Author Topic: Your First custom...  (Read 9535 times)

Offline Ryan

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Your First custom...
« on: August 23, 2005, 08:29 PM »
I was looking at my first custom the other day, and I realized I have come along way. I am a much better customizer now than I was when I started, granted I have a long way to go before I'll ever consider myself good. ::) I remember when I was little I saw a few customs in my friends ToyFare magazine. One was an Endor Stormtrooper with an ewok pelt. It was one of the coolest thigns I had ever seen. And a couple years later I was looking for Star Wars customs online, cause I liked looking at them. :P I somehow ended up in the RS custom section after clicking on one of the results and as a result discover RS and joined. After watching the custom section for awhile I was led to FFURG, and I figured out how to make my own customs. I was reading the NJO at the time and I decided to make my favoritew EU character. After going out and buying some supplies, including my dremmel, I started on my first custom ever, Corran Horn in X-Wing Pilot gear. And this is how he bad turned out.



So what got you guys into customizing, and what did your first custom look like?
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Offline Gregorbian

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2005, 08:41 PM »
Damn man, for a first custom, that's pretty good!

My first custom was a repainted POTF2 R2-D2 (painted black and red).  I just repainted it because I thought it would be fun and wanted to see how it would turn out.  I had been customizing/painting Warhammer 40k figures pretty hardcore for a few years before I started on Star Wars customs, so that was a great help in terms of honing my painting skills.
After my R2 repaint, I did my first parts swap - I put a vintage Greedo head onto a POTF2 Han Solo body.  I found the image on some customizing web site back in '96.  Unfortunately, I did not know how to "boil 'n pop" so I had to cut apart the Han Solo and Greedo torsos with an X-Acto knife  ::)
I didn't do much customizing after that until the summer of '04 when I graduated from university and had a lot of time on my hands (lib. arts degrees are useless!).  I did a bunch of Ep. II Clone repaints as well as a ton of astromechs. 
My first major custom (a custom that required a lot of sculpting/shaving/etc) was my Marvel Legends style Boba Fett.  It turned out nice enough for a first attempt at such a figure, however I really want to do a version 2.0 of that guy using all of the stuff that I have learned since then. 
I'll try to post some pics of my '96-era customs once I dig them out  ;)
The scariest thing that I've ever seen,
Is the terrible AT-AT walking machine.
It's as big as a house on walking legs,
and whatever it steps on it crushes like eggs.

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2005, 12:03 AM »
Hey, that's very good for your first one.  Damn awesome indeed.  I don't have any pics of my first customs, but here's a quick run down -

1983 - I remember before ROTJ came out, using red and blue toothpicks for the telescoping lightsabers for Vader and Luke.  I just didn't think that the plastic ones were nearly as long as they should have been.

1995 - After getting the first orange carded POTF2 figures, I decided to make a little movie with my figures combining vintage and "new."  The end result was awful.  I made a custom Owen and Wuher using GI JOE figures and cut up a brown shirt to try and make robes on them.  Oh, how hideous that was...

1996 - I was just starting to play around online, and saw a very few customs online.  I had no idea what the boil-pop method was.  So I used a knife drying to cut off a Han Solo head.  Almost cut off my hand instead...

It was about 1997 that I started painting figures, and in 1998 that I feel I started to become somewhat comfortable in making a custom.  But really it wasn't until the spring of 2000 after I had graduated from college that I had any free time to customize... and the modern era of CHEWIE customizing probably started in late 2002 after getting married.

 :P

Offline The Professor

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2005, 12:19 AM »
1983 - I remember before ROTJ came out, using red and blue toothpicks for the telescoping lightsabers for Vader and Luke.  I just didn't think that the plastic ones were nearly as long as they should have been.

Hey, I did that about, too, CHEWIE...a few years later.  I was born into the so-called "dead era" of Star Wars, so I used what I could when I was little and also put toothpicks into the slots.  They worked well and came in various colors. 

As for my first customs, I used to make small "sets" when I was really young.  They were basically pieces of packaging styrofoam with perhaps a little crayon.  Nothing fancy at all.  However, I loved and cherished styrofoam even at the age of three. :) 
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Offline Darth_Ennis

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2005, 01:25 AM »
Personally I think that is an excellent Corran Horn you sell yourself a little short. As a matter of fact I may be stealing your design. I have just started reading
"I, Jedi" and he is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters. And that is usually followed up by a custom or 2. ;D

As far as my first custom, to tell you the truth Ive been customising in one way or another my entire life. When I was 10, I massacred several vintage SW, and G.I.Joe figs into the characters from 'V'. Im not proud of the figures I chose now, and beleive me you dont want to know.

but my first modern SW fig was Commander Cody. and I did him just before the movie came out. I had finally given up on the modern Joe line, which is what I hjad been customising before then. SW presented a new challenge, the figures couldnt be unscrewed and taken apart like joes there was a certain amount of skill involved. I've only recently begun swapping limbs and such, and I'm loving every minute of it.

