"MELAS - CFTK Version #2" created by Darth Daddy

We really hate doing this, but in this next post, we will be revisiting a character that we created once before at Customs for the Kid.  We personally don't like making more than one version of the same character, unless it's when the character appears in a different outfit, or the figure specifically references another point in the character's timeline in their fictional journey spanning all available Star Wars content. Originally Elias made an action figure of this Cantina denizen, but sold his version to someone after he found a photo of Melas that showed the character wore a skirt below the waist and not pants.  

Our second version of Melas is what we have on our collection shelves today and we feel it is a bit more screen accurate than what we previously made. This time instead of using the 2001 Power of the Jedi Ketwol action figure for the base figure of Melas like Elias had, I used only Ketwol's cape and head.  On top of that, I substituted the body in my recipe for a 2010 Darth Sidious (Palpatine) (REVENGE OF THE SITH) VOTC #12 action figure. I sculpted the upper torso, as well as a hat onto the back of Ketwol's head. The hookah I assembled from an assortment of random fodder that I had laying around.  The skirt I used was also from unidentified fodder. 

I personally like the paint job on Elias' original figure much more than my own. I may have to spend an extra hour or two on this paint job one day down the line in an attempt to try to equal what Elias did on his Melas' head.  

"Melas was a Sarkan exile who traveled from planet to planet. Unlike most Sarkans, he was short, with bright blue eyes and short claws. 

Melas' exile was not due to his appearance—rather, it was due to his gregarious nature. Melas enjoyed the company of Humans and other non-Sarkans, and often ignored the complexities of Sarkan rituals when socializing with them. He was forced to leave Sarka because he violated the strict laws of Sarkan protocol on numerous occasions.

Melas greatly missed the natural beauty of his homeworld, but exile was not an insurmountable hardship. He managed to smuggle a fortune in precious metals and gems off Sarka before his exile. Melas traveled across the galaxy, sightseeing and meeting as many different alien species as possible. Naturally, he found himself in Chalmun's Cantina when he visited Tatooine. He was present in the Cantina on the fateful day Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker hired Han Solo.

Melas became fond of smoking an Esoomiangruu pipe during his exile, and was rarely seen without it."

"MELAS"

created by Darth Daddy

SKILL LEVEL:ADVANCED

"MELAS - CFTK Vesrion #1"

created by Elias

"CLONE WARS CHANCELLOR PALPATINE" created by Elias

Recently Dad was asked to do a commission of a Clone Wars Chancellor Palpatine.  Dad currently doesn't take on any commissions, but Dad thought that maybe I was capable of making the figure if I decided I wanted to give it a try. At the time I backed out of the commission feeling way too intimidated, but I still wanted to see if it was something I could do.  

I used the body from the "Attack of the Clones" Palpatine with head and neck casts of the Clone Wars Darth Sidious without his hood on. Because Dad had molded the head, I didn't have to be afraid of ruining it if my sculpted hair didn't turn out well.  If I messed up, I could just make another.  

Cool thing is, I got it right on my first try and got this figure done in just 4 hours! 

I'm so glad that I just jumped right back into sculpting. Completing a second sculpting project, less than a week from finishing my first sculpt, really solidified my confidence in myself as a sculptor after observing such successful results.

"CLONE WARS

CHANCELLOR PALPATINE"

created by Elias

 

My custom Clone Wars Chancellor Palpatine was featured in Yakface.com's "Customizer Mega Spotlight!" I was super excited.  This was the biggest honor I ever could have received as a customizer!

CLICK THE PHOTOS BELOW TO SEE DARTH DADDY's - "CLONE WARS - CHANCELLOR PALPATINE" CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES:

SUPER-ARTICULATED "CLONE WARS DARTH SIDIOUS" created by DARTH DADDY

After I finished making my two custom "Clone Wars Chancellor Palpatine" figures, I found that I now had two "Clone Wars Darth Sidious" action figures in the house and I only needed one.  I had a collectible that was displayed on a shelf in Elias' room, and I also had one that I bought to create head casts of so I could create new figures. I recently bought the second one, so I didn't have to rip the hood off of the head of my collectible.  He's a super rare action figure and I didn't want to damage my only one, just so I could create a mold of what was underneath. Once I made a mold of the head underneath the hood, I was able to cast new heads for my customs and I was really thrilled with the results.  

It all worked out great, but unfortunately, now the resale value of the figure I used to make my customs wasn't as good as my collectible because I hacked the neck off of the figure right at the shoulders so I could mold it at the same time as the head to speed along my customizing process.  After the mold was made, I re-glued the neck back onto the figure, and reattached the hood and the head. Luckily, the cut in the neck wasn't visible, because the hood and soft goods hid all the damage I did to the figure.  

So now what to do with it?   

