Kodiak3D's customs

[Kodiak3d]

Well, I've been lurking for a while, so I figured it was time to start posting some pics of my stuff. So, here we go:


This was my first attempt at repainting a head. I've learned more since I did this one. I'm not disappointed with it, but I just picked up another Dooku so I can have a second try at it. I have been painting gaming minis for about 20 years now, so I figured moving UP in scale wouldn't be too hard. A lot of the same principles still apply, but I had to learn a few new tricks in the process


Here's my Han and Chewie (Han soon to be replaced by a Medicom version). The Chewie is the Hasbro OTC version that I did a little drybrushing to here and there and gave him a good coat of matte varnish so he wasn't so shiny, then glossed the eyes, mouth, and teeth. Did a little work on the bowcaster as well.


The TIE pilot is a Marmit I lucked into at my local comic shop several years ago. The battle droid on the right is a Hasbro repaint I did. I want to get around to doing the ball jointed arms and hips sometime, but I'm not in a hurry. The Garindan is a Hasbro head on a new body (I don't remember what kind). I did some drybrush color to his snout and added some pastel dust to the cloak, boots, and pants. It's kinda hard to see in the pic. I also darkened the lenses on the goggles a little and painted the rims around them. Not quite canon, but the GG bust did it, and I thought it looked good.


Here's some of my Rebels. The middle is an unmodified Sideshow Pello Scrambas flanked by two more guys with Sideshow outfits. The right is an unmodified Sideshow Captain Antilles. The left is my Rebel Honor Guard. I made him with a uniform and dress shoes from TA, a new body, and a Captain Antilles helmet (thanks to jwig for that). The visor is a piece of plastic I cut from a Glad storage bowl (already curved ) and hit it with a coat of gloss black paint. Secured it to the helmet with a little green stuff so as to not mess up the paint.


Here's some of my Imps. The Imperial crewman on the left is a Hasbro AT-ST driver uniform with a Hasbro Imperial officer hat on a body I got from Monkeydepot. The middle is a Hasbro uniform on a Sideshow body with Piett's head (again, thanks to jwig). The officer on the right is just a Hasbro uniform on a new body. The rank badges are custom-made on my 3D printer...something I'm planning to use more often for customs .


Finally, here's more Imps. The stormie is a standard Sideshow version. The trooper on the right is a Hasbro uniform and helmet on a Dragon body with gloves from the Hasbro AT-ST driver. On the helmet, I cut the chin cup off, made some holes for a strap to go through, and made a strap with elastic. Now, on to Tarkin...this isn't a good pic of him, so here's a better one:


This was my second repaint. I'm MUCH happier with this one, and hence why I'm going to redo my Dooku as well. Thanks to Greggo for the great tutorial on his web page about painting. I learned a lot from it. The eyes are decals I printed on my laser printer.

So, there they are, for now. I'm working on a Clone Wars Obi-Wan and Plo-Koon as well as a General Veers at the moment. Once I get some helmets, I'm going to do Wedge and Biggs as well.

Thanks for looking!!

 

[SirGor]

Some good looking Customs there I think Dooku and Tarkin came out great. Say how did you do the skin texture on Tarkin?

 

[Darth_IMPoor]

Nice looking group you got there Kodiak. Proof that alot of Hasbro's things are completely salvageable. If it weren't for the short sleeves, I think more people would use them. Lots of pics are never a bad thing. Good work

 

[Kodiak3d]

Thanks for the kind words Yes, the short sleeves are a bit annoying, but I can live with them if the rest of the figure looks good.

SirGor, that texture effect is a fortunate accident I stumbled across. On another project once I held the primer too far away from what I was spraying. The effect is that some of the paint dries before it gets to the piece and the finish becomes grainy. However, once it all dries completely, you can wipe off the excess dry paint, and that texture is what's left underneath I realized it was a good skin texture, so I try to do it on purpose now. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it turns out nicely.

 

[SirGor]

Cool thanks for the info how do you wipe off the excess dry paint with your fingers or a paper towel?

 

[Kodiak3d]

I found a paper towel worked better than just bare fingers. You may even dampen it a little. Make sure the paint is completely dry beforehand, obviously.

 

[Kodiak3d]

Just ordered one of these to do an Admiral Ozzel with:

Oddly enough this is a head of Wilhelm Keitel...the same guy I'm using to do a Captain Pellaeon to go with my Grand Admiral Thrawn. It is, however, a different sculpt by a different company and, in my opinion, looks like a completely different person.

 

[SirGor]

Kodiak I think that's a great choice for Captain Pellaeon. By the way what do you do for your skin tones do mix your own or is out of the bottle?

