AGE APPROPRIATE WARNING

*ADULT SUPERVISION & PROPER SAFETY EQUIPMENT ARE REQUIRED WHEN UTILIZING THE TOOLS, PRODUCTS & TECHNIQUES DESCRIBED HERE ON OUR BLOG TO CREATE STAR WARS CUSTOMS.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

FIRST COMMISSION





Back in February, Dad was approached by James Robert Neff to create a Mandalorian custom action figure on a commission basis. Dad had never been asked to do a commission before and he was hesitant to take on the project due to his demanding work schedule. He explained to James that he worked anywhere from 70-80 hours a week and still had to take care of me when work was over so it could take a while for him to make the action figure because he still had to make an action figure a week for "Customs for the Kid". Dad was truly flattered by the offer. Especially when our blog featured so many incredible customizers that James could have asked. For a while it seemed as if the project may not happen. Dad had asked James to track down the parts he wanted used and hadn't heard from him for a while. Other requests for commissions came in, but Dad was starting to get overwhelmed with all his responsibilities and couldn't take on any projects. Then recently, he heard again from James and the project started to move forward again. Dad had never made a custom Mandalorian before, so he was a little intimidated, until he realized James had provided the exact specifications that he wanted. So without further ado, here is the Mandalorian designed by James Robert Neff.



James Robert Neff's Mando Design
created by Darth Daddy




BACKSTORY
by James Robert Neff

"A former Jedi knight operating under the name Calus Ordoan, Calo Ordoa turned his back on the Jedi after the end of the Clone Wars and went back to his roots as a Mando'ad. Apprenticed by Jedi master Coleman Trebor, Calo's skills with his unique orange Lightsaber were most impressive, having fought opponents such as General Greivous, Pre Vizsla, and Asajj Ventress. After the end of the Clone War, Calo served as a bounty hunter with many beings, such as his modified CZ secretary droid, his friend Zaron Diin, and many others."

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

IN THE NEWS!!



Dad's "Booma the Hutt" featured on the front page of Echo Base News.


Dad's "Carbonite Tutorial" featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.



Monday, June 27, 2011

BLU JEDI

Dad put some of our Indiana Jones fodder to use to create this Jedi Knight. He cut the neck off one of the Easter Island heads, and mounted it to a Vintage Obi Wan Kenobi torso that he painted. A great way to get a head for a custom when you are running low on heads is to get one wherever you can and this piece of fodder worked like a charm. Dad drilled a whole on the bottom just tight enough to snap onto the neck peg.


BLU JEDI




The Blu Jedi uses a double sided shoto-sized lightsaber blade.





Dad's "BLU JEDI" featured on the Front Page of IMPERIAL SHIPYARDS



Saturday, June 25, 2011

JediMerc Added to "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"

JediMerc is a Star Wars fan going on 28 years. He specializes mainly in 3 3/4 inch action figures. He especially loves customizing main characters from comics and video games in their alternate outfits. Like Dad, he also enjoys creating/customizing characters that would be the "average Joe's" of the Star Wars universe. JediMerc realized he wanted to customize action figures at 7 years old when he used a screwdriver to melt burn marks into a Vintage 8D8 droid, although, he really didn't get heavily into customizing until a year or so ago. Dad says he was a fan of JediMerc's work when only three of his customs were posted in the forums. He said he knew he wanted to feature the work of JediMerc in our "Customs I Wish I Owned" page but he just had to wait until we had enough figures to put a video together and feature his awesome customs. Since posting in the forums JediMerc has already won Luke Sprywalker's "No Paint Kit Bash Contest" over at Imperial Shipyards this past February and we have a feeling that it won't be the last time this customizer is in the spotlight.



JediMerc






JediMerc's Mercenary "No Paint Kit Bash Contest" WINNER!!




To see more action figures created by JediMerc click here:

http://www.yakfaceforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=6024&start=45

and:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=6383.0




Dad's "Jedi Merc" video featured on the Front Page of Imperial Shipyards.



Sunday, June 19, 2011

How to "Make Any Action Figure in Carbonite" Tutorial: PART TWO




How to "Make Any Action Figure in Carbonite" Tutorial:
PART TWO



Feel free to ask any "how to" questions in our comments section.


"NEW"
IMPERIAL SHIPYARDS CONTEST:
Create a Wookielover1138 Contest


Darthy Daddy's
"Wookielover1138 in Carbonite"














How to "Make Any Action Figure in Carbonite" Tutorial:

PART ONE




If you read our blog, we are sure you all know of Wookielover1138 and her very cool show the Kessel Run Review. We can't even begin to say how great she has been for the customizing community and the Star Wars collecting hobby in general. All entrants will have from now till the end of June to create their version of their very own Jenn action figure. We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Click here for the full contest details.

