TOBIAS BECKETT "KESSEL DISGUISE" created by Darth Daddy

This was actually a fairly easy custom to produce if you have the right tools. Probably the most useful tool for this project was a hot knife that I gave my Dad for his birthday. He used it to cut through the hard plastic of the Force Link 2.0 Tobias Beckett action figure to steal the figure from the holsters down. Dad glued a waist peg to the the top of the lower half and then popped on the top half of the Sandstorm Lando Calrissian action figure to make a complete figure. The helmet and pick axe also came from the same Lando figure and the cape was from a Count Dooku action figure.  The hot knife was a blessing and really cut assembly time down considerably.

It's great to have such a cool figure that pays homage to the Return of the Jedi with a cool Solo Easter egg. The improved articulation doesn't hurt either. Solo: A Star Wars Story is one of our favorite new Star Wars films, and we have to thank and give a shout out to Colin Hobbs for giving us the idea for the figure!

TOBIAS BECKETT 

"KESSEL DISGUISE"

created by Darth Daddy

SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

REVENGE OF THE SITH "DARTH SIDIOUS" created by Darth Daddy

The Darth Sidious action figures from the Revenge of the Sith line were almost all released as statuettes with very little articulation. Former iterations of the character in this time period were pretty much solid plastic from the waist down.  I always wondered what an action figure of the character from the third installment would look like if it were to be released in the modern Vintage Collection. 

I used the hands, hood and tabard of the ROTS Emperor Palpatine (the one that turns into Darth Sidious). The rest of the figure is made with the head and body of the Darth Sidious Vintage Collection action figure. To make the new version of the Dark Lord of the Sith, all I had to do was sew a new robe for him to wear. I lucked out finding some heavy red suede-like material to fabricate it from. I did come across an issue when I tried to dress the action figure in the robes that I had made. It was so tight in the waist, I had to boil and pop the shoulders off just to get the garment on.

The pink around his eyes is present, but unfortunately didn't photograph all that well due to wonky lighting in the photoshoot by yours truly. I tried to zoom in close to the face in the picture below, but the resolution isn't all that great. Definitely using the tripod next time!

REVENGE OF THE SITH 

"DARTH SIDIOUS" 

created by Darth Daddy

SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

"THE LAST JEDI" REY (JEDI TRAINING) 3.75" ACTION FIGURE with SUPER-ARTICULATION created by Elias

This figure is currently not out in The Black Series vintage action figure line.  However it is sold with 5 points of articulation in the Elite Praetorian Guard two pack.  The two pack can be found in stores everywhere.  We found it on Force Friday at Toys-R-us.  We also found the BB-8 playset, featuring another Praetorian Guard and Snoke. How I could just go on and on about the playset, I just love that the set folds up into a life size BB-8.  Why articulate the figure you may ask?  Originally, I had The Black Series 3.75" Rey (Jakku) posed on the new playset where I was displaying my figures. Because of the articulation, I took advantage and positioned her so it appeared she was whacking a First Order Stormtrooper with her staff, and when I returned to my room I found that my Dad switched the figure I had there for the new Last Jedi Rey (Jedi Training) blandly holding up her staff in a stiff stance.  I thought to myself "No.  I'm not letting a figure look like that in my house."

I have to say the sculpts on this Last Jedi action figure line are exceptional, and would make great casting pieces.  But let's get back to Rey.  It's a shame that they havent announced her in The Black Series line, but could very well find this find figure in the Vintage line next year.  Lets keep our hopes up.

To make this figure, we used the torso, boots, hands, and head of the Rey (Jedi Training). The arms, and legs are from The Black Series Rey (Jakku), enabling splits and waist articulation.  While altering the torso to fit the arms, we unfortunately destroyed the Force Link audio chip.  Which leads us to the next thing, The Force Link. The Force Link has great play-ability!  If you purchase the Force Link Bracelet, you can use it to connect to the chip, and upon connection, it plays the audio programmed into the chip. Personally I think that this feature is a better alternative to the Build-A-Weapon pack-in. There is nothing more fun than having your action figure quote lines from the movie and feature some pretty impressive battle sounds as well.

"THE LAST JEDI" 

3.75" REY (JEDI TRAINING with SUPER-ARTICULATION) 

created by Elias

SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

"K-2SO with Improved Articulation" created by Darth Daddy

This was a quick Rogue One project we did to add some articulation to Hasbro's K-2SO action figure. The 6" version of the figure had the super-articulation that we all wanted in the 3.75" scale.  Too add the articulation we used the knee and elbow joints from a Terminator action figure we purchased on eBay. We added two metal rods to the knee joints for stability by creating a post that we inserted into a hole we drilled up into the upper leg of the original figure. We did some sanding to the joints of the Terminator figure to keep the rounded edges that the original K-2SO action figure had.  By the time the project was finished we had the version we wanted adding both knee and elbow articulation to increase the figure's range of motion. We skipped adding articulation at the ankles and wrists due to the thin plastic. It was really nice to be able to increase the pose-ability of this 5 poa figure! 

"K-2SO with Improved Articulation"

created by Darth Daddy

SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

"CLONE WARS" ARC TROOPER ECHO created by Darth Daddy (ARC TROOPER RESIN KIT BUILD)

Just tried out the "ARC Trooper Kit" from Kamino Casting to make us an ARC Trooper Echo from "The Clone Wars TV" series for our collection here at home. Unfortunately, he is no longer selling these kits, but we added one of our own to fill the vacuum and it can be found in the picture link below. We still provide you with the old tutorial for how to put the resin cast kit together.

The kits only come in 3.75". They are a great way to make ARC Trooper customs at a reduced cost. The original base figures are just too expensive on the secondary market to make customizing them practical. These kits are the best solution to that problem!

"CLONE WARS" ARC TROOPER ECHO 

created by Darth Daddy

 I photographed the "Echo" figure that was made with the resin kit next to a custom "Fives" figure that I made with the "Blitz" from the "The Clone Wars" line.

SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

KITS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

 ARC TROOPER "FIVES"

STAR WARS REBELS "GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN - IMPERIAL OFFICER BATTLE ARMOR" created by Darth Daddy

This was a custom we wanted to make ever since watching the season finale of Rebels, "Zero Hour". It was cool to see Thrawn sporting his battle armor, and we knew if we put some effort into it, it could be an easy figure to make. First, we modified the chest armor and accessories that came with the Vintage AT-AT Commander aka General Veers by filling in the controls located at the abdomen by filling the recessed space with Aves Fixit. When we were done sanding our spackle job,  we expanded the size of the rank insignia with the sculpting compound that we had left over before it dried. After, we painted the goggles, armor and helmet white, we followed up our primary layered paint applications by adding in all the fine details and accents to the figure as needed.  

On the figure, all that we had to do was paint Thrawn's hands glossy black for Thrawn's gloves, and then fix the colors in Thrawn's rank insignia that Hasbro got wrong in their own paint application.  By the time we were done, we had one cool looking action figure.  We kept the action figure's five points of articulation to keep it consistent with the Rebels line.

Oh, and on a side note, if you haven't read the new Thrawn novel, pick it up it was a fun read.

STAR WARS REBELS 

"GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN - IMPERIAL OFFICER BATTLE ARMOR" 

created by Darth Daddy

SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE