Author Topic: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 4/14)  (Read 55986 times)

Offline Famine

  • Noderator
  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 5050
  • Who watches The Famine?
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #30 on: February 8, 2006, 09:07 PM »
Sadly, aside from the 3 of you and maybe 2 others on other sites, these guys are getting next to nothing in feedback (good or constructive) on any of the customizing sites, maybe I should just quit trying to be unique and imaginative and just start cranking out Clones like everyone else :(

**** no, Spectre.

Keep doing what you like to do.

And give 'em hell. ;D

Kevin
The picture kept, will remind me...

Offline Ruprecht

  • Jedi Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 355
  • Yes I did say it.
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #31 on: February 8, 2006, 10:44 PM »
Sorry Spec, on behalf of those of us who "crank out clones" at the rate of 1 or 2 a month, and have little time or money to spend on much else hobby-wise, I sincerely apologize for the following:

A - Not being knowledgeable enough in other lines of toys to offer a decent opinion.  I know nothing about Predator action figures and therefore have no basis to offer constructive criticism, since you could've taken it right out of the package, posted a pic and said "Voila!" without us ignorant, unimaginative clone-crankers knowing any better.  Sure I could do a little googling and find out what you did to make the character better and more unique, but I have frozen burritos to cook, which require a careful, tending hand.

B - Many clone-crankers are fairly new to the hobby, and choose to hone our skills butchering easily fixable, faceless clones.  I myself have about 1 of every ROTS and AOTC Jedi and other non-clone figure, and about 50 clones total ranging the line.  So before I attempt to better (and most likely butcher) what I believe are very fine Jedi and other character sculpts, which I have in lower quantity due to budgetary restraints, I'll keep "cranking out" clones.

C - I like clones more than Tarkins, Veers's, and most Jedi.  So sue me.

D - This is all my own opinion, but the vast majority of cross-line part swaps end up looking out of proportion, with heads that don't fit the body, and limbs that just "don't look right," for lack of a better description.  Biceps that are twice as long as the forearm, that extend to the waistline look strange to me (general example, not citing or impugning your work in particular).

E - All opinion here as well:  If someone ports a head, limb, or accessory over to the SW-themed "universe," with a feable or nonexistent attempt to make it "Star Warsy," I don't think that much creativity or imagination was required.  While the work involved in doing so may have taken much time to do, the "creativity factor" is greatly diminished, since you just lopped off something and glued it onto something else.  You and many others here feel the same way about clone customs:  Little creativity and imagination = a lesser quality custom.  That's your opinion and I can respect that, but don't bitch and moan if someone who might hold a low opinion of your work refuses to give a false and disingenuous appraisal just so you can have a warm fuzzy.

F - That's about it.  You get just over an average of 1 reply per 12 views, which is nothing to complain about, and slightly better than my unimaginative clone-laden clone-cranker thread gets.  If you'd like to receive a million one-word replies to the tune of "Cool!" then this is the wrong place to be.  If you want more feedback on obscure, non-SW figures on a SW-themed board, you're barking up the wrong tree.  Since I pattern my entire life after the lessons learned from the movie Bambi, I think the following applies:  "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."

Sincerely and with much loving and adoration,

B

« Last Edit: February 8, 2006, 11:16 PM by bjardkerr »

Offline Phrubruh

  • Jedi General
  • *
  • Posts: 7847
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #32 on: February 8, 2006, 11:30 PM »
These are fantastic Preditors Spectre! :o I like the backstory and how you painted these. Very professional looking. I like the net stockings they wear and the dreadlock hair. Very movie accurate and well weathered. How much actuation do they have?

As for clones only getting feedback, I feel you pain. That is one of the reasons I left RS. We here at JD are alot more open to new stuff. Sorry for the lateness of my replay. I've been really busy at work recently to catch all of the threads. Keep them coming man!
This message brought to you by Wookiee Cookiees - "MMM... Chewie!"
Visit The Endor Express - The Ultimate Guide to Disney's Star Tours

Offline Spectre

  • Jedi Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 269
  • Spirit Of Wrath
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #33 on: February 8, 2006, 11:52 PM »
These are fantastic Preditors Spectre! :o I like the backstory and how you painted these. Very professional looking. I like the net stockings they wear and the dreadlock hair. Very movie accurate and well weathered. How much actuation do they have?

