Customikey's Toys of Wonder

[madmaninsane]

Mikey awesome work on Jabba.

 

[Customikey]

Okay, I've re-done the eyes. I was not at all satisfied with them!

I also added more mung and slobber, and touched up the tattoo.

I also repainted Salacious, and dremeled the banister so that the pipe would fit in the proper direction. It's not quite flush yet, but my landlord would complain if I did any more dremeling tonight!

 

[galactiboy]

Yes! Very nice!!!

Sideshow did a very nice job (for a production piece) but you really got him looking more real world Excellent work as always

 

[Shropt]

Wow, that is amazing. You really caught Jabba's eyes.

What all did you do exactly to Jabba? Was he a complete repaint?

 

[Customikey]

He's a complete balls-out repaint from the tip of his tail to the top of his head.

I had ball-jointed his shoulders about a year ago, and as I was doing it, I accidentally broke his left arm at the elbow (my horror was great) , so right before I repainted this week, I re-broke it and took the opportunity to re-set it in a more desirable position. I sculpted the bent elbow in hot glue (worked better than you'd think).

As for the repaint, it was a lot easier than I anticipated. I started, as you always should, with A LOT of reference. Basic colors (tan, green, brown) in a acrylic, wash, then drybrush. Blend, shadow, and detail with pastels. If you look at the reference, you'll see there's blue and orange tinges to Jabba's skin as well as tan and green. The sealer added a sort of musty semi-gloss that made him look moist, but not wet.

The eyes were really tough! Reds, gold and silver metallics, purples, browns, black. A lot of different things that had to go together with as smoothly as possible to preserve the smoothness of the eyes.

Finally, I added all the clear white mung and the glossy mucus for his eyes, nose, and mouth. I admit, that was the most fun.

I did some drybrushing of tans and burnt sienna on Salacious, and blackened up his beak a bit more.

I scrubbed black pastels all over the banister, and even did a bit of a black wash on it to get it nice and dingy, then sealed it well. Then I noticed the pipe didn't go in right. So, my trusty dremel paved the way to turn the pipe around in the bowl. I'm stressing the leather blanket with water and harsh sandpaper to get it a bit more used-looking. It's a continuing process, like most customization.

I'm still planning on doing some work on the throne to make it nice and dingy. When JabbaFan's pillows are ready, they'll be the final touch.

 

[LOPIE]

Thats looks great. Needs one more thing LIGHTS.

 

[Customikey]

Thats looks great. Needs one more thing LIGHTS.

I KNOW!! I would dearly love to add a SUBTLE glowing light effect to the bowl and pipe, but I have not acquired the skill for electronics, and I'm not quite satisfied with the ones I've seen (too bright, too green, etc.)

I love the simple switch on yours. It's the best set-up of the lights I've yet seen.

 

[MaulFan]

Love how the left arm came out, it really adds to him to have it more elevated and better able to hold the pipe to the mouth. As far as accurracy, I love the SSC sculpt, but as far as posing, the left arm's position is a slight weak point.

 

[JustinLuck]

Congrats Mike. Did you get back with your ex-wife or are you with a new girl?

To everyone waiting on their repaints:

Thank you so much for your patience. I know t's been a long haul, without much inthe way of updates. I'm slowly churning out work now, and you will hopefully see your heads soon. I'll be contacting you individually as they ship. Again, I'm so sorry for the delays. Art does indeed take time, but you've been above and beyond the call of patience. I salute you, and I hope you will consider your wait to have been worth it.

Best,

Customikey

P.S.
I have the mother of all excuses. I'm about to be a father.

 

[Customikey]

Congrats Mike. Did you get back with your ex-wife or are you with a new girl?

I would never get back with that harpie from hell. :emperor

No, this is a girl I've been dating for about nine months. I planted my manly seed in her womanly dirt about two months in. It was.... a surprise. For both of us.

 

[galactiboy]

I would never get back with that harpie from hell. :emperor

No, this is a girl I've been dating for about nine months. I planted my manly seed in her womanly dirt about two months in. It was.... a surprise. For both of us.

Can't keep the creative juices down

Congrats

And glad to see you back sharing work again... always impressive

 

[Shropt]

Not trying to show off but give you some ideas. I redid my Salacious complete with ripping off the jaw and repositioning it. I also heated up the tail so it lays more down then stick up like a poodle. I also completely repainted him from head to toe.

I highly recommend this for your new Jabba setup.

 

[LOPIE]

I KNOW!! I would dearly love to add a SUBTLE glowing light effect to the bowl and pipe, but I have not acquired the skill for electronics, and I'm not quite satisfied with the ones I've seen (too bright, too green, etc.)

I love the simple switch on yours. It's the best set-up of the lights I've yet seen.

Thanks for the compliment Mike give me a few days I have some stuff to finish like the Throne and when it’s done I'll make one for you and send it to you, white for the top green for the bottom. I'll also send you a switch, but you’re going to have to drill and dremel the hole and solder the leads to the switch. I'll post some pic of my set up if you want.

 

[LOPIE]

Not trying to show off but give you some ideas. I redid my Salacious complete with ripping off the jaw and repositioning it. I also heated up the tail so it lays more down then stick up like a poodle. I also completely repainted him from head to toe.

I highly recommend this for your new Jabba setup.

Looks great Bro. I'll have to do the tail thing, looks alot better. How did you heat it up with hot water?

 

[Shropt]

Looks great Bro. I'll have to do the tail thing, looks alot better. How did you heat it up with hot water?

Actually I baked the whole figure since I used Sculpey to fill in the jaw. The tail was kind of a side effect that just happen to look really good.

 

[LOPIE]

Actually I baked the whole figure since I used Sculpey to fill in the jaw. The tail was kind of a side effect that just happen to look really good.

Baked? Like in the oven.

 

[Shropt]

Baked? Like in the oven.

Correct.

................

 

[Customikey]

That looks EXCELLENT! I admit, aside from a light repainting, I didn't do much with Salacious. But I love what you've done with him, and you've inspired me to work a bit harder on him myself. But, I think instead of changing his mouth, I'm going to alter his neck so he's looking off to the side. Good to know he'll survive in the oven. What temp did you use?

And thanks for the upgrade, man! I can't wait to give it a go! Fortunately, my girlfriend is a lighting technician, so maybe she'll be willing to help me on the finer points of soldering leads. Have you ever tried a yellow light instead of green? That would seem a little more accurate.

By all means, post pics of your set-up. It's so rare that I post work these days, that I'm grateful when my little thread finds it's way out of the archives! :

 

[Customikey]

Well, it's been nearly SIX MONTHS since I touched my thread, a personal best, I suppose.

Nevertheless, I'm back, and I've got an auction up. I'll share all the stuff I've been up to in the last six months soon, but for now, I want to announce the auctioning of my custom LUKE & YODA set with HURRICANE's severed Vader head!

Take a look, tell me what you think, and by all means BID! I've got mouths to feed!

 

[Customikey]

I did this a while ago and I wanted to share him again. If you like him, he's up for auction, too.