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Showing posts with label Elias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elias. Show all posts

Sunday, August 30, 2020

STAR WARS REBELS "HONDO OHNAKA" created by CUSTOMS FOR THE KID

This was a figure that my Dad had started prior to stepping down from his role here at the blog. He did both the build and the sculpt for the figure. To build the frame, he used the lower arms of The Clone Wars Hondo Ohnaka, the upper arms of a Clone Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi (heavily re-sculpted), the upper torso of an Indiana Jones & The Crystal Skull Mutt Williams action figure (heavily re-sculpted), the thighs of a Clone Wars Admiral Yularen and the lower legs and feet from a Black Series Force Awakens Leia Organa (heavily re-sculpted).

Seeing Dad's almost completed work just sitting there inspired me to pick up where he left off and add some color to his sculpt. By the time I put the figure down he was fully painted, Hondo symbol painted on his back and all. Dad couldn't be more excited to see this one finished. Hondo is one of Dad's favorite Star Wars characters!

The head was a 3-D resin printed cast from Watto's Scrapyard. It was a lot of fun to start bringing one of his heads to life with some paint. When it painted up as well as it did, I wanted to get going on the other fifty or so heads we received from Wattos.

For Hondo's eyes, I first painted his flesh tone, the whites of his eyes, his pupil and the light reflection in his pupil. Once his eyes were painted, I applied three coats of Pledge Future Floor Wax where the glass of his goggles would be letting each layer dry before adding another coat. Then I did a single layer of a green wash to tint the surface, and then sealed it in with one last coast of the floor wax.



STAR WARS REBELS 
"HONDO OHNAKA" 
created by Customs for the Kid















 



SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED


STAR WARS REBELS "EZRA BRIDGER" 
created by SWK Kustoms


STAR WARS REBELS "CIKATRO VIZAGO"  
created by SWK Kustoms


STAR WARS REBELS "Cikatro Vizago's Droid"
created by Customs for the Kid




STAR WARS REBELS 
"Hondo Ohnaka" Headcast
created by Watto's Scrapyard







Tuesday, August 25, 2020

CUSTOM 6" THE BLACK SERIES "SIEGE OF MANDALORE - AHSOKA TANO" created by Elias

Being the 3.75" action figure purists that we are, I never saw myself creating a custom in the 6" scale. However, when a client reached out to me asking for a character as awesome as Ahsoka Tano, I couldn't resist. This commissioned action figure is made from the body of a Star Wars Rebels Black Series Ahsoka Tano, and an Ahsoka head from Watto's Scrapyard, which I modified to give it a more animated look. The Ahsoka body underwent some serious dremelling, and a then I gave her a 100% new sculpt. I used Aves Fixit sculpt to give her arms some more muscular definition, and to smooth out the shirt. I also made sure to make the armor on her gauntlets and boots screen accurate, unlike Hasbro's new 6" Black "Series Siege of Mandalore - Ahsoka Tano" that took some serious shortcuts when it came to screen accuracy on the gauntlets and lower legs.  

I faced a particularly difficult challenge in constructing her Lightsabers, as the ones she used in The Clone Wars don't exist in the 6" scale yet, so I had to dive in head first and sculpt them myself. I did so by cutting a styrene rod to size, and using the tips of the Black Series Ahsoka lightsabers so the blades would still click into place the way they used to. I then sanded the base of the lightsabers down, and then sculpted all the necessary details into place. I dyed her lightsaber blades by simply coating them in a blue wash so they would maintain their transparency. 


THE BLACK SERIES
CUSTOM "AHSOKA TANO - SIEGE OF MANDALORE"
created by Elias

















SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED





 

Monday, August 24, 2020

Kessel Run Review - Episode 27


I'd like to give a big thank you to Kessel Run Review for featuring Customs for the Kid in their newest episode. They have always been a long time friend of ours, and we greatly appreciate their touching feature in celebration of our 10-year anniversary. Working with them behind the scenes to bring this episode to life was an honor and absolute pleasure. We are always going to be loyal viewers of this show, and we can't wait for more episodes to come!

