What better way to celebrate our 14th Anniversary as bloggers than by making that special figure for yourself that you have always wanted? Fourteen years ago, I was a six-year-old kid asking my dad to make custom action figures with me and on this very day our customs are appearing in the "Evolution of Toy Collecting" Panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. What a journey! Today, I finished creating the action figure that my dad and I have dreamed of making since Duchess Satine Kryze of Mandalore debuted in 2010.
Years ago, my dad had a figure which came about through the will of the Force. Darth Daddy hoped to collaborate with our friend Hyperdrive, and 30 seconds after thinking he should contact him, my father received a text message from Hyperdrive and immediately agreed to collaborate when Dad asked him! One thing lead to another, and now their legendary creation of General Pong Krell graces our shelf. I feel so fortunate to now have a collaborative creation of my own. This is my figure's story and how Duchess Satine Kryze willed herself into existence. Around the time that I decided to attempt this project, our friend Aude's Workshop sent us a surprise package with a lovely note, which read as follows:
The sculpt he is referring to, is the beautiful head sculpt featured on the action figure below. At "Customs for the Kid" we have a tradition of giving some shout-outs to other artists in our community we are sure you will enjoy, and Aude's Workshop is one you will certainly appreciate.
To make this figure of Duchess Satine Kyryze, I used a Clone Wars Asajj Ventress as my base. I took the elbows, forearms, and boots from a Clone Wars Adventure Padme, and replaced them on Ventress. I then used my Dremel's Nylon brush to strip all details and forms away from the base figure. To sculpt her upper body, I used a mixture of Green Stuff and Procreate, and left her lower body untouched so that the dress would rest on her legs correctly.
Making her dress out of real fabric was one of the bigger technical hurdles. I knew from the moment I decided to make Satine that I wanted her to have a dress made of real fabric. If she couldn't sit in the Mandalorian throne, what was the point of making it?
So, I had to come up with a strategy. The form of her dress resembles some kind of flower, belling out at the hips, tapering at the ankle, and then opening like the petals of a petunia. I devised a pattern for the innermost layer, which would consist of six identical panels. I assembled it, pulled it over her, and then got started on the outer layer. This layer would create the bell form, so I patterned a single piece of the dark blue fabric, cut some darts into it so it would form around her correctly, and affixed it to the under dress. To get the end of her under dress to be shaped like flower petals, I had to thread crafting wire through the hem and position it how I wanted. After the two main forms were constructed, I added in the other pieces of fabric and painted the dress as needed. The purple scale-like details on her dress were sculpted out of Procreate and glued in place. After a few days of painting, Satine was ready for photos!
About a month ago, my father and I were discussing the photoshoot, and what kind of pictures we wanted for today's celebration. Since I went through all the trouble of making a soft goods dress, he suggested that I try to get a Mandalorian throne to pose her on. We immediately recalled the Mandalorian throne room display produced by Cardboard Galaxy and both agreed it would be perfect for our figures debut. Unfortunately, the Mandalorian throne room he made wasn't available for sale on his eBay page anymore. Thankfully, Bob from Cardboard Galaxy went out of his way to get one made for us, and we are immensely grateful.
We want to thank Aude's Workshop and Cardboard Galaxy for making this project possible. The kindness of our community of artists never fails to inspire me. We hope you all enjoy our execution of the Duchess Satine Kryze, and happy 14th anniversary to "Customs for the Kid!"
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