Thanks Phruby. I have been trying to find a way to incorporate Predators into my SW Universe for awhile now without much success until recently. The paint jobs are mostly fixes to the factory apps as they were rife with oversprays and generally bad paint masks, very little of the original paint is still visible (mostly just the dreads as they were some of the only neatly painted parts on the factory toys :( ). The articulation is actually pretty decent, the only joints they really lack is in the hips as the original figures didn't have any hip articulation to begin with. There are actually alot of ball joints on these guys (heads and mid torsos mostly) with swivel/cut joints just about everywhere else.



As for clones only getting feedback, I feel you pain. That is one of the reasons I left RS. We here at JD are alot more open to new stuff. Sorry for the lateness of my replay. I've been really busy at work recently to catch all of the threads. Keep them coming man!

Don't worry about the lateness of your reply, I've been pretty busy myself lately and need to catch up on the last 2 or 3 days' worth of posts by everyone.

"Clone-mania" is really a huge pet peeve of mine and has been for some time. It just annoys me when people who actually put alot of work into a custom, hand crafting alot of parts and doing professional paintjobs or even casting entire parts, get little or no feedback (good/bad/or otherwise) but someone smears some black paint on a Clone, calls it "battle damaged" and gets 2 pages worth of a text strokejob (most of it is just meaningless dreck like "That Roxxors!" but it's annoying none the less :( ).  At least here, most people tend to be a bit more mature and actually suggest ways to improve customs or offer suggestions for future additions, not just one line responses :)
Looking for EXCELLENT 1/18 scale weapons? Check out Marauder, Inc.
www.marauderinc.com/servlet/StoreFront

1 Stop Shopping For all Your Customs Needs:
www.goodtogocustoms.com

Offline Phrubruh

  • Jedi General
  • *
  • Posts: 7847
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #34 on: February 9, 2006, 12:08 AM »
Amen brother! 8)

That's why the current group project is a 'no clones allowed' project.
« Last Edit: February 9, 2006, 12:10 AM by Master_Phruby »
This message brought to you by Wookiee Cookiees - "MMM... Chewie!"
Visit The Endor Express - The Ultimate Guide to Disney's Star Tours

Offline Darth Delicious

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 881
  • Kneel...kneel before Wobb!
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #35 on: February 9, 2006, 12:09 AM »
Hi Spectre:

Re: Predators

Those rock!


-DD

(I'd offer more, but I'm up to my elbows in clone hackery.)
Back from the dead!!!

Offline Spectre

  • Jedi Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 269
  • Spirit Of Wrath
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #36 on: February 9, 2006, 12:28 AM »
Sorry Spec, on behalf of those of us who "crank out clones" at the rate of 1 or 2 a month, and have little time or money to spend on much else hobby-wise, I sincerely apologize for the following:

A - Not being knowledgeable enough in other lines of toys to offer a decent opinion.  I know nothing about Predator action figures and therefore have no basis to offer constructive criticism, since you could've taken it right out of the package, posted a pic and said "Voila!" without us ignorant, unimaginative clone-crankers knowing any better.  Sure I could do a little googling and find out what you did to make the character better and more unique, but I have frozen burritos to cook, which require a careful, tending hand.

B - Many clone-crankers are fairly new to the hobby, and choose to hone our skills butchering easily fixable, faceless clones.  I myself have about 1 of every ROTS and AOTC Jedi and other non-clone figure, and about 50 clones total ranging the line.  So before I attempt to better (and most likely butcher) what I believe are very fine Jedi and other character sculpts, which I have in lower quantity due to budgetary restraints, I'll keep "cranking out" clones.

C - I like clones more than Tarkins, Veers's, and most Jedi.  So sue me.

D - This is all my own opinion, but the vast majority of cross-line part swaps end up looking out of proportion, with heads that don't fit the body, and limbs that just "don't look right," for lack of a better description.  Biceps that are twice as long as the forearm, that extend to the waistline look strange to me (general example, not citing or impugning your work in particular).