Ive also found more online freinds that customise SW, the old joe crowd just wasnt that enthusiastic about it.

Offline darth_ripley

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2005, 03:25 PM »
i started customizing a few months ago, in March actually to be exact. i had always thought of things that i would like to do to some of the 12" figures, but i was in college at the time and had no time to do it. so after i got married and my husband and i started talking about our collection, i looked up info on FFURG and also found the forum at RS.

my first customs were a repaint with some battle damage of the Unleashed Clone and a repaint of the Clone Wars animated ARC Trooper. i think they turned out pretty well, but they need some Dullcote as you can see  ;)







i haven't done too many customs yet, finding time is the biggest problem i have right now. the other customs i have done have pretty much been all repaints like the 12" Imperial Astromechs i just finished for the challenge. i did some green clone repaints with battle damage for some friends, and i have really gotten into doing the bust-ups. i guess i should start a thread of some of my work once i get better photos and more of them done.  i really like the forums here, very welcoming with solid constructive comments.

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2005, 03:53 PM »
Those look great Darth Ripley... looks like you can already paint better than I can.   :)

 :P

Offline Gregorbian

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2005, 08:54 PM »
Nice repaints on those Unleashed Clones, those were one of my favorite Unleashed pieces and it's always cool to see some well-done repaints  ;D
The scariest thing that I've ever seen,
Is the terrible AT-AT walking machine.
It's as big as a house on walking legs,
and whatever it steps on it crushes like eggs.

Offline Muftak

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #8 on: August 25, 2005, 08:52 PM »
My first custom was back in 1982, an AT AT Commander head on a Zuckuss body was a cyborg bad guy for Luke to fight. Also had a 4-LOM with Hoth Leia head that must have predated my knowledge of the Boussh disguise in ROTJ by about a year.

First modern custom, an NJO Anakin Solo (circa 2000):



Offline TheBlackDog65

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #9 on: August 25, 2005, 10:43 PM »
I've made what  I consider modifications but am now working on my 1st two customs thanks to Chewie. They are a Mace using an Agen K. body and I am taking a crack at making some 501st out of the SA Clone (especially now that the AT TE body is being used!).
I have the heads off  the Kolan and Mace, but weekdays are not good for me. I think and would like advice, that I will do with customizing what I do with plastic model building (WW II aircraft and tanks etc) and just set aside like 4 hours on two Saturday's a month to work on stuff (that won't last knowing me).

I believe I am going this route because I need to do something creative to keep my interest in collecting 3 3/4 toys. It makes me feel like I'm doing something with the figures and expressing my 40 year old creativity. I really believe it will keep me going with buying not everything, but what I want. I'll be asking for advice and as soon as I get my digital camera in October I'll post pictures.

Jay
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Offline Ner_vod

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #10 on: August 26, 2005, 02:34 AM »
Well my first custom was this year 2005 a few months ago. It was a 501st legion quick draw clone trooper.

Offline jedipurge

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #11 on: August 26, 2005, 11:58 AM »
well my first custom was pretty simple i used an xacto and cut off sec. cerem. Ani's robot hand and gave him a saga endor han hand, it looked pretty good.
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Offline Jeff

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #12 on: August 26, 2005, 12:08 PM »
My first custom also falls into the utterly simple category -

I took a FF Biggs, cut off the head with an exacto (like CHEWIE and Greg, I also was a complete noob who didn't even know know about "boil-and-pop") and glued on a FF Zuckuss head in it's place to create my very own Ooryl Qrygg.

It was easy and it was fast, but I still like that figure.   ;)
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Offline no-wan

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #13 on: August 26, 2005, 10:46 PM »
To this day my only custom... Figure that is !!  ;)





I threat'n to do more but that time never seems to get here !!!  ::)
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Offline Gregorbian

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Re: Your First custom...
« Reply #14 on: August 27, 2005, 11:38 AM »
That's cool Rodger, he looks very "natural."  What did you do for his lower robes? Did you use the original or is that clay?
The scariest thing that I've ever seen,
Is the terrible AT-AT walking machine.
It's as big as a house on walking legs,
and whatever it steps on it crushes like eggs.