Agonistes' Star Wars customs

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Hi all, I figured that it's finally time to start my own custom thread here. :)

I try to keep my collection very focused, sticking to core characters I like most from my childhood. While I've been collecting 1:6 since around 2005, I currently only have about 2 dozen 1:6 figures, of which around half is SW. Over the years, my main focus in collecting has become updating and perfecting the figures I own, trying to customize them myself to the highest standard I can possibly achieve. This often means that half of my collection is a work in progress, as there's always something to improve. :lol
I generally strive for proper 1:6 scale, based on a mix of real actors' heights and on screen depictions (since movie magic sometimes makes characters shorter or taller than they really are).

Since I moved early last year, I decided to try to only display figures that are finished, motivating me to work on them one by one. So while my updates here probably won't be very regular, I will kick it off with my recently finished works. :)


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First up: ESB/ROTJ Darth Vader

I know there are some differences between the two movies, and while I try to go for extreme accuracy in other figures, these differences somehow don't bother me much. For example, the chest box here is ESB, while the widow's peak is ROTJ.

With SSC's DX Vader in 2014, I finally decided to get a 1:6 Vader. Since then, I've been updating the figure more and more. My last mayor update was in 2016/2017 when I upgraded to a kaiyodo mask with HT parts.
I overhauled him again completely over the past couple of months, and I think I can call him done (for now ;)).

Here's the recipe:
  • Mask: kaiyodo, with SSC DX tusks
  • Dome: hurricane (ROTJ)
  • Chest armor: HT ESB, shortened in the neck and sides to reduce in overall size
  • Shoulder bells: SSC DX V1, dremeled down to size
  • Chest box: SSC DX V1, repainted slightly, with new faux leather straps
  • Belt buckle & boxes: SSC DX V1, repainted slightly, with new faux leather belt. The belt buckle is by far the least accurate part on the figure, I'm still undecided if it's worth to upgrade at the moment
  • Codpiece: SSC DX V1, with new faux leather strap
  • Boots: HT (unsure which version)
  • Body: HT (unsure which version), modified heavily in the upper body, mainly decreasing the bulk in chest and arms
  • Bodysuit: HT ANH, retailored heavily to fit better
  • Gloves: HT ESB (I modified the belt resting hands slightly to be more open with less curled fingers)
  • Inner robe: custom made
  • Cape: custom made, with SSC DX chain
  • Lightsaber: HT ANH Tarkin 2-pack (since it was not accurate to ANH in the first place)

Enjoy!

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And for fun, the evolution of my 1:6 Vaders. From left to right: 2014 unmodified SSC DX, 2014 modified SSC DX, 2016 custom with kaiyodo, SSC & HT parts, and now (2021):
Darth Vader evolution.jpg
 
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Re: Agonistes' Star Wars customs *Darth Vader*

This has given me motivation to go finish mine which is already heavily inspired by yours agonistes. Will keep tabs on this thread, thank you for posting it.
 
Re: Agonistes' Star Wars customs *Darth Vader*

Looking great. It takes a lot of dedication to get it this good. :)
 
Re: Agonistes' Star Wars customs *Darth Vader*

This has given me motivation to go finish mine which is already heavily inspired by yours agonistes. Will keep tabs on this thread, thank you for posting it.

Thanks, and great to hear! Let me know if you have any questions while you're working on him, I'm happy to help out.

Looking great. It takes a lot of dedication to get it this good. :)

Thanks, Carsten. I set my personal bar high for the ANH version now, I want that version to be at least as good as this one. It will be a beast of a project, but I'm looking forward to it. :)

Well done! :clap

Impressive, most impressive.

Thanks, guys. :wave
 
Re: Agonistes' Star Wars customs *Darth Vader*

Thanks!
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Next up is ROTJ Emperor Palpatine

The lazy eye one of the trademark signs of the Emperor for me, which is what contributes to his creepy appearance. I don't actually know if that was intentional or just a lens that wasn't working properly, but it really defines his look IMO. I went with his throne room appearance where the lighting is very harsh and cold, which is what I tried to replicate in his skin tone.

