Customs Listserver FAQ (66k)

[Jimbob "Flash" Stelling]

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Andy Bartlett hasn't posted this in a while, so I guess it's about
time. This sucker's *big* so I hope it makes it here in one piece. If
not, check it out at Scott Miron's site
(http://www.isd.net/smiron/starwars.html). Credit goes to Matt Rardon
for putting this together.

Enjoy (& despair),

-- Jimbob
Jimbob-Wan's Image Depot -- http://www.flash.net/~jimbob1

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The Customs Listserver FAQ for Customizing Star Wars Figures.

Welcome to the FAQ for customizing Star Wars action figures. This list
was compiled by the members of the Custom Listserver, also know as the
Forgotten Force Customs Group and is maintained by Matt Rardon (any time
you see 'I' it means 'Me', Ok?), mra...@flash.net. If you have any
comments, questions or additions please email the listserve, Matt, or
any of the other addresses you find in here. Thank You.

S A F E T Y F I R S T
Warning: Customizing can be dangerous! (Not only addictive). In this
FAQ you will read about techniques which use specialized tools and
exotic modeling compounds. Be careful! Some techniques should not be
tried without adult supervision, and you should always follow the
manufacturer's safety recommendations.

Hobby Knives (X-Acto knives): Always aim your cutting strokes away from
you. It's very common for the knive to suddenly slip and go out of
control. You *don't* want to be the thing that stops the blade
(Sometimes called "Self-customization")!

Motorized tools (Dremel Mototool):
--Wear protective eye gear when doing any cutting or grinding
operation. It's very common for blobs of molten plastic to go flying
off, and you don't want one to go into your eye. That will cut your
customizing career short.
--Be very careful when using the cutting wheels! These can slip out of
control if they snag on something-- a cutting wheel does it's thing
very, very quickly! In some cases, cutting wheels shatter! If the wheel
is damaged in any way, throw it away!
--Wear a respirator when grinding and sanding. You don't want the
airborne particles in your lungs!

Spray painting/volatile chemicals: If you do any kind of spray painting
or use rapidly evaporating chemicals, get adequate ventilation, and wear
a respirator. This does not mean just running a fan: The bad stuff (you
can tell by the smell) needs to be vented *outdoors*.

Polymer Clays (Sculpey): Although it's not highly toxic, you should
keep it away from things that you use for cooking. This means-- don't
store it in bowls that you use for eating, and be careful if you do a
lot of baking in your oven. The residue may contaminate food that's
cooked there. The best solution is to use a dedicated toaster oven for
your baking. The key here is frequency and amount-- Like many things in
life, there's a limit to how much repeated exposure to mild toxins your
body can tolerate, and we're all different. When you exceed your limit,
you get sick. For more information, read the "Safety" section of this
Polyclay FAQ by Arlene Thayer:
(http://www1.primenet.com/%7Eathayer/faq.html#safe)

Casting Resins & Superglues: You should be especially careful about NOT
getting these in your eyes! So that means goggles or glasses. Resin
has a tendency to splash everywhere when you're trying to mix it and
pour it within the two-minute limit. Also, it's a good idea to wear
gloves-- Although Superglues aren't all that hard to debond when you get
your fingers glued together, the absorption of these chemicals through
your skin is not good. Casting resin is notoriously hard to remove from
your skin, and you may have wait for the stuff to wear off!

Hot melt compounds: If something burns you, you're protected by an
instinctive reaction to pull away. However, if you're being burned by
something that's gooey and sticks to you, you're going to experience a
world of pain. The only advice is to BE CAREFUL, BE SMART.

So... I hope you haven't been scared away yet, because that's not even a
complete list! Relax though-- A lot of it is common sense, like reading
the warning labels before you use a product (everyone does this,
right?). Remember, it's up to *you* to make sure you're working safely,
because if you don't, you'll be the one who pays the price. (Everyone
else just winces & says, "Yow! That sure looks like it hurts!")

