*ADULT SUPERVISION & PROPER SAFETY EQUIPMENT ARE REQUIRED WHEN UTILIZING THE TOOLS, PRODUCTS & TECHNIQUES DESCRIBED HERE ON OUR BLOG TO CREATE STAR WARS CUSTOMS.
After viewing Caleb Dume and Depa Billaba's appearance in the premiere of "Star Wars: The Bad Batch", Dad and I agreed that they would both look great as action figures. So when a client approached me with this project, I just couldn't resist.
The base figure I used to make Depa Billaba was a Clone Wars Shaak Ti action figure. My client provided me with a 3-D printed headsculpt made by Watto's Scrapyard. The braids at the back of the headcast were badly damaged when we received it in the mail so I completely resculpted what was missing. Once I had the head taken care of, I completely resculpted the Shaak Ti body with ProCreate to make the appropriate Jedi robes.
To make Caleb, I sculpted the Jedi garb onto a Clone Wars Boba Fett body as my base figure and the headsculpt on this figure was also one of Watto's. I made the headcast a new Padawan braid out of Procreate sculpting putty so it would have more durability than the original 3D printed resin.
It'll be a bummer to see them leave the home considering we've wanted them for our own collection, but at the end of the day, I'm more than happy to bring joy to my clients as well!
"THE BAD BATCH"
DEPA BILLABA & CALEB DUME
created by Elias of "Customs for the Kid"
Clone Commander Grey and Depa Billaba's Second Batallion created by Elias of "Customs for the Kid"
Clone Commander Grey by Elias of "Customs for the Kid"
Well, a new age of customizing began when 3D printing became more commonplace in our community. There are so many artists taking advantage of this technology it is hard to keep track of everyone. While some artists like ourselves may casually design a head for a singular project, there are a large number of artists who continuously create new model designs and release these numerous files to their followers every month. Some of these customizers have turned to Patreon to share their designs for a limited time through a subscription service where patrons pay a monthly fee for access to the 3D print files to print them on their 3D printers at home. Usually at the end of the month the files change, and if you did not download the files that were available for the month then you lost your chance to acquire them and you only have access to what is available in the forthcoming time period.
While customizing has always been a more underground artform that was protected under the parody clause which stated you can make one-of-a-kind action figures, vehicles and playsets, as long as they are not mass produced, the new Patreon model ventures into a more grey territory where 3D prints can be mass produced from these files without the artist who made the files mass producing the designs themselves. Technically, these artists are not selling mass produced Star Wars items. They are selling "access" to their designs. What the patrons do with the access to these designs is completely up to the individual who downloads these files and falls outside the control of the artist who made their designs available. Initially, we were nervous about writing this feature due to the legal ambiguity. Mainly because we were concerned with outing all the amazing artists who have adopted the Patreon model. They have done such a wonderful job filling holes in our collections with many designs we can't find on store shelves, and likely never will.
Therefore, before Disney or Lucasfilm starts cracking down and sending cease and desist letters, we decided it would be a good time to share with you some of the most well known artists on this platform so you can start subscribing to them yourselves. We will show you a small sample of the designs they have available and links to their Patreon where you can follow them. This is just an introductory list and is by no means an all inclusive master list. We will try and update this post with additional artists as we come across other accounts so be sure to revisit this post often.
Before printing be sure to dust off your calipers. These artists don't all work in the same scale. Some make 3.75" designs and others prefer 6" scale. Now you can occasionally scale the size up or down, but it is best to ask the artists who designed the file if changing the scale is recommended. Also be sure to thoroughly read over the terms for the different subscription levels so your needs will be met. Most importantly, have fun filling out your collections and displays with all these wonderful creations and designs!
Just click on the artist's name in blue below to be taken to their Patreon so you can subscribe.
Star Wars custom action figures from "Customs for the Kid" in 2022.
Another year behind us! Sometimes, it's hard to believe we have been at this for so long, but with a strong passion for my work as well as all my income now coming from it, I start to realize why I stick with it. This is the first year that the content on the blog was almost completely driven by our fans. Specifically, the people who commissioned us to make them a one-of-a-kind Star Wars action figure. Therefore, many of the creations from this past year are no longer in our possession. Instead these action figures now decorate the shelves of our many patrons who continue to support our craft, for which we will always be immensely grateful.
We were super excited for the most recent of these customs. A Christmas gift to Allison, the actor who works as Ouaani aboard the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser! Due to the recipient of this gift being so familiar with the design of this character, there was no room for error. This was an immensely special project we were privileged of being tasked with and we were so happy to see that Allie was pleased with our results.
A great review from Ouannii herself!
We also want to continue to put the spotlight on all the other artists whose work we've featured this past year! We highly recommend acquiring these kits, prints, and customizing items that we used at home for your own custom Star Wars action figure projects. For example, our Black Krrsantan and AZI wouldn't have been possible without the resin kits of Outer Rim Traders.
Black Krrsantan
AZI
A big thanks to Watto's Scrapyard for the Koska Reeves and Kanan Jarus heads to help cut down on the time it would have taken to make these headsculpts!
We hope you enjoyed the lovely work of our good friend, Angry Raccoon Miniatures whose 3D printed design helped us bring the Rolo PK droid to life back in April of this year. Thanks to a new batch of Molotow Chrome Pens I bought, this droid is looking shinier than ever!
Rolo PK Recon Droid
Another artists' work we featured this year was a painted headcast of Obi-Wan Kenobi made by Spartan 118 Customs. The head looked fabulous on the spare Obi-Wan body we had in fodder and was a great addition to our "Revenge of the Sith" collection.
We also want to give a shout out to Aude's Workshop for the beskar pauldron resin print we purchased from him to make this version of Din Djarin.
Our same post featured the Blurrgs by Uzay Customs.
As well as the Heavy Machine Cannon also made by Uzay Customs.
Be sure to check out the print files we share from Isotelus that helped us make this GNK droid from "The Phantom Menace".
Big fans of the 80's Ewok films may enjoy reading the Customizer Spotlight feature we did this year on Etsy seller Two Mirror Treasures. These pictures are just a sample of the items we added to our collection from this talented artist.
We also want to take the time to thank Jedi Insider for all the "Custom of the Week" features in 2022!
We would also like to give a huge thank you to @greedo_collection on Instagram for the time he took to create these TVC images of our custom action figures earlier this year!
Wonderful mock up imagery courtesy of @greedo_collection on Instagram.
Probably what excited me most this year was to get a little assistance from my Dad on the blog again (it's a lot of work and incredibly demanding). Darth Daddy did the quick Maul headswap at the beginning of the year to share an easy custom with our readers that could be made at home with parent supervision by just about anyone, regardless if they had any previous customizing experience, as long as they had the proper safety measures, parts and tools available to them. Dad also did the figure sculpt for the Kanan Jarrus action figure we shared for our 12-year anniversary post. It was nice to see him participate in action figure creation again after his announced retirement in 2020. Especially because when Dad retired it was just before eye surgeries to both of his eyes to save his vision. Two years later, both eyes are relatively healed and the loss of vision was frozen in place. Painting Dad's first return figure since his 2 year hiatus was really quite special, and I can see how Dad would be drawn to sculpting a Kanan action figure since the character is a fitting symbol for Dad's own healing journey.
We can't wait to show you what our fans have in store for you all in 2023! We already have a more than full list of commissions to get through that will likely carry the blog straight through to summer so be sure to keep checking in! We wish you all a Happy New Year and may the Force be with you!
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