It's essentially a repainted HT figure, with some more minor mods done:
  • Eyes and sculpt repainted
  • Hands repainted, adding the blue veins and making them much paler
  • Left hand repositioned to appear smaller (since the HT hands are quite oversized)
  • Cane shortened
  • Stitches removed from hood
  • Ankle extenders added

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Re: Agonistes' Star Wars customs *Darth Vader*

That's some impressive work.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
 
Re: Agonistes' Star Wars customs *Darth Vader*

Thanks, prvtnoclass!

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Next up is ROTJ Luke Skywalker

ROTJ Luke is the only "good guy" in my SW collection, as I generally favor the villain designs. While I liked the stock HT version, he didn't look right when displayed without his vest and sash, the proportions in shoulders and arms were quite off. As I worked on him, I went further and further, eventually resewing his shirt almost entirely in all the major seams.

Here are all the changes I made to the stock HT version:
  • Changed out shoulders and upper arms from another, better proportioned slim TT
  • Extended neck length by making a new neck peg
  • Dremeled and sculpted on the arms to give a better silhouette
  • Dremeled/sanded the lats, chest, and upper thighs
  • Retailored the shirt: Took in shoulders, tightened up the sleeves, slimmed the sides/waist, and generally removed a lot of excess fabric (also removed the white flap completely)
  • Retailored the undersuit (I dislike the term fatsuit, since it does serve an important purpose)
  • Put new stronger velcro on the belt to suit new slimmer waist, but also allow it to be put over vest and sash
  • Darkened teeth/inner mouth and furrowed brows slightly
  • This is not a mod, but to mention it for completion sake: I use SSC V2 Darth Maul hands for this gloved right hand

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Some WIP:
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Re: Agonistes' Star Wars customs *Darth Vader, Emperor & ROTJ Luke*

Excellent work:clap
 
Re: Agonistes' Star Wars customs *Darth Vader, Emperor & ROTJ Luke*

Fantastic work on all three figures.

The Emperor's eyes are a work of art. I wish we had gotten that from HT.
 
Re: Agonistes' Star Wars customs *Darth Vader, Emperor & ROTJ Luke*

Excellent work:clap

Fantastic work on all three figures.

The Emperor's eyes are a work of art. I wish we had gotten that from HT.

Thanks, both! I'm also super happy with the Emperor's eyes. While HT pays attention to many specific details, the paint work did show a great deal of laziness on their part.


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And next up is TPM Darth Maul

I just finished him a few days ago. Maul has a special place in my collection. He was my favorite character design from the Prequels, and is also the only PT figure I own nowadays. I had every Hasbro figure ever made up until 2004 or so, displaying them all on a shelf together. The SSC Maul was the first 1:6 I ever did a body swap on back in 2008, so he was essentially my first foray into 1:6 customizing. Over the years, I've gone through many different iterations: resculpting and repainting the SSC V1 sculpt back in 2013, upgrading to the SSC V2 (on a custom body), and in 2019 finally upgrading to the HT Maul.
When the product shots of HT Maul came out, I was still convinced that I would stick to the SSC V2 sculpt. However, after receiving it, and especially after repainting the sculpt and extending the neck, I much prefer the HT sculpt in likeness, and even more so in realism. Add to that that the SSC V2 sculpt in underscaled for 1:6, it's no contest for me.


Here are all the changes I made to the stock HT version:
  • Extended neck length by making a new neck peg (similar to what I did with Luke; shout out to matrix for the idea)
  • Repainted the red face tattoos to be more vibrant and true to the movie
  • Removed the padded undersuit of the legs, and modified the upper body padding (keeping most of it in place)
  • Dremeled lats and arms slightly to allow for more natural poses

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Here you can see my repaint (middle) compared to the original HT paint on the snarling sculpt (right) and SSC V2 (left). This was the original SSC release, not the re-release that had poorer paint-jobs.

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And here my character evolution over the years, form left to right: (1) stock SSC V1 in 2007, (2) customized SSC V1 in 2013, (3) customized SSC V2 in 2016, (4) customized HT now in 2021.

Maul evolution.jpg
 
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