Bram Stoker's Dracula | 1/6 Anubis Armor WIP

[Keegan]

Ever since I started collecting, I've wanted figures from Bram Stokers Dracula, especially the armored version. Sure, the movie has some issues, but the costumes aren't one of them, in my opinion. Having recently left my job with The Man to start a freelance career, I've fallen on some lean times as things slowly get going. Naturally, this occurred at the exact same time that Rainman and Scalletta started up their Dracula projects, leaving me hangrily drooling from the sidelines.

Here is a thread about my solution to this devastating first world problem. I got a cheap recast (sorry!) model kit of the armor here. A ribbed Sideshow Clone Trooper body suit here (it was $19.99 when I got one - looks like it's gone up). And I’m using a BCS Sherlock body that I had on hand already. Total so far: 48 bucks. Here goes nothin…



The vinyl kit is hollow and is easy to dissect once it’s warmed up. I cut seams in the armor where they’ll be the least visible and they wrap around/slide on really easily. I’ll see about sealing them up where I can later. The Sherlock body is great because the limbs and torso are nice and thin, allowing the armor to not look too bulky.





The Oldman sculpt is actually pretty nice and later I think I’ll try to cut it away from the chest, reshape the hair and give it a neck plug. For now, I'm going with the helmet.



Found a solution to foot articulation using some cheap-o feet that were at the bottom of the bin.





And used a leftover scrap of an arm to get the head articulated with a plug and pin. A little shaving of the shape and it popped right in and held securely. The Sherlock already has a neck.





So far so good and the project is right in line with my skill level (see: total novice). Next up – lots and lots of red paint…

 

[Reinhardt]

Very very awesome!!

 

[zebraten]

That looks great and quite a bit of fun to tackle.

 

[hotslayer73]

That,s looking Great, Caint wait to see it finished and painted up - might try doing it myself

 

[mishu2nite]

Fantastic!

 

[dwing]

This is what this site is about. Need more one off custom figures. It has become a factory around here, not a bad thing but we still need these awesome customs.

 

[Keegan]

Very very awesome!!

That looks great and quite a bit of fun to tackle.

That,s looking Great, Caint wait to see it finished and painted up - might try doing it myself

Fantastic!

This is what this site is about. Need more one off custom figures. It has become a factory around here, not a bad thing but we still need these awesome customs.

Wow, thanks so much y’all! This is indeed turning out to be a really fun project. Thanks for all the encouragement - it means a lot.

Quick afternoon update: got all of the armor sections separated, trimmed and sanded. And now the RED. This is paint I had on hand and it’s a little intense but I plan on washing and weathering to tone it down...

 

[siquisiri]

VERY cool

 

[Ryu]

I've always wondered how he'd move with that pointy pieces of armor at the top of his legs. Very cool idea for a custom and great work so far.

 

[danoscustoms]

Oh my!! Will u be selling lots for this?? I'm in if u do


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[Keegan]

VERY cool

Thank you!

I've always wondered how he'd move with that pointy pieces of armor at the top of his legs. Very cool idea for a custom and great work so far.

Thanks, Ryu. I watched the scene recently and it looks like those thigh covers aren’t rigidly affixed to the torso armor but are loosely strapped on underneath so that they can flop around. Gonna try for the same with mine.

Oh my!! Will u be selling lots for this?? I'm in if u do

Thanks much for your interest but I wouldn't know where to start. I’ll keep posting sources for what I’m using though in case folks want to give it a try.

Update o'clock: so the hands are the trickiest part of the vinyl sculpt – hard to separate the glove, arm and hand armor in a cool way and still have wrist articulation.



I opted for severing at the wrist and slicing off the sculpted bit on top of the hand and will just use tack to hold it on to the hand itself. That way I can get a set of simple gloved hands (HT ’66 Robin maybe) and move that armor part around if I want to switch out hands. The finger armor I figure I’ll just use vinyl scraps to create and glue them on the fingers of each hand.



Repurposed some elastic straps from the parts bin for the shoulders and knees.



And while I was putting on the straps I noticed that the kit came with two left shoulders. Skadoosh! Maybe I deserve that for buying recast but dang.



