"CUSTOMIZING THE CLONE WARS" - EPISODE 71

   

Clone Wars custom action figure artists, Peak-OB1 Custom Creations along with Darth Daddy & Elias of "Customs for the Kid" showcase Clone Wars custom action figures from Season 5 of The Clone Wars TV series "Youngling" arc. Featuring tutorials on making Gwarm, Craggy Tooth Pirate A, Professor Huyang, Byph, Ganodi, Gungi, Katooni, Petro and Zatt.

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"PROFESSOR HUYANG" created by Darth Daddy

Professor Huyang was an ancient droid who made his first appearance on screens in Season 5 of The Clone Wars television series. Huyang was a storied architect who oversaw the construction of Jedi lighstabers for many centuries. Based aboard the training vessel Crucible, Huyang guided countless younglings in the construction of their lightsabers after they had successfully completed their task of securing a kyber crystal from the icy caverns of Ilum. Huyang helped them visualize their lightsaber parts, and pulled the needed supplies from his vast trove of parts. His ancient memory systems contained records of every lightsaber ever constructed.

Professor Huyang was an action figure that was at the very top of Dad's wishlist, but due to the difficulty involved in producing this character in plastic, Dad never really considered trying to make him. That was until he saw that a customizer named Isotelus offered a 3-D print file for Huyang that he designed and made available for free to the public. 

Droids have a reputation for being extremely difficult to fabricate from scratch due to the need for precise symmetry. Dad said making a head or torso for Huyang would be an absolute nightmare. Therefore, the 3-D print file that Isotelus created was just the solution Dad was looking for. 

Even with a solution, the project still was immensely challenging for a number of reasons. The trouble with the design for the Professor Huyang was the figure only articulated at the head, shoulders and waist. The rest of the figure was completely stagnant everywhere else. We wanted a super-articulated version of Huyang, and this figure had less than five points of articulation. That said, Dad felt confident all the parts he needed to pull off this project were present in the 3-D print file and he was absolutely right.

The first step in getting the project started was getting the file printed. Because we don't have a 3-D printer, we had to get the file printed by a third-party. Dad did some research and found ninjaprototype.com, a company online who was able to do an SLA print of the file that would severely reduce the lines that would occur if a plastic filament was utilized to produce the prototype. Huyang took a few weeks to come in the mail due to the Chinese holiday, but once he arrived, Dad got to work at cutting up the resin pieces to add in the articulation. 

Print from Isotelus' 3-D Design

Adding articulation to the 3-D print.

To do so, Dad used the shoulder and elbow joints of two Clone Wars Battle Droids to add ball jointed shoulders and articulation to the knees and elbows. What Dad didn't anticipate was that the arms would be so thin that they could not be drilled to accept pegs at the elbows or wrists. To get around it, Dad used  tiny magnets in the hands and wrist to make them swivel. This was the perfect solution for providing our Huyang with the two different sets of hands that were available. He used a Dremel to carve deep notches along the inside of the arms to accept the Battle Droid elbows. It worked aesthetically because it matched Huyang's design perfectly without compromising his appearance at all, Below the waist, Dad used the bottom half of a JN-66 Research Droid that he cut up and drilled to accept the hip joints from the Battle Droid to give Huyang ball-jointed hips. He attached the modified piece to the upper torso with powerful magnets, 

Once completely assembled, Dad got to sculpting. He had to re-sculpt the torso above the waist to thin him out and below the waist to improve screen accuracy. He also had to completely re-sculpt the arms to add in the detail that was lost in the printing process. He also widened the headsculpt a bit and sculpted in details into the backpack that were absent. Once the body sculpt was completed, Dad added a real leather apron and belt to the figure and added on sculpted pouches and a Comm Link. 

After that Dad made a plethora of accessories that didn't come with the original print. He added a battle damage feature by gluing wires to a spare set of shoulder ball joints that he could swap out for the arms. He drilled out the crystal chamber in Huyang's chest and added a removable one. I even got involved and made Huyang's torch that could be swapped out for the boxes on the forearms utilizing magnets there as well. 

The goal was to have Huyang done in time for the recording of our show "Customizing The Clone Wars". Because of the impending deadline, Dad was not able to add a movable monocle like he had hoped. He is hoping to add it at a later date utilizing some more magnets.

Once the build was complete, Dad just needed to paint the figure and all of the extra arms that were available in the more complete file Isotelus included.

"PROFESSOR HUYANG" 

created by Darth Daddy

  The crystal chamber in Huyang's chest is removable.

 Darth Daddy's modified Professor Huyang.

Isotelus' 3-D Print File

SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED

THE DORKY DIVA SHOW- CUSTOMS FOR THE KID INTERVIEW

This week on The Dorky Diva Show, Customs for the Kid had the opportunity to chat with Savanna and Brian about what goes into the process of making custom Star Wars action figures and how we learned this fine art together!

You can follow the show on Twitter at @DorkyDivaShow and the hosts at @thedorkydiva & @JediBrian. 

Shop The Dorky Diva Show store here- https://www.teepublic.com/user/thedorkydiva

"CUSTOMIZING THE CLONE WARS" - EPISODE 70

Clone Wars custom action figure artists, Peak-OB1 Custom Creations along with Darth Daddy & Elias of "Customs for the Kid" showcase Clone Wars custom action figures from Season 5 of The Clone Wars TV series "Onderon" arc. Featuring tutorials on making an "Onderon Combat Training Instructor" Captain Rex, as well as Steela Gerrera and Saw Gerrera.

