1:1 Terminator Arnold Bust customization project

[Toni Plutonij]

I'm presenting you with the latest (and completely unexpected) addition to my collection.
This bust (sculpt by fantastic H. Senft) is something I got totally unplanned, it kinda shocked (and I still can't believe I got this piece) me, as this is something I never actually wanted to allow myself to think (would "dream" be better word?) of getting.

I won't go too much into details, no need to..it's time to show it off, and write down what is the plan..where the word "project" fits in..

First some pictures:

Pictures are kinda bad, as it looks incredibly real in real life (even with sculpted hair), it's amazing.

With that said. even tho I LOVE it, I think this piece can look even better....
..

My idea is to change the shirt and get him a leather jacket. I'm not aiming to make it perfectly screen accurate, but a very close representation! If you take a better look at the Endo eye, you'll see that ball bearings aren't accurate, and eye looks kinda plasticy and lacks those lines, detailing....also, I hate this checkered lens look....so I'll be replacing the eye (hopefully)..
I do plan to add eyelashes to "human eye side", as I've seen on the movie that eyelashes weren't burnt off.

I already did the first "custom" on the piece..the glass eye was covered with the semi-matt clear coat (I don't know why eye wasn't masked when the whole bust was coated), but I've cleaned the eye with the nail polish remover and a q-tip, and it looks better now, more alive and realistic, it has that "spark" in the eye!

Few more things I'll think about, is getting Gargoyles for him..It looks even better with the glasses on, but I really like that Endo eye..so I'll see about that..
I'll also think hard about adding some kind of soundboard to it....I know it kinda sound cheesy, and a lot of people will dislike the idea, but I'm really digging it. I'd love to hear few most memorable phrases from the movie (**** you *******, I'll be back, Your clothes, give them to me, now....etc.) coming form the bust, as well as the original Terminator theme! I'll think more about this once I do everything else I have intended to!

Anyways...these are the plans, and I'll be updating this thread as I go by....I hope I'll manage to pull it all off, and make it a lot more better, and to my liking!

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

To update, some stuff I got in during the last few days..

These I got today..I'll have my girlfriend style them to look appropriate and like a male eyelashes.

Not quite accurate shirt, however, it's close enough, if I ever come by anything better, I'll use it, but for now this will do just fine..I know this is gray and has a pocket, but it will create contrast with the black leather jacket, and pocket will be fully covered by the jacket, so I really don't mind.

Again, close enough for me..real leather, very sturdy and nice looking jacket. Should improve the overall look of the bust right away!

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

OK, now.....bit of update..

I had to undress the big guy :$
His last picture with the "old" outfit:

and a bit of nakedness:

and eyelashes styled.
BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

Pictures of fully cleaned eye closeup before eyelash application:

and with eyelashes added:

Improvised stand:

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

And final bust look, for a while now. I'm working on getting a detailed eye and some parts for it, so I'll be updating when I get the stuff.
Also, I'm positive I'll be getting Gargoyles, however, not exactly sure when!

I'm more then pleased and satisfied on how this thing is turning out.

 

[thegreatgalling]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

Excellent work and your improvement is subtle, but really noticeable:thumbsup The lashes look great. I think he needs some brows eventually!

I have a Bond 1:1 that is dying for some improvement. Particularly, I would love to cover his sculpted hair with some real hair in either a wig or a toupee of some sort. If you ever consider/get to that, please show us how you do it!

I know what your saying about never dreaming to own a bust. I def. have certain "rules" or confines with the pieces I collect, and 1:1 statue/bust replicas were never included UNTIL I came to the realization that you couldn't get any more close to a movie replica...then the movies' stars themselves!!

Finally, I would recommend going the distance with a lifesize mannequin. They don't require THAT much more work, and it gives some life to the piece, rather than an armless lump of upper body. Either way is cool I guess, and your way, you don't have to worry about his pants and boots!

Keep us posted!

 

[n0regret5]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

no brows: at the point in the movie that the sculpt is taken from, he didn't have eyebrows. they were singed off. hence the shorter hair than at the start.

very badass!! at first i wasn't a fan of the sculpted hair but i tell you what, it's grown on me!!

 

[thegreatgalling]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

^ Ah, doh. Right. Got a little hair happy!

 

[RacerX]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

Likeness is good, although a little raw. The sculpted hair kills it, though, it looks really bad.

 

[elmen]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

Very nice work.

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

Excellent work and your improvement is subtle, but really noticeable:thumbsup The lashes look great. I think he needs some brows eventually!

I have a Bond 1:1 that is dying for some improvement. Particularly, I would love to cover his sculpted hair with some real hair in either a wig or a toupee of some sort. If you ever consider/get to that, please show us how you do it!

I know what your saying about never dreaming to own a bust. I def. have certain "rules" or confines with the pieces I collect, and 1:1 statue/bust replicas were never included UNTIL I came to the realization that you couldn't get any more close to a movie replica...then the movies' stars themselves!!

Finally, I would recommend going the distance with a lifesize mannequin. They don't require THAT much more work, and it gives some life to the piece, rather than an armless lump of upper body. Either way is cool I guess, and your way, you don't have to worry about his pants and boots!

Keep us posted!

Thank you a lot for the nice words
Eyebrows are burnt off at this point in the movie, so I won't be adding them, the fact that he's lacking eyebrows makes him look even creepier!

About the hair, at first I thought I would prefer real hair over sculpted as well, but I actually figured out that with resin busts, I prefer sculpted hair, as wigs or toupees always look kinda out of place, I haven't seen a resin bust with added real hair that looked perfectly natural.
Real hair works perfectly with silicone busts, when it's punched in.

