"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!!

"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!