I don't know if he'll be able to make molds of any of that - I am pretty sure it's already been shipped... and I kind of think if he did, he would deserve well over $40.00 for it.  And I'd never make bootleg copies of the work he's made for me.

I was referring to the silicone cost to make a mold of something like that, not what I think he deserves for his work. What ever you paid for it, it was worth every penny for sure!

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The background cliffs were purchased at Michael's several years ago.  They are from some sort of Christmas sets, and were originally white (to look like snow) so I repainted them.  I have several of them.  I wish I could afford some more soon, and paint them black for Mustafar.

This is from Chewie's customs thread, and the backgrounds he's referring to look just like some of the cliff walls at Zions National Park. 

My questions are thus:

If purchasing background scenery to paint/customize myself, what are the best ones to buy?
What's the best place to buy?

Finally, if the above are too expensive (which such items can be), is there a preferred method/materials, etc. that any of you have used to create your own? 

I've seen some pics of the outstanding scenery that many railroad model builders can do, but that's probably a tad too advanced for me right now.  Some tips for beginners?  Anyone?  Anyone?

B

If you look into it you will find that the methods used by railroad model builders are actually very simple but produce great results. There is one book that you can probably borrow from the library or pickup for under $10, which explains how to make scaled scenery in great detail. It is called 'How to build realistic model railroad scenery' by D. Frary and is incredibly helpful for begginers. I'm sure you will be surprised as to how easy it is to make the scenery you want. In the meantime you could try using styrofoam as the base for your cliffs. Rough out the desired shape and go to town on it with regular sculpting tools (you will be using these tools to score and gauge the styrofoam). Once you get the look you are going for, prime it and paint with acrylics. Finally, add sand or snow (grated styrofoam) over select areas where you have pre applied glue and you are done. Hope this helps.   

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". As far as we know this person might even be the product of one of the many custom forums out there. We all have seen the threads where someone posts pictures of a custom figure they made and even though it might look terrible to the majority of us, some people will post something that goes like this 'Awesome . I wish Hasbro would make a figure like that!' or 'Dude, I would buy that in a heart beat!' or 'You should work for Hasbro' .If this person thinks his customs are worth 'x' amount of dollars, who are we to argue. Will most of us think it is worth that much? No. Will he get that amount? Odds are not in his favor. But that doesn't take away his right to ask what he thinks it is worth.
 
While I don't buy or sell customs on ebay or any place else, I don't condemn it either. The way I see it, to each his own. I would like to think that most of us are in this pastime just for fun, I guess that's why I don't see the need to get all bent out of shape over it.

I looking at various spray paints and I have not found "acrylic" spray paints - do these exist?  The lady at The Rag Shop said that spray paints are always enamel, any ideas on that?  I end up using my Primer spray and then hand painting the vehicle; it takes a lot of extra work, but the results are the same as if I had used spray paint.

Also, when I sprayed the primer on the Warthog vehicle, the tires were covered in primer as well.  Now they are sticky, but the rest of the car is fine.  The tires were a little more flexible than the other parts of the car so I assume they were made from a different type of plastic.  Any idea what happened and how I can fix that?  Should I use Goo-Gone to try to take the paint off of the wheels? 

You can find acrylic spray paint at most train and model shops. Tamiya makes it for sure. If you want to use another type of spray paint, I would suggest automotive spray paint just make sure you use automotive primer first. With the overspray problem with the tires I would suggest removing the primer with acetone or paint thinner in a well ventilated area. After you remove the paint make sure to wipe it down with soapy water. You do not want to just add paint over the primed surface if it is sticky since it will make it's way back to the surface eventually.