Stan Solo Holiday Special Boba Fett

I'll admit that I'm a sucker for a well-done custom or repainted figure, I've created and featured several on the blog. I'm especially enthusiastic about custom figures that were never made by Kenner in the first place, but look like they "could have been." That is: five points of articulation, vintage-looking capes and accessories, that kind of thing.

So this custom Boba Fett from Stan Solo is right up my alley. I'm a big fan of the Fett cartoon from the Holiday Special and when I found this custom from Stan Solo on Etsy it bounced right into my cart.

The figure sculpt is very similar to - but not an exact copy of - the original Kenner Fett. Notably, the helmet incorporates a "scope" and the backpack is quite detailed and is removable. The figure also has attached "soft goods" - a very cool fabric cape fastened to the left shoulder.

You'll also notice that the weapon is a really well-done replica of the HS rifle. This also appeared as the Mandalorian's "Amban phase-pulse blaster" in the eponymous Disney+ show, of course. It's monochromatic (like all vintage Star Wars weapons) but looks quite accurate.

Mr. Solo has done a fine job on this figure and I'm happy to have one. It's a great representation of the Holiday Special Boba Fett and really carries off the vintage aesthetic. Mine was a bit less expensive than the regular one as it had a "paint error" (some brown paint is missing from the figure's belt) but it's all good by me. Nice to have it in the cabinet. 

5-Minute "Vintage" Custom: K-3PO

What can I say - when you're on a roll, you're on a roll. And right now I've been rolling with the vintage customs. Here is the latest - K-3PO, hero of Echo Base, from The Empire Strikes Back.

While you can dive as deeply as you want into the Expanded Universe lore, suffice to say that K-3PO was a protocol droid in the service of the Rebel Alliance. Apparently his master was somewhat of a military historian, and loaded up K-3PO with tons of military knowledge, to the extent that the droid became somewhat of a master tactician himself. This resulted in K-3PO's appointment to the rank of Captain (denoted by the two red dots on his chest) and command of Echo Base's droid pool. Sadly he perished after a direct hit on the command center (wow - it just occurred to me I could have gotten out the Rebel Command Center for this photoshoot!)
 

Obviously a super-straightforward repaint of an original C-3PO figure (loose limbs, worn plating and all) that I had stored in a Vader case with a ton of other spare figures. Just a spray with satin white, paint in the yellow photoreceptors, and two red dots for the insignia, and he's done. It took longer for the paint to dry than it did to paint him in the first place.

Rebel Commander and Princess Leia discuss the Echo Base evacuation while K-3PO offers unsolicited advice stands by to assist.

This was a fun quick project and moves another beater figure from storage into the display cabinet. Most collectors will have one (or many) beat-up 3POs and this is a great, easy way to take a dip into the custom pool without too much time or effort at all.  Fun!

"Vintage" Custom Captain Antilles and The Mystery of the Rebellious Robot!

Another fun custom project - Captain Antilles of the Tantive IV, the putative "consular ship" upon which Princess Leia travelled with the stolen Death Star plans at the beginning of Star Wars.

The opportunity for this project came about a bit randomly. I'd had a beat-up Han Bespin kicking around on my desk for awhile, and when I happened to visit a local antique shop and spotted a loose POTF2 Rebel Fleet Trooper for cheap, it was on...

Unlike the custom Rebel Fleet Trooper I made a little while ago, I didn't want to use the new POTF2 head for Captain Antilles, because I'd already used it on the custom RFT. Instead, I planned to transplant the POTF2 helmet onto Han Bespin's head. So I plunked the POTF2 figure into boiling water and removed the helmet. As shown above, I took a slice or two off the top of Han's head, and Dremeled out a hole in the top of his head to accommodate the trimmed-down stud on the inside of the helmet.

Of course, Han's original head needed some sculpting help to add the chin cup that goes with the RFT helmet. Two-part sculpting epoxy ("green stuff") was just the thing to use.

Here's Han before paint. Painting was straightforward - the pants and jacket were painted GW Zandri Dust, the shirt was done in Steel Legion Drab, the jacket yoke was done in XV-88, the leather in Mournfang Brown, the hardware Mithril Silver, and flesh touchups in Kislev Flesh.

The chincup was painted GW White Scar and strap painted in with craft black acrylic. The white patch insignia was done in White Scar and blue.

Of course the points of articulation were retained, the helmet was superglued onto the top of Captain Antilles' head.

Here's the Captain along with one of his Troopers.

Now to recreate one of the iconic movie scenes!

The other item I picked up at the antique store was this children's book, the copyright date is 1979. I had this book as a child and remember it well. The story is only marginally of interest but the illustrations are really remarkable.

Check this out! The illustrations were done by a young artist called Mark Corcoran (you can Google him for some information about him) and this was his only Star Wars work. The author is uncredited but the story was probably written in-house at the publisher - Mark said that he was just provided the manuscript and asked to do the illustrations.

The visual style here is so good - I love the side-eye Leia is giving the "walking carpet" next to her.

Corcoran really had a great grasp of the whimsy and humour of the Star Wars universe too. Look at this Jawa blaming his friend for some mischief while the other seems to be saying, "who, ME...???"