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Table of Contents
Section 1 Conventions: Used in this Document
Section 2 Inspiration: Source Material and Ideas
Section 3 Materials: Required to Get Started
Section 4 Techniques: How to do the Basic Stuff
Section 5 Carding: How to Make Carded Figures
Section 6 Recipes: How-To for Complete Figures
Section 7 Pages: Listserv Member's Custom Figure
Pages

Section 1: Conventions
This is a list of abbreviations and terms used in the FAQ.
ANH: A New Hope, the subtitle of Star Wars
ESB: The Empire Strikes Back
Jimbob-Wan: The Sculpting Dude
POTF2: Power of the Force II figures. The current Kenner
figures
RotJ: Return of the Jedi
Scotty: The Droid Guy
SW: Star Wars, duh ;)
Tung: The Customizing Dynamo
Vintage: Star Wars figures from the 70s and 80s

Section 2: Inspiration
This section will give you an idea where to go to find ideas,
inspiration, and source material.

Q. How do I make So-And-So?
A. When people first start out customizing they are often reluctant to
try anything without a lot of help and inspiration. To help you out
there is a list of recipes for various figures in Section 6.

Q. Where do you get all these names?
A. Most of the names come from various source materials that include the
West End Games Star Wars Role Playing Game, the Essential Guide to
Characters, the various novels and comic books. Many of the names are
also created by the figure designer. Some of these names are catchy so
others start using them and they eventually become the accepted names.
Some examples of this are C-5RX, TIE Commander, Rebel or Imperial Jump
Trooper and Elite Imperial Pilot.

Q. Where do you get source pictures?
A. Again from the various source material. Inspiration is limitless but
here are the popular ones. The videos (where better to go than to the
source for all the other sources), the story books from the films, the
card game (http://www.decipher.com), the Art of <SW, ESB, RotJ> books,
the Essential Guide to Characters, the role playing game, the Star Wars
Scrap Book and the Star Wars Chronicle book (the best pictorial source
out there, but a little steep at $150).

Q. Is there a place I can go to see examples of Imperial Uniforms?
A. To see many photos of Imperial Uniforms go to
http://WWW.Physics.USyd.Edu.AU:80/~saxton/starwars/ and click on
"Imperial Military Insignia".

Section 3: Materials
This section will tell you what materials you need to get started and
how to use them. Have your check book ready, unfortunately customizing
is a little pricey to get into but it levels off after a while.

Q. What figures should I use to get body parts?
A. To be a good customizer you need to hold Dr. Frankenstein as a
personal hero! There are many figures that can contribute to custom
Star Wars figures. The easiest are of course other Star Wars figures
both vintage and POTF2. You can also use parts from the old G.I. Joe
line or most any 4" line from the late 70s (see something good did come
out of the 70s and 80s. Another good line to use from the past would be
the Galoob Star Trek: The Next Generation figures (do not confuse these
with the current Playmates figures). There are not many recent lines of
any use but there are a couple. One is the Dragon Heart line. The
figures are far too small but the heads are just about the right size.
Another line is the Johnny Quest line. These figures are too small for
SW figures but they are just the right size for SW teens which are
fairly common in the recent novels. Lines whose figures are too large
for conventional Star Wars characters include X-Men, Spider Man, Hulk,
Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Hercules, Playmates Star Trek, G.I. Joe
Extreme, Power Rangers (god forbid) and most everything else currently
on the market. To see a guide to the uses of old G.I. Joes for
customizing go to http://www.ipass.net/~adamcas/joe.txt.

Q. What tools do I need to get started?
A. It is good to have a general set of tools for customizing. This
includes blades, sandpaper, paint brushes and such. I use a surgical
blade but that can give you a nasty cut if you are not careful, believe
me I have performed minor surgery on myself and it is not fun! Most
people use exacto knives for this purpose (the surgical blades were free
so I use them). Other tools are useful as well such as tweezers and
pliers to hold the pieces, small scissors, toothpicks to paint with,
Q-Tips to clean stuff, a drop cloth to save the dining room table,
sculpting tools, etc. As you become more advanced you can add a Dremel.
More will be said about all these tools in the techniques section.

Q. What is a Dremel?
A. If you plan to do custom figures with any regularity I feel this is a
must. A dremel is a small multi-purpose power tool. It drills, buffs,
sands, routs, cuts, slices, dices, and purees. Well maybe not the last
one. I recommend buying the multi speed model since I use all the speeds
quite often. I think the speed of the single speed model may be a little
too fast for some applications. These are a little pricey but well worth
it if you plan to do a lot of customs. I use my dremel to remove large
chunks of figures I do not need and then I use it to sand the figures to
an extremely smooth finish. I also use it to drill out helmets and to
drill other holes. This not only saves countless hours but it makes my
figures look better in the long run since I would not have the patience
to do this degree of work by hand.