E - All opinion here as well:  If someone ports a head, limb, or accessory over to the SW-themed "universe," with a feable or nonexistent attempt to make it "Star Warsy," I don't think that much creativity or imagination was required.  While the work involved in doing so may have taken much time to do, the "creativity factor" is greatly diminished, since you just lopped off something and glued it onto something else.  You and many others here feel the same way about clone customs:  Little creativity and imagination = a lesser quality custom.  That's your opinion and I can respect that, but don't bitch and moan if someone who might hold a low opinion of your work refuses to give a false and disingenuous appraisal just so you can have a warm fuzzy.

F - That's about it.  You get just over an average of 1 reply per 12 views, which is nothing to complain about, and slightly better than my unimaginative clone-laden clone-cranker thread gets.  If you'd like to receive a million one-word replies to the tune of "Cool!" then this is the wrong place to be.  If you want more feedback on obscure, non-SW figures on a SW-themed board, you're barking up the wrong tree.  Since I pattern my entire life after the lessons learned from the movie Bambi, I think the following applies:  "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."

Sincerely and with much loving and adoration,

B



At first, I wasn't going to respond to this as it's general tone was rather rude (whether that was truly implied or not) , but I think a clarification is in order:

The statement I made about "just cranking out Clones" is more of a statement of frustration than an attack against those who do crank out Clones. Take a good look at all of the Star Wars customs boards out there- what do you see, over and over again? The same 2 dozen or so Clone designs being done by everyone and their brother. They get tons of feedback (mostly just one line "cool!" garbage, but sometimes actually thoughtfull and constructive criticism) while more technically complex and original (as in not Clones) get next to nothing. "Clone-mania" has been going on for almost a year now and has gotten rather old.

There was a similar event 10 years ago when everyone was doing Mandalorians. The major difference, though, was that the majority of customizers doing Mandolorians actually put some effort into making their designs UNIQUE (as in they were not all doing the same designs) which lead to some amazing customs.

Also, anyone who has followed my customizing work over the years knows that I am not out to get a"warm fuzzy" or an ego stroking. I share my work with the customizing community out of an actual love of the craft and nothing more. It's just annoying to see the same tired Clone designs repeatedly getting feedback everytime a new one is posted while the work of seasoned, non-Clone customizers (and I am not just referring to myself here) is more or less ignored because their creations are not decked out in white armor with various hued stripes :(

As for your line about cross-line parts swaps/porting other concepts into Star Wars looking out of proportion/not being creative, that's not the case if you actually use a little knowledge of anatomy, scale, and imagination. Just about anyone can lop off a part of one toy and add it to another, but there is a bit more involved to it than that to make a good "crossover" custom. Take a look at the customs in this thread, with the exception of the Doomtroopers and Predators, there are almost no re-used parts from other lines, just parts modified to look like their other line counterparts. The major part of creating a "crossover" custom is how you work it into your Universe, some creative writing and a good knowledge of the Star Wars Universe goes a long way, read the bios of the customs as well as looking at the pictures and you see how backstory and custom mesh together to creat a cohesive vision.

I know alot of Clone customizers are new to the hobby, and it's good that our ranks are swelling, but too much of the same is not good for the longevity and overall health of the hobby :( As soon as "Clone-mania" is over, alot of these new customizers will most likely leave the hobby instead of moving onto other customizing subjects, same thing happened after the Mandalore craze wore off...

You may not have a familiarity with these Predator figures as you don't collect them, but there is a little blurb under each entry that gives a little bit of an idea of what parts they are made from and what mods were done to them. Never, would I ever try to pass off a production toy as a custom. This may be a Star Wars-themed board, but you'll see that there are other customs here as well.

Enjoy your burritos ;)



« Last Edit: February 9, 2006, 12:37 AM by Spectre »
Looking for EXCELLENT 1/18 scale weapons? Check out Marauder, Inc.
www.marauderinc.com/servlet/StoreFront

1 Stop Shopping For all Your Customs Needs:
www.goodtogocustoms.com

Offline darth_ripley

  • Jedi Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 222
  • i'm the monster's mother...
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #37 on: February 9, 2006, 12:37 AM »
they look cool to me, i am just unfamiliar with the line so its hard for me to see what improvements you have made and thus how to properly comment.

as far as clone-cranking goes, don't get your knickers in a twist over it....its not worth it imho, move on and take a deep breath.  8)

Offline hemble

  • Jedi Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 478
    • View Profile
    • Ron's military models and custom figures
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #38 on: February 9, 2006, 01:30 AM »
Man O Man the Predators look bloody awesome the paint apps and the detailing work is very impressive indeed well odne.

