Custom Jedi Luke

[abake]

Here he is fellow freaks!

SST's Jedi Luke has always been a pet peeve of mine...
When SST announced the license years ago, I was as excited as everybody else, but when I saw Luke I was very disappointed. So much so that I didn't even pre-order him.
I really liked Medi Luke a lot better.

Finally I did get SST's Luke and it's always been a bit of a love-hate relationship...
The figure has got many things going for it, but it has big flaws IMHO.
First and foremost, the gigantic head with the retarded expression. It just lacked in every respect as far as I was concerned. Unfortunately, people were content to keep it as it was, and nobody ever did a new head sculpt.

So I was forced to take matters into my own hands. Figuratively speaking, of course. A friend of mine who repaints heads for me introduced me to a friend of his who works as a sculptor. We approached him with the Luke project and he enthusiastically agreed to tackle it.

This is his first sculpt of a person in 1/6 scale, and obviously his first sculpt of a real, existing person.

Bear in mind that this is a personal project. I'm doing this first and foremost for me.
My objective in sharing this with you fellow members is to have your wonderful feedback and opinions. And if you guys end up liking what you see, of course that I will make it available to everybody else.

Also, should this turn into a "commission", let me make clear that I am NOT the sculptor and I would NOT be doing it for profit. I would merely be a contact between you and the artist.

So, enough talk, here's the pics.

I have a few comments on adjustments I'd like to see, but I'd like to hear from you guys first what your thoughts are.

 

[pixletwin]

Not bad. There is a wideness about the nose and the mouth that I don't dig. But over all a very good effort.

 

[drod26]

Looks good abake... Just like pixletwin said, the nose looks wide but other then that its good work..

 

[Cocoboloboy]

I agree with the critiques about the nose and mouth. I think the laugh lines are too pronounced, too deep or however you want to say it.

I can't wait to see the final product!

 

[pixletwin]

Looking at it again, I think the eye brows are too pronounced and give the profile a bit of a neanderthal appearance. But thats an easy fix.

 

[Jediguy]

keep going at it. I'm sure that if the sculpts pretty gd you'll be getting many orders.

 

[abake]

Excellent comments, thanks guys!

Yes, I also feel the laugh lines are way too pronounced, as are the eyebrows.
I felt the nose and mouth were good, especially the mouth as there are pics where he has that expression, but it's worth a second look into.
My other comment is regarding the hair, as I feel it needs a bit more work. I think there should be an upper layer that goes from the hairline to the side and the bangs come out from underneath that layer. Don't know if that makes any sense.

Anyway, thanks for the comments and keep them coming!

 

[lerath666]

for someone's first human sculpt, this is incredible.
While i DO see Mark in the sculpt, I don't see Luke from Jedi.. This strikes me more as an "older" luke, perhaps during his years teaching at the academy on yavin.
My recommendations would be to tackle the sculpt again, from the ground up, and see what can be done the second time around. Reading trev's comments about His Ford sculpts, each time you sculpt the same actor's face, you get better at it.

Having said that, As I've got a Jedi master Skywalker custom figure, I wouldn't mind having a copy of that head for him. It looks really really good, and I'll wager once it gets cast, and then painted ( DO NOT paint the original, ALLWAYS MAke a cast first).

 

[drod26]

thats right the sculpt would be great for a grand master Jedi custom figure. Count me in if you go forward with the casting.

 

[Susala]

IMO it looks really good! That´s definitely Mark Hamill. Just sand the eyebrows (side view) a little down and it will look great!

 

[abake]

Interesting idea... and, to be quite honest, I also felt he looked a bit old, probably because of the deep laugh lines and the expression of the mouth.
If there's enough interest in this sculpt I'll ask and see if the sculptor wants to start one from zero and make castings of this one for you guys.
My interest is Jedi Luke, so I will push for the adjustments I want anyway. But if there's a possibility for an older, Jedi Master Luke then all the better, right?

One more thing, the moles are missing from this one, so that's another small improvement we'd need to make.

 

[abake]

Here's a full frontal shot with a little more dramatic lighting...

From the same "shoot", a look from a different angle

And a different 3/4 look

Hey, the more the merrier, right?

 

[lerath666]

The aged look is coming from two things. The deep look of the lines and creases in his face,as wellas his nose being a bit oversized.
your nose continues to grow as you age.

 

[drjedisith]

wow.. thats great for his 1st sculpt!

 

[abake]

Thanks for the comments guys, duly noted!
I'll take all comments and propositions under advice, so if anybody has any more to offer, please do so!
I'll get back to the sculptor this week-end.

 

[drod26]

Very cool Abake.. looking forward to the adjustments. Just like your self, I would be very interested in a jedi luke and also an older version off him for a Grand Master Jedi custome.

 

[abake]

Bump for comments if there are any more.

 

[drod26]

Abake,

Any updates on the sculpt? This is too good to let it pass by. :chew

 

[abake]

Don't worry guys!
On Saturday I met with the sculptor again and checked the latest adjustments he made to the sculpt. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics, but I'm very very happy with the results, and hopefully you'll be too.
If everything goes according to plan, we'll have first castings this week end, so stay tuned!

 

[Indiana Fett]

Don't worry guys!
On Saturday I met with the sculptor again and checked the latest adjustments he made to the sculpt. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics, but I'm very very happy with the results, and hopefully you'll be too.
If everything goes according to plan, we'll have first castings this week end, so stay tuned!

That's AWESOME! Once you get the castings, could you take photos of it next to the SS Jedi Luke head, and the full body so we can get a sense of the scale? I can't wait to see how much more 'proportionately correct' it is compared to the GIGANTIC SS head.