Wow, I can't remember the last time I had this much feedback! Each comment and idea is very much appreciated.
Jediknight - I guess you're referring to the Rykrof w/ the hood? Yeah, hopefully I can achieve that in the photonovel that he will wear that in. It's still a ways off though.
blaster_e11 - Interesting that you said that actually. I've wanted to do a rainy battle scene for a long time. If I can ever get the logistics figured out digitally and the right environment for it, I'll definitely give it a whirl.
Spuffy - The great thing about that Sidious hood, is that it's just a snap off hood (there is a peg you might want to cut off) but other than that, no dremeling our hollowing out is necessary. Same fo the poncho. I say pick a couple of these up and see what you can come up with (it's the same hood an poncho on both Palpatine and Rykrof) - the hood is actually a brownish color at first, so I painted it black and dry brushed w/ gray the little details.
Glassman - I remember about 3 years ago buying 10 Imperial Officers in one day, and passing on about 20 more at different Walmarts. They hit everywhere at the same time here. If I had a few more, I'd try and make a squad... and if I had your sculpting talents, I'd probably be able to make a better look to them.
Phruby - I'd love to make a new custom each night, I try and make a few each week. I always look forward to getting to work, getting a few things done, that coming in here for a few minutes to see what someone thought of my latest update and to see if anyone else added anything too. I think that I will have quite a few more coming in the next week or so, if all goes according to plan. The Imperial officer body works so well like you said for different characters, I wish they'd release a 4-pk of these guys for $20.00 - I'd get about 10 sets if I could afford it of course. Thanks on the Emperor, just a differnet look. I do plan on making a film accurate one too once I get more bust-up parts, but for now I decided to go with this. The Rykfrof right now is actually borrowing Palaptine's accessories - it's the same Rykrof as earlier, except for different thighs that I swithed out the the Commander Soiku guy. And I would be more than honored if you wanted to make your own Rykrof figure. In fact, I thought about asking if anyone wanted to make that a Customizing Challenge, but wasn't sure what people would think about that. Let me see - I've made quite a few versions of Rykrof now, maybe 6 versions now? Or a few more maybe.
In Rem - So you like the Ryfrof figure, good! It's almost two figures in one in a way. For the Typho head, it was just out of convenience really... my clone heads were all in a box, and I didn't feel like digging to get to them. Been needing to use the Typho for something, and it seemed to work ok. The helmet's big, maybe a shoulder pad would offset it a bit? On Palpatine, I'm not 100% satisfied with it, so yet another version is on the way. What you see for Rykrof here is most likely a future outfit near the end of the Clone Wars - but I might have him wear it sooner. It's my favorite outfit too, and I don't think I'll be able to top it. I got very lucky with how it turned out. To pronounce Rykrof's name, it is supposed to be (at least to me) as 'Rie-Krof' - hope that clears that up, but however anyone wants to pronounce is fine with me. I've seen people spell it several different ways too, and even seen them call him Ralbarr.
Ryan - The kama is actully from the silver ROTS clone, so I didn't have to paint the stripe. I did have to sand the hell down on the Imperial officer belt area though to make the waist smaller to get it to fit right, and he does have a secondary belt that I'll add a pic onto later. I might try those elbow pads out... but as for the use of the Soiku figure, I just haven't decided yet. I might add him, might not. Do people want me to add him to the series, or leave this as a unique look for Rykrof? Those elbow things, I might give it a whirl. If so, expect a lengthy PM! So you think the head is a bit big on the Palpatine? I don't think it is in person (but the Anakin definitely is) but you could be right. The sleeves really are just a cheap copout on my part. Expect a much better version of him soon.
Diddly - Thanks for the nice things you said. The Rykrof is made from the following parts and this is the procedure how I did it.
head - SAGA Endor Rebel
torso - SAGA Imperial Officer
biceps - SAGA Imperial Officer
thighs - SAGA TIE Pilot (first version but switched to Imperial Officer in an experiment that worked)
forearms - ROTS SA Clone
shins - ROTS SA Clone
kama - ROTS Evolutions Gray Clone
hood - Bust Up Sidious w/ lightsaber
poncho - Bust Up Sidious w/ lightsaber
( 1 ) Dissamble all the parts with the boil-n-pop method.
( 2 ) Cut the officer legs off at the knee while they are still warm (easier to cut).
( 3 ) Drill a hole in the left elbow area of the officer arm after cutting off the peg here.
( 4 ) Insert both Clone forearms into the holes on the officer elbows (now you have ball joints here)
( 5 ) Drill a "crater" in the bottom of the cut off knee section of the legs of the officer - like a bowl shape for a round joint to fit into (like a real shoulder socket).
( 6 ) Drill even deeper, one straight deep tunnel for the "peg" of the ball joint to lock into.
( 7 ) Snap in both shins, should have ball jointed knees now.
( 8 ) Smooth down the belt on the officer a LOT - use a dremel probably here like before for the drilling parts.
( 9 ) Add on the kama, paint as desired!
Hopefully that is helpful, similar design for the Soiku figure too.
Perennial - Thanks, that idea just came to me - since the Jedi look so cool like this, why can't Rykrof!
Famine - First of all, sorry I was unable to chat the other night - had to order a new cell phone, long story but I'll tell you about it a bit later. Thanks for all the comments, on Freelo, I wasn't going for a dirty look but more of a "worn" look - I guess I need to clean those up a bit. And there's more scientists that we'll see in the lab too. Can't wait to see your Anakin. And Rykrof will see a hell of a lot of action in the coming months when the Clone Wars really get down and dirty. On the Soiku, I need to think about it a bit. I came close to putting him on ebay last night but held off, I don't want to be looked at as trying to make money off of these, but I definitely do need to cover my expenses - that figure would run me about $20.00 in parts to replicate plus a couple hours to make. I know that's kinda high to some people. So I don't know what's fair and what's not, which is why I had considered letting someone bid on it to determine that. But I'll chat with you about that before I'd consider doing that. Doing the ebay thing on customizing rarely is my thing, but this is a damn expensive month...
Thanks for all the comments guys, I do appreciate them. No update tonight, unless I can't sleep and start to work on something.
