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.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Dad's Pirate Swoop Bike: March 2011 Build Your Own Mini-Rig Contest Entry




Pirate Swoop Bike


It was a real labor of love. Dad easily put in more than 40 hours of work into this one. He made this speeder bike from an Operation Rex toy that he saw in Target on the day that the contest was announced. After that it was all fodder. An everything but the kitchen sink affair. Constructing it was an effort that was much enjoyed. He tried to make the mini rig toy he would have wanted the most when he was a kid. He would have preferred to make the vehicle heavily weathered, but I asked him to keep it brighter.

Dad sculpted most of the controls, spare the Vader control pad. He also sculpted the around grill and the front window. Oh... and the cushioned seating, yeah, that's sculpted too.

After that fodder galore. An A-team special if you will. A beater, clunker, jalopy, hooptie. Look at your fodder and see more than what the object was meant to represent and envision what it could become with a little imagination. The grill and window were made from a G.I. Joe radar dish Dad found in my fodder. The front axles were made from two yellow missiles and a Momaw Nadon staff that sculpted Apoxie Sculpt hydraulic shocks fastened to what once were guns that he can't identify, but we saw on Luke Sprywalker's incredibely cool contest entry. The nose of the speeder bike was made from a Hulk Battle Axe that is from the Hulk action figure everyone was turning into a Gamorean gladiator recently, as well as, a gold plastic mask that was in a fodder bag that we got on Ebay. The antennas at the rear are made from a Mas Ameda staff and the bottom of an Indiana Jones torch. Dad even attached the long white tube from a krazy glue container to the bottom and painted it purple to give the vehicle the shape that he wanted. Two hilts from the Prince of Persia toy line are attached to the front of the pod with removable swords. The Robonino backpack is removable and all his accessories are included and the vibroaxe is fastened with a clear rubber band. The tail fin is also unidentified fodder and is sculpted in place. The leg straps that hang down came from the guns that now hold the axle and nose in place. A pen was cut and painted to attach the missile to the bike and both the missile and pen cap are removable. A Mandolorian shield is at the rear. The engine and fire attached at the bottom are both adjustable as well as removable. After that it was all custom painted and dressed up .

The two custom action figures that may live out there days in Star Wars, but they were definitely created by a desire to have some Dreadnoks for Dad when I ask him to play with me. I have no interest in Joes, but the Dreadnoks were Dad's favorite action figures growing up. I think a lot of Dad's customs are influenced by his love for those action figures. Dad remembers when he got his first one , a Buzzer, as the toy was getting paid for at the counter he said his knees started to shake because he was so excited. The toy created involuntary responses in him!! Now that's toy making. The pirates of Star Wars are the Dreadnoks of Joe.

So the Driver was created from a Koffi Arana action figure, a Star Wars drummer that was in Jabba's Palace whose name we can't remember at the moment and fodder, fodder, fodder with an Apoxie Sculpt beard.

The Gunner was made from a Pirates of the Caribbean Marty action figure with Apoxie Scupt hair and a Vintage Yoda robe. Unfortunately, Dad dropped the gun he had for him behind the couch. He would look awesome hanging from those leg straps in numerous different configurations. He was made to hang about.


Pirate Swoop Bike































To order Apoxie Sculpt, visit here:
http://www.avesstudio.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=7&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1
(They ship to every country via USPS)


Kessel Run Review - Episode 7



For more from wookielover1138 go to her page located here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/wookielover1138

IF YOU HAVEN'T SUBSCRIBED, NOW'S THE TIME
!!


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Deliah Blue: The Apoxie Sculpt Modification

I'm not sure how many members of our audience were happy with Hasbro's Deliah Blue action figure that was recently released exclusively by Entertainment Earth around this holiday season, but here at home we didn't feel the head sculpt accurately portrayed the Star Wars Legacy heroine. Dad offered to give my Deliah Blue action figure's hair the proper volume we are used to seeing in the Expanded Universe comics. Dad said he isn't completely thrilled with his results.  He had to stop sculpting this figure partway through and then Dad had to make dinner, but he does admit overall he does like the action figure better than Hasbro's. He just said he isn't going to customize action figures in the middle of cooking dinner for us and said he isn't going to customize action figures in the middle of cooking dinner for us anymore.



DELIAH BLUE













Deliah Blue's hair was sculpted by hand using Aves Apoxie Sculpt.



Deliah Blue and Cade Skywalker return enemy fire.













