AGE APPROPRIATE WARNING

*ADULT SUPERVISION & PROPER SAFETY EQUIPMENT ARE REQUIRED WHEN UTILIZING THE TOOLS, PRODUCTS & TECHNIQUES DESCRIBED HERE ON OUR BLOG TO CREATE STAR WARS CUSTOMS.

Friday, September 19, 2014

DARTH DADDY'S CUSTOMIZING CORNER: DAVID SMITH


Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner featured Star Wars customizer David Smith in his latest post over at The Star Wars Underworld.



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David Smith is an action figure customizer based in Austin, Texas. He has been making custom figures and cardbacks since 2012, and has created over 30 figures as well as over 100 custom cardbacks. David's became interested in drawing and art at age five. He has over 10 years of formal and informal training in visual arts. He has also designed several posters, flyers, and album covers for Austin bands. He has a deep love of 70's & 80's Sci-Fi and horror films. Star Wars and Dune are his favorite films of the genre. David's interest in making custom action figures came from his love of collecting autographed Star Wars action figures. Many of the celebrities on the show circuit didn't have action figures of their characters. David started making his figures and cardbacks to fill this void. He has made custom action figures for Stephanie EnglishNick Joseph, and Derek Lyons.






























Monday, September 15, 2014

"Sergeant Doallyn" created by Darth Daddy

The custom action figure for the character of Sergeant Doallyn took less than one minute to make.  I just sliced the neck ball joint off of the Bane Malar figure and popped the head of the new Black Series Brock Starsher (Jabba's Skiff Guard #27) onto the Bane Malar body.  I bought the Bane Malar as soon as I found out Brock Starsher was being released.  It was a great way to add to Jabba's Denizens.  Expect this custom to show up heavy in the forums by a variety of customizers.  Lot's of people have plans to make this one.

I have to say I'm super pleased with Hasbro's Black Series release of Brock Starsher.  Not only did they give us a really cool and unique addition for our Jabba dioramas, Hasbro gave us a figure with a head that could be used with one of their older releases to make a brand new unique figure for the same play environment.  It's nice to know they're listening.

On a short side note, I want to share another complimentary remark in regards to Hasbro.  Many collectors have been complaining about how easily the latest waves of Black Series figures come apart at the joints.  I remember a while back, I asked Hasbro to start making action figure joints pop apart like they do on the Vintage collection Ponda Boba figure that way it would make it easier for us to customize our action figures and more kids could get in on the action.  Sure, maybe the easily dismantled figures have more to do with lower production standards, but the Droid Factory episode of Collector's Cast with Dan Curto and James Burns featuring the interview with the artists of Boss Fight Studios, was really eye opening and made me realize that customizers ARE on Hasbro's radar.

There are actually two Doallyns in Return of the Jedi. The first is Sergeant Doallyn who is seen more closely when Chewbacca pushes him down the steps of the entrance to Jabba's Audience Chamber. This Doallyn wears a black mask and black body suit. Some believe that it is Bane Malar who is pushed down the stairs, but the two characters have different helmets.

The second Doallyn appears aboard the second skiff at the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon. He wears a black helmet and a white body suit. This Doallyn is killed by Luke Skywalker, yet Doallyn is supposed to have survived the battle of Carkoon and returned to Jabba's Palace to rescue Yarna d'al' Gargan. There were probably two actors wearing similar outfits and the same helmet during filming. It is assumed that the black-outfit Doallyn in Jabba's Palace is the actual Doallyn, while the white-outfit skiff guard is a completely different character that has been identified as Brock Starsher.

A hunter by trade, Doallyn had two reasons to wear a mask: the first being that he needed to breathe hydron-three to stay alive on planets with an oxygen-rich atmosphere, the second being that his face was once hideously scarred by the poisoned claws of a Corellian sand panther. He eventually came to Mos Eisley to hunt a krayt dragon for Jabba the Hutt to pit against his rancor in a head-to-head fight. However, he ended up getting drunk in the cantina, and gambled to his detriment. He awoke from his drinking binge to discover that he had lost the game and now owed Jabba a year's service.

During one memorable time in Jabba's palace, immediately following the feeding of Oola to the rancor, an Ubese bounty hunter named Boushh (actually Princess Leia Organa in disguise) silenced the crowd with a blaster shot. As Doallyn hurried over to inspect the situation, he found himself thrown painfully against the wall by "Boushh's" quarry, the powerful Wookiee Chewbacca. Both Leia and Chewbacca were only posing as a bounty hunter and captive respectively to attempt to rescue their friend, Han Solo.[1]


"Doallyn"
created by Darth Daddy













I kept enough off the ball joint on the torso so that the ball socket on the head snapped into place snugly.


SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER

 






 
 Dad's Sergeant Doallyn was featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.



Thursday, September 11, 2014

DARTH DADDY's CUSTOMIZING CORNER: DOUG ARRUDA


Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner featured Star Wars customizer Doug Arruda in his latest post over at The Star Wars Underworld.





 Kaminoan Jedi 

Doug Arruda is a long-time action figure collecter/customizer. He's been customizing for about ten years. Although he primarily works on Star Wars figures, he sometimes works from Marvel, GI Joe, TMNT, and other action figure lines. Doug runs a Facebook page showcasing his work called "Custom Action Figures RI."
I am blown away by the sheer volume of work this customizer has on display.  Definitely one of the hardest working customizers you'll come across.  A large body of his work falls within the Star Wars Legends/Expanded Universe.

I found Doug's work on Star Wars Customs.  It's a Facebook Public Group where artists post their action figure art.  I've been posting there myself for a while now.  Not all the prolific customizers can be found in the forums.  With the incredible amount of platforms available to us these days for displaying one's art, I'm starting to find that Star Wars customizers can be found just about anywhere.

I'm very fond of this customizer's soft goods work.  I wish I had his talent as a tailor.  To get such fantastic results in the 3 3/4" scale is very impressive.  Few come close.  I just love the way the fabric falls on his Kaminoan Jedi.

Definitely give his Facebook Page a look and you can see so much more of what this artist has done.


Sith Lord Darth Plagueis



 T'ra Saa


 Sharad Hett






 Gotal


Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth


 Corran Horn





 Darth Caedus







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