Ron

Offline Ruprecht

  • Jedi Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 355
  • Yes I did say it.
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #39 on: February 9, 2006, 01:33 AM »
Hehe, she said knickers.

After re-reading my post it did come off as rude, though I didn't mean it to be that dickheadish.  I apologize. 

Clones are overdone, but I'd like to think that we don't get a lot of similar response to run-of-the-mill clones around here.  At least not as bad as some other sites.  This too, shall pass.  :D

Offline Darth Delicious

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 881
  • Kneel...kneel before Wobb!
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #40 on: February 9, 2006, 01:37 AM »
Personally, I'm sick of people being judgemental of what things other people choose to customize. It goes back to that "holier than thou" mentality I can't stand.

By the way, Bjardkerr, you need to realize I am a much more pure customizer than you, since I do more than clones. Now bow at my feet, you filthy @$%!& heathen, as I must bow to Phruby, who only once sinned and made a clone as far as I'm aware. And even Phruby must fall at the feet of our holy lord, he who is without Clone sin, the savior of our hobby, born from one who had never even known the PURCHASE of a clone, the alpha, the omega, Spectre. And we ate bread, and their was much rejoicing.

Now I mean that tongue in cheek, as I think bjardkerr meant his comments, but do you begin to see how ridiculous this is? I don't care if every other thread on the damn boards is people doing clones...we should all be content to do our own thing and leave others to do theirs. And if you're miffed because they get more attention in their threads...get over it. Jealousy is unbecoming.

Besides, if the clone threads get more attention, obviously there's more people that enjoy clones than trandoshans, predators, Aqualish shot-putters, or whatver the hell you or I are doing. So let them, and be content that YOU, and a few people whose opinions matter to you, like what you bring to the hobby.

I like your Predators. I like whenever bjardkerr posts new clones. It's all customizing. Let's leave the snobby elitism out of the hobby and all be friends again, okay?

Sweet break-dancing Buddha, I need a tylenol.

-DD
« Last Edit: February 9, 2006, 02:01 AM by Darth Delicious »
Back from the dead!!!

Offline Phrubruh

  • Jedi General
  • *
  • Posts: 7847
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #41 on: February 9, 2006, 10:05 AM »
You crack me up DD!

Aqualish shot-putters - now that is a great idea! I've got to make one!
This message brought to you by Wookiee Cookiees - "MMM... Chewie!"
Visit The Endor Express - The Ultimate Guide to Disney's Star Tours

Offline Joe

  • Jedi Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 354
    • View Profile
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #42 on: February 9, 2006, 07:46 PM »
You have a knack for this...I especially love your BrotherHood Of the Sperhant..
also you halo/clones are great...

keep up the good work,
Joe
Cheers!

 - Joe

Offline Glassman6

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 669
  • Hey...Its Me!
    • View Profile
    • Glassman's Customs
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #43 on: February 9, 2006, 10:43 PM »
Ya gotta admit, Darth D is a funny dude.

Clone lover or not, noob or vet, a good custom is a good custom, and i see alot of great customs got hardly any comments and some quick brush strokes get  all the praise in the world.

It drives hard working customzers away, i get that, but you cant stop people from liking what they like.

Post because you want to post, and dot stop making these great customs.

Offline Clone Hunter

  • Jedi Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 370
    • View Profile
    • Cybertronian Artifacts
Re: Spectre's Star Wars Crossover Customs (Updated 2/6)
« Reply #44 on: February 9, 2006, 11:32 PM »
I just want to chime in, that I like the predators, for the sake of posting it.

Most times, though if I do not understand the custom or have something negative to say, I'll think twice and just not post anything.
My trade thread: http://www.jedidefender.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=10408.0
Email is your best bet to contact me.