Hasbro's Deliah Blue





To order Apoxie Sculpt, visit here:
http://www.avesstudio.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=7&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1
(They ship to every country via USPS)





Monday, April 4, 2011

JACKOFTRADZE ADDED TO "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"


My Photo
JACKOFTRADZE is a professional Toy Designer who has been working in the industry for over 10 years designing real toy products! He has been a very committed 1/18th scale Star Wars collector since 1991! He collected when no one cared about Star Wars and has been with the line ever since. He recently created a blog and as you read his blog you get the unique perspective of a Toy Designer and a Collector. He has been an active eBay member for over 10 years and for over 4 of those years he has been creating custom figures to enhance his collection. He has a lot of cool customs and insights to share that I think you will enjoy.
The first three custom action figures we ever bought were from this great artist. It was his action figures and blog that inspired the "Customs for the Kid" blog and gave me the thought to ask Dad to make custom action figures for me.


JACKOFTRADZE





Click the graphics below to check out JACKOFTRADZE's blog




Monday, March 28, 2011

Kessel Run Review : Special Report



Star Wars Community Pulls Together


For more from wookielover1138 go to her page located here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/wookielover1138



DARK ACOLYTE

A good fun custom doesn't always take tons of paint or a pot of boiling water. It may take a minute of Dremel action on a Blackbeard Pirates of the Caribbean head, but if you take that head and pop it onto the body of the Rancor keeper and throw on a painted plastic Jedi robe, you can get one fun custom.

Dad had to post. He loves his routine of posting a figure a week.

BACKSTORY
Jedi Master Boesaan fought valiantly during the Clone Wars but later joined Sora Bulq and Quinlan Vos among Count Dooku's dark acolytes. He died quite soon after his conversion. His death is a mystery and his body was never found.


Jedi Master Boesaan








Sunday, March 27, 2011

Dad Gets a Rest

Lately Dad has been laboring away working on a speeder bike for the March 2011 Build Your Own Mini-Rig Contest over at Imperial Shipyards. Dad just finished his submission if you want to take a look.

So while Dad was busy with that, I was keeping busy too with a kitbash custom that I made of a Weequay female that can now be found in my Chalmun's Cantina display at home. I made her from a Leesub Sirlin and the Vintage Wequay Skiff Guard that can be found hitting stores everywhere now. Hope you like her.



Weequay Female

















Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Force Is Strong With Him!

Dad and I came across this post on Action Figure Empire and we asked if we could post it on our blog too! Once I saw a fellow Star Wars collector who shared my name and who was in need of my assistance, I jumped at the chance to offer a hand. The original post appears below:



Today I want to turn this blog's attention to the story of a young Star Wars action figure collector named Eli. Eli is madly passionate about all things Star Wars and Star Wars toys. He's an outgoing little guy with a great big smile and he's also into arts and crafts, and World War 2. Eli is has been diagnosed with a rare life-threatening disease called Severe Aplastic Anemia, a disease of the bone marrow. Severe Aplastic Anemia also affects the immune system making it difficult for those who have it to be out in public. You can imagine how this makes it hard to get out and do things, visit with people, or even shop for Star Wars toys. We here at Action Figure Empire call for your support for young Eli, a fan, and a collector who needs all the support he can get right now. We ask that you donate one or more, Star Wars toys of any kind to Eli. You can Include a message of your own to Eli if you wish as well. Eli will be delighted to receive your generous donations. Please send them to:

Action Figure Empire
114 Oak Street Apt. D
Maybrook, NY 12543

From there we at AFE will then forward your generous donations to Eli. AFE is proud to create and participate in the official Toys for Eli Toy Drive. Please take a moment to contribute to Eli's Star Wars action figure collection. Every donation you give helps!

We give the Official Action Figure Empire Salute to Eli and his family.

Thank you for reading this and thank you so much for your donations!

May The Force Be With You All!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

FialaFernbrugg ADDED TO "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"

Christoph, aka FialaFernbrugg, is a 23 year old customizer from Austria. Perhaps the only customizer from this small country. He has been customizing Star Wars figures and vehicles for about two years now. His focus is on Clones and Revell vehicle customs. Recently, he has started with technical drawings of Star Wars weapons and lightsabers. He is also known for his custom action figure stands and bases.

You can find his stuff on www.imperialshipyards.net and also on YouTube where he shows most of his customs with a short tutorial.


FialaFernbrugg






You can see FialaFernbrugg's custom action figures on Imperial Shipyards at the link below:

as well as his vehicles here:

and FF's technical drawings here:

FialaFernbrugg also has a channel on YouTube that you can find here: http://www.youtube.com/user/FialaFernbrugg




Friday, March 18, 2011

Undercover Galactic Detectives

When Dad created these two action figures, he said he had the TV show Miami Vice in mind. He wanted to create a team of undercover detectives to shake up the Star Wars criminal underground.

