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.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

MASTER ZAO



Zao was a blind, elderly male Veknoid Jedi Master and an accomplished chef. He did not accept missions from the Jedi Council, but followed the will of the Force as he traveled about the galaxy.


One of mine and Dad's favorite Dark Horse comics is Darkness written by John Ostrander. I love stories about Aayla Secura and Dad is a Quinlan Vos and Master Tholme fan. After reading this comic series, we were both fans of Master Zao. So much so that Dad had to make him into an action figure. Dad has been working on this action figure for a long time.






Click image above to go to Dark Horse's site for the book's page.







If it weren't for the help of Lucasclones, Dad may never have finished this figure. Lucasclones provided Dad with the pouches Master Zao wears around his waist. Lucasclones had needed Trandoshan body parts after the Clone Wars: Season 3 finale, Wookiee Hunt inspired him to create a few Trandoshans and Dad had a few parts he could spare. When Chad asked Dad if he wanted anything for the pieces, Dad asked if he had any waist pouches and sent Chad some images of Master Zao. Dad was thinking he was going to have to sculpt them by hand, but Lucasclones came through in a big way. Thanks Chad!!



Those who ate Zao's cooking often found that its taste, whether good or bad, reflected the degree to which their current mental state was in harmony with the Force.



In spite of his blindness, he remained a formidable and lethal adversary, wielding his unique lightsaber cane with frightening accuracy.





Before the Clone Wars, Zao served as chef to Gorto Zaga on Kiffex, during which time he explained his method of travel to Quinlan Vos. When Zao's cooking didn't avail to Gorto Zaga he helped Quinlan Vos and Tholme fight off Zaga's guards before the Anzati lead by Aayla Secura stormed the Black Hole Cantina.
He later cooked food on the streets of Saleucami, where he encountered his old friend Tholme, who was on the planet to investigate the actions of the Dark Jedi Sora Bulq. Zao believed the Jedi should serve the Force and the principles of the Galactic Republic, but explained to Tholme that the Republic itself no longer upheld those ideals.




Zao was opposed to the Jedi serving as officers in the Clone Wars. However, he did help Tholme locate Sora Bulq's underground Morgukai cloning facilities.
As the war continued, rumors abounded of his death. Since he was not involved with the war, he was not killed in the execution of Order 66. Dressed in rags amongst huge crowds, he was overlooked as a beggar by clone troopers searching for Jedi to execute.




INTERESTING FACT:
Zao was originally going to die in Darkness, but according to artist Jan Duursema, "Zao would have been toast in Darkness, but we were asked not to kill him."[2]



MASTER ZAO
created by Darth Daddy



















SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED



WIP PICTURES 


Dad kept the ball hinge ankle joint of Yoda and glued it to the feet of the Teemto Pagalies to keep the articulation.




Dad gave this figure full articulation except at the hips. Master Zao's hips are only hinge joints.




Dad used the head, and feet of a Teemto Pagalies action figure, arms of a CW Quinlan Vos, and everything else was a Vintage Yoda action figure that was dremeled and sculpted to create the figure. The lightsaber blade is removable.


 The shoulder joints are still Yoda's, but they are glued and sculpted to fit the modified CW Quinlan Vos arms.










I used a frying pan from a Indiana Jones Marion Ravenwood action figure to give Master Zao a tool for cooking.











FROM OUR FRIENDS




Dad's Master Zao was featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.




Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Flaccideagle added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"

Flaccideagle is a thirtysomething from New Jersey, and has been collecting Star Wars since his high school days. He used to customize POTF2 figures for a while in the mid 1990's, and 1:6 Scale for a few years before finding ImperialShipyards.net site, and turning his attentions towards Star Wars vehicles and the occasional figure. All of his recent customs can be found on the Imperial Shipyards Forums.

We've been huge fans of his work ever since the first time we saw it, and we especially love the vibrancy of his color palette. A true master!!


