Goodbye Tarful. Goodbye Darth_Nirvana. Miss you I will.

jk  That's too bad that we won't be hearing from you for a while. It'd be nice to at least see a post or two ever so often, though, if you've got alternative forms of internet access nearby! The Neimoidian custom you speak of sounds awesome, and I'm sure we'll all be eagerly waiting for a glimpse at it upon your return! Besides, I'm sure it's good to take a break from these forums every once in a while. 

Good luck with the tech problem, and meanwhile happy customizing.

I agree with Fritz and Chewie, these is an awesome custom! I see alot of so-so Mando customs on the web, usually just being some color variation of Boba and Jango Fett -- but this is clearly a piece with to which the artist has truly applied his creative license! I love the range finder on his left side, the map tucked on his thigh, and the unique knee pads! The back holster is also genius, and the added height and bulk of his rifle gives him a very heroic, or at least warrior-like look. This really captures the Mandalorian "spirit" as it is depicted in the expanded universe.

April 15, 2006

Here's a POTF2 Red 5 X-Wing that I'm converting into Jaina Solo's XJ-3 X-Wing from the New Jedi Order. First, I gutted out the electronics (I hated to see them go.. maybe sometime, when I'm more electronically savvy, I'll be able to re-connect the lights to a new battery power source), as well as the permenant R2-D2 and Luke bust, with a little help from Han:


So far, I've added some "details" to the cockpit, although they're not accurate. I just wanted there to be more depth to the controls and stuff than some rinky-dinky decals. There are some styrene strips awaiting painting, some wires on the rear wall, and a make-shift flight stick that I made from a piece of the ROTS Gran senator's blaster:



I forgot to photograph the inside-inside, to show how I fixed everything up to accomodate a full 3 3/4 pilot after removing the bust of Luke. I basically used a dremel cutting tool on some parts to make more room, remove big chunks of plastic, etc. and dremel-grinded the excess and rough edges down as best as I can (it's a sloppy job, it looks like.) I added styrene platforms for Han to sit on, so he didnt fall through and get lost inside the starfighter's hull!:



I also took out that sad-excuse for an R2 unit (really, just the dome.) and added more room and such for a full 3 3/4 scale R2:



The hardest parts seem to be over! Now that's team work, guys; high five!:

Has anyone scanned in a Saga collection card to use as a template? I don't do custom cards normally, but I am using one for a class project. Thanks for your help, in advance.

You know, the eyes gave me a world of trouble. It took some "stamping" of paint, using a toothpick with a slightly truncated tip for the irises, while I used my very fine tip brust to paint the whites in. In addition to brown irises, it's not visible, but I also put little black pupils in the middle of the brown using a pin tip. I had to touch the eyes up a little by adding some flesh tone to either the top or bottom, so Han didn't look so doll-face, wide-eyed. Definitely a nerve-wrecking process for me.

I'm glad you guys like how it turned out though!

Thanks Ron, I appreciate the comment!

On another note, I think I've found the Mara Jade and Luke renditions that I'd like to do for my NJO line:
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He has sort of an ARC feel to him, in that, the comics portrayed the ARCs to be brauny and very capable. I like this look, because it really makes them stand out from other clones. The same is true for this custom, as the crash harness around his legs and the kama give him a much wider (not in a bad way) look, than normal clones -- sort of like a heavy trooper. He really looks geared up!

I'd also like to add that the snow in his hair is a good touch; some customs neglect to show environmental weathering, so it's nice to see it every once in a while.

Is Delaton the same as "Master_Gunnz" from Rebel Scum? I'm not familiar with the community yet. Master_Gunnz, who is also an avid GI Joe customizer, is casting some of the newer, nicer female heads, and apparently he said he will be casting their hair separate so you can 'mix and match.'

I though that this would be great, because I'd love to use this covergirl for Jaina Solo, but so many people have used it for Mara Jade it seems to have kind of a custom identity already. I was thinking of swapping hair sculpts from one of the Baronesses, incidentally, to give the covergirl more or less Jaina's haircut, but right now I think I may just trim/dremel the hair sculpt as it is. Now it's a matter of actually getting this junk in the mail -- it's been 9 days since I won one of these packs on Ebay!