Undercover Galactic Detectives
by "Customs for the Kid"

These two figures just required quick head swaps and very little paint application to complete.
Willrow Hood's head got modified to give him a more intimidating look.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

SUBSCRIBE to the "CUSTOMS FOR THE KID" YOUTUBE CHANNEL



If you are normally viewing our page from a mobile device or an Ipad, you may not have been able to watch our videos. As a work around, we created a Youtube Channel so you can watch the videos posted in our "Customs I Wish I Owned" page from these devices going forward.





Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Lucasclones ADDED TO "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"

Lucasclones is a customizer of mostly custom Star Wars clone and Mandalorian action figures. He particularly favors ARC troopers and has been alongside fellow customizer Wraithnine creating some Republic commando squads. He is very proud of his Clone Wars style Delta and Omega squad from the Republic Commando novels. His work can be found on Imperial Shipyards custom figure Forums and on Flickr, as well as featured in his videos from Youtube. He also customizes G.I.Joe figures and posts them on his Flickr photostream and on a G.I.Joe fan website called Joedios. We also recommend visiting his new podcast with Imperial Shipyards administrator Tamer called Custom Action Figure News.



Lucasclones




For the link to lucasclones on Imperial Shipyards go to : http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=3618.0

For the link to lucasclones on Flickr go to :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucasclones/

For the link to lucasclones on Youtube go to :

http://www.youtube.com/user/cha1man2?feature



Go here to listen to the Custom Action Figure News podcast: http://www.imperialshipyards.net/podcasts/index.html
or
http://lucasclonecustoms.blogspot.com/


If there is anything you would like him to feature on a future podcast be sure to let him know at
chad.cafnpodcast@yahoo.com



Monday, March 14, 2011

VADER'S CLONES: STILL SHOTS

Ok. By now you probably watched the video, but if you are viewing our page from a mobile device or an Ipad, you may not have been able to watch it. As a remedy, we thought it best to display a few pictures of the figures so no one misses out.

Here's Dad's action figures of Darth Vader's Clones which he has now finally completed. These two action figures were posted before as works in progress and then in a video in their completed form. Now Dad has added his finishing touches by sculpting embellishments on the Apprentice's clothing with Apoxie Sculpt and painting the action figure in different shades of black. Vader's Clones are now ready for the unveiling.

BACKSTORY

Palpatine being the opportunist that he is, saw an opportunity to clone Anakin Skywalker when he was injured on Mustafar. Hoping that the power of the Chosen One was hidden somewhere in his DNA, Palpatine saw his chance to clone Skywalker as one not to be missed. Knowing that Skywalker's injury would prevent Vader from ever reaching his full potential as a Sith, Palpatine hoped that one day one of these clones would replace Lord Vader at his side as his new Sith apprentice once their training was complete. Due to several complications in the cloning process, only one clone was known to successfully complete the cloning process and be trained by Palpatine. The clone that was trained later destroyed the facility where Vader was being replicated knowing it would be his best chance for domination and survival, but not before he took a clone for himself to train as an apprentice. Ironically, the destruction of the cloning facility did not go as planned and both clones took heavy injuries in their escape. Both of their lungs were completely damaged and they, like Vader were forced to breath with the assistance of filtered air. Unlike Vader, they still had their limbs and thus had the ability to use Force lightening. When Palpatine and Darth Vader were killed over the moon of Endor, these clones survived in exile waiting to unleash the power of the Darkside once more.


VADER'S CLONES




The Master







The Apprentice















To order Apoxie Sculpt, visit here:
http://www.avesstudio.com/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=7&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1
(They ship to every country via USPS)


Saturday, March 12, 2011

Check out "Customs for the Kid" on Kessel Run Review: Episode 3

Wookielover1138 has always been a fan of Star Wars, but in 2008 the Clone Wars movie hit theaters and her interest in collecting was born. Inspired by the online collecting and customizing community, she created her own review show. She wanted it to be different and showcase the creative talents of other collectors as well as the new toys out there in an entertaining way. Teaming up with her one man production crew, Kessel Run Imports, the first episode of her new show "Kessel Run Review" hit YouTube on March 2, 2011 and it's a must see. The show is well put together and the production quality is superb. The show is filled with humor and showcases some really creative skits that are just great. So if you want to check out some insightful toy reviews and be exposed to some really talented customizers, look no further...the show for you is here.



Kessel Run Review Episode 3

Align CenterFeaturing a custom created by Elias and Darth Daddy



Here is a link to Kessel Run Imports where you can view some Star Wars comics customs and artwork:
http://www.ciurla.com/starwars


See more from Wookielover1138 at her Youtube channel located here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/wookielover1138


SUBSCRIBE WHILE YOU'RE THERE!!






VIXEY


OUR "VIXEY" POST:
http://customsforthekid.blogspot.com/2011/02/revisiting-old-custom-action-figures_23.html