Q. What tools should I use while sculpting?
A. I like to use wooden and metal sculpting tools. The metal tools are
usually cutting loops and various nubs and points. The wooden tools are
usually scoops and blades. Some people prefer to use metal dental
picks.

Jimbob (jim...@flash.net) has a different tool philosophy. Selecting
the best tool for sculpting depends on the type of sculpting you're
doing. For detail sculpting I mainly use a steel spear tip on one end
(for carving), and a blunt nub on the other (for smoothing and
pressing). Other specialized tools occasionally come into play, like
X-acto blades, screwdrivers, pins, brass tubing, or an occasional
custom-made epoxy putty stamp. For larger areas, I use Fimo's plastic
set which comes with a variety of surfaces.

I prefer to use one primary tool, since you can concentrate better if
you don't have to keep swapping (and looking for) tools. Also, I prefer
steel tools since I can use them with epoxy putty (which sticks to
everything), and sand them down to clean them.

For prefire finishing, you can use your fingers or a brush to smooth.
Isopropyl alcohol or Turpenol (a synthetic turpentine) will "thin" and
lubricate the clay surface; however this makes the surface very soft and
susceptible to fingerprints and brush strokes. In some cases, it can
cause poorly grafted-on parts to detach or slide around.

To help soften Promat and Fimo, I've used small amounts of 3-in-1 oil to
lubricate the surface. This makes it soft and tacky, so fingerprints
are a big problem. It does seem to fix the dryness problem though.

Q. What type of paint brushes should I use?
A. High quality brushes are recommended since they will last longer and
the bristles will not come out when painting. All you need is 1-2
medium brushes and a lot of small ones (18/0 or so) but I am sure you
will amass a collection of 20 or so.

Q. What glues should I use?
A. I highly recommend super glues as long as you are careful since this
stuff can get messy and it will merrily glue your fingers together or
even glue them to Daala's breast. Remember a little goes a long way. I
also recommend epoxy since it forms a bond that holds a few tons (for
those big projects) and works well with plastics. I do not recommend
model glue since it never seems to dry. I also would not recommend
white glue or carpenter's glue since they are not made to bond plastics.
I have not tried rubber cement but I was told it is very much like model
cement. I recommend the thick superglue called "Zap-A-Gap", since it
fills gaps. Curing can be accelerated with a spray product called
"Zap-Kicker". Also, contact cement is very useful for pliable
bonds-don't even try rubber cement. It turns to sticky goo after a few
years. - Jimbob

Q. What sculpting materials should I use?
A. This is no easy question. There is a lot of stuff out there on the
market so it kinda comes down to personal preference. Here is some of
the stuff we recommend. Model Magic: This is a styrofoam based air
drying material available at Wal-Mart in the craft department for $5.
It is available in various toy departments in Play Doh sized containers.
It comes in black, white, lime green (huh?!), red, blue, and yellow.
Since this stuff is much like a styrofoam cup or fine foam rubber it is
not very strong and cracks easily when bent too much. I have noted that
it is also hard to sculpt details into this stuff. It is great as a
inexpensive filler material. Go to
http://www.magna.com.au/~lindsay/trek/Arex.html to see what you can do
with this stuff. The legs and head are sculpted out of Model Magic.

Epoxy Putty: This is a 2 part putty that cures 3-10 minutes after
mixing. I am told that stuff is fairly easy to work with and that it
holds detail well. It is commonly used to seal pipes so look in the
plumbing section. There is also a similar products called Duro or A+B
that are also a 2 part putty but you cure these under a 60 Watt light
bulb. I do not think these are currently available in the U.S. Miliput
is designed for the modeling community and is available in three grades
(coarse, fine, superfine). It's available in hobby shops but a bit
pricey. -Jimbob

Polymer Clays: (Provided by Jimbob-Wan (jim...@flash.net)) Polymer
clays fire at relatively low temperatures, from 200 - 275 degrees F. I
usually cook them at 200 F in a toaster oven, and don't keep track of
the time very carefully. In my experience, when cooked at the
manufacturers' recommended temperatures (265-275 F), the clays often
change color, smoke, and sometimes bubble. Other methods have been
suggested, including boiling (Sylvia/Bailey) and localized heating with
a bunsen burner (Tung Nguyen).

