Dark Toys 1/6 Rick Deckard

[Asta]

The DT blaster is a recast, which is to be expected, as it lost quite a bit of detail and has some extra mould lines and lumps.

It looks like it could've been cast from Supermad's, but one thing that's better on the DT is the lack of a visible frame inside the grip. Probably because they had to cast it in two pieces, so the grip was a solid part.

The original prop:

 

[p3ss3ssod]

I think I'm just going to thin out the guard and triggers and be happy with the one that came with the Dark Toys.
Not sure I'll see the value in getting the Supermad one.

I made this 1:1 scale resin kit a while back which came out pretty nice

 

[Asta]

I think I'm just going to thin out the guard and triggers and be happy with the one that came with the Dark Toys.
Not sure I'll see the value in getting the Supermad one.

I made this 1:1 scale resin kit a while back which came out pretty nice

View attachment 561904

Yes, if it's in his hand or holstered you're not going to see much of it anyway.

It's only when you look closely at the two together that you see the differences.

I put the DT blaster on the stand that came with SMT's, and it looks good because it shows off the frameless amber grip.

I also moved my BR figures onto a shelf below eye level, because the finish on the DT sculpt looks strange under too much light. It needs as much shadow as possible.

 

[Lordscum]

The first thing i did was to remove about 3mm off the base of the neck.

I'm going to insert a few LEDs into the VK machine. The bellows is glued on, which is where i will hide the on/off switch. The base is a separate panel, that i will use to access the button cells. I've cut out the screens and will glue new images onto thin plasticard, which light can shine through. I will also drill out some of the lights on the front panel.

 

[Lordscum]

How did you remove the 3mm around the base of the neck? I was thinking about taping down some fine grade sandpaper down to a table and then marking on the base how much I want off and then running the base across the sandpaper to the desired length.

 

[Lordscum]

I think it's the best option for a cheap (i.e., non high end custom) young Deckard.

The way I'm thinking of it is this: it's a budget low end figure where the clothes, particularly the coat, are inordinately better than the quality of most of the other parts.

In the past Redman have made figures that were made to a higher standard overall, such as their Good, Bad, Ugly, For A Few Dollars More or Josey Wales. Never had trouble photographing those sculpts!

Looking back at the original 'prototype' photos, the clothes may well have been their own because they were replicated remarkably well on the production figure, but the sculpt was probably an original:

The sculpt in that photo has skin texture, a visible chin scar and lifelike paint. The production recast is smooth, the scar seems missing, and the paintwork is uncharacteristically weak.

Ironically, the production sculpts look like plastic skinned androids!

What body would you recommend to upgrade too? I see a ton of HT knock off bodies on ebay . It looks like the one Dark Toys has used is one I have used before with good results , but the hand peg holes on the arms concern me as well the the neck issues.

 

[drewflu61]

Sorry to hear that , I had to email them to get them to drop it off to the P.O.

They haven’t even sent my final invoice, and I have a package from them that hasn’t shown any movement since early January. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. I try to order everything through Kit, but every once in a while I go through KG if I missed a preorder item (like the Deckard) or it’s an item that Kit doesn’t carry (SooSoo for example). It hasn’t been an issue before, but it is starting to become the norm for them, at least for me.

 

[Asta]

What body would you recommend to upgrade too? I see a ton of HT knock off bodies on ebay . It looks like the one Dark Toys has used is one I have used before with good results , but the hand peg holes on the arms concern me as well the the neck issues.

I used a spare narrow shoulder type I had, I can't remember what figure it came with.

Side by side the two bodies were very similar physically, except the DT looked cheaper with its hard, hollow sounding type of plastic. The only real gain in swapping was that the new body had the neck peg set a little deeper, so I didn't have to cut anything off the sculpt's neck.

I'm not sure on the peg holes. It might've just been that the hand pegs they used on mine were slimmer.

Unless you already have some spare bodies to try, it might be best just to cut a few millimetres off the neck instead.

 

[Mr.E]

Well if it's any consolation, I ordered a separate set of items from KG in the first week of January. They arrived earlier this week. I ordered this thru tns, and it has shipped, but I don't expect to see it for a bit.

 

[Marine Boy]

How did you remove the 3mm around the base of the neck? I was thinking about taping down some fine grade sandpaper down to a table and then marking on the base how much I want off and then running the base across the sandpaper to the desired length.