Definitely worth picking up if you have a chance, this near-mint copy cost me less than $5CAD.

"Vintage" Custom Rebel Fleet Trooper

I've got a bit of a soft spot for "custom" vintage figures - you know, those figures that Kenner never made but you would've loved to play with, instead of being stuck with dreck like Prune Face or FX-7. One of the prime examples of this is the iconic Rebel Fleet Trooper (as I call him; he's also known as the Rebel Trooper or Alderaan Consular Guard/Security).

The recipe for this figure is simplicity itself: a vintage Han Trenchcoat body and a POTF2 Rebel Trooper head. That's it! I'll take you through the conversion next, but I have to give props to Trash Compactor Custom Figures who posted this great video.

Anyway, you start with a Han Trenchcoat (left) and Rebel Fleet Trooper (right), Don't worry about the condition of the Han Trench - the beatier the better, as he'll just have his head cut off and be repainted anyway. 

The first thing to do is get a cup of boiling water and immerse the figures. This will soften the plastic and allow you to remove the parts you need to swap.

First of all, gently pull off Han Trench's head, and remove the Rebel Fleet Trooper's helmet. It's held on with glue that softens in the boiling water.

Next, take a sharp X-Acto blade and cut off the Trooper's head. You'll be able to stretch his neck a bit when the plastic is soft. Make sure the bottom of the neck is level by just trimming where necessary. 

The next step is to drill a hole in the bottom of the Trooper's neck to allow it to fit on the peg on the Han Trench body. A pin vice or Dremel will do the trick here.

Once the hole is opened in the Trooper head, just push it onto the peg in the Han Trench body. It might take a bit of tweaking to make sure the hole is the right size - but keep test-fitting, and make sure not to make the hole too big. You should be able to turn the head on the peg. 

At this point, all that's left to do is paint the figure! I use acrylic paints for availability, water-solubility, and ease of cleanup. For the Trooper I mixed a custom blue colour for the shirt, used Games Workshop Mournfang Brown for the belts and Rakarth Flesh for the pants, and painted the buckles with Mithril Silver. The boots and vest were left in their original colour, just touched up where necessary with craft black. Leave the helmet till the painting is done, then push-fit it back on the head.

I bought a reproduction Bespin Blaster for the Trooper, but drilled a hole in the grip just so it won't be mistaken for an original.

Here's my custom lineup - from left to right - Corellian pilot BoShek, Grand Moff Tarkin, Rebel Fleet Trooper, Garindan/Long Snoot, and the easiest of all, Biggs Darklighter. I took the opportunity to get some weapons for the rest of the group too -once again, impossible to mistake for originals as they're the wrong colour :-)

Anyway, that's a bit of fun for an afternoon... I especially have to thank my friend KM who supplied the POTF2 Rebel Fleet Trooper for the swap. Thanks man!

"Vintage" Custom Long Snoot

 

One of the things that's awesome/infuriating about the vintage hobby is the randomness of the original Kenner lines in terms of character selection. For example, in the original 12-back selection, did we really need a "Death Squad Commander" instead of getting Grand Moff Tarkin?

That's the infuriating part. The awesome part is that with the insane expansion of subsequent Star Wars waves, vintage enthusiasts now have the tools to roll their own vintage figures! One of the hobby's greatest proponents in this regard is Matt of Iron Cow Productions, whose business I've featured on the blog before. Matt makes some amazing customs and isn't afraid to share the recipes, which is admirable. I took him up on one yesterday to make my own custom vintage Garindan ("Long Snoot"), the snitch who ratted out Han and Chewie to the Imperials in Mos Eisley.

Here's what you need - a modern Garindan and a vintage Death Squad Commander (I guess he is good for something after all - j/k). Pop them in boiling water for a few minutes, then take them out (carefully) and pull their heads off. The bodies are quite soft so it's easy.

Now you've got a Garindan head with a hole in the bottom and a DSC body with a hole in the top. I had some hard plastic tubing around from a modelling project that fit perfectly. I cut a short length and secured it in Garindan's head with superglue.

It's a simple friction fit into the DSC body. Bonus - the head turns just like a real factory figure, but fits nice and tight so it won't come off.

I painted the DSC body with grey craft paint (this is necessary to cover up the chest insignia on the DSC's uniform) and put on a coat of gloss varnish to match the factory finish. The donor DSC had some nice vintage patina already that looks great, and it's not unusual for vintage bodies and arms not to match exactly due to aging. The last touch was to cut down a Darth Vader cape (repro from eBay seller) and voila - one "vintage" Long Snoot.

Here's another one I made earlier...

Have fun kids!!

Impressive... Most Impressive!

Much as I love the vintage Kenner line in all its imperfect glory, it always bothered me a bit that some very important characters were left out. I'm not alone in this, as the Internet is awash with nerdrage on the subject.

Some, however, have resolved to do something about it... I've delved into the world of customs myself a couple times, making custom vintage Grand Moff Tarkin and Cantina Star Pilot (Bo Shek) figures. But this guy has taken it to a whole 'nother level...

Check out these custom figures by Iron Cow Productions. Simply mind-blowing and for the most part, simple recipes. I know I'll be cribbing some of these ideas to make some more customs of my own! Thanks for the inspiration, Matt!