{"id":77,"date":"2014-09-20T13:10:10","date_gmt":"2014-09-20T23:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newtoysmell.com\/?p=77"},"modified":"2015-03-15T18:05:28","modified_gmt":"2015-03-16T04:05:28","slug":"custom-batman-begins-ras-al-ghul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newtoysmell.com\/?p=77","title":{"rendered":"Custom: Batman Begins | Ra’s Al Ghul"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CustomRasAlGhul01\"<\/a>Sometimes it’s better to be late to the dance. Most Batman and 1\/6 scale fans had already created their own custom Ra’s Al Ghul. Some where fantastic while others made me scratch my head. It’s blatantly clear that it starts with a good head sculpt and if that’s not up to snuff, it’s almost futile to try. But if you wait long enough, you may just\u00a0find what you were looking for.<\/p>\n

Liam Neeson has a very distinct face so anything that’s not quite right stands out like a sore thumb. Unfortunately for most, the really great head sculpts were one of a kind, and the mass produced ones just didn’t look good enough. Finally sometime in 2013 a few good sculpts started showing up, and by 2014 a handful of independent companies took a stab at making their version of the “Master Ninja” or some similar name.<\/p>\n

\"CustomRasAlGhul03\"<\/a>It’s still a surprise to me that Hot Toys hasn’t produced one, though I have a feeling they might eventually. But I can’t blame them considering it’s Liam Neeson in a suit (color of your choice). Pretty bland and uneventful from an action figure standpoint. But, like many collectors, I had to have one to complement the rest of the movie villains.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong>
\nThe head choice I’ve gone with is one sculpted by ‘Eleven.’ For me, I think the paint job is more in the style I prefer where “less is more.” I’ve seen some other head sculpts that are drowning in detail washes or too many coats of paint. I also think the sculpt is decent even though some of the overly painted ones actually have a better head sculpt. It works, it’s in scale, and I’m satisfied. I’m sure at some point a better one will come out, and then I will swap it out.<\/p>\n

Body:<\/strong>
\nUnder the clothes is a basic Hot Toys True Type regular body. It’s the right proportions and can hold a lot of great poses. I also used the extended ankle pegs to boost his height a little since he is a tall guy. I’m also using gloved hands from the Commissioner Gordon figure.<\/p>\n

Outfit:<\/strong>
\nHow hard is it to find a good suit? Very, actually. There are a ton of suits on the market, but to find the one that drapes well and sits on the shoulders nicely is actually a bit daunting. You could<\/em> use the skinny body to make the suit look good, but cheap parlor tricks aren’t my thing. So finally earlier this year a black suit was made for a “Master Ninja” and I opted to use it. It’s not completely screen accurate at all, but I like the design and it fits well. On the inside though, I went with a black shirt that I had in my bin as opposed to the dark purple shirt that was included.<\/p>\n

Extras:<\/strong>
\nThe cane\/sword completes the look, but finding a good one is hard to come by. There were a number of customizers who did some small runs, but like I said, I was late to the dance and missed out on getting any of them. I did manage to obtain an unpainted and disassembled version which was really nice and well made, but I’m not a good painter and even worse when it comes to putting things together. Luckily along came another company called HPC Toys that released a deluxe set with a head sculpt (it’s nice, but I prefer the one I’m using), a cane\/sword, a gas mask\u00a0and a nice accessory box. The cane\/sword is really nice on the outside, but the blade has me worried. It’s basically a cut sheet of thick sheet metal and while on the surface that’s fine, it’s a tad rough around the edges and very pointy at the tip. For my purposes the sword will stay in the scabbard because I don’t know what kind of damage it could do to any unsuspecting figures. A smidge bit of sanding would’ve been appreciated.<\/p>\n

Overall I like how it turned out even though I’ve seen some others that were amazing. I’m satisfied and that’s enough.<\/p>\n\n\t\t