DARTH DADDY's CUSTOMIZING CORNER: PATRICIO BERROETA aka PATO BERROETA

Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner featured Star Wars customizer PATRICIO BERROETA aka PATO BERROETA in the latest Customizing Corner over at The Star Wars Underworld.

CLICK HERE TO READ

One of my favorite things about Star Wars custom action figure art is that it's a global phenomenon. Patricio Berroeta aka Pato Berroeta lives in Santiago, Chile. He is a graphic designer, digital art director, illustrator, and comic artist. He is also a Star Wars action figure collector, and action figure customizer.

Pato started to share his customs with the world in 2011. His personal goal is to complete all the characters that were not produced by Hasbro for the Battle of Carkoon, Jabba's Palace and the Mos Eisley Cantina scenes so he can add them to his personal collection. His representations of these characters are just spot on and every time I look at them I think about how much I'd like to add one of his customs to my own collection one day.

Sometimes he does figures from other Star Wars episodes, but only when spare pieces allow. His work inspires me to take up his cause and make these much needed additions for my own collection one day as well.

Here are some links to the work of Pato Berroeta:


Custom figures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pberroeta/sets/72157632870643826/

All his figures in order (even with covers):
http://www.facebook.com/patoberroeta/media_set?set=a.10151400434033650.1073741825.719453649&type=3

His"Work in Progress" album:
http://www.facebook.com/patoberroeta/media_set?set=a.10151585511698650.1073741828.719453649&type=3

Cantina Mos Eisley Diorama (2012):
http://orden99.cl/cantina-de-mos-eisley/

Also be sure to check out his comics pages and illustrations:

Comics pages:
http://www.facebook.com/patoberroeta/media_set?set=a.340566438649.150326.719453649&type=3

Illustrations:
http://www.facebook.com/patoberroeta/media_set?set=a.311719368649.146152.719453649&type=3

'76 ILM MODEL SHOP - 1/18 Diorama by MAXXreplica

Seekers of the Dark Relic Photonovel

An all new adventure in The Enloe Trials photonovel series picks back up, as Rykrof Enloe and his team of Rebels attempt to recover an ancient Sith artifact from a destroyed Imperial research facility on Dathomir.

Rykrof will discover he’s in for much more than he expected as the mission quickly falls apart; as Darth Vader has taken an interest in recovering the relic as he leads his best troops into battle on the planet.

Head on over to the forums for the latest installment!

 This latest installment features Darth Daddy's "Vurk Zombie"

 Abyssin & Vurk Zombies

Yakface.com "The Realm Recap" Episode #15 & #16

CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT #37: HYPERDRIVE

When it comes to customizing, Hyperdrive is usually known for his signature "weathered and worn" soft goods. Hyperdrive's soft goods work is just amazing!  

What many people don't know, is that Hyperdrive has created some customs that have no soft goods work at all involved.   One of these figures can be found in my own collection.  Every holiday season, Customs for the Kid participates in Yakface.com's Secret Santa event in their forums.  Darth Daddy and Hyperdrive were each other's Secret Santa, and Hyperdrive made us a unique droid in the old Vintage style that Dad grew up with.  Both Dad and I were really impressed with this figure.  Dad was most impressed with the sticker that Hyperdrive created on his computer to attach to the torso of the droid.  This figure was a really cool addition to my collection and he is now posed with the complete Vintage Droid Factory playset that I found under my tree this past Christmas. 

Originally, we had planned to post this action figure back in January, but Hyperdrive had sent us two packages.  One with the figure and one with the diorama.  Unfortunately, the diorama was lost in the mail for a long time until the box and diorama had been returned by the post office to Hyperdrive's home completely damaged and beyond repair. 

 VINTAGE DROID

created by Hyperdrive

To see more Star Wars custom action figures created by Hyperdrive, click the link below:

http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=6760   

While you're here, why not check out Darth Daddy's "Clone Wars General Pong Krell" custom action figure with soft goods created by Hyperdrive:

DARTH DADDY's CUSTOMIZING CORNER: DAN OF THE DEAD

Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner featured Star Wars customizer Dan of the Dead in the latest Customizing Corner over at The Star Wars Underworld.

