcat and VF-84 patches. Cool.
5. Modifications. Hot Toys' figure looks spot-on. Well, Dragon's is pretty puffy. Two ways to eliminate this puffiness. First, Pete's G-suit and nomex flight suit ride all the way to his ankles. Blouse the pants and readjust the G-suit straps so they ride around the top of his boots.
Roll up his sleeves to give his arms some "length". I always thought that his body looked a little out of proportion. Also bought a different analog watch for Pete's wrist. Still on the look-out for some decent nomex gloves.
Lastly. Generally tighten everthing up. I think that if I pull all his straps tight, this'll alleviate some of the plumpness to him.
I know there are a lot of folks here who do 1/6 customs. I haven't the foggiest clue as where to find good aftermarket accessories. Any help or guidance would be much appreciated.
I can hear my wife now "Oh honey, you're playing with your doll again"...
