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Blade Runner Custom Figures
By
Steven S. and Andrea Ledford
Arranged by Gary Willoughby
When I looked around the Internet I was some what disappointed with
what was out there for Blade Runner in 1:6 scale (12 inch) Action
figures, or action figures in general. What I found was some knock
offs or “boot legs,” Android Hunter...?
Well at least some one was trying to fill the needs and wants of
the Blade Runner merchandise famine that has swept the land for many...oh
so many years. One of the top Science fiction movies of all time and
we have next to nothing.
Well, I started sculpting again about three years ago and making
my own 1:6 scale figures that I quickly found was a very big hobby
around the world.. After I got the Batman’s and Superman’s
out of my system I started on the Deckard figure, It took me awhile
and I think four attempts at sculpting Mr. Ford before I was happy.
And at the time I sculpted the hair like any doll would have. But,
I was experimenting with real hair for some of the female figures
and thought I would give it a go on the Deckard head. Well it worked
out very well the first time and gave the figure a little something
more.
When it came time for the clothing it was an extensive search for
the right colors and textures. At this point I employ my mother who
is a wizard at figuring out patterns and dye colors. I had something
for the pants in my fabric cache and found a men’s dress shirt
at the Good Will that was perfect for the over coat...that was about
it. The raw silk jacket was the hardest fabric to find. I found the
right texture in linen that was a kind of pink. We had to dye it to
match the pictures of it on the “Bladezone” web site.
(Thanks!) When it came time for the tie and shirt I knew I was going
to have to print them myself...that wasn't easy ether but I got it
done and pretty accurately, I knew he wore three different shirts
in the movie, but I loved that “dash” pattern shirt from
the time I saw it in the theater when I was 12 (Yes, my folks took
me to a rated “R” movie...bless them.) I use a Sideshow
body for the first one I made, but with the other two a "Dragon
Models" body was used, the same as the Android Hunter. I put
some black tennis shoes I had in an odds and end box on him and he
was done. I sculpted a gun that looked ok and he was armed! Now he
need someone to chase...
So, my next figure was going to be Roy Batty, but some how that didn't
really get me motivated, and there was one already out there, so one
late sleepless night (when I seem do my best work.) I picked up a
lump of clay and started sculpting a Sean Young “Rachael..”
It took me about five hours altogether and I was very happy with the
outcome. A little looking around the net found a web site with the
black "first introduction" outfit in a personal collection,
and he had great pictures of some of the detail of the suit including
the fact that the diamond patches on the outfit is snake skin. After
a search for a good fabric I found a lizard skin wallet that would
simulate an in scale snake skin. The hardest part was the shoes, I
sculpted them from scratch and made them just a tad bit small so they
could be wrapped in leather for a nicer look than painted plastic.
The body for Rachael was difficult to settle on. The Cy girl and BBI
female bodies were just not elegant enough, or too big, and the Volks
and Obitsu female bodies where much too small.. As chance would have
it I had an “Obitsu Male Doll Slim” that hadn't work out
for another figure, so I looked it over and to my surprise it was
perfect for Rachael. All I had to do was sculpt on some female enhancements
with some epoxy putty. With the high heels on I did have to shorten
the legs a bit, but that was very simply done with a sander.
Rachael ended up looking pretty darn good, so that got me the motivation
to move on to Roy. I started the head sculpt so we'll see what happens...there
is another 80’s Hauer character I want to get to soon, so I
can kill two birds (or should I say Hawk) with one stone with that
sculpt. The other Blade Runner figures I would like to do soon is
Leon and Gaff, especially Gaff, Olmos had a great look in the film,
like Scott said “a high class drug dealer.” Stay tuned...
http://www.prophouse2000.com/bladerunner.html |
