Trench was a Harch admiral and naval commander who survived a number of presumed deaths throughout his career. Hailing from Secundus Ando, he acquitted himself in engagements with the Galactic Republic, all the while savoring the terror he struck in his enemies. Years after his purported death at the Battle of Malastare Narrows, he resurfaced during the Clone Wars, becoming a key officer in the navy of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. From the dreadnought Invincible he oversaw the Confederate blockade of Christophsis, which brought him into conflict with a Republic battle group led by Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker along with an old foe, Admiral Wullf Yularen. When Skywalker and Yularen attempted to use an experimental stealth ship to breach the blockade, Trench began a deadly game of cat and mouse with them. Though Skywalker outwitted him by redirecting a volley of tracking torpedoes at the Invincible, Trench managed to survive his flagship's demise.
During the Battle of Ringo Vinda, Trench captured clone trooper Tup—who had mysteriously gunned down Jedi General Tiplar—and tried to send the clone to Separatist leader Count Dooku for examination, though a Republic team intervened and rescued Tup. In the Battle of Anaxes, Trench besieged the Republic shipyards at Anaxes for weeks on end, exploiting the Techno Union's secret access to a Republic strategy algorithm. Even as the tide of battle began to turn, Trench remained intent on annihilating the Jedi and their clone infantry. Though he activated a bomb beneath the assembly complex on Anaxes, Skywalker infiltrated Trench's flagship, the Invulnerable and forced the admiral to divulge the sequence to disarm the device. When Trench tried to retaliate, Skywalker drove his lightsaber through his chest, inflicting a death that even the hardened Harch could not escape.
Emerging from our silence of September, I bring you one of my most challenging projects yet. It has been in the works for quite some time. Cyborg Admiral Trench. The first time this version of the character was revealed on screen, I vividly remember joking about how it would be such a difficult; even an impossible project, so when I received an email from a client requesting this beautiful monstrosity, I was quite intimidated. As it turns out, the desire to make a living is enough motivation for me to meet such a request with a "yes!" To look at this figure completed is surreal for me after weeks of painstaking attention and unwavering passion.
The parts I used for this figure were an Orn Free Taa body, the arms of three IG-11s, and the arms of three different Clone Troopers. His head was completely sculpted by hand in several layers. I sculpted his cane and electricity effect in Blender and learned a few new modeling tricks along the way! The weapon that drops down from his forearm was hard sculpted out of dried procreate scraps cut into desired shapes and sanded for that machine smoothness. The panel on his arm is secured via magnets, and the weapon has a piece of a paperclip hidden inside which allows it to magnetize between the panel and the arm.
This was the most challenging paint application I ever had to manage. The filigree on his robot arms was a challenge unlike any of the other high-detail paint jobs I've ever done. The major challenge was the symmetry I had to achieve on each individual panel, and then match it on the other two arms. The patterns on the front of his robe were also difficult because of the symmetry required at such a small scale. The dark gray lines cutting through the light gray shapes are as thin as a human hair.
The sculpt on this figure was the ultimate undertaking in my opinion. Every surface of his body was heavily modified. The robe on the base figure was cut short and smoothed with the Dremel completely. I had to build out his upper torso in the front and the back in order to create the space to mount six arms as opposed to two. I then had to re-engineer the arms to have two elbow joints and be the correct length. Once his fundamental structures were done, I had several layers of detailing ahead of me. His robotic arm was hand sculpted into perfect cylinders with many panels, layers and grates, and then repeated twice more for his other arms. The greeblies on his head and collar were hand fabricated out of flat dry procreate that I cut by hand and glued into place.
With all the effort I put into this figure, I'm a little sad to see it go, but I take solace in the fact that he is going to a loving home.
"THE CLONE WARS"
CYBORG ADMIRAL TRENCH
created by Elias
SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED
Cardback images by @peakob1customfigures