Thought about getting a second kit to fix it, but decided to soldier on asymmetrically and use the $10 to pick up this Turk-impaling spear instead…

 

[PopCultKid]

Great work!! This will be one unique piece when you're done.

Who makes the original kit?

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Great work!! This will be one unique piece when you're done.

Who makes the original kit?

It was made by Horizon

 

[HAL9000.]

This is great - the way you're showing each step

Someone on another forum did the same thing a while back. Had to add some sculpted pieces because of the way the Horizon (or recast) model sits.

I've also looked into the cheap kits from China Ebay, so pleased to see someone having a good go at it.

There's an interest thread for the armor at the moment, but if it comes out too high, I'm gonna have a crack at this too.

Congrats, man. Looking absolutely fantastic so far

 

[Keegan]

Great work!! This will be one unique piece when you're done.

Thanks PopCultKid!

This is great - the way you're showing each step

Someone on another forum did the same thing a while back. Had to add some sculpted pieces because of the way the Horizon (or recast) model sits.

I've also looked into the cheap kits from China Ebay, so pleased to see someone having a good go at it.

There's an interest thread for the armor at the moment, but if it comes out too high, I'm gonna have a crack at this too.

Congrats, man. Looking absolutely fantastic so far

Thanks, Anx10us! Do you have a link to that other forum? I’d be curious to see what the other person’s project looks like.

Update time. Picked up a Triad Riza belt and a set of Triad Zorro hands from BlackOps. I thought the hands would be perfect for sword wielding and bloody grail slurping later on. Started to cut little bits of vinyl into finger armor knuckles and lost my mind by the third digit. Tres tedious.



Solution found in a pair of Asmus Mogul Lord hands from Toy Anxiety.They were way too big and looked ridiculous on their own, so the fingers have been canabalized, glued onto the amputated Zorro hand and bam: fully articulated set of armored hands. Not screen accurate and maybe a little wonky scale-wise but they look pretty sweet.









And finally, a full dress/articulation test with a cheap stand-in sword to indentify any kinks. The hip plates are temp-secured with artists tape and there are a few trims here and there but I think he’s almost ready for weathering and final paint up.

 

[HAL9000.]

That is fantastic work. Really, well done! Repped you.

I guess he must have been using a different kit from you because his had the head turned in such a way that when he cut the armor up, a chunk or two was missing and he had to fill it. Strange. Could've sworn the one you have is a direct recast of the Horizon model. The chunks missing were at the back - do you have the same problem?

Link HERE

You'll notice the original Horizon kit was a dark grey. The copies are generally white.

I always wanted the cross that Horizon showed too. I need to find that. . .

Those Morgul hands were a good find. Can't seem to get those delivered here in the UK. I'll have to keep an eye out.

 

[mishu2nite]

Fantastic! Really came out great. Looks better than if some of the well known artist could possibly do.

 

[Artoo]

Wow, excellent work and great ingenuity!

 

[Keegan]

That is fantastic work. Really, well done! Repped you.

Thanks for the rep! And thanks for the link as well. Interesting insight there. I do have the same kit with the chunk missing out of the shoulder. Sadly, I’m not a sculptor so I’m just going to leave it. It really isn’t that noticeable from the front and to be honest this guy is a bit of a mess in the back with all of the seams and cuts in the armor. Plenty good enough for me though. I don’t remember the cross. Was it 1/6?

Fantastic! Really came out great. Looks better than if some of the well known artist could possibly do.

Wow, excellent work and great ingenuity!

Thanks, y’all!

 

[Keegan]

Final paint up complete! He ended up a bit grimier than I originally planned but I’m happy with the more battle-worn result. Especially considering that painting isn’t exactly my thing. Going to gloss the eyes and call it done.



Waiting for his sword to come in and I’ll position the belt so that it hides the sculpted one. I picked up the ACI Hospitaller Crusader sword and scabbard – at $33 it cost more than any other part of the project







Once I got him onto the shelf I realized that he’s slightly out of scale with the other figures. A touch on the short side, but I think that’s ok considering Gary Oldman is 5’ 9”.



Overall, I’m stoked to finally have a Dracula in the collection. Also, I may have convinced my brother to 3D print me the cross from this scene – rigged up with mini-fountain parts gushing blood. Really fun project here – I think I might try it again with this fella…