Customs by mousedroidhoojib

[mousedroidhoojib]

Here is Princess Leia Organa in a standard issue Y-Wing pilot jumpsuit, as likely worn when she flew to Tatooine to be part of the frozen Han Solo's rescue party in Return Of The Jedi, immortalised by Adam Hughes artwork:

Recipe:

* Princess Leia Collection Bespin Leia (modified, for the head)
* Comic Pack Plourr Ilo (modified, for the entire body, sans head)
* Marvel Universe Black Widow (for the gauntlets which became the leg strap)
* some material

Being that I didn't think that I could improve overly on the Kenner paint job on Leia's face (which despite being released in 1997 has a better likeness than some of the more recent attempts), this turned out to be a pretty quick and easy figure to put together. Of course, it would have been easier still had I left Plourr Ilo's flightsuit intact rather than redux the whole thing in softgoods, but I had to give myself some challenge.

 

[YAK_Chewie]

Cool, X-Wing Leia! I've considered making one myself.

:wink:

 

[mousedroidhoojib]

Thanks as always, YAK_Chewie - I would love to see what you come up with. While the Adam Hughes art (and that from Splinter Of The Mind's Eye) depicts the Princess with her cinnamon buns hairdo, I don't know that it would work particularly well with a helmet if you were to go down that path.

 

[mousedroidhoojib]

One of the lesser known exponents of Imperial "peacekeeping" was the Terror Trooper, an experimental class of elite soldiers that served the Galactic Empire in the period shortly after the Galactic Civil War began, most notably despatched by Darth Vader to assist Boba Fett with the capture of Juno Eclipse as seen in The Force Unleashed II:

Recipe:

* Clone Wars ARF Trooper (very heavily modifed, for the head)
* GI Joe Resolute Zartan (modified, for the entire body, sans head)
* Clone Wars General Grievous (for the "toes" which were used on both the feet and hands)
* Movie Legends Battle Droid (for the antennae)
* some material
* some modelling clay
* some paint (Citadel "Chaos Black", "Codex Gray", "Space Wolves Gray", "Blood Red", "Golden Yellow", "Mithril Silver")

As I am not much of a gameplayer, I haven't seen these particular troopers first hand on screen, however I have seen them in the comics adaptation of TFU2 which formed the basis of the look for this particular figure with some of my own elaborations.

 

[ghostskull18]

This is Beyond Awesome! Great Job!

 

[mousedroidhoojib]

Thanks a bunch, ghostskull18, and all those who commented in the Yakfinities thread.

Next up, here is Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore given a more "realistic" look from her animated appearances in The Clone Wars:

Recipe:

* Comic Pack Plourr Ilo (modified, for the head)
* Princess Leia Collection Bespin Leia (modified, for the majority of the body)
* TVC Zam Wesell (modified, for the feet)
* TCW General Grievous (modified, for the ankles and lower legs which became the elbows and forearms)
* some modelling clay
* some material
* some paint (Citadel "Elf Flesh", "Skull White", "Chaos Black", "Rotting Flesh", "Kommando Khaki", "Liche Purple", "Ice Blue", "Bubonic Brown", "Red Ink")

I cheated a little with the costume, breaking it up into smaller components rather than having it as larger individual flowing garments, primarily because the material I was using was fraying badly and clear nail polish was staining a little too much. There should also be a little bit more decoration on the lower (green) layer, with patterns on the inner sleeves and down the legs; I figured that given the Duchess seems to wear the same costume in most of her appearances that she must have a decent collection of these same robes, some of which are patterned differently - this is one of those marginally different ones.

 

[ghostskull18]

AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! GREAT JOB!

 

[drod26]

outstanding man.. She is one of my favorite characters in the clone wars and like the fact that Kenobi digs her.. :wink:

 

[YAK_Chewie]

:wink:

 

[Darth Depressis]

A fine collection of customs....

 

[mousedroidhoojib]

Thank-you muchly ghostskull18, drod26, YAK_Chewie and Darth Depressis - I really appreciate the comments.

This next figure feels like a bit of a step backwards after the Duchess but after an ordinary day at work, I felt like I needed to put one together quickly to take my mind off things. Here is someone that virtually every Corellian and his Wookiee have probably tried to put together at some point or another - Luke Skywalker in his outfit from Shadows Of The Empire:

Recipe:

* Marvel 96 Comic Pack Luke Skywalker (for the head)
* X-Wing Rogue Squadron 13 Comic Pack Dllr Nep (modified, for the entire body sans head and left hand)
* Legacy Collection Death Star Luke Skywalker (for the left hand)
* some material
* some paint (Citadel "Elf Flesh", "Skull White", "Chaos Black", "Bubonic Brown", "Vomit Brown")

He is pretty simple really, with just a quick re-paint on the head (which is a much better sculpt than I had originally thought), a smoothing out of the body and some basic clothing. This is the first time that I've tried Hyperdrive's trick of using tape for boots which I think has come out quite nicely.

