jokabofe's customs updated 5/10 - Ultimate Vader and Anakin

[Gregorbian]

Dave, as I said on the NJ boards - I really like your Gen. Ki-Adi-Mundi figure.  I'm a big fan of softgoods so I'm glad to see its inclusion in your custom.  Like I said in another thread, I think a small length of chain connecting the cloak in front of the neck would really add to the "realness" of the cloak.

[jokabofe]

OK, so it's been like 6 months since I sat down and did any kind of work on custom figures... but tonight I kinda got the "itch" and picked up an extra animated ARC Trooper that I had, re-positioned one arm, and re-painted him blue. I know Clones have been done to death, but I'm just not tired of doing them yet (plus I haven't done any in 6 months). And I'm always jonesing for new animated style figures... I just love this line.

   

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After looking at the larger versions of the pics, I definitely seem to be a little out of practice with the paintbrush. Oh well, maybe I can get back into the swing of things, if I keep at it again.

[BrentS]

I really like the way you reposition the arms.  Much better than the original verision!  I think you are being to hard on yourself (don't we all) - I think the painting apps look great.

[CHEWIE]

If I was into the animated line, I'd have to make me one of these and only hope it turned out half as nice.  Excellent work, hope you get back into the swing of things customizing.   

 

[Glassman6]

Very Clean. Very nice work. I've been meaning to make one with this paint scheme too.
Great work.

[Ner_vod]

i was planning on making those also, especially that plo koon.

[Ner_vod]

jokabofe, i've always loved your customs and your paint applications. wat paints do use again?

[Roton7]

That Plo would RULE!

[jokabofe]

jokabofe, i've always loved your customs and your paint applications. wat paints do use again?

Thanks. I generally use either Citadel Miniatures or Tamiya paints. Recently I found a great website that sells Tamiya paints (since they were hard to find locally) and placed a pretty good order - about $190 worth, so I've pretty much got just about every color now.

The Tamiya paints are nice and thin, so they spread quickly and evenly, and dry pretty fast. The only problem is if you're trying to cover an area with a lighter color than the base coat, it may take more than one coat. But I'm really starting to prefer the Tamiya over every other brand.

[jokabofe]

Hasbro has not given us a decent ROTS Anakin yet, out of the several variations to be found, which is surprising since this movie actually focuses on him.

A while back when I got the Anakin Evolutions set, I thought it was good. Good, but not great. But not far from great. There were a few things I didn't like, and a few I didn't understand... AOTC Anakin has elbow articulation, ROTS Anakin didn't? ROTS Anakin has ankle articulation, AOTC Anakin doesn't? Didn't make any sense. So, when I was able to pick up an extra of this set (because no matter how bad a figure Hasbro makes turns out, I always need 1 unadulterated version in my collection. What can I say, OCD is a terrible thing), I decided to swap out the parts and make an Ulitimate Super Articualted ROTS Anakin (since I was never found of the AOTC version anyway).

I used the ROTS Anakin head and legs, and swapped out for the AOTC torso, arms, sash, and belt. I cut the right arm right after the elbow joint and added the ROTS glove, and maintained articulation on the elbow joint. There's not much more articulation I could add to this guy - neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees, and ankles. I had to trim down the AOTC torso neck, it was longer than the ROTS torso for some reason. I still want to work on the cape/robe, and I want  to paint his eyes Sith red, but it's too late and I'm too tired for that right now. That will be tomorrow nights project.

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Now, on to Vader. This was another figure that I thought had great potential, but in the hands of Hasbro, we all know what that means. The silver string around the neck? Nice touch, but it should have been shorter than an inch long. The helmet won't stay on for ****. And the head under the helmet? Please...

First thing I did was shorten the silver string. I'd love to swap it out altogether, but I don't know if I have any chain small enough. I think it looks 100x better after being shortened. All I did was cut one end, and stuff it under the helmet collar. The second thing I did was to swap out the head with an extra from a #50 Crispy Anakin that I had. I figured this was supposed to be a ROTS Vader, so he wouldn't be all white under there yet. And, to my surprise, swapping out the head actually fixed the helmet problem. I guess the #50 head is a little wider than the other head, because now the helmet stays on with no problem.

click to enlarge

[BrentS]

I think that Ultimate Vader came out great.  What an amazingly simple but very effective update to a figure that is already pretty great.  I'm defintiley going to try this myself 

As far as Anakain goes - I'd have to go back and look at the originals to see the added articulation.  I honestly don't remember which figure got which joints.  Your blending of these parts is top notch so I have to assume this is a huge improvement over any single figure out there

[jedipurge]

damn me not having a digital camera.  I actually did the same thing to my Evo Vader, i just "burned" him more then Hasbro's version.  Great Anakin.  I've tried something along this line with mine to give him better elbow articulation.  can you still twist/turn the gloved part of the arm or did you have to permanately glue it on?

[jokabofe]

can you still twist/turn the gloved part of the arm or did you have to permanately glue it on?

No, actually, I opted to just glue it on, since the new elbows have swivel articulation. I tossed around the idea of glueing some kind of post on the stump of the elbow, but that would have taken too long, and I get impatient when I'm working on any kind of figures. 

[jedipurge]

Patience you must have. 

[Outrider]

GReat job on all and especially that ARC.  Nice work.  I'm impressed with thise gauntlets.  I never though that either of those figures wouldever prove useful- I stand corrected.  Looking forward to the finished pics