Flaccideagle





To see more from Flaccideagle check out his other customs at the links below:
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=2678.0
and
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=7023.0


Sunday, September 25, 2011

GEONOSIAN JEDI

This Geonosian Jedi is a quick custom action figure that I made that required very little paint work, and just a small amount of accessorizing to complete. I used the skirt of a Clone Wars Eeth Koth, the Geonosian drone action figure from the exclusive Target 2-pack, the Jedi Robe from a CW Shaak Ti action figure, and the hilts of a G.I. Joe Storm Shadow action figure. I only had to paint the jewel blue on the waist covering of the Geonosian. Dad carved the bottom of the lightsaber blades with an Exacto knife so they slid in and out of the hilts with ease.


BACKSTORY

A Geonosian Jedi?!  Don't Geonosians hate the Jedi?!  Well this guy is the exception.  Strong in the Force was he.  So strong he was able to control the Hive mind and even had the ability to sway the Queen Geonosian, Karina the Great.   Knowing his Force abilities were a threat to her throne, and aware she needed to get him far from Geonosis, this Jedi joined the Order at a youngling's age when Karina shipped him off world to die long before the start of the Clone Wars, and he was discovered by a Jedi Knight who later became his Master.  A survivor of Order 66, he returned to his people and facilitated the Geonosian alliance with the Rebellion.  He was later killed during the Subjugation of Geonosis by none other than Darth Vader himself, but not before the Geonosian Jedi was able to get critical information out to the Rebel Alliance with a way to destroy the first Death Star.  Vader always considered the Jedi to be one of his most difficult, if not THE most difficult, of his opponents due to his unique lightsaber fighting technique and powerful mind control abilities. 




GEONOSIAN JEDI
created by Elias

I love these lightsaber hilts attached with a chain, because the type of battle action that could be incorporated into play with its design.


The hilts can still be used as a weapon even when the lightsabers are not ignited.



















The hilts attach and can be worn over the shoulder like a bandoleer.




SITHHAPPENS has started a "CUSTOMIZER OF THE WEEK" post over at his SANITARIUM CUSTOMS blog and I was super honored to be the first customizer featured.



My Geonosian Jedi was featured on the front page of IMPERIAL SHIPYARDS.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

THE BUDGET JEDI

Dad has always been very intimidated about creating a diorama. That is until he saw the Youtube videos of The Budget Jedi. At the time we are writing this, The Budget Jedi has 8,690 channel views and 19,085 total upload views, and he has quite a loyal following with 532 subscribers.

Not Always Poor, but Always Frugal? The Budget Jedi shares tips and tricks on Toy Collecting Fun on the Cheap! Previously budgetjedi on Youtube, his channel mostly contains dioramas, deal finds on toys, and random fun stuff that he likes to share with his audience. Mostly Star Wars and some hauls. He also shows some Batman, Marvel, DC and Transformers!

We viewed these videos below that he created and wanted to share this talented artist with you all so you can make some cool Star Wars on the cheap too!


Boba Fett's "Sarlacc Escape" Display






"Darth Maul Duel" Vol 1: Diorama in the Making






"Darth Maul Duel" Vol 2: Diorama Final Display





Check out his Youtube Channel below:

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

stitchfett added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"





stitchfett WIP


Dad came across the work of stitchfett while searching ebay to find cool custom action figure auctions to post to the blog's Facebook page. stitchfett had created a unique sculpt that Dad never saw before. Something stitchfett has labeled as the Microman series. The action figures have incredibly good articulation and an assortment of interchangeable hands.


stitchfett WIP


"Microman Jango" by stitchfett



Dad reached out to Yovitt Planadeball a.k.a stitchfett of Puerto Rico, and when stitchfett responded he also provided some really cool work in progress pics for you all to check out.


With 100% Positive feedback, you can't go wrong.


There is a time when a kid is supposed to grow up, mature and get rid of his toys... well stitchfett will surely tell you that he didn't quite do that and that's how he ended up the man he is today (lol). He still remembers using toilet paper dowels, card board & clear blisters to make ships, painting his figures with Testors paints, and playing with them under his bed. His advice to beginner customizers, the secret to success is practice. By failing you discover new techniques that no one else could teach you, but most importantly... it's about having fun!



stitchfett





You can go to the ebay page of stitchfett by clicking the link below:








Dad's "stitchfett video" featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.