 

[drod26]

wow.. thats a really nice Luke.. Great choice of sculpt.. :wink:

 

[acklayhunter]

I continue to be in awe of your tallent! The Terror Trooper looks REALLY GOOD and Dutchess Satine..what else can I say but simply AMAZING!!! Can't wait to see more of your work!

 

[mousedroidhoojib]

Thanks heaps drod26 and acklayhunter.

Next up, dipping once more into the obscure character well, is Separatist Senator Po Nodu's aide, a Shi'ido shapeshifter disguised as an Aqualish:

Recipe:

* Episode I Mace Windu (modified, for the entire body sans head, hands and the majority of the left arm)
* Vintage Collection General Grievous (modified, for one of the arms which formed the elbow and either side of the left arm)
* some modelling clay
* some doll hair
* some material
* some paint (Citadel "Grave Yard Earth", "Desert Yellow", "Bronzed Flesh", "Chaos Black", "Red Gore", "Blood Red")

Way back in December of 2010, I made a different version of this guy as one of my first attempts at a custom figure and while I was happy with it at the time, looking back at it now, it is a little embarrassing. As such, I decided to revisit him to see how far I have progressed with my sculpting, painting, sewing and photography.

 

[YAK_Chewie]

Man, that headsculpt looks sick! In a good way. It really makes the species look nasty and disgusting, just like it should. And the air/whiskers are a very good touch.

:wink:

 

[mousedroidhoojib]

Thanks as always, YAK_Chewie.

Being from a noble bloodline on Naboo, Saeraé had been expected to seek election to the position of Princess of Theed. To the surprise of her family and friends (but not the Master-At-Arms in her lakeside household), she instead joined the Order of Sanctuary and served as a loyal handmaiden to Apailana, the Queen of Naboo, keen on brandishing her pistol at the first sign of trouble to her monarch.

Recipe:

* "FemaleHead-12 LivingMetal 1" SlayerDesignStudio head
* Clone Wars Commander Cody (modified, for the entire body, sans head and feet)
* Clone Wars Anakin Skywalker (for the feet)
* some modelling clay
* some material
* some paint (Citadel "Elf Flesh", "Chaos Black", "Skull White", "Bubonic Brown", "Grave Yard Earth", "Red Gore", "Burnished Gold")

 

[mousedroidhoojib]

In the years following the fall of Emperor Palpatine at the Battle of Endor, the Imperial Remnant looked to bolster its troops through the use of droids, ranging from Battle Droids as previously seen during the Clone Wars, through monsterous War Droids of various models, to reclaimed astromech droids, retrofitted with weaponry. These so called Blastromech droids filled a niche with their compact size and ability to fly short distances. R3-C4 was one such Blastromech serving the Empire in their fight to regain control over the galaxy.

Recipe:

* Build-A-Droid astromech body
* Clone Wars R2-D2 (for the legs)
* some modelling clay
* some paint (Citadel "Codex Gray", "Space Wolves Gray", "Mithril Silver", "Regal Blue", "Chaos Black", "Skull White", "Devlan Mud")

If I didn't already have an appreciation for customisers who put astromech droids together, I certainly do now, having seen first hand both how difficult they are to paint and indeed photograph. Hopefully this little guy isn't an affront to droid afficianados everywhere.

 

[botwt]

Pretty cool little droid!

 

[DarthMcBaine]

I really like the Aqualish aide, nice head! I am no lover of soft goods but you´re something else! They really come alive.

The droid is fascinating and nicely painted too.

 

[mousedroidhoojib]

Thanks heaps, botwt and DarthMcBaine.

Like a lot of us no doubt, my favourite character in the Star Wars universe is Obi-Wan Kenobi, so when I saw the recent announcement of Sideshow's Mythos line which includes a windswept-and-interesting, nomadic old Ben with interchangable Sir Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor head sculpts, I was immediately excited. Knowing that it might be a struggle to afford one of the pieces though, I thought that I would try to put together one of my own in 3.75" scale to tide me over.

Recipe:

* ROTS Obi-Wan Kenobi (modified, for the head and lightsaber)
* Marvel Universe Bucky (modified, for the entire body, sans head)
* TVC Zam Wesell (for the rifle)
* GI Joe Resolute Alley Viper (for the goggles)
* some household plastic
* some modelling clay
* some material
* some paint (Citadel "Elf Flesh", "Skull White", "Chaos Black", "Grave Yard Earth", "Space Wolves Gray", "Dark Flesh", "Scorched Brown", "Bleached Bone", "Goblin Green", "Blood Red", "Devlan Mud", "Mithril Silver")

While I am typically careful with avoiding material fraying, I purposefully tried to make it noticable here to give the outfit the desert-worn look that the statue appears with. I probably could have added the scorch marks on the sleeves but thought that it might detract a little from the overall piece here.
I'm certainly not the world's greatest painter, but much like with the recent Luke that I put together, I was amazed at how much better the Hasbro sculpt looks with just a touch of paint.