I have customized Scar a year ago. Recently, I have also completed Celtic as part 2 of the AVP project. Similar to Scar, the challenge of Celtic is to correct the scale of the body and a number of armors.
There are some Narin (a famous figure sculptor) predator lovers think that the Hot Toys predator figures are lacking of style. I think they probably did not discover the real potentials of those action figures. I hope my customization can transform this HT old product into something more aesthetic.
A lot of the customization is based on the movie settings. I also referenced to the AVP movie book “The Creature Effects of ADI” and other Celtic figures.
Photoshop CG
These CG’s are designed based on some classic scenes in the AVP movie. But one thing I changed is that, Celtic did not get killed by the alien. Instead, it killed all the aliens.
The Figure
Similar to Scar, these early Hot Toys predator figures have a common scale problem. The head looks way too big compared to the body. When I did Scar, the problem was resolved largely by re-doing the dreadlocks. However, for Celtic, since it has a bigger bio mask, the head still looks a bit big. The only solution is to use a bigger and taller body. But that means some of the armors will need to be expanded accordingly. The following picture shows a comparison between the original HT Celtic with my customized version:
1) Alien claw scratches were added on bio mask
2) Target homing laser light was added
3) Visors were replaced
4) Dreadlocks were re-planted
5) Head was slightly sculpted and repainted
6) Torso armor was enlarged
7) Shoulder armors were re-positioned
8) Body was replaced, slightly sculpted and repainted
9) Net suit was replaced
10) Abdomen armor was extended
11) Butt armor was expanded
12) Thigh armors were expanded
13) Weapons were sharpened and repainted
14) Shin armors were extended
Body Modifications
The body used is from Hot Toys Falconer Predator. It is a lot massive than the original one. That helps a lot to make the overall figure with better body proportion. The only drawback of the Falconer body is the lack of articulation.
1) The left hand was missed after removing the original armor. A plastic tube was inserted for connecting to the wrist joint peg
2) Sculpted the forearm with epoxy putty
3) The lower legs were trimmed to fit the shin armors
4) The ankle joints were re-made to fit the Celtic feet
5) The Falconer hands were repainted to match the Celtic body
6) Masking work before spraying the body in black color
7) Skin pattern was hand painted with reference to the movie book
8) Thigh skin pattern
9) The original Celtic net suit won’t fit. I used the one from Shadow Predator but it is missing the sleeves. I cut the sleeves from the Celtic net suit and sewed them back.
This is showing the transformation of the Falconer pred body into the Celtic’s.
Torso and Shin Armor Modifications
1) Torso armor was expanded under the arms in order to fit the thicker body. Thin plastic sheets were added to fix the position
2) Epoxy putty was applied
3, 4) Dremel to trim the putty into the armor shape
5) Body fitting to test the result
6) Armor painted up
7) Shin armors were extended. The gap was filled with epoxy putty
8) Dremel to trim the putty into the shin armor shape
9) Shin armors painted up
Thigh, Butt and Abdomen Armor Modifications
1, 4, 7) The original armors were cut into pieces and glued back together on a thin plastic sheet
2, 5, 8) The armor details were sculpted using epoxy putty
3, 6, 9) The armors were painted up
Dreadlock and Bio Mask Modifications
1) All dreadlocks were cut from the head. The ends remaining in the head were removed
2) Each dreadlocks hole is trimmed to bevel at the edge. The dreadlocks were glued back hanging down
3) The glue used was VersaChem Plastic Welder. It is very effective for plastic. It drys within a few hours and gives a very strong bonding
4) 3 holes were drilled thru the mask. Use dremel to make a space inside the mask to fit a 3mm LED light. The wires used are super fine for modeling
5) The button battery is hidden inside the shoulder cannon base
6) A test of the laser effect – there is no photoshop effect
7) The black visor was replaced. I used a clear plastic sheet to give a shiny look
8) A silver sheet was placed behind the clear plastic. I tried the reflecting silver
9) At the end I decided to use the matt silver that matches the movie version better
Headsculpt Modifications
Celtic has never revealed its face in the movie so it leaves a great freedom for me to decide how it should look. To make it different from Scar, I have sculpted a stronger forehead bone structure and also put some tattoos on to the head.
1, 2, 3) different angles of the completed head
4) Scar’s head for comparison
5) Use epoxy putty to sculpt the forehead
6) Repainted forehead to match the skin tone and pattern
7) A stencil to help with the tattoo paint work
8) Close up view of the tattoo and the predator tribe symbol
9) Close up view of the repainted mandibles
Other Modifications
1, 2, 3) Custom made extended wrist blades (from Scar Predator project)
4) Repainted dagger
5) Repainted arm blades
6) Alien blood melted wrist blades
7) Small modifications to make the belt and skirt fit the larger waist
8) Sponge paddings to secure the position of the torso armor to the body
9) Resin diorama ground with AVP pattern (bought from a model shop specialized in Sci Fic figures)
This is the evolvement of Celtic through different customization stages
Full Armor Version
Half Torso Armor Version (based on the movie scene that the right torso armor was damaged by the alien acidic blood)
Left: Practice Version (a fictional version that Celtic was getting trained)
Right: Fully Loaded Version (equipped with arm blades)
Comparison of body height: Celtic 14.2″ tall, Scar 13.4″ tall. If scaling this back to real life, Celtic is slight more than 7′ tall. Celtic does look more massive than Scar does in the movie so I am happy with how this turns out.