To date, I have used Sculpey, Super Sculpey, Promat and Fimo. Each of
these has unique characteristics, and a good comparison can be found at
http://www.prairiecraft.com/. It seems that there is no "perfect"
clay-- a desirable property may be a liability when used in a different
situation. Although I've not tried this yet, I have heard that it is
possible to blend clays. This might give you that "perfect" blend of
characteristics for a particular part of a project.

SCULPEY (the white stuff) Prefiring: This is the softest of the polymer
clays, and therefore very easy to work with when forming and smoothing
large areas. This is a liability when sculpting details, however. To
sculpt details, the medium should have some firmness so that sculpted
details don't move around as you're trying to add new ones.

Postfiring: This stuff is way too soft for my tastes. It crumbles too
easily, and I've pulled up chunks of it when lifting objects that I'd
placed on top of a fired & painted Sculpey base.

SUPER SCULPEY (the pink stuff) Prefiring: I like the way this stuff
handles. It has just enough firmness for sculpting details, and isn't
too bad for doing large areas. Unfortunately, the pink translucent
material is really hard to see when sculpting details and many of the
finish flaws are not apparent until after the piece has been fired and
primed.

Postfiring: A very hard, sandable surface. You can use steel wool and
plastic polishers to put an amazingly smooth finish on this stuff. The
main problem with this material is that it is brittle. Thin parts will
snap with just the slightest bit of pressure. I feel that this material
is perfect for prototyping a master sculpture which will later be cast
in resin.

PROMAT (various colors
Prefiring: I haven't worked with this material for very long, but I like
its feel for sculpting details. It is substantially firmer than Super
Sculpey, so the pre-sculpting kneading ritual is far more strenuous. As
expected, it is much harder to work smooth surfaces into large areas.
Another undesirable characteristic is the dryness of the sample I've
been using. When sculpting, bending will often produce a tear rather
than stretching. I think this can be avoided by strenuous kneading, as
your skin oils mix to improve the pliability of this material.

Postfiring: I've test fired a few pieces, and the material is very tough
and rubbery. The surface isn't as hard as Super Sculpey, and pieces
have some "give" when stressed. Unfortunately, this means that the
material is not as easy to scribe as Super Sculpey, so you'd be wise to
do a pretty good job on the crisp details and lines before you fire it.
It sands well with fine grade sandpaper and steel wool.

FIMO (various colors)
I haven't used this in quite a while, but it's very similar to Promat in
almost every respect-- the horrendous kneading, the dryness, the
durability characteristics after firing.

SCULPEY III (various colors) The following was added by Matt. This is
the stuff I used before I went to Promat.

Prefiring: It is very easily kneaded and holds details well. It is
quite easy to work with.

Postfiring: This stuff seems durable in large areas but small details
are very brittle and break easily. It is easily sanded.

SUPER ELASTICLAY (from Polyform)
Now this is a neat & fun material! After fired, it is very flexible,
like a soft rubber eraser. The manufacturer suggests putting a wire
armature in it and making Gumby-like figures. Okay...However, this
might be the stuff to use if you wanted to make flexible hoses.

Prefiring: This is very soft and will turn to unworkable goop if you
condition it too long. Because of its softness it's difficult to
sculpt, but you can't complain-this is purely a novelty clay.

Postfiring: I was surprised at how tough this stuff is after you fire
it. You can tear it, but it takes quite a bit of force.

Q. What is friendly plastic and how can I use it?
A. This is a low melt temperature plastic that comes in strips or little
beads. It is available at craft supply stores (unless they clearanced
out of it last week which seems to be a common occurrence). You heat it
to 160 degrees F and then see what you can do with it. For better
instructions look on the Friendly Plastic mold packages.

Q. What paints should I use?
A. This is again a matter of taste but avoiding enamels is suggested
since they react with the some plastics and therefore never seem to dry
and require thinner to clean up. Suggested enamels are the Testor's
line.