 

[Kodiak3d]

Generally I use Vallejo paints, though I've recently picked up some Citadel paints to try. I don't like to mix flesh tones as it makes it harder to match stuff later if need be. I also use a mix of water and Future as a thinner.

 

[Kodiak3d]

Finished a couple tonight that I've been working on for a while. First, General Plo Koon:

Nothing too complicated here. The body is a clone body (so the forearm armor fits). The hands are made using Sideshow's normal Plo hands, armor plates popped off from a couple of clone hands, plus I used some Green Stuff to sculpt his finger gloves onto the hand, then painted them black. The decals I made with the help of Natedog who provided me the images (big thanks). The outfit is a slightly modified version of Sideshow's clothing for Plo Koon. I used Ki Adi Mundi's boots as they're closer to what Plo wears in the Clone Wars. I'm debating on dying the robe darker to match what he wears in the show. Thoughts?

And the project that I've been working on for a couple of months now, General Obi-Wan Kenobi (veteran style armor).

The head is a repainted Hot Toys Polar Striker. The chest/shoulder armor is from tworiverz (big thanks as well) which I spent a lot of time weathering to get it to match the other pieces from the veteran clone. The scratches on the chest and shoulders are decals I made using some nice Photoshop brushes. The Jedi emblem and circle decal I found online and also used some Photoshop brushes on the give them some scratches and dirt so they wouldn't stand out as too clean. The modified robe is from a Hasbro Mace Windu.

The weathering on the armor was done by priming with grey, coating with flat white, laying down a few thin washes of grey, then sanding with 800 grit paper, then "polishing" with 000 steel wool, then finally a bit of black pastel dust rubbed on. The decals went on after that.

I haven't been doing 1/6 customs for long, and this is the one I've put the most work into so far and I have to say, I really love this figure. I'm proud to have him on my shelf I hope you all like him too.

 

[Spudtrooper]

Those are freaking amazing man! Very well done. I love the look of the Plo Koon in the Clone Wars style. I've always liked seeing the Clone Wars Obi Wans that people make. Always wished that Sideshow had made one. That and an Ahsoka too.

Again, excellent job man. Outstanding.

 

[Kodiak3d]

Thanks, Spud! Yeah, I'd love to see an Ahsoka as well. Hopefully that's not far around the corner. Frankly, I'm kinda surprised we haven't seen one already. Sideshow's choices in figures confound me sometimes.

I'm thinking about doing a Clone Wars Mace Windu as well sometime. I'm just waiting to pick up a Sideshow Windu for the right price. He pops up on eBay commonly, so it's only a matter of time.

 

[Tworiverz]

Very nice work Kodiak, especially like Plo koon, though would suggest padding out his arms and legs a bit.
He kinda looks a little emaciated and bandy legged, LOL

 

[Kodiak3d]

He's been on a diet to fit into the armor, lol.

 

[Natedog]

Very nice Plo. Glad the images helped, although I'm pretty sure they should be burgundy. I would do as you suggest and dye the tunic darker as well. How did you make the hands appear gloved? Nice.

 

[Kodiak3d]

I thought he changed the color when he added the wolf symbol to his hand armor. I'll have to go back and look at it.* Either way, I think I like the grey better as it matches with the rest of the unit.

As for the hands, I used some Green Stuff sculpting epoxy to add the gloves.

* I went back and checked Season 6. From watching the beginning of The Lost One (Episode 10), I looks to me like Plo Koon's armor symbols have been changed to grey. It's not exactly the best lighting conditions, but I paused it a few times and, to me, it looks grey.

But I've been wrong before

 

[SirGor]

Nice work I like General Plo Koon.

 

[Kodiak3d]

Decided to update my thread with something I'm working on. I never was happy with my Endor Leia with the Boussh head, so I went looking to see if I could find a head that at least resembled Carrie Fisher. I found one I thought would work, ordered it, and I've decided it's good enough for me. The hair isn't Leia's (obviously), but I cut the braids off the Hasbro Leia and I'm looking at putting them on the new head. Need some opinions, however. Here's a look with me holding the hair in place:


Also, I was unhappy with the Hasbro blaster, so I used my 3d printer to make a new one for her. Turned out good enough for me


Also working on General Veers and General Dodonna. I'll post pics of them once they're a little closer to finished.

 

[Natedog]

Yeah thats not a bad head. Good even use it for a Padme perhaps.

 

[Spudtrooper]

Yeah I was thinking the same. Could make a pretty legit Padme. Awesome.