Sunday, September 18, 2011

My Second Mando




The last Mando I created was for Eli during the Toy Drive. This new one I created some time after. Dad gave me this action figure for practice as a way for me to learn different painting techniques. First it was just simple paint application, trying to stay in the lines and pick matching colors for the figure, but after, Dad taught me how to do some weathering with my Grievous figure, and then I had to try it on my Mando too. So here is what I have so far.


MANDO











Darth Sidious CAFN commercial







STAR WARS PODCASTS
Custom Action Figure News

Monday, September 12, 2011

Another Ewok from Peakob1





Peakob1 just put up another Ewok on ebay, and he informed us that he is slowing down his collecting and customizing to a snails pace due to an upcoming move and he will consider selling any of his customs to any interested buyers. He has always been a favorite customizer in our house and we recently acquired some of his customs for our own collection. We can say if any bids are placed, they can be made with confidence. You are truly getting a superior product as far as as Star Wars custom action figures go and his body of work is about as cool as it comes.







Check the link below to see a collection of his work:


Pop Culture Community Raises Money for Disaster Relief Effort






Comic and Toy fans put their money where their hearts were last weekend for the first ever Heroes Give Hope charity auction. The Live Online Auction event featured dozens of custom made action figures and works of art specially commissioned for the event, and raised nearly $1000.00 for the Disaster relief agency ConvoyofHope.org

Sponsored by internet Auction House TheBigToyAuction.com, the first of its kind event showcased the talents of both professional and amateur artists from a broad range of fields. Each artist was asked to create and donate a piece in the theme of "everyday heroes." Pieces ranged from a tongue-in-cheek GI Joe based custom "bootleg" figure by Suckadelic Toys to UK Illustrator Dave Williams' original print featuring dozens of minimalist interpretations of Comic, TV, and Movie heroes arranged to form the word "Hope." The big item of the night, selling for $125.00 was a watercolor painting of the Iconic He-Man and Battlecat Figures by artist Jonathan Reincke. Other works included versions of Batman, Transformers, the X-Men, Micronauts and Star Wars as well as a number of original creations.

At the end of the event, over $900.00 worth of items were sold with 100% of the Hammer price going directly to Convoy of Hope. Convoy is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization providing disaster relief, feeding initiatives and community outreach. Since its founding in 1994, Convoy has provided aid to more than 45 million people in over 100 countries, including the victims of the Japan and Haiti earthquakes, the Joplin tornadoes, and New Orleans following hurricane Katrina.

Along with a donation by TheBigToyAuction.com, the event raised a total of $1000.00 for the charity. "We were so glad to have the opportunity to donate our services to this cause and help out, that we wanted to do a little more," said Christopher Noon, founder and auctioneer of TheBigToyAuction. "$1000.00 looked like a good round number, and we were already pretty close, so we thought 'what the heck?' and kicked in the rest ourselves. It's for a good cause."

The benefit auction could not have come at a better time, as Convoy is already responding to the damage caused by Hurricane Irene by delivering supplies across the eastern seaboard.

Plans are already under way to make this a recurring event. "We just want to thank everyone who got involved." says Noon. "We weren't sure at first how well it would be received, but our artists really came through for us with their donations. The fans came out in droves to bid, and the news sites and blogs really got behind this in a big way. Even though it was the first time we had taken on something this big, with trying to coordinate all of our donors, We learned a lot. It was great to be able to show the world what motivated Geeks can do when we work together. We're looking forward to doing it again, but even bigger next time."


Those wishing to donate directly to Convoy of Hope can do so through their website at:

http://donate.convoyofhope.org



For information: http://www.TheBigToyAuction.com or

Contact: news@TheBigToyAuction.com

Phone: 610-997-0165



Sunday, September 11, 2011

"CUSTOMS FOR THE KID": An Introduction to My Collection



A few times I have been asked if I was a Star Wars toy collector as well as a customizer. When people who asked found out that I collect Star Wars figures as well as make them, they asked to see pictures of my collection. This video shows my bedroom and some of the Phantom Menace action figures that I set up in the living room over the weekend. I will create a separate page for this video and I will add videos to the collection page as I begin to showcase the other parts of my collection.



"CUSTOMS FOR THE KID":
An Introduction to My
Collection




IN THE NEWS


The first video installment of an introduction to my Star Wars action figure collection was featured on the front page of Imperial Shipyards.