STAR WARS REBELS "AP-5" Protocol Droid [3.75" Action Figure Model Kit] created by @AngryRaccoonMiniatures and painted by "Customs for the Kid"

This 3.75" 3-D printed resin action figure from Angry Raccoon Miniatures is an offering we have been hard pressed to obtain for some time. We thought of hand sculpting the figure, but symmetry can be difficult to obtain by hand. Unfortunately, our CAD modeling skills just aren't where they need to be to pull this project off. That's why we were so happy when we found the Instagram page of @AngryRaccoonMiniatures. He offered resin prints of the figure for a little over $20 and you just had to paint it when it arrived at your door, We love his Etsy store!

AP-5, nicknamed AP; was a masculine RA-7 protocol droid who served as an analyst droid on a Galactic Republic attack cruiser during the Clone Wars. At the end of the conflict, the Republic was replaced by the Galactic Empire, and AP-5 was relegated to inventory duty aboard the cargo transport 241, an Imperial cargo ship. In the third year before the Battle of Yavin, AP-5 encountered the astromech droid Chopper when the latter hid in the cargo ship while evading several pursuing stormtroopers. Tired of being mistreated, the inventory droid befriended Chopper, helping him steal the cargo ship and providing his rebel allies with a suitable location for a secret base.

After joining the rebellion, AP-5 continued working as an inventory droid for the Phoenix Cell at Chopper Base on the planet Atollon. Despite his grumpy and sarcastic personality, AP-5 remained loyal to his new rebel masters. During a mission on Wynkahthu, AP-5 played an indispensable role in helping the Spectres to recover cargo from a derelict Imperial cargo ship. Later, AP-5 along with the Lasat warrior Garazeb Orrelios and Chopper helped to stop the E-XD-series infiltrator droid EXD-9 from reporting their base's location to the Empire.

STAR WARS REBELS

"AP-5" Protocol Droid 

created by @AngryRaccoonMiniatures 

and

painted by "Customs for the Kid"

SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER

STAR WARS REBELS

"AP-5" Protocol Droid 

created by @AngryRaccoonMiniatures 

"STAR WARS REBELS" 

CUSTOMS

by Customs for the Kid

HERA SYNDULLA

Zeb's Extended Bo-Rifle

Zeb's Bo-Rifle Modification

Season One - Sabine Wren

Season Two - Sabine Wren

Captain Rex

HONDO OHNAKA

Azmorigan

SUPER-ARTICULATED

"ZEB",

"KANAN JARRUS" & "EZRA BRIDGER"

created by SWK KUSTOMS

The Vintage Collection Show - SWTVC Bracket Debate - Which Figures Deserve to be Made?

Not sure if you have been following March Madness on Facebook and Instagram, but we have been voting every day for the past week. If you are not familiar, Bossk's Bounty just did this video cast with John Miko (Star Wars The Vintage Collection  Facebook group), as well as John, Tyler & Evan from the SWTVC Instagram group that is worth checking out if you collect 3.75" Star Wars figures. Make your voice heard! 

A big thanks to John Miko for giving Darth Daddy's Jedi Master Pong Krell action figure a shout out at the 42:54 mark!

Jedi Master Pong Krell

"STAR WARS REBELS" QUARRIE

The Quarrie figure pictured here was purchased from @angryraccoonminiatures (aka @howlingduck) on Instagram.

After we got the figure in the mail, we made a few special modifications ourselves. Darth Daddy painted the base colors onto the figure and then Elias modified the eyes and lower half of the head sculpt with some ProCreate to produce a "Customs for the Kid" head for the final figure that is pictured here. After, Elias added some highlights to my original paintjob to finish it up so I could take these photos, I went and added a few touch ups of my own after he wrapped up. A true team project from three different artists. 

@angryraccoonminiatures have plenty of other noteworthy "Star Wars Rebels" characters available for purchase in his Etsy store so be sure to check them out!

Quarrie was a Mon Calamari starship engineer who lived on the remote planet of Shantipole during the Age of the Empire. After the early rebellion suffered losses against the Galactic Empire during an attempted blockade run, rebel Hera Syndulla and members of her crew came to Shantipole in order to retrieve the prototype B-Wing, Prototype B6, which he dubbed the "Blade Wing." Quarrie was initially uninterested, as he did not believe Syndulla to be the right pilot for his ship. However, her story of growing up and dreaming of being a pilot swayed Quarrie's mind, and he allowed her to test the starfighter.

After a successful test run, the starfighter was taken back to the network's fleet. For the journey, he also installed a hyperdrive and an exterior astromech socket on Hera's shuttle Phantom. The Phantom then towed the B-wing prototype to the planet Ibaar. With the B-Wing's advanced weaponry, the Rebels were able to break the Imperial blockade over the planet Ibaar and deliver food to the planet's starving populace. Afterwards, Quarrie, along with his Lothal astromech droid BG-81, left the network fleet in order to oversee the production of more B-Wings for the rebel cause.