CLICK HERE TO READ

One of my favorite parts about writing the "Customizing Corner" feature is introducing you all to the artists who have influenced me on my journey through the world of Star Wars custom action figures. One artist that really stands out and always releases one exciting figure after another is Dan of the Dead.

Although Dan gets most of his notoriety for his G.I. Joe custom action figures, his Star Wars figures are certainly nothing to scoff at. He always makes such creative characters and his color pallette constantly demands my eye's attention. He always takes such great photos of his action figures, and a lot of customizers could learn a lot from Dan about how to present one's art. Best of all, Dan of the Dead is another artist that provides the recipe that he used to make every one of his figures. A trait I have always admired a great deal.

Dan has played with and taken apart toys all his life. On his blog, he's very open about his dabbling with customizing action figures for as long as he can remember. Dan of the Dead really got involved in the hobby in 2009 after he was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma/vestibular schwannoma. His surgery came and went, and somewhere during his recovery, toys became art and art became therapy.

Not only is Dan an incredibly talented artist, but he also pens some super cool stories about the action figures that he makes that are always a lot of fun to read.  Hopefully his art will be just as inspirational for you as it was for me.

Click the link below for more of Dan the Dead:

http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2056

or go to his blog:

http://dan-of-the-dead.blogspot.com/

  

CLONE WARS ARC TROOPER "FIVES" created by Darth Daddy

This custom action figure was just a simple repaint of an ARC Trooper Blitz created by Hasbro.  I used the head of the Fives action figure that came in the Battle Pack with the Echo.  The neck peg hole in the Fives head was exactly the same size as the one for the ARC Trooper helmet so no modification was needed.  This is only the second clone custom that I've ever done.  Usually you'll find me making an action figure of some strange alien, but after watching Season 6 of The Clone Wars, I felt his character deserved an action figure standing alongside the rest of Elias' action figure collection  from The Clone Wars TV series.

CLONE WARS

ARC TROOPER "FIVES"

created by Darth Daddy

KITS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER

"Fives" was featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.

"CLONE WARS CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES"

on Facebook:

DARTH DADDY's CUSTOMIZING CORNER: LUCASCLONES

 

Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner featured Star Wars customizer Lucasclones in the latest Customizing Corner over at The Star Wars Underworld.

CLICK HERE TO READ

When it comes to Star Wars customs, Chad Hitchcock aka Lucasclones creates some of the best Star Wars clone figures out there today. He's particularly fond of making ARC troopers.

As a commissioned artist, his figures have been some of the best selling I've seen in the community.  Lucasclones is a customizer that dives into everything. He customizes Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Desolation, and several other toy lines. He even created an H.P. Lovecraft inspired custom.

He also has an extremely active Youtube channel complete with figure reviews, tutorials, and custom action figure debuts.

Lucasclone's podcast, Custom Action Figure News, has been gaining traction for a few years now and its creation has been a boon to the custom action figure community. On his show he has interviewed the most famous customizers around. Working with Imperial Shipyards administrator Tamer, his podcast's success has made customizers accessible to their fans, all while providing some great tips on how to make one-of-a-kind toys. His recent addition of "Roundtable" discusssions to his podcast need to be archived for all interested in the artform. These roundtable  discussions feature the experts who have teamed up to provide a free custom action figure education that's worth a fortune to the beginner and advanced customizer alike.

I can't even begin to list the many contributions Lucasclones has brought to the community.  He's definitely an artist to watch.

ARC Trooper "Fives"

Lucasclones on Imperial Shipyards:
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=3618.0


Lucasclones on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucasclones/


Lucasclones on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/cha1man2?feature


Lucasclones' blog:

 http://lucasclonecustoms.blogspot.com/







Go here to listen to the Custom Action Figure News podcast:
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/CAFN/index.html


If there is anything you would like him to feature on a future podcast be sure to let him know at:
chad.cafnpodcast@yahoo.com