Monday, June 22, 2020

"THE CLONE WARS" LUX BONTERI (ONDERON) created by Elias

"Lux Bonteri was a human male senator and rebel fighter from Onderon during the Clone Wars. He was the son of the Separatist senator Mina Bonteri. During the Clone Wars, he allied with Saw and Steela Gerrera to lead the Onderon rebels during the Onderonian Civil War. After the conflict, he followed in his mother's footsteps and became a senator, this time representing Onderon in the Republic

During the Clone Wars, Bonteri was present when the Republic Senator Padmé Amidala and Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano traveled to Raxus to speak with his mother about negotiating a peace treaty between the Confederacy and the Republic. While his mother and Amidala negotiated, Bonteri and Tano conversed outside in the garden. Both spoke of their biased perspectives of the war; Bonteri confessed his distrust of the Jedi and the Republic, and Tano spoke of her distrust of the Separatists. Bonteri had never met a Jedi before while Ahsoka had never met a Separatist civilian, and they mutually agreed that they were in fact not that different from each other. Despite being on opposing sides of the war, the two quickly became friends.

Eventually, Bonteri returned to his homeworld of Onderon, which was under Separatist occupation. The Separatist regime had made Sanjay Rash King of Onderon, and removed the true King, Ramsis Dendup. Bonteri joined a resistance group that had been formed by Steela and Saw Gerrera with the goal of returning Dendup to the throne. In order for their mission to be successful, however, the rebels required supplies, weapons, and training. Using his personal connection to Ahsoka Tano to his advantage, Bonteri contacted the Jedi High Council, asking for aid to help restore peace to Onderon. The Jedi promised to help, however many were resistant to becoming directly involved in the matter, saying that it was an internal affair and out of their control. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker suggested that the Jedi provide supplies and training to the rebels, but not directly become involved in the fight; allowing the rebels to retake their homeworld on their own. Agreeing with this idea, the Council sent Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, accompanied by Commander Ahsoka Tano and Clone Captain CT-7567, known as "Rex", to Onderon where they began to train the rebels for combat.

Upon arrival to Onderon, Kenobi, Skywalker, Tano, and Rex were brought to the rebel camp and began to train the rebels. The rebels began by learning to disable Armored Assault Tanks and droidekas using grenades. Bonteri was particularly good as disarming the droidekas, however when paired with Saw to take out the tank, he fell off the tank taking Saw down with him. This caused Saw to be upset with Bonteri, claiming that he was a politician and not meant to fight. Both Steela and Saw could not disable the droidekas, and Steela became frustrated with herself, preferring her skills as a sniper to destroy droids.

While practicing their marksmanship with the Jedi, a group of battle droids, learning the location of the rebel base, began to attack the rebels. Using their new training, the rebels took out the first wave of battle droids using grenades. However, the second wave of battle droids arrived with a tank, which Bonteri and Saw had been unsuccessful disarming in training. Bonteri and Saw paired up again to take out the tank, and this time succeeded, using thermal detonators and destroying the tank. After succeeding in defending their base, the Jedi and the rebels decided that they were ready to take the fight to Iziz and reclaim Onderon. In order to get into the Separatist controlled city, Bonteri came up with the idea of posing as hunters, coming back into Iziz to sell their game in the market. Not detecting any of their weaponry due to the high amounts of organic matter on their carts, the battle droids allowed the rebels to enter. After entering Iziz, the group split up to avoid attention; agreeing to regroup after nightfall.

The group decided to execute a series of small strikes on battle droid battalions throughout the city, where Bonteri hid behind a market stand and disables a patrol of droids in front of some citizens. When the rebels later met up in a safehouse in Iziz, Saw suggested that they increase their attacks on the Separatists. However, it was noted that many of the civilians in Iziz had become frightened by the sudden outbreak of violence, and it was suggested by Bonteri and Steela that they first must win the trust of the people. Bonteri suggested that they take on a large target to show their strength and draw public attention to themselves. It was decided that they would attack the city power generator. Skywalker, Kenobi, and Rex left the rebels and returned to Coruscant, while Tano remained as an advisor to the rebels.

Eventually, after some time training, Bonteri, Tano and the Onderon rebels—led by Steela—made their presence known to the people in Iziz and fought against the droid army, forcing them to retreat. Onderon was won, Dendup became king again, and Bonteri—having his faith placed in the Jedi and the Republic—was appointed Senator of Onderon. He swore to serve the Republic."