Quarrie was a short, male Mon Calamari master engineer who specialized in building starships. He took pride in his work and was eager to experiment with speed, agility, and weapons. Quarrie was not a pilot, and was only willing to let the best pilot fly his Prototype B6 starfighter. His prototype B6 became the basis for the rebellion's A/SF-01 B-wing starfighter.

Quarrie's name is derived from the name of concept artist Ralph McQuarrie. He first appeared in the Star Wars Rebels - Season Two episode "Wings of the Master," which premiered on Disney XD on November 11, 2015. He was voiced by Corey Burton, who later reprised the role in the second season of LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures.

"STAR WARS REBELS" QUARRIE

by @angryraccoonminiatures

Face sculpt by Elias of "Customs for the Kid"

Painted by "Customs for the Kid"

 

SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER

Etsy Store

"STAR WARS REBELS"

HERA SYNDULLA

by Darth Daddy

"OSI SOBECK" GETS A NEW HEAD

This action figure was initially created for our YouTube show "Customizing The Clone Wars". Osi Sobeck was the lead villain in the story we covered for our episode, and he begged to be made into a toy. The first head sculpt for the figure was extremely rushed so we could get it done in time for the show. While making the figure, we quickly noticed the direction the size of the head was going just wasn't working as well for the character as the body was. We wrapped the action figure up minutes before we filmed the episode for the show with the knowledge we would have to fix the head at a later time. Dad was very open during the episode about his dislike for the head sculpt and said it would be revisited after the show wrapped up. While we did just that, it took about 4 years before we actually got back to it! 

Thankfully though, we finally did Osi Sobeck justice. 

"OSI SOBECK"

created by Customs for the Kid

OSI SOBECK

HYPERDRIVE "MYSTERY DIORAMA" UNBOXING

STANLEY OPIEL II - IN MEMORIUM

Stanley Opiel II was an incredibly gifted, prolific Star Wars custom action figure artist who breathed so much life into the Star Wars customizing community. His steadfast determination to bring the definitive versions of all the unreleased characters to fruition was admirable. He will be forever missed by his friends and Stan will always stand as an inspiration to us all. He was the heart of our customizing community.

Star Wars Modern Vintage Customs Facebook Group

Instagram Page

Customizers gathered from all over the world to pay their respects.

If you know, you know....

"CUSTOMS FOR THE KID" 2020 - YEAR IN REVIEW

Another year behind us, but not just any year...it was our blog's ten year anniversary in 2020 and we were sure to celebrate it with some of our friends. We kept busy as usual and we even announced some big changes like Darth Daddy reducing his role a bit going forward. 

Dad started the year off by breaking in our new 3-D printer utilizing some cool free droid files with characters from Solo: A Star Wars Story that we found on the Rebelscum forums. Dad even painted up some cool 3-D prints from Star Wars Rebels like Morai, HURID-327 from Force Awakens, and CB-23 from Resistance. Based on the results so far, the 3-D printing trend will continue to play a big role here on the blog for years to come.

While Darth Daddy was tackling droids Elias made a bunch of Clone Wars custom action figures for the "Kessel Run Transmissions" videocast who also had Customs for the Kid participate in some of their roundtables for the last season of The Clone Wars and the second season of The Mandalorian. 

Customs for the Kid also did our part to promote the "Back TVC" movement this year and continues to offer our support to expand and grow the 3.75" line. 

The purpose of this petition is to provide Hasbro with actionable market data to justify the investment in more new 3.75" Star Wars Vintage Collection figures every year. 

By signing this petition, I affirm the following:

1. Collecting Hasbro's 3.75" Star Wars Vintage Collection is / will be a hobby of mine.

2. In order to retain / attract me as a customer, Hasbro must produce more newly tooled figures each year than is currently being produced, and those figures need to be in close alignment with the desires of the collector community.

3. I am more likely to visit retail locations that properly stock and manage Hasbro's 3.75" Star Wars Vintage Collection, and will also do so more frequently.

As Star Wars action figure customizers these action figures are necessary to continue our art form. If you could please sign to support the blog, it would be greatly appreciated!

#BackTVC #FightForTVC #Save375

SIGN THE PETITION HERE

One of the most exciting endeavors we got to be a part of was the big return of Wookielover1138's "Kessel Run Review" show after her long 7-year hiatus. She was a big part of this blog when we started and we loved seeing her return. We've always been huge fans of the way she promotes the Star Wars custom action figure community and we will be sure to post more of her videos as they get released.

Venturing into new territory, Elias made his first stop motion film, thanks to a school assignment he had late in the year. He incorporated some of our old Rogue One customs, an old Rebels diorama, his Hasbro toys and a green screen to bring the 15-second video to life.

 

Elias also did his first action figure tutorial for our YouTube channel showing our audience how he brought a Star Wars Rebels Gregor to life. The tutorial video covers materials needed, safety tips, Dremel use, sculpting techniques, articulating 5poa figures, molding and casting, as well as paint application. We plan on doing a lot more of these in 2021.

