Recently, I posted a Captain Keevan which was commissioned for a display at Halcy-Con, but that wasn’t the only figure. For the second figure of my Galactic Starcruiser set, I made Gaya, the Twi’Lek diva who entertains guests at the Galactic Starcruiser Hotel. The convention organizer who commissioned the figures also informed me that they will be on display on a background created by The Cardboard Galaxy.
The recipe for this figure was simply a General Leia Organa in her ceremonial dress from the Black Series Collection. Underneath her regalia is a mostly featureless body, which was very easy to sculpt onto. I modeled the head-sculpt myself using Blender, which I printed and then painted. Because more than one actor portrayed the character we were asked to create a generic headsculpt for the character.
The soft goods were the biggest challenge making this figure. I made a trip to the fabric store to find the perfect textile, which happened to be an indigo satin. To make the pleats in the dress, I had to fold each section and stitch it. The light trim was sculpted out of ProCreate. The graphic on her cape was hand painted, which was challenging because if I made a mistake or painted outside the lines in any way, the fabric would be ruined and I would have to start fresh with a new piece of fabric. Thankfully I pulled it off on my first attempt! Painting the pattern on her back was an incredibly painstaking effort. My great, great-grandfather was a fashion designer. I wonder if he would approve of my sewing and patterning skills. What do you think? Does it run in the family?