Because Lux was such a key character throughout many episodes of The Clone Wars and such a good friend to Ahsoka Tano, we thought he definitely deserved a spot on the shelf with all our other Clone Wars action figures. While he was depicted with several different looks in his episodic appearances, we felt his Onderon appearance was the one we wanted most so we could pose him next to our Saw and Steela action figures.

To create this 100% sculpted action figure, I just resculpted a head onto a Clone Wars Anakin Skywalker and for the body I used the Black Series Endor Han Solo action figure as my base.



THE CLONE WARS
LUX BONTERI
created by Elias


















SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED



PURCHASE HEAD HERE






STEELA & SAW GERRERA
by Customs for the Kid






Thursday, April 16, 2020

THE CLONE WARS "SIEGE OF MANDALORE" AHSOKA TANO & THE CLONE WARS - SEASON 7 OBI-WAN KENOBI created by ELIAS

Like many Clone Wars fans, my dad and I are super excited about the release of the new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. When I received a commission request from Corey Van Dyke of Kessel Run Transmissions to make the Season 7 "Siege of Mandalore" Ahsoka Tano, I was beyond delighted to begin my work on her in anticipation of the upcoming finale to the show.  

To give Ahsoka her older appearance as depicted in the new season, I used ProCreate sculpting putty to extend the Montrals on the top of her head.  I also added to her shorter Lekku and re-sculpted them to look longer than they they were previously to make her appear older.  To articulate her elbows, I cut them away, then drilled into the upper arm and forearm to accommodate the elbow joint from the 3.75" Black Series Ahsoka Tano.  I also used the legs of that same Ahsoka because they already articulated.  I sanded them down so they would appear thinner, and more Clone Wars-esque. Using a Dremel, I then sanded the rest of the boot below her knees.  The armor on her forearms, hips, legs and back were then handsculpted back in.  Her head band was also sculpted by hand.  I removed the tabbard of the Rebels Ahsoka Tano and completely re-sculpted her entire skirt.  Her Mandalorian skirt top was completely different from the Rebels Ahsoka Tano, and required heavy reconstruction as well.  Her lightsabers, however, were more of a simple task.  I removed the green blades, then selected two blue ones, one longer than the other, and sanded both ends so that the super glue would form a stronger bond between the hilt and the blade.  Once her build was completed, I went in with Reaper acrylic paints and painted everything to match reference photos. After I finished her, I couldn't wait to get started on one for myself!

Be sure to keep an eye out for the other two custom action figures I made for Corey, a Season 7 Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Fives in his bar patron disguise from Clone Wars: The Lost Missions.  


RECIPE
Head - Clone Wars Scuba Ahsoka Tano (Re-sculpted)
Torso, Upper & Lower Arms - "Rebels" Ahsoka Tano (Re-sculpted)
Legs & Elbows - Black Series 3.75" Ahsoka Tano (Re-sculpted)



"SIEGE OF MANDALORE"
AHSOKA TANO 
created by Elias

   













SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED











This custom action figure of Obi-Wan Kenobi was a commission piece that I produced for Corey Van Dyke of Kessel Run Transmissions.  Corey contacted me and asked if I could make him a Clone Wars -Season 7 version of Obi-Wan Kenobi along with an Ahsoka Tano action figure from The Siege of Mandalore. I made the Ahsoka first, so after doing such a complex and tedious action figure that required so much precision, it was a relief to switch over to working on an action figure that was much easier in comparison.

To make Obi-Wan I just needed to make some minor adjustments to the 2013 Clone Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi action figure. First, I used a Dremel to remove the armor of the elbows and hands. Next, I used some ProCreate to sculpt sleeves onto the forearms. Once the ProCreate dried completely, I painted the sleeves to match the rest of his Jedi robes, painted the hands to match his face, and added some grey and blonde highlights to his hair and beard.

The three hours of labor put into making an Obi-Wan Kenobi was a breeze next to the twenty-one hours it took me to make the Ahsoka.



"The Clone Wars" Season 7 - 
Obi-Wan Kenobi 
created by Elias











SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED