"RANCOR PIT DIORAMA PARTS" by OUTER RIM TRADERS

Outer Rim Traders has knocked it out of the park with their latest offerings to enhance your Rancor Pit dioramas.  They are now offering the large Rancor pit door, the Palace entry door, and the Round gate that Luke and the Gamorrean Guard enter through.  They commissioned FigureWorks to design and laser cut the acrylic masters that were then molded by Outer Rim Traders and mass produced as resin casts. You can get all three pieces for $57 plus shipping.  Head on over and get your parts now!

$4

$10

$43

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1:18 SCALE DIORAMA PARTS

1:18 SCALE HEADS, HATS & HELMETS

1:12 SCALE HEADS & HELMETS

1:12 SCALE DIORAMA PARTS

1:12 SCALE JAWA & BUBO RESIN KITS

1:12 SCALE ACTION FIGURE ACCESSORIES

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OUTER RIM TRADERS

Outer Rim Traders is a new casting storefront that customizers and diorama builders should take notice of. This site will be of particular interest to people with a Jabba Palace focus.  The store contains some casts of props that can do a great deal to enhance your Jabba displays from Tauntaun heads to fruit in a bowl.  Casts are available in both the 1:12 and 1:18 scale.  We highly recommend giving this store a view.  Not only do they have great pieces for fans of Star Wars, but there is plenty available for followers of the Indiana Jones films as well.  Outer Rim Traders has plenty for everyone!

FACEBOOK PAGE

1:18 SCALE DIORAMA PARTS

1:18 SCALE HEADS, HATS & HELMETS

1:12 SCALE HEADS & HELMETS

1:12 SCALE DIORAMA PARTS

1:12 SCALE JAWA & BUBO RESIN KITS

1:12 SCALE ACTION FIGURE ACCESSORIES

THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT "KRRSANTAN" created by Elias

Krrsantan, also known as Black Krrsantan, and nicknamed "Santy," "BK," and "Black K" by Doctor Aphra and "Santo" by Garsa Fwip and Boba Fett, was a male Wookiee bounty hunter whose career spanned from during the rule of the Galactic Empire into the era of the New Republic. Originally escaping his homeworld Kashyyyk and trained by the infamous Xonti Brothers as a gladiator, Krrsantan later became a ferocious bounty hunter. He was regularly hired by the crime lord Jabba the Hutt and at one point fought Obi-Wan Kenobi, receiving a scar from the Jedi Master's lightsaber. During the Galactic Civil War, Darth Vader hired Krrsantan to track down and capture an agent of the Emperor.

Following the death of Jabba and the end of the war, Krrsantan was employed by that late Hutt's cousins, brother and sister crime lords known as the Twins. Their cousin's criminal empire had been taken over by the former bounty hunter Boba Fett, and the Hutts sought Krrsantan's services in wresting control away from the self-appointed Daimyo. Krrsantan attempted to assassinate Fett, but was captured by his forces. Shortly after, the Twins promised to leave Tatooine, and Krrsantan was eventually employed by Boba Fett. As part of Fett's forces, he participated in a battle against the Pyke Syndicate, which resulted in the Fett gotra's victory.

All it took to create this action figure was the body of a 3.75" scale Black Series Merumeru action figure, a headsculpt and armor kit designed by SKYLU3D, and blaster rifle sold by Outer Rim Traders. First I cleaned out the joints on the Merumeru to eliminate paint rub, then I based the figure out in black and dry brushed in some highlights. After I primed the accessories in brown paint and dry brushed in the gold, and followed that up with a wash. Once the accessories were fully painted and weathered, I called the Krrsantan action figure complete!

 

Highly recommend picking up these parts from Outer Rim Traders if you are an impatient for a release from Hasbro!

"THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT"

KRRSANTAN

created by Elias

SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

Big thanks to @greedo_collection for the photoshopped pictures of our Black Krrsantan to give him the Vintage Collection treatment.

Big thanks to @greedo_collection for the photoshopped pictures of our Black Krrsantan to give him the Vintage Collection treatment.

KIT COMPONENTS CAN BE PURCHASED AT

"CUSTOMS FOR THE KID" CELEBRATES 15 YEARS OF BLOGGING!

Fifteen years ago today, Dad and I started this blog, and "Customs for the Kid" was born. At the time, I was only 6 years old. Neither of us had any experience making our own action figures. We were just inspired by others in the Star Wars custom action figure artist community enough to want to become a part of it, and this blog has documented our journey. If you look at our earliest posts, we weren't very good at making action figures, but if you work at something every week for 15 years, you do improve.

At the blog's start, we showcased our custom action figures as we made them while providing the parts and techniques used for each project. Dad also used our platform to feature other Star Wars custom action figure artists as well as the custom action figures that he had purchased for me along the way in countless "Customizer Spotlight" posts (They can be counted, they are actually numbered). A space where readers could obtain links to the social media accounts of these talented artists to purchase their work, when available. Dad later expanded our artist showcases beyond just the custom action figures we had in our personal collection to features on artists whose work we would love to have in our collection in his "Customs I Wish I Owned" posts. It became a great way for members of the community to learn about one another and appreciate one another's art. Throughout all of our years, sharing other artists' offerings has always been one of our favorite ways to give back to the community, to those who taught us everything we needed to know to produce our own creations.