Friday, June 17, 2011

I'm Featured on Kessel Run Review: Episode 16




Being featured on Kessel Run Review was a dream come true. It was totally awesome!!




CLICK THE IMAGES TO SEE THE FULL POSTS OF THE ACTION FIGURES THAT I CREATED AND FEATURED HERE IN EPISODE 16:





A BIG THANK YOU TO WOOKIELOVER1138 & KESSEL RUN IMPORTS FOR HAVING MY ACTION FIGURES ON THEIR AWESOME SHOW!!


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Stocos28 ADDED TO "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED" + "CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT #4" UPDATE

Our latest customizer, Stocos28, is from New Jersey and he specializes in custom 3 3/4" figures for the adult collector. He offers great customs that can be played with. He's huge fan of Star Wars, G.I. Joe and all things 80's. Stocos28 has been an ebay member since July of 2005 offering custom action figures to the ebay community. With a 100% positive feedback score from over 1,350 ebay buyers, we think it's safe to say he puts out exemplary work. We bought a human Jedi named Kentar Framic from Stocos28 a while back that we featured in our Customizer Spotlight and recently added a second custom action figure created by Stocos28 to my collection, Jedi Master Ey' Dee. Stocos28 is humble and he will tell you that he's no Sith_Fire30, but in our opinion he's working real hard at getting there and the results are evident. This talented customizer even offers resin cast sculpts from the customs he makes over at Slayer Design Studios. If you ask us Stocos28 is a customizer to watch. You can start watching by taking a look of Dad's video featuring this super talented artist's work.



Stocos28






"CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT #4"
UPDATE:

Our Customizer Spotlight feature for Stocos28 has been updated to includeJedi Master Ey' Dee













You can view the ebay page for Stocos28 and see his items listed for sale at: http://myworld.ebay.com/stocos28/


You can also email him at:
Heavy_duty@verizon.net


To purchase casted action figure parts from Stocos 28, visit his page over at Slayer Design Studios:






Tuesday, June 14, 2011

THE WANDERING JEDI

Jedi Master Chi was a true master of Force Speed when it came to hand to hand combat and was an instructor at the Jedi Temple. Master Chi later became a Rogue Jedi who abandoned the Order at the beginning of the Clone Wars. He refused to adopt the role of a general. As he handed in his lightsaber and walked out the Temple doors, he vowed to go wherever the Force led him and never looked back.



THE WANDERING JEDI

Master Chi was created from a Vintage Darth Sidious and the head of an Indiana Jones Mola Ram action figure. The hair is Dad's first ever experiment using Apoxie Sculpt.



Dad's "WANDERING JEDI" featured on the Front Page of IMPERIAL SHIPYARDS


Sunday, June 12, 2011

JUSTIN COOK aka CHEWIE VIDEO UPDATED in "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"


Justin Cook, who is also known in the Yakface Forums as Chewie is by far one of the most talented customizers out there. He is an administrator over at Yakface Forums and he oversees the custom creations part of the forum. He is also the creator of "The Enloe Chronicles" which is probably known to be the most famous Star Wars photonovels there is. He has such an incredible body of work. His paint application is truly inspirational and he is probably the most generous customizer when it comes to providing his fans with the recipes for every figure he makes.


CHEWIE

These are three places that are the easiest locations to see more of his work:


Yakface Forums
(great place to find action figure recipes)

The Custom Alliance

The Photonovel Alliance
(for a good read...)

Friday, June 10, 2011

Kessel Run Review - Episode 15

A VERY ANTICIPATED EVENT!!



X-Wing Alliance:The Adventures of Ace Azzameen
created by Hangarbay94





Bring yourself up to speed before the launch!



Mercury Art Studios VIDEO UPDATED in "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"

Mercury Art Studios does a little bit of everything in all scale, has been a Star Wars fan for years, and has also been customizing Star Wars action figures for years as well!. Last week he asked if we could update his video and we were more than happy to oblige!
This 27 year old from Georgia is one cool customizer! We've loved his customs ever since we first saw them and his Sith are just amazing. He recommends all of you enter the website's latest custom figure contest as well.

MERCURY ART STUDIOS



Click any of the three links below for more from Mercury Art Studios:


For his ebay page visit the link below:



http://echobase.d2i.net/index.php?topic=631.0





Dad's "Mercury Art Studios" VIDEO featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.


StarWarsGeek ADDED TO "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"

StarWarsGeek has been making custom items for the past 20+ years, and isn't afraid to branch out into other territories, whether it be for a part, or for inspiration. He's made figures and vehicles from Star Wars, GI Joe, Marvel Universe, Video Games and other properties as well. He also does minibusts, statues/maquettes, and even a prop or two from time to time. Currently accepting commissions, you can contact him at his website (http://www.starwarsgeek.net) or via any of the social networking sites listed at his site



StarWarsGeek



The Animoto video application Dad uses kept cutting off the heads of the action figures in the photos we had of StarWarsGeek's work. It was driving Dad crazy. Dad has the same problem when he tries to make videos of our customs. It's because Dad and StarWarsGeek use customized framing in their pictures. Dad had to manually reframe the photos to make sure the best parts of the figures were emphasized. Unfortunately Dad lost some of the lettering on some photos to save the heads. Dad was really bummed about it because StarWarsGeek does such a stellar job when it comes to presenting his work.



Thursday, June 9, 2011

How to "Make Any Action Figure in Carbonite" Tutorial: PART ONE


Darthy Daddy's"Wookielover1338 in Carbonite"

Since this photograph was taken, Jenn's left hand has been repositioned into a pose Dad preferred more.



"NEW"
IMPERIAL SHIPYARDS CONTEST:
Create a Wookielover1138 Contest




This is how Dad is turning Jenn into "Wookielover1338 in Carbonite" for the latest Imperial Shipyards contest.

He traced and then cut plastic pieces from a plastic Chinese food container and turned them into the top and side panels of the carbonite block. He used his Han Solo in Carbonite as a template to trace the panels out so they turned out the right size. He then fastened the panels together with Apoxie Sculpt. Dad cut a silhouette of Jenn into the top panel. As a template he used a custom Wookielover1138 action figure created from the body of a CW Padme in Adventure Gear with the head of a Marion Ravenwood. He laid the action figure in his desired pose and traced around the action figure with a marker. So Dad then placed the action figure in the center of the cut out in the top panel and fastened the action figure in place with the Apoxie Sculpt. He finished today's work with priming the top panel with some grey paint.

Next Dad has to do all the sculpting on the side panels, sand and smooth out the top with more Apoxie Sculpt and then do all the painting to finish it up.

This is a technique that could be used with any action figure.


How to "Make Any Action Figure in Carbonite" Tutorial:

PART TWO





If you read our blog, we are sure you all know of Wookielover1138 and her very cool show the Kessel Run Review. We can't even begin to say how great she has been for the customizing community and the Star Wars collecting hobby in general. All entrants will have from now till the end of June to create their version of their very own Jenn action figure. We can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.


Click here for the full contest details.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

BugSkirt's Jedi Week Concludes




Jedi Week @ BugSkirt's Workshop concluded on Sunday and it was one cool customizing event that we hope to see displayed on other Star Wars customizing sites. It was definitely a great way to be exposed to a talented Star Wars customizer. BugSkirt really impressed Dad and I with his creative action figures on display. We hope that you continue to visit BugSkirt's blog like us and that you too enjoyed BugSkirt's Jedi Week.



Jedi from the Last Day of Jedi Week: Master Corlif Archant.
Created by BugSkirt




Sunday, June 5, 2011

THE GREAT STAR WARS CUSTOMIZING CHALLENGE 2011: CKTK ENTRIES



Last week, we announced the Great Star Wars Customizing Challenge 2011 contest that is being sponsored by Mercury Art Studios, hosted by Echo Base News, with collaboration and promotion by Imperial Shipyards, Custom Action Figure News, Wookielover1138 and Customs for the Kid, as well as a few others. So in our effort to help Echo Base get their fair share of web traffic, we are posting the entries we are submitting today in hopes you will click the link for the contest to read our custom's back story, see the photos and explanations of what we did, and go and see what else has been posted by all the other customizers. Hope to see some of your customs there too!!


http://echobase.d2i.net/index.php?topic=631.0

(click link to see the full post!!)


CFTK ENTRIES
by Darth Daddy & Elias




Dad used this image of a Hutt as inspiration for his action figure.




The body armor, face, and mouth were sculpted with Aves Apoxie Sculpt.




Dad painted the monkey lizard blue.




I created this Mirialan female with a Leesub Sirlin body and a Luminara Unduli head.





Last Day of Jedi Week @ Bug Skirt's Workshop



DAY 7: JEDI #7

(click banner above to see the latest Jedi)





Jedi from Day #6 of Jedi Week: Lanif Bin-Ooliff, a Jedi Padawan.
Created by BugSkirt




Thursday, June 2, 2011