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Topic:
*Official* Customs Thread
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skywalker_1982
Registered:
Dec '04
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Date Posted:
2/14/07 10:11am
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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Wow looks pretty cool.
I love reading about the customs threads and seeing all the pics. I really want to get into making my own custom figures of vintage unproduced toys.
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TK8203
US PSN: Snowtrooper (main PSN)
JAP PSN: djtwissb
UK PSN: Stormtroopertk
Wii code: 3769-0203-7850-9045
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obihahn
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
5/10/07 5:27am
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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Another cheap and easy customizing idea:
I took the two stormtroopers from the TANTIVE IV BP, then took the two spare thermal detonator cylinders from my TSC sandtroopers (which'll never be displayed without their backpacks anyways). I then trimmed the cylinders with an exacto knife for a better fit and super-glued them on the TANTIVE IV stormtroopers' belts. I also added the missing black dots to their abdomen armor with a CD permanent marker.
Now they are quite accurate stormtroopers rather than being only clean EVO sandtroopers, if you ignore the black ammo pouches on the belts. But these add more variety to my otherwise uniform stormtrooper army. 
 
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IncomT65
Registered:
Jul '99
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Date Posted:
5/10/07 7:10am
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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You know, a month or two ago at the RS customs section there was a huge round of mud throwing, flaming and what not going on. It was all about what a custom exactly was. It all started with a custom made by a new guy, a “simple” repaint, I believe. One member totally scared him off, because a repaint wasn’t a custom in his opinion. Man, you should’ve seen the rest of the community jump on him! Most of the customizers consider any modification or change to a figure a custom. The know-it-all was later banned by mr. Curto. He was like: “If I should be banned, let the mods stand up and ban me!” Dan Curto stepped in and basically said: “As you wish.”
Sometimes the best customs are the simplest customs, like your ideas. Great thinking there, Obihahn!
By the way, are those Tantive IV STs any good? There not VOTC style are they?
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"This party is over." - Mace in AotC
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." - Optimus Prime
"Aayla Secura is one hot Twi'lek!" - IncomT65
"I sense a disturbance in the Force."- Luke
"You always sense a disturbance in the Force!" - Kyle
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obihahn
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
5/10/07 7:45am
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
- Date Edited:
5/10/07 7:58am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
obihahn
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Thanks, Incom!
I hope nobody packs a flamethrower and gets after me for sharing this harmless idea...
Sounds like a nice community over at RS, though. Unfortunately, some users seem to be flaming experts, nothing more. Happens everywhere...  A good decision by Curto, it seems.
IMHO, the TANTIVE IV BP stormtroopers aren't really all too inferior to the VOTC mold - save the details that I took care of in my above "customization", of course. 
The most notable differences are that the BP stormie lacks the mid-torso joint that the VOTC mold sports, and the BP has a wider stance.
Other than that, I personally like the helmet mold of the BP stormie slightly better than the VOTCs. But I once read somehwhere that the VOTC is supposed to be a ROTJ-style trooper helmet, thus I guess the BP stormtrooper would be more of an ANH-style (it started as an EVO sandtrooper after all). Correct me if I'm wrong...
And I also like the wider stance, it gives you more posing possibilities.
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obihahn
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
5/10/07 9:41am
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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For anyone who might want to give my TANTIVE IV BP stormtrooper thermal detonator conversion a try, here's one thing I forgot to mention:
Don't throw away the excess white rectangular pegs that you have cut off of the thermal detonators!
These will, if cleanly cut off, fit into the slots on the BP stormtroopers' back perfectly and fill them out, just calmly and patiently press the excess peg into the slot, I didn't even need any glue for this.
The pics above still have the slots unfilled, because I came up with this final idea after I took the photos.
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IncomT65
Registered:
Jul '99
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Date Posted:
5/10/07 1:39pm
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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Hm, I'll have to see if I can find me some of those Tantive IV BPs then. I have two VOTC STs, but keep them packaged. They were too expensive, like most of my other VOTC figures
On a side note, I walked into our TRU this afternoon and was hugely disappointed. Not a single action figure, not even Saga2 ones. Only two toy lightsabers, dozens of Vader voice changer kits, an Anakin Force Battler and a Slave I Transformer. Pitiful.
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"This party is over." - Mace in AotC
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." - Optimus Prime
"Aayla Secura is one hot Twi'lek!" - IncomT65
"I sense a disturbance in the Force."- Luke
"You always sense a disturbance in the Force!" - Kyle
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obihahn
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
5/11/07 3:45pm
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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I went back and further "refined" my little customizations on the CAPTURE OF TANTIVE IV BP stormtroopers mentioned above.
After adding the black dots to the abdomen, thermal detonator cylinders to the belts and filling the slots in their backs, there were still two little things bothering me:
The black area on the lower middle front of the helmet is too broad out of the box. So I scraped off some of the black paint right and left for a thinner black area in the middle. Makes the helmet look more movie accurate.
I also removed the black paint from the small black belt pouch that's supposed to be white on all non-sandtroopers.
Nothing could be done about the big ammo pouch on the other side of the belt though, since it's also the belts closure.
Here's the final pic, I think that now they are quite the perfect stormtrooper figure:
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Commander5052
Registered:
Aug '05
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Date Posted:
5/12/07 11:41am
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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I'm trying to create a Senate Guard (from the RotS line) with a removable helmet. Could someone give directions on how to hollow out a helmet?