Enamels have their advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages
are strength and variety. They tend to bond to plastic better and as a
result, sticks better without the risk of flaking off. They're also
readily available in a variety of colors. The disadvantages include
tackiness, long drying periods, and the requirement of a thinners to
clean. If you do choose enamels, I recommend a brand called Humbrol.
These are made in England and comes in cans rather than jars. They're
less tacky than Test or and goes on very smoothly with a finished look
comparable to airbrushing. I do recommend using flat colors and adding
a gloss coat afterwards if a gloss look is desired. If you're still
afraid of the tackiness, you can always apply a coat of acrylic primer
before painting with your enamels. This should also prevent any
degradation of the plastic. -Tung

Acrylics are highly recommended, available most everywhere in a large
selection of colors, and clean up with water. Unfortunately they are
not nearly as durable as enamels and are prone to chipping. Most all
craft paint is an acrylic. Recommended acrylic paints are Folk Art,
Dream Coat, Liquitex, and Floquil Polly Scale.

Some people use model acrylics (acrylic enamels). These are more
durable than normal acrylics and can still be cleaned up with water.
Recommended acrylic enamels are Testor's Model Masters Acrylic Enamels
and Pactra Acrylic Enamels.

Since acrylic paints have a tendency to chip, I highly recommend using a
sealer.

Another useful paint is Liquitex Structural Paint. It dries to a
rubbery consistency and thus does not crack. This stuff should not be
used as a general paint since the brush marks do not slump out as in
traditional paints. I have gotten good results applying it with a fine
makeup sponge.

You can also use spray paints for large areas and an airbrush for
detailing.

Here is a chart of the findings of various paints on various surfaces
For PVC plastics (arms, legs, heads, and weapons):
1) Acrylics are safe but not very durable
2) Acrylic enamels are safe and more durable
3) Enamels usually don't dry, unless sealed by Testor's
Dullcote

For styrene plastics (torsos and pelvis):
1) Acrylics are safe but not very durable
2) Acrylic enamels are safe and more durable
3) Enamels seem safe

For polymer clays:
1) Acrylics are safe but not very durable
2) Acrylic enamels are safe and more durable
3) Enamels seem safe

For Model Magic:
1) Acrylics are safe and fairly durable
2) Acrylic enamels are safe and more durable
3) Enamels have not yet been tested
4) Structural Paint is safe and durable

I recommend flat paints over gloss since this is the way that Kenner
makes their figures. I paint all details in flat paints and then apply
a clear gloss coat over the parts that I desire a gloss finish on.

Q. What type of acrylic sealer should I use?
A. I highly recommend the use of an acrylic sealer since it will keep
your figures from chipping. It also helps to blend the colors on your
figures and make them look more like the production figures. I use a
craft brand of a matte spray sealer but Testor's Dullcoat is highly
recommended as well. You can also use brush on sealers or gloss coats.

Q. What casting materials should I use?
A. This depends on what you want to cast. I recommend different casting
medium for complete part casting as opposed to surface/detail casting.

For complete part casting I recommend Alumilite and Dow products. These
materials are useful for casting entire figures, limbs, helmets, and
such. I recommend Alumilite Super Plastic as the resin. It comes in 2
bottles that you mix evenly and it dries in 3 minutes. It is a $25 for
28 oz. I recommend Dow Corning RTV rubbers for the mold. Get a low
viscosity product to avoid air bubbles in the mold. It is about $25 for
1 lb. For anyone just starting out I recommend buying the Alumilite
Super Casting Kit. It is $64 and has everything you need to do casting
including a very good book. Check your hobby shops for this stuff.

For detail casting I recommend a couple of dental materials. Detail
casting is casting objects such as holsters, rank insignias, etc. To
make the mold I recommend Jeltrate Impression Material. This stuff is
about $7 per pound of powder that you mix with water. It is real easy
to use, does not discolor the figures, and captures detail great. The
only downside is that the mold dries out in about 24 hours. To cast
the object I recommend Jet Acrylic. This is a powder/liquid mixture
that sells for about $2 5 for a decent sized supply. This material is
extremely strong even in thin areas. Dentists use it to make temporary
crowns and teeth while the porcelain replacement is being made. Both of
these are available from dental supply stores.