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"JEDI YOUNGLINGS" created by Customs for the Kid (PART TWO)

Ever since we started this project it has been racing toward completion. It felt like every time we completed a new figure, we became so excited with what we had produced that we couldn't wait to get another action figure started and finished.  We were customizing maniacs every free moment we had. We were able to finish the entire project in less than 3 weeks which is unheard of for us. Usually it takes us months to create six, 100% sculpted figures. A real passion for the project and loads of teamwork were the key to the project's quick completion. We put in about seven, 10-12 hour workdays by the time we finished it up.

The workload was divided up fairly evenly. Dad sculpted out Byph by himself and did most of Zatt. I asked to sculpt Zatt's face and his two outer tentacles. I had something specific in mind and Dad said "go for it". I also added some subtle highlights to the figure before the paint was sealed. I sculpted Petro's head and upper torso, while Dad sculpted the arms and added articulation to the elbows and wrists. Dad also sculpted everything on Petro from the belt on down. We both shared the paint on Petro. The only thing Dad did on Katooni was shorten her arms, while showing me how to maintain the original articulation. The rest of Katooni was all me. I also did all the work there was to be done on Ganodi. With Gungi, Dad built out his body and then we split up the sculpting throughout. Gungi ended up being my first 100% sculpted head.

We were hoping to have had the parts here so Huyang could have been posed here with the rest of the bunch, but the shipping has been delayed and we don't have a clear arrival date. Therefore, Huyang will just get his own post on the blog at some future date. It is likely Huyang's big reveal will be on "Customizing The Clone Wars" when we discuss the Youngling arc, so stay tuned when the episode drops!

"JEDI YOUNGLINGS"

created by Customs for the Kid

Custom "Ahsoka Tano" created by Elias. Custom "Huyang" created by Darth Daddy

"BYPH" 

    Byph was a male Ithorian youngling who trained to become a Jedi during the Clone Wars.

RECIPE

Body, Arms and Legs - Modified "Lord Of The Rings" Gollum

Hands - Clone Wars Aura Sing

Head - Original Headsculpt by Darth Daddy

Ball jointed neck, shoulders and hips
Swivel wrists

"ZATT"

Zatt was a male Nautolan Jedi Youngling who was a member of the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars.

RECIPE

Head - Original Headsculpt by Customs for the Kid
Body, Arms and Legs - Modified "Lord Of The Rings" Gollum
Feet - Modified Vitruvian H.A.C.K.s Blank
Knees - Clone Wars Cad Bane

Ball jointed head, shoulders, knees, ankles and hips
Swivel wrists

"PETRO"

Petro was a human male Jedi Youngling who served the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars.

RECIPE

Head - Modified Clone Wars Boba Fett (Sculpt by Elias)

Body and Hands - Modified Vintage Padawan Anakin Skywalker

Upper Arms - Modified "Lord Of The Rings" Gollum

Lower Arms - Modified 3.75" Black Series "Force Awakens" Princess Leia

Ball jointed head, shoulders, elbows, ankles and knees
Swivel wrists and hips

"GANODI"

A Force-sensitive Rodian female, Ganodi was a Jedi initiate during the Clone Wars. Elias has since modified the headsculpt using Blender and our 3D resin printer. Tenacious resin was used for durability. The head was later molded, and casts were reproduced with Smooth On's 61D resin in a pressure pot.

RECIPE

Body, Arms, and Legs - Modified Vintage Padawan Anakin Skywalker

Left Hand - Modified "Lord Of The Rings" Gollum

Right Hand - Unknown

Head - Original Headsculpt by Elias

Ball jointed head, shoulders, elbows, knees, and ankles
Swivel hips and wrists

"KATOONI"

Katooni was a female Tholothian Jedi youngling who served the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. Like all Tholothians, Katooni had a scaled head with half a dozen pale hanging tendrils. She was very patient, as shown when she waited to complete her lightsaber. She was trusting, believing in Hondo Ohnaka when he told her he would help rescue Ahsoka Tano. She appeared to have a fear of heights, as she was reluctant to climb the cliff in the Crystal Cave on Ilum. While very kind, Katooni was not afraid to call out Petro on numerous occasions.

Elias has since modified the headsculpt using Blender and our 3D resin printer. Tenacious resin was used for durability. The head was later molded, and casts were reproduced with Smooth On's 61D resin in a pressure pot.

RECIPE

Body, Arms, Hands, Legs, and Feet - Modified Clone Wars Ahsoka Tano

Head - Modified Rebels Ahsoka Tano (Headsculpt by Elias)

Ball jointed head, shoulders, knees and ankles
Swivel forearms and hips

"GUNGI"

Gungi was a male Wookiee Jedi youngling who was training to become a Jedi in the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars.

RECIPE

Body, Arms, and Legs - Modified Clone Wars Chewbacca
Ankles - Clone Wars Mace Windu

Head and Lightsaber- Original Headsculpt by Elias

Ball jointed head, shoulders, elbows, knees, and rocker ankles
Swivel hips and wrists

JEDI YOUNGLING 

CUSTOM LIGHTSABERS

All the lightsaber were custom made.

SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED

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