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Honored recepient of Thrawn McEwok's Bronze Thranta™  A Liberal and proud of it "Politics is simply the continuation of war by other means." --Mandalore the Ultimate
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IncomT65
Registered:
Jul '99
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Date Posted:
5/12/07 1:21pm
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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Hollowing out helmets isn't that hard to do, provided you have a rotary tool, like a Dremel. I like to use this method:
First, drill a hole with a small bur. Be careful not to drill through the helmet. You can mark the "depth" of the helmet on your bur with a small piece of tape.
Next, use a bigger bur and drill out the small hole. Every now and then, clean up the helmet or all the excess plastic will clutter.
Make sure your don't drill too fast. The helmet could become very hot and deform!
Also, you might want to check out Yakface.com, among others, which has an excellent customizing community. Lots of people there willing to help
Funny, I have to drill out a Royal Guard helmet myself as well. I'm making this, you see:
 
It's a Takara Microman body, which features 30 points of articulation. It's my first serious attempt at sculpting and I'm quite pleased with the result so far.
-----signature-----
"This party is over." - Mace in AotC
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." - Optimus Prime
"Aayla Secura is one hot Twi'lek!" - IncomT65
"I sense a disturbance in the Force."- Luke
"You always sense a disturbance in the Force!" - Kyle
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AT-AT_Commander
Registered:
Jun '01
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Date Posted:
5/12/07 10:38pm
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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Great job on all the customizing people. I don't have the hand or patience to even try that. Plus If i used a exacto knife I might not have any fingers left.
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Shenandoah Sector Fanforce, President and CR my space addy, just look up Dirty ATAT I love my job. My Collection and fanforce meeting photos. http://photos.yahoo.com/atatcommander32 Listen to the best collecting podcast swactionnews.com
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Commander5052
Registered:
Aug '05
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Date Posted:
6/7/07 7:29pm
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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Hi, I am a bit of a newby to customizing, so I just wanted to know if anyone can give me step-by-step instructions to perform an arm/leg swap, and still have the figure be able to be played with afterwards. Thanks.
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Honored recepient of Thrawn McEwok's Bronze Thranta™ A Liberal and proud of it "Politics is simply the continuation of war by other means." --Mandalore the Ultimate
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IncomT65
Registered:
Jul '99
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Date Posted:
6/8/07 5:41am
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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The best and only, actually, option is to use the boil 'n pop method. Here goes:
1. boil a fair amount of water in the microwave, water heater, on the stove, whatever. (enough to fully submerge the entire figure(s))
2. after the water's boiled, immediately put the figure(s) in the water and let them float around for a couple of minutes (2-3 minutes should be enough)
3. Take out one figure with some tongs or other utensil. Grasp the figure with a towel and gently, but firmly pull off a leg or an arm. If it the peg seems to tear apart, don't use force. Put the figure back in the water and try again.
4. Repeat step 3 for the other figure.
5. Let the legs/arms cool off and put the figures back in the hot water, so that the pegholes remain soft. Again, get a figure out of the water and firmly press the leg/arm in place. Repeat for the other limbs.
Be careful though, as you are working with boiled water!
And don't try this with Clone Trooper arms, since they have a special kind of shoulder peg. I think this goes for any figure with shoulder articulation. You might want to practice on an older figure first, like POTF2 Monkey Face Leia  .
Hope this helps you along and feel free to shoot me a pm if you have any questions! 
-----signature-----
"This party is over." - Mace in AotC
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." - Optimus Prime
"Aayla Secura is one hot Twi'lek!" - IncomT65
"I sense a disturbance in the Force."- Luke
"You always sense a disturbance in the Force!" - Kyle
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Remud_Starkiller
Registered:
May '07
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Date Posted:
6/12/07 5:19pm
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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I don't have any pictures yet, but I just finished my first custom in 5 years, a Sha'a Gi. I'll try and post some pics when I get my camera working.
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For Mandalore!!!
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IncomT65
Registered:
Jul '99
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Date Posted:
6/15/07 12:51pm
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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Sweet, he's a neat character in the CW series.
-----signature-----
"This party is over." - Mace in AotC
"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." - Optimus Prime
"Aayla Secura is one hot Twi'lek!" - IncomT65
"I sense a disturbance in the Force."- Luke
"You always sense a disturbance in the Force!" - Kyle
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obihahn
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
7/6/07 10:52am
Subject:
RE: *Official* Customs Thread
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Now I've seen a lot of people bash the latest Stormtrooper (the TAC one with removable bucket and eagerly debated over "Jango" clone visage, you know...) all throughout the internet. And I just don't really think this figure deserves all of that.
So like I did before with the TANTIVE IV BP Stormtrooper, I tweaked some small details on this guy.
And voilá, here goes another very cool stormtrooper IMHO.
Now this is all I've really altered:
- painted the mic tips silver
- scraped off the excess black paint between the brow and the lenses
- fitted a cut-apart lil' rubber band (the ones HASBRO madly ties around all their figures) and glued it into the helmet for a tighter fit
Since there's absolutely nothing wrong (no loose waist joints on my two) from below the neck, I didn't change anything else. 
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