Star Trek TOS 1/6 Action Figures

[The Cat]

There are a great many different types of action figures out there in 1/6 scale. They've been around for years, I remember big GI Joes and Marx Western figures being popular way back when I was young. They've gotten more ornate and accurate, Dragon makes all kinds of military stuff as well as a couple Trek TNG figures. Playmates makes a few TOS type figures.

I've wanted some different, customizable TOS Trek figures for a while, but the only things I've known about are the Playmates and the Barbie two-pack from around 1994.

Playmates are cool, but few. The Barbies were a good idea, but the Ken looks like a Visitor in a V propaganda poster. The Barbie's okay, her hairstyle works, but her face is uniquely Barbie. Their uniforms kind of suck. 1/1 scale cloth on a 1/6 scale body doesn't look quite right, plus they are made of a kind of felt material, plus their chest insignia are more like a thick commbadge than a patch.

So, what to do?

I was recently pointed to this site:

http://66.147.244.127/~smcgcust/Pres...id_category=48

He sells each color in Male and Female. So, I ordered a couple as a test.

Here's one.





She's wearing an old Mego belt and comm with a Playmates phaser. Her body came from a Katniss Everdeen action figure, and her head is a Barbie Basics head I saw on eBay and liked.


The uniforms are made of spandex, but they look like scale velour. Male uniforms come with tunic and pants. The only disadvantages are that they don't include patches or rank braid. You also have to provide your own boots.

The equipment will be replaced, of course.

A guy is selling 1/6 phasers II's on Shapeways:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/XDL...6x?li=shortUrl

I ordered a six pack in Black plastic. You can get two, four, or six packs, plus they include an extra field-stripped Phaser II.


He also sells Tricorders:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/RX3...ionId=56178138

You get a two-pack, a Science and Geological with hand scanners. They're on my to-get list.

Also offered, the Type 3 Phaser Rifle:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/XB5...ionId=25279510

....someday.

Hopefully he'll make some communicators, and they'd cry our for photoetched antenna grilles!

[The Cat]

I took a liking to this face - not sure who she'll be but she'll definitely be crew:




I wonder how she'll look with blue eyes...

[rpauly]

Do a search on evil-Bay for "Hot Toys TrueType." They are high-end male and female body blanks perfect for custom figures.

[The Cat]

Originally Posted by rpauly

Do a search on evil-Bay for "Hot Toys TrueType." They are high-end male and female body blanks perfect for custom figures.

Thanks! I needed that!

[The Cat]

[rpauly]

Rockin'!

[AdmiralBuck]

I've been working to come up with a 1/6 scale braid for the uniforms. This was a test using a strip of 1/8" wide gold piping wrapped (and superglued) with two bands of silver thread that I had laying around. I'll re-do this in gold thread but I wanted to see if this looked "scale" on a figure.

[The Cat]

Hey, that looks amazing. I actually like the silver.

Where did you get the piping?

[The Cat]

Since I'm putting a 'crew' together, I've been looking for interesting headsculpts.

For the CMO:



I like this Anne Hathaway sculpt. She'll be Chief of Security:



This strawberry blonde is cute...I'm sure she'll fit in somewhere:



Science Officer Ramirez. He began life as a WWI Imperial German Infantryman:





I'm working on a 1/5 command chair. In it are the Nurse - (Barbie Summer head on a Flirty Girl body), Helmsman, and the Communications Officer. Comm Officer is a Barbie Raquelle with a 'pivotal' body:




Nurse and Comm Officer playing around:




A word on bodies. Male bodies aren't a problem, Dragon seem to be the most popular and they function well.

Females aren't so simple to pick out. I've tried a few and my conclusions so far are:

Play Toy - Boobs and butts are way too big. Unless you're modeling a Kardashian, they're a no-go. My sample is going on eBay ASAP.

Kumik - not bad but they smell like digitized dead fish. They REEK of a weird chemical smell. The skin color is odd, it's like tanned but dead flesh, a weird brownish gray. On the plus side, they are available in variable bust sizes. Mine is a D-cup, and she's a little too big for credibility. Not very happy with the body - I likely won't get another.

