Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner featured Star Wars customizer Tony "The Mad Jawa" Deida in the latest Customizing Corner over at The Star Wars Underworld.
So far I have been showcasing the work of the seasoned veterans within the Star Wars customizing community, but I thought it would be cool to give a shout out to some of the newer artists in the community as well. Tony 'The Mad Jawa' Deida is a 38 year old customizer from New Jersey. He has been seriously customizing for less than 1 year, and his devotion to the craft is quite evident. He was one of the first customizers I saw to tackle the Star Wars Rebels characters and it was cool that he made them to fit with the realistic line rather in their animated for. He has also produced some super creative droids that deserve a look. The tall Jawa custom that he made from the appearance at the sale of the droids from A New Hope is a figure I'd like to make for my own collection one day. What a great idea!
His interest in customizing Star Wars toys started because he found that he never had much money to purchase new figures due to the increasing price point, as well as not being totally happy with the look of the figures he was paying for. Mainly being a flea market and toy show shopper led to a build up of lots of fodder. Heavily influenced by seeing all the incredible artists on Facebook, he told himself, "I can do this!"
His interest in customizing Star Wars toys started because he found that he never had much money to purchase new figures due to the increasing price point, as well as not being totally happy with the look of the figures he was paying for. Mainly being a flea market and toy show shopper led to a build up of lots of fodder. Heavily influenced by seeing all the incredible artists on Facebook, he told himself, "I can do this!"
Around this very same week, one year ago, he gave up drinking, smoking, TV and all other aspects of the mainstream media the same day, and totally committed himself, and all his time, to learning everything he could about customizing. Tony said he learned his craft by watching hours and endless hours of YouTube to see how other customizers acheived their results. Customizing quickly become a passion for him. With his new found time and saved money, he studied paint technique, molding, casting, sculpting, and his favorite technique weathering. He said he will use real rust, and dirt to get the look he wants. Tony said while all the technical skills have been necessary to add to his repertoire, patience has been the most important skill of all.
Tony feels like he never would have made it this far in his skill set without the support of his friends in the online community, and his wife Stacy.
Tony feels like he never would have made it this far in his skill set without the support of his friends in the online community, and his wife Stacy.