I knew I couldn't get the money I invested on the second one back now that I cut the neck off, and then glued it back on.  No one would pay a premium price for that. While the figure later did pay itself off through other means, I still had an extra figure I didn't need, and I had to decide what to do with it.  

I figured why not make a super-articulated version of Darth Sidious, giving the action figure both ball-jointed hips and knees.  Originally, Hasbro's version had only a swivel waist and his legs were just one solid piece of plastic with no articulation anywhere at all.  I decided to give the second figure more range of motion.  First, I cut the knees out of the legs and replaced them with two Revoltech joints we had in fodder. I then cut the legs off where they attached at the groin.  Afterwards, I created two ball sockets inside the groin with my Dremel and then made another recessed set of sockets at the top of the thigh to accommodate the the ball joints I stole from the elbows of the first Clone Wars Cad Bane action figure which proved Sidious the joints needed for his ball-jointed hips.  

I stole the hands of the second figure earlier to make one of my customs so I replaced them with two Palpatine hands that I found in the leftover parts I used to make my Clone Wars Palpatine figures.  

I finished the figure off by adding a floor length soft goods skirt from a Vintage Barriss Offee action figure to give him a more screen accurate look.  I will most likely give the figure new feet with ball-jointed ankles once I find something appropriate to use.

SUPER-ARTICULATED 

"CLONE WARS DARTH SIDIOUS"

created by Darth Daddy

Hidden under the skirt is all the articulation you would desire.

SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE

CLICK THE PHOTOS BELOW TO SEE "THE CLONE WARS - CHANCELLOR PALPATINE" CUSTOM ACTION FIGURES IN GREATER DETAIL:

My super-articulated custom Darth Sidious action figure was featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.

"CLONE WARS CHANCELLOR PALPATINE" created by Darth Daddy & Elias

To commemorate the release of "The Clone Wars - The Lost Missions" on Netflix, Dad wanted to do something special for all the fans that fought so hard for us to see these last remaining episodes of "The Clone Wars" TV series with our "Save the Clone Wars" campaign.  Dad thought it would be fun to make an action figure of the architect of the Clone Wars.  The master puppeteer himself, Chancellor Palpatine.  Unfortunately, this action figure was never made.  Probably because there were some serious fears of peg warming, but hardcore Clone Wars fans all wanted to add this figure to their collections.

To create the action figure, Dad committed a little Star Wars collector sacrilege.  He defaced one of the rarest and most sought after Clone Wars action figures ever made.....that's right, Darth Sidious.  For a few years now, Dad and Star Wars customizer, Peakob1, have been wondering just what was under that plastic hood of Darth Sidious, but both of them had no interest in taking a chance at ruining the rarest action figure in their Clone Wars collection.  Instead they just twisted the action figure at numerous different angles trying to see just how much of Palpatine's headsculpt was hidden under there.  

That was, until last week, when Dad was able to acquire a second Darth Sidious action figure.  He called Peakob1 on the phone, immediately took out his heat gun, pointed it at the head of the Darth Sidious action figure, waited for the glue holding the head to the hood to soften, and when it released, Dad found a near perfect headsculpt of Palpatine under the hood minus Palpatine's hair. 

Dad knew that he wanted to make more than one version of Palpatine, but with just one head, he had to do some molding and casting to get the job done.   This is where things got dicey.  Using the head to make the mold was easy.  The hard part was having a neck post to use with the head if he wanted that head on another body.   Out came the X-acto knife and off came the neck post.  Dad molded the head and the neck post, and fortunately all the casts came out extremely well.

Last, Dad sculpted the hair onto the Palpatine head casts with Aves Fixit, accounting for the variations in the hairstyles for Palpatine along the Clone Wars timeline.  Modified the arms on the ROTS Palpatine body with the red clothing, and finally painted the head casts to complete the figures.  

The best part is, now we have an unlimited supply of Clone Wars Palpatine heads.  Before anyone goes damaging any more Clone Wars Darth Sidious action figures trying to recreate what we've done here, send me a message at customsforthekid@gmail.com.  We have a mold for this head.

I even made one of my own version of Chancellor Palpatine after Dad finished.  Dad says mine has the best paint applications.  Even better than his,

Hope you all enjoy "The Clone Wars - The Lost Missions" if you're watching today!

"CLONE WARS

CHANCELLOR PALPATINE"

created by Darth Daddy

Dad was able to keep the action feature on the figure.

PURCHASE HEAD HERE

SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED

"CLONE WARS

CHANCELLOR PALPATINE"

created by Elias

PURCHASE HEAD HERE

SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED

"CLONE WARS

CHANCELLOR PALPATINE"

created by Darth Daddy

PURCHASE THE HEAD HERE

SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED

My custom Clone Wars Chancellor Palpatine was featured in Yakface.com's "Customizer Mega Spotlight!" I was super excited.  This was the biggest honor I ever could have received as a customizer!

Dad's Clone Wars Chancellor Palpatine was featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.