Friday, July 1, 2011

Hot Toys 1/6 SDU 12-inch Assaulter Figure Redo

Continued from the previous post...

This is the Hot Toys 1/6 scale SDU (Hong Kong's Special Duties Unit) Assaulter 12-inch figure re-done! If you have been following my entries, you'll know that the original Hot Toys first generation 12-inch muscle body had cracked and broke apart after taking a fall recently (see previous post). No worries, I just have to replace that old crappy body with a newer much improved version :)


This revised version of the Hot Toys 1/6 SDU 12-inch Assaulter Figure is much more articulated and pose-able than the original version which suffered from stiff limbs due to the bulky muscle mass made of rubber encased over the metal wire armature.


This newer improved SDU Assaulter is built around the Hot Toys True Type 12-inch body (Asian of course since the SDU is made up of members of the Hong Kong Police Force). This whole incident also enabled me to equip this new figure with all the attire, accessories, equipment and weapons taken from the old and you can see what this figure is wearing underneath all his gear :)


The Special Duties Unit (or SDU; Chinese: 特別任務連, nicknamed "Flying Tigers 飛虎隊") is an elite paramilitary tactical unit of the Hong Kong Police Force. Established in July 1974, it is a sub-division of the Police Tactical Unit (PTU). Its primary functions include counter-terrorism, hostage rescue and dealing with crimes (usually involving firearms) which are considered too dangerous for regular police to handle. The unit was formerly trained by the British SAS before the handover of Hong Kong to China.


The SDU don't usually run around in civvies and adidas. They go about with their operations mostly in their tactical suits and combat boots. The reason for the civilian attire I believe came from the 1994 Hong Kong movie "Final Option" in which this elite unit was featured prominently. The film showed how the HK SDU selected recruits, trained them and then sent them out for battle against armed robbers. At one point, the robbers decided to don identical suits as the unit and that caused major confusion. The order was then given for the SDU team to switch to civvies instead and that was how the look caught on with 1/6 manufacturers.


Over his T-shirt, blue jeans and 1/6 scale adidas, the SDU Assaulter puts on his abseiling harness, belt, carabinas and flexi-cuffs, Glock 17 pistol in drop down holster, drop down ammo pouches for extra pistol magazine and MP5 magazine, multi-purpose tool, three types of grenades, knee pads. He is armed with the Heckler & Koch MP5K SMG (submachine gun) with double-clip magazine


At the back, he has a gas mask pouch, tactical goggles, heavy duty flashlight, M9 bayonet and scabbard, mace spray. I think Hot Toys were the first to issue pistols with retaining lanyard after the G. I. Joe and Action Man Canadian Mountie from the 1970s.


Close-ups of the gas mask pouch, tactical goggles, smoke grenades, heavy duty flashlight, M9 bayonet in scabbard, mace spray, Glock 17 pistol in drop down holster, knee pads.


Close-up views of the abseiling harness, belt, carabinas and flexi-cuffs, drop down MP5 magazine pouches for extra pistol magazine and MP5 magazine, multi-purpose tool, knee pads.


Here's the fully kitted out Hot Toys 1/6 scale Hong Kong Police SDU (Special Duties Unit) Assaulter 12-inch figure with Avon SF10 Respirator with AN-PVS17 NVD, CT100E Ear Defender headset connected to walkie-talkie with throat microphone, T-shirt, body armour, assault vest with shotgun cartridges, abseiling harness, belt with Glock 17 pistol in drop down holster, mace spray, M9 bayonet in sheath, heavy duty torchlight, gas mask pouch, tactical goggles, carabinas and flexi-cuffs, drop down ammo pouches for extra pistol clip and MP5 magazines, multi-purpose tool, three types of grenades, H&K MP5K SMG with double-clip mag, gloves, M870 pump action shotgun, knee pads, jeans and adidas sneakers. This set also came with AC100/1 assault helmet, dark blue tactical suit, black balaclava, shield, mirror, handphone and Danner assault boots. The original 2003 release was part of the "SDU/SRS Project" by Hot Toys.







More close-up pictures of the Hot Toys 1/6 SDU 12-inch Assaulter Figure (Redo version with new TrueType 12-inch body)


The 1/6 scale Avon SF10 Respirator with AN-PVS17 NVD and CT100E Ear Defender headset connected to walkie-talkie with throat microphone is just awesome. The quality of the gear and accessories plus weapons minus 12-inch body is top notch. The nude muscular figure was its only low point and that is now taken out of the equation.





Thanks for all the kind encouraging words and support I received when I posted about the broken body BUT after the re-do, this SDU figure looks even BETTER :)

10 comments:

Rash said...

Came out much better and kick-ass. You can never keep a good (1/6th) man down for long. Bravo, nicely done Alex!

alex teo said...

thanks Rash, glad you like the re-do version as well :)

BigHatDino said...

Hahahaha, this is the same HT body I put my Assaulter gear on :P The Breacher gear is on the Michael Scofield body :)

NeonGhost said...

Ultimately, you made the best out of a bad situation, so I commend you! But you should also be honest about the dilemma of only having poseability as the end point. I couldn't help but think how cool the muscle mass and texture was on your broken 1/6 and how too bad the rubber and seamless bodies still leave so much to yearn for. At the same time, I kept getting distracted by your replacements lack of realism when it comes to the plastic gloss arms and five part elbows. I think the thing to hope for is that the seamless bodies get better and better, so there is a transcendent marriage between the poseability and the verisimilitude of these newer and experimental rubber molds. I want to see more from the technology. The clothes and gear are certainly striking and realistic, so why not hope for the same from the 1/6 frames as well?

alex teo said...

hey BigHatDino, guess great minds think alike haha

thanks NeonGhost, there have been improvements made to the 1/6 scale rubber bodies since - if you check out the side bars of my blog, you can see Hot Toys used rubber muscle arms for Dutch, Billy Sole, Sarah Connor, King Leonidas and Abigail Whistler (to name a few) - but i think the high costs of making them is keeping the technology at bay. Also, since most figures have their arms hidden inside their attire, costume or uniform, it doesn't make sense for the manufacturer to pay more for a muscle body but ultimately not be able to see it as it's going to be hidden. CHEERS

desmond said...

Well done, bro!!

NeonGhost said...

True. The seamless bodies aren't always needed, but there are several characters that Hot Toys and others would like to make, but the costs and experimentations involved in the technology is still a straddling point. I still wish there was a way of having hands that could be articulated but also at the same time not have the gap between the wrists of the figure. I think the technology will probably get better and cheaper as the hobby grows and the economy of scale situation becomes more amenable.

For instance, I just can't get into the DX Bruce Lee with its shoulder joint gaps, but Hot Toys recent black and white photos of Lee in the rubber seamless version--that are soon to come out--looks quite promising.

alex teo said...

thanks desmond, always appreciate your support :)

NeonGhost, articulated fingers and no gaps / obvious joint lines between wrist and arm - now those are something we are all hopeful for :)

I didn't get DX Bruce because of the ugly joint lines. Couldn't Hot Toys have done a King Leonidas or even Sly Stallone figure with the seamless body?

Alvin said...

Hi Alex,

Do you happen to know where could i get more of these Casual attire SDU? i manage to obtain one from plaza singapura, btw it would be could if you could also advise me where to get the true type bodies

alex teo said...

Hi Alvin, try TFH - link: http://www.tfh.com.sg/product_details.php?prod_id=2414