Q. Where do I find all this stuff?
A. Craft Stores, Hobby Stores, Wal-Mart, Hardware Stores, your neighbors
garage, etc.

Section 4: Techniques
This section will give you general techniques for using the materials
and tell you how to make various parts for figures.

Q. How do you guys make so many figures?

A. Thanks to Tung for enlightening us we use the batch method. Simply
pick 8 or so figures you want to make and then sit down and figure out
everything that has to be done. Then go through each step for all the
figures at once (disassembling, reposing, sanding, sculpting, painting,
sealing, etc.). Proceed to do one step on all the figures (i.e. boil
all figures in a single setting, sculpt all the details and then bake
all the figures at once, etc.) When painting do all of one color on all
the figures at a time. By the time the last figure is done the first
one is ready for a second coat. It is really amazing how much this
method helps to speed production.

Q. How do I take the figures apart?
A. Welcome to the boiling method, perhaps the best advice we have to
offer and some of the ouchiest! Pop the figure in boiling water for
about 20 seconds (it is fun to make little screaming noises as you toss
them in!), take it out and yank on the body part that you want removed
(the figure will beg and complain but just ignore it, those voices are
only in your head after all). If it does not come out fairly easily put
it back in the water for a little longer. This can be used on the head,
arms, and leg s. To split the torso use an exacto knife to cut the glue
along the seams of the torso. Also cut the post that holds the front
and the back together inside the torso. This can be done from the neck
hole. Carefully split the torso open. This is not an easy task. Tung
gives more pointers below.

Another method for taking the figures apart involves boiling the figure
and removing the head and limbs. While the figure is still hot, insert
needle nose pliers into the neck hole until the tip reaches the post
that connects the front and rear halves of the torso and pry the halves
apart. For some figures (Han Carbonite, Tie pilot) this is extremely
easy. For other figures (Luke Dagobah) this can prove to be quite a
difficult task. -Tung

Q. How do I put the figures back together?
A. If you split the torso just carefully glue the figure back together.
If you chose not to split the torso you just need to trim the flanges on
the removed limbs and pop them back in place. When you remove the limb
you will see a flange that was used to hold the limb in place. Trim it
to a mushroom shape and then pop the limb back into the torso. This
allows the figure to remain articulated and the limbs stay very snugly
in place.

Q. How do I remove R2-D2's head?
A. This depends on if you want to retain the rotating feature or not.

To remove the dome from R2's head in order to attach a new head cut the
dome along the blue ring. This will result in a removal of the dome but
the rotor disk will remain in place. Just attach the new head to the
disk and that is that.

If you wish to use the R2 head as is you can use the boiling method to
soften the glue along the sides of R2 and then use a knife to pop the 2
halves apart. Sometimes this is easy, other times it is real difficult.

Q. How do I repose the figure?
A. This is broken into two topics, minor adjustments and major
adjustments. Minor adjustments include closing stances, straightening
legs, and slightly bending arms. To do this boil the figure for about
10-20 seconds, take it out and hold the figure in the position to which
you want to adjust it, and then pop the figure in ice water (believe me
this is harder on you than the figure). If the new position is not too
extreme the figure will remain in it until heated to high temperatures
again. This technique works great for adding more of a curve to the
Sandtroopers Shoulder Pauldron.

Major adjustments require more work. They include rotating wrists,
straightening arms bent at 90 degree angles, etc. First the limb must
be cut so that it can be reglued in the new position. I recommend
boiling the figure before cutting since it makes the cutting so much
easier. Next insert a hot paper clip into each of the parts being
repositioned. This will add strength to the joint. Reglue the joint
and fill in any gaps with the various sculpting materials.

Q. How do I turn C-3PO silver?
A. Apply finger nail polish remover (acetone) to a cotton swab and rub
it onto the figure. The gold finish will fade to silver and you will
slowly get high (do this in a ventilated area). Do not rub too much or
the silver will be eaten away as well. Be careful around joints since
the acetone will seep into the joints and melt the plastic which will
seize up the joint. Rinse the figure with water when finished.

Q. How do I remove the metal from C-3PO?
A. Use the above technique but keep rubbing. You can also spray it with
oven cleaner and then rinse after a short period. Repeat as needed.

Q. How do I use my nice new Dremel?
A. Go to http://www.mdacc.tmc.edu/~neuro/eric/rtm/dremel.html for a very
good