The easiest way to do this is heat up the head with a hairdryer, then pull off the socket and inner ring. (They're not glued) File down the socket to reduce the overall diameter. (Red shaded area in this pic)

Glue the socket into the base of the neck. The reduction in diameter allows it to sit inside the flange, deeper than before. The advantage of this, is that you don't lose any of the neck itself, so you don't see the edge, when it's posed looking up.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I'm still not sure how I'll tackle shifting the collar pattern down closer to the edge... I don't want to restitch it all. I'm hoping it can be reasonably easily taken off but will experiment on a part that doesn't show first. Planning on using Fabri-Tac for it if I can.

If you can do that coat collar, you should be able to do the shirt collar easily. Fabri-Tac is a must, no point restitching as the stitching looks too big anyway.

 

[Lordscum]

They haven’t even sent my final invoice, and I have a package from them that hasn’t shown any movement since early January. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. I try to order everything through Kit, but every once in a while I go through KG if I missed a preorder item (like the Deckard) or it’s an item that Kit doesn’t carry (SooSoo for example). It hasn’t been an issue before, but it is starting to become the norm for them, at least for me.

I saw KIT is offering them again. It might be worth taking a hit on the deposit and get what money back you can and go through Kit. I saw they will be available through KIT on 02/14

 

[Lordscum]

The easiest way to do this is heat up the head with a hairdryer, then pull off the socket and inner ring. (They're not glued) File down the socket to reduce the overall diameter. (Red shaded area in this pic)

Glue the socket into the base of the neck. The reduction in diameter allows it to sit inside the flange, deeper than before. The advantage of this, is that you don't lose any of the neck itself, so you don't see the edge, when it's posed looking up.

Thanks for the info , now I need to decide if I want to shave the plug down or get a new body?

 

[Asta]

The other problem with Redman/Dark Toys is that they have a one size fits all approach to figures. For instance, they put their 6' 3 1/2" Clint Eastwood figures on regular narrow shoulders. (So they all ended up on CooModel extra height bodies).

Deckard is too short as well, and only came to about 11 1/2" above the heels of his shoes.

I took a pair of ankle extenders that I'd removed from the legs of another figure and plugged them upside down onto Deckard's ankle pegs, and set them into the shoes.

These two pieces:

The trousers pull down enough to make it work, and he now measures just over 12" above the heels, which was Harrison's peak height.

 

[FlyAndFight]

I'm calling the collar experiment a success, much happier with it now.
Moving onto the tie and collar next.

View attachment 561826

Fantastic job! The color match is great, as well.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Asta: the body swap to KO narrow didn't increase the height at all? Still needed the extensions?

Do you not have that Kit extension pack?

 

[Asta]

Asta: the body swap to KO narrow didn't increase the height at all? Still needed the extensions?

The bodies were the same height. The only physical difference was the placement of the peg for the neck.

Do you not have that Kit extension pack?

I've used them all, apart from a pair of the longest ones.

The extension pieces from a previously shortened body worked well. They aren't meant to be removable but they pull out if you dunk the legs in a mug of boiling water.

The rod that pulls out of the leg would've sat inside the shoes (packed with white tack), but it made him too tall. So I snipped that off and just pushed the extension pieces down onto a little white tack to keep the shoes on.

 

[Wor-Gar]

I still have some shorter "Kit" extension pieces so hopefully that will work. Not 100% sure I still have a KO body actually. Worse case, I'll use the given body and pad the shoulders to raise the collar rather than shorten the neck.

 

[Asta]

I still have some shorter "Kit" extension pieces so hopefully that will work. Not 100% sure I still have a KO body actually. Worse case, I'll use the given body and pad the shoulders to raise the collar rather than shorten the neck.

As I had to pull the trousers down to the shoes, I pushed them down as far as they'd go at the waist without loosening the belt.

On doing that I instantly thought that the clothes looked more proportional, and looking at photos of Harrison in the costumes confirmed what I was seeing:

 

[MachoGeek80]

Maybe? When was your 2 orders shipped out? All KG shipping trouble started around late December 2021.
It's holiday season, so I get that. but I'm comparing with other sellers from HK. so no excuses there.

One was prepared for shipping 14 Jan, posted 19 Jan, arrived at customs 30 Jan. The other prepared 26 jan, posted 31 Jan, still underway.