Hello @monkeyboys-toys I’m also from the UK so good to see you here!
I did a pretty hefty Spirit 1:1 customisation a couple of years ago which you can see here, and I’m now doing quite a deep Hasbro 84’ project now too, which you can also see here.
In terms of advice, that’s pretty subjective and it really depends on what you personally want to achieve. From currently doing my second full pack, I’d say it’s also worth thinking about the following:
- What kind of look you want - you’ve already mentioned you want it to look beat up, which is kind of what I did with my Spirit pack. Rub n’ Buff is okay, lots of people use it and I did on the Spirit, it’s fun to use, but if you want to go a bit more Afterlife, then you might also want to think about washes/other tones like greys/blacks/browns etc to give it more depth.
- How much do you want to spend - the pack itself may be ‘cheap’ at £320, but the cost of these projects overall can soon balloon. Depending on how screen accurate you want it, how much quality matters, and how far you want to go, you could easily spend five or six times more that the original cost.
- How hands on you want to be - do you just want to go superficial, or are you happy to start cutting the pack to bits, spray painting, or getting involved in things like electronics or 3D printing.
- How you’ll use the pack - will it be a display piece that will just sit in a man cave, or will you wear to fancy dress parties or even comic cons? The latter a really fun and I’m aiming to go to a couple myself in October, but then you’ll need to make sure the pack is robust and can be worn for several hours, as well as staying powered.
But Hasbro have given us a good base with this and the good news is that you can go as light or as deep as you want to. With my Spirit pack, I did loads of work butchering the pack and replacing large sections with 3D printed parts, but this time I’m happy with the 84’ pack body so I’m focusing more on the details, using quality hardware, upgrading the electronics and making it more of a movie prop replica display piece that I’ll also wear to cons.
Just have fun with it though, there’s a great community of like-minded people to support you, and if you ever need help, just reach out!