I got this bust by mere luck, I never even thought there is a chance I might get one, so I wouldn't even allow myself to dream about it, but it happened, and I'm really extremely happy and satisfied!
At this point, I'm pretty sure I'll go full size You just can't beat the real thing, right? :lol

no brows: at the point in the movie that the sculpt is taken from, he didn't have eyebrows. they were singed off. hence the shorter hair than at the start.

very badass!! at first i wasn't a fan of the sculpted hair but i tell you what, it's grown on me!!

You're right about the eyebrows! I actually thought that eyelashes would suppose to be burnt off as well, however, even Arnold puppet with the Endoeye exposed had eyelashes, so I decided to add them to mine bust as well.

I had the very SAME opinion on the hair, and now, I'm very happy it's sculpted, as I don't think I would ever manage to get the wig to look real on it! This way, it's one piece, and well balanced!

Likeness is good, although a little raw. The sculpted hair kills it, though, it looks really bad.

It does look worse on picture than it is when you have it in front of you. I don't mind sculpted hair at all. But I guess there could be some improvements.

I'm perfectly satisfied with how it is tho!

Very nice work.

Thanks a lot..I have some plans developed..it'll get even better



Just a bit of new info..no pictures..

Eye is in the making process, and I should have it in hands in next couple of weeks. It'll be metal, and will have the actual details inside and outside. I'm currently planning how to pull off some inner details.
No checkered lens look any more, I find it to look cheap, and out of place.
Gargyoles should also get to me in next couple of weeks A friend ordered em for me few hours ago, so I'll have to wait for him to get the glasses, and then finalize the package for me, and ship it all to Europe.

I'm also seriously considering to start working on the fullsize Arnold, soon after I finish the eye upgrading and adding Gargyoles!
I doubt I'll be able to get mannequin, so I was thinking to actually make some kind of structure from scratch, and work around it. I can get Arnolds proportions no trouble, but some parts will probably be troublesome as I want at least left arm/hand to be poseable.
I've already set my mind on the pose I'll be going for.

I already have real combat pants, but they're olive drab color, so I'll see if I could find some more accurate color, if not, I won't mind actually using these, as I'm not going for the full screen accuracy, as much as for really nice representation of the movie and the character!
I also got leather biker boots last week. Funny thing is that they are T2 screen accurate, and not T1, but they are tall, and again, look good enough (and better) for what I'm heading for, so no problem here.

This will be a long project (way longer and bigger then I originally intended it to be), so I'll update as I go, and as I have some pictures to show off.

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

Guys, I'm back with a bit of an update!
First off, to show you the boots and the studded detail I made for the left one.

Boots aren't screen accurate, but I got them really really cheap and these are the right size, they look good enough to be used with the fullsize Arnold, and with the studs detail added, I think they look great.


Second update, and I believe much more interesting one, is the eye light.
While waiting for the metal eye replacement, I worked on the light for the eye. I wanted light to be very dim, didn't wanted it to light up the whole room when powered ON (as it's the case with any replica out there), also I wanted the light to fade out properly, nice and long for the few seconds (as seen in the ending of the The Terminator).
After some testing and fiddling with components of different capacity, I managed to get it perfectly as I wanted.
It lights up enough to show it's "alive" but it won't light up anything around, it's too weak.

And finally, a demonstration video:

 

[kdawg1]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

Love this keep the updates rolling! Great job he's going to look awesome!

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

After couple of months on a mannequin hunt, I got lucky.
Will require a bit of work, but at least it's something to start with!

..and..two guys together..

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

Some things happened in real life that kinda slowed down the whole progress on this project, but on the other side, it has also pushed me to work more and more on it, as it's keeping me distracted..
Well, now that I've wrote this senseless sentence..let's get to some pictures.

After getting a mannequin, I've cleaned it up and inspected it..found out that part that connects removable leg was broken, that's the reason it was so cheap..So I've fixed it using silicone and hot glue.
After that I saw off parts of it's feet, so I can get the boots on there.

After that I dressed up the mannequin to see if the clothes fit him, I was a bit afraid that sizes won't match..but luckily, no problems

Of course, mannequin is slim, so I'll have to do a lot of buffing up, but it's workable..I don't think I should have some bigger problems with that.
..
..
Also, I've took out the RadioShack light from the eye, and test-inserted the circuit I did, I'm loving this un-checkered look.
You can see that I've added some more blood around the eye (only on the lower part, still haven't touched upper part, so you can see the difference in the shade of red)..I've added darker red, looks better..I'll do more on this when I get the metal eye for replacement.

And last bit to update. Yesterday I got leather gloves for him! It's a bit hard to pull em on, it's a very tight fit, but it looks awesome once it's on!

Will look into getting the head off one of these days, so I can start fitting the bust up on there.

 

[chuckyAPP]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

I've done the same thing to the same bust. You're going to have to cut the mannequin head off below the neck and build up the chest. Ill post progress pics of how I did mine if you like.

 

[chuckyAPP]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

here is what i mean:

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[BoozeBeGood]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

Wow it looks a lot better with sunglasses

 

[Toni Plutonij]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

chuckybaby555 thank you A LOT for that shot..actually, if you have any more to share, I'd really appreciate it.

I was planning to remove only head and neck, and see if I can simply fit the bust over it..because if I'll have to cut the upper part of the shoulders, that will mess up the part where arms connect and that will give me a lot more work, so I'll try to avoid that.

Also, I planned to somehow connect the bust on top of it (not build it in together with the mannequin, like you did) and then buff it up with bubble wrap and some other stuff..just so it looks bigger, as clothes will go over it so there is no need to have body details on.

BoozeBeGood, I'm waiting for the Gargyoles, they should be here very soon!

 

[Chris27989]

Re: 1:1 T1 Arnold Bust (minor) customization project

really good thread mate.. looks awesome, keep us posted!
Chris