 

Parent Supervision Required!

We did a lot of fun, new 100% sculpted figures in 2020 like Azmorigan, Lux Bonteri, and a Lothwolf. We even revisited some old ones like Elias' second set of Jedi Younglings from The Clone Wars that were done on commission. Updated some older figures like Pre Vizsla and Bo Katan courtesy of a new head and some accessories from audes_workshop. Elias had the pleasure of painting up the cast of a friend's Ziro the Hutt, and we added a Star Wars Rebels Hondo Ohnaka to the collection along with a better headcast for Governor Pryce thanks to Watto's Scrapyard. We even committed some blasphemy by leaving the traditional scale we work in by showcasing a 6" Ahsoka Tano that Elias made for a commission. My favorite part of this year though was adding an animated 3.75" Clone Wars "Siege of Mandalore" Ahsoka Tano of my own to my collection!

All the Star Wars custom action figures we made in 2020 can be seen in the video at the very beginning of the post or just click on any of the various hyperlinks for more information on what is listed here.

"THE CLONE WARS - SIEGE OF MANDALORE" AHSOKA TANO created by Elias

So this is the final custom of the year. It is also the second time this year I made an animated Ahsoka Tano from the Siege of Mandalore arc in the 3.75" scale. The first time was a dry run that we had made for Corey Van Dyke of Kessel Run Transmissions before the episodes even aired on Disney+.  On this figure, I had the episodes to refer to, and much more time to study the details of the design, which lent to a more screen accurate representation of the character.

Knowing that Ahsoka was different than I had anticipated when referring to only a trailer, I realized I had to change my recipe, and her face sculpt.  The head is a Scuba Ahsoka which I lengthened in the Montrals and Lekku.  I also re-sculpted her jaw to make her appear more mature than she did in the Season 4 version.  Her torso is from the Star Wars Rebels Ahsoka Tano action figure, which I modified heavily with a Dremel and some serious sculpting.  The thighs and feet are from the early 2008 Clone Wars Ahsoka Tano action figure. The shoulder joints are from a Clone Wars Adventure Padmé Amidala action figure. The elbows and the lower legs are from a 3.75" Black Series Ahsoka Tano.

"THE CLONE WARS - SIEGE OF MANDALORE" 

AHSOKA TANO 

created by Elias

SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED

CUSTOMIZER SPOTLIGHT "UPDATE": THE CLONE WARS "Peppi Bow, Rafa & Trace Martez" custom action figures created by Peak-OB1 Custom Creations

For my birthday this year, Dad added a few more Clone Wars custom action figures made by Peak-OB1 Custom Creations to my collection. The first action figure is of a character fans were introduced to as early in the show as Season 1 while the other two custom action figures were of characters featured in the final season of the show.

The first action figure, a custom Peppi Bow, features brilliant paintwork and a stunning sculpt, including a removable hat! The figure is so heavily modified, I can't even identify the parts used to construct the figure. Nevertheless, the craftsmanship is absolutely fantastic, and I am honored to say that she now graces my Clone Wars shelf with her presence.

The other action figures are a set, the Martez sisters! Rafa Martez features her signature fur coat, and an especially beautiful paint job on her head, which appears to be a modified Clone Wars Shaak Ti head.  Her necklace is a loose accessory, which is quite a feat, given the small size of the piece. Trace Martez comes with a pair of removable pilot goggles, and a wonderful sculpt. The hair, jacket, pants, and boots are all beautifully hand sculpted and painted to bring this work of art to life. The Martez sisters will make a fine addition to my collection!

Every time I add a new Peak-OB1 Custom Creations figure to my collection, it's always such a thrill.  His talents as an artist are always apparent in his work, and I find myself wanting to learn how to apply variations to his paint technique in my own work whenever I can. To see more of his work, watch our show, Customizing the Clone Wars, where we do in an depth analysis of each Clone Wars episode, as well as provide tutorials for making the custom figures that we produced of characters from each episode.

THE CLONE WARS 

"Peppi Bow" custom action figure 

created by Peak-OB1 Custom Creations 

THE CLONE WARS 

"Rafa & Trace Martez" custom action figures

created by Peak-OB1 Custom Creations

Facebook

Instagram

"Rogue One" Green Screen Stop Motion by Elias of "Customs for the Kid"

 

I had a school assignment to do last night for my film class where I had to tell a story with a 15-second "green screen" stop-motion film. Of course I saw it as an opportunity to bring our customs to life in a whole new way. Filming 15 seconds of footage took way longer than I had imagined, but I was definitely happy with my first experiment using our creations in a whole new way. Hopefully, this is only the beginning of our stop-motion adventure.

Jyn Erso

Super-Articulated "Chirrut Îmwe"

3.75" Scale "K-2SO with Improved Articulation"

 

"IMPERIAL PROPAGANDA-REBEL GRAFFITI" DIORAMA