A big surprise for us was that less than a year into writing our blog, the Star Wars community started to take notice. By April of 2011, Dad and I were asked to participate in our first podcast interview, (numerous others followed), and a few times the same year, our work was featured on one of our favorite YouTube shows. Kessel Run Review. Thanks to the global span of the internet, we were suddenly being read in over 120 countries throughout the world. What followed in the years after was a feature in the Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2015 - Action Figure Customizing Panel, me being awarded "2018 - Action Figure Customizer of the Year" by Toy News International at New York Toy Fair in 2019  (Sadly, I was too young to attend the event so I could accept the award in person...industry adults only), and as early as last year I had the honor of being featured at San Diego Comic Con 2024 in the "Evolution of Toy Collecting" panel, as well as participating as a Panelist at the first Halcy-Con a few months later. Big events aside, the support from the community over all of these years is what has warmed "Customs for the Kid" the most. We are beyond grateful to the Star Wars fan sites and podcasts for sharing our creations with their audience all this time!

To celebrate this anniversary, we felt an action figure of Dave Filoni's alter ego Trapper Wolf would be in order. Why do you ask? Well, when The Clone Wars was released in 2008, I was just 4 years old, and for the next several years, this period was the version of the galaxy far, far away I was most immersed in. I am not sure there would be a blog today if it were not for the Clone Wars TV series. We definitely never would have done our podcast "Customizing the Clone Wars" with our friend Peak-OB1 Custom Creations if the show did not exist. Every Saturday, Dad and I would begin our morning with a Clone Wars episode, and then we would spend the rest of our day making art for this blog. Dave Filoni was George Lucas' padawan when they created TCW. Dave is not shy about it. The history is well known. Since George Lucas retired, Dave started many shows of his own at Lucasfilm and was recently promoted to Executive Vice President/Chief Creative Officer. Like Dave, I too have stepped up and taken on more responsibility. I took the lead over the blog from Darth Daddy at our 10th anniversary and started my own business taking on commissions and sharing my craft with others. So, today is a thank you to Dave's creativity for making all of this possible. While Dave far surpassed anything that I have done, we both have gone through a period of growth and change in our creative careers, and I hope that we both can entertain the Star Wars community for years to come!

To make this action figure, we used a Jek Porkins action figure body in a huskier Rebel orange flight suit while keeping with tradition by utilizing a widely available resin head cast created by another member of the custom action figure community, executing a super simple head swap on the original figure. All it took was a "Customs for the Kid" paint application on the head cast of Dave Filoni's likeness purchased from Outer Rim Traders. The most difficult part of the project was repainting the Jek Porkins helmet to make it look like the one worn by Trapper Wolf in The Mandalorian. 

We thought about going crazy and making something 100% sculpted from the ground up like we do on occasion, but this is day is about celebrating the blog and not us.  And this blog is about promoting community. The proprietor at Outer Rim Traders was one of the first people in the customizing community to take us under his wing, so it is only fitting that we share something we picked up from him. What fun is showcasing a figure if you all can't recreate it at home?

"TRAPPER WOLF"

created by 

Elias of "Customs for the Kid"

CARSON TEVA

Kessel Run Review - Episode 24

When we found out that Kessel Run Review was coming back from their seven year hiatus, we were so excited that it was hard to stay tight lipped about it. Thankfully, our good friend Luke Sprywalker and his Outer Rim Traders store were also being featured on the show so we were able to talk about our excitement with him before the newest episode was released today.  Like many of our friends in the Star Wars toy collecting community, we were huge fans of the show. From solid toy reviews to hilarious creative commercials, Kessel Run Review always impressed. What we really loved about Wookielover1138's toy review show was that she always took the time to feature custom action figure art in every episode's "Custom Cargo". Showcasing custom action figure artists in every episode was unique to all other toy shows at the time, and we became loyal viewers. The return episode does not disappoint. It brought back all the best elements of the show and it felt like they never left. Their new studio looks great, and did you see that awesome Padme nose art on that Republic Gunship at the end of the video, so cool! We can't thank Wookielover1138 enough for letting us be a part of Kessel Run Review's special return episode!

“THE MANDALORIAN - SEASON ONE” THE CLIENT created by Elias of “Customs for the Kid”

It's hard to believe that this blog has existed for sixteen years now!  Each year we try to create something special to add to the collection in honor of this occasion, and while we had some technical difficulties with our 3D printing equipment, we managed to get a figure together that we've been wanting for our shelf for five years now!

The Client was made from the torso and upper arms of an Imperial AT-ST driver, the legs and forearms of a Bespin Han Solo, a headsculpt we purchased from Outer Rim Traders that was a shrunken version of the 6" Black Series figure and then upcycled leather from our old living room couch to fashion his jacket!

The legs and torso had to be cut with a hot knife and joined with super glue, so be sure to use caution if you choose to replicate this at home!  

Once the figure was built out, I designed a pattern for the leather jacket, assembled the jacket, and then sculpted the fur collar and chain once the jacket was in its final place.  Before I started painting, I used some leftover sculpting material to create the tracking fob.  It's too important of an accessory to leave out!

"THE MANDALORIAN" 

THE CLIENT

created by Elias of "Customs for the Kid