Flirty Girl - I like. They are available in three different flesh tones. They are all hard plastic, which makes them easier to dress. (Kumik and Play Toy have breasts and waists that are made of a kind of rubber. I think they are gimmicky and they're hard to get clothes on.) I'll probably end up with a couple more FG bodies.

Phicen Seamless - Looked good, incredibly lifelike. Has a metal skeleton. I went to move the arms in order to put a uniform on it - one elbow snapped. Lower arm is currently being held on by a piece of 'skin'. It's going back to where I bought it - I won't be buying another.

Barbie - Sleek and slender and looks good in uniform. 'Pivotal' bodies are the best - good articulation and posability. Jointed "Fashionistas" bodies are similar but lack chest articulation. Not expensive at all. Minuses are small feet and hands (a necessity for Barbies). Small feet aren't a problem because my crew will all be wearing boots. Hands are an issue, but I'm going to try and alter other, more properly-sized hands to fit. I like them.

For uniforms, I'm using those from SMcG Customs. Female uniforms are just the dress, male uniforms are tunic plus pants. In order to complete the uniforms I've been buying and stripping Star Trek Barbie sets off eBay. You can find them for under $15 shipped. I use the M and F boots and pantyhose, plus the Tricorder. The Tricorder is perfectly sized for 1/6 but the phaser is too small and the comms are trash.

[rpauly]

Looks like a party on the bridge.

[AdmiralBuck]

That's a great review and analysis of your "body" research. I agree the Barbie bodies are the easiest to dress as they were designed that way. I have several Dragon and posable GI Joe figures for the males. The hands are the most difficult things to thread through the tight sleeves of the TOS uniforms. Luckily the SMG versions are made of spandex which is a must for stretching over these stiff and bulky figures.

[The Cat]

The removal of hands is pretty much mandatory for these figures. I tried putting a tunic on a plain old Ken (hands not removable!) and damn if the seams in the arms of the tunic didn't start to split.

Heads are best removed, too, even Barbie heads. There is a trick to that though and I'll show you.

Speaking of Barbies, after all the testing I've done with other figure bodies, the articulated Barbies are still my favorites. My only complaint is hand size but I'm working on that. I like the upper bodies to have that pivot point right under the breasts. Unfortunately, unless you buy nudes off ebay, it's hard to determine which dolls you need.

I've made some educated guesses and have a few nice dolls in my collection that don't have all the articulation that I need. Someday I'll come up with something to do with them.

Other body types - some are well made and usable but it is hell trying to find heads that match the bodies' skin tones.

[The Cat]

Mod time!

I mentioned earlier that the two biggest problems I have with Barbie female bodies is that their hands and feet are too small. This is necessary because the hands and feet have to fit into clothes, and they can't be (easily) removable for liability reasons.

Feet, I don't care about. They're in boots so they won't be seen. Hands are a different story.

I've figured out an easy way to add actual 1/6 hands onto Barbie arms.

Here's the stock arm/hand:




Grab the forearm and pull smartly straight out on the hand. If the hand separates from the pivot piece, don't worry, just yank that piece out with pliers:





Toss the hands out. You'll need these wrist pegs and hands. I bought an assortment of hands, they're cheap too:





Snap them in:





...and you're good to go! :





The Barbie forearm is slightly smaller in diameter than most 1/6 'action figure' foreams, but that really isn't a problem when the figure's wearing long sleeves like this.

Gonna need more wrist pegs and hands now - all the rest of my female contingent need to be modified!

[zysurge]

Looking good, Dave! Amazing how much you've accomplished with these.

That phaser needs a good paint job though. :-p

[The Cat]

Originally Posted by zysurge

That phaser needs a good paint job though. :-p

Thank you

That phaser needs more than a paint job. It's rough as a corn cob. That plastic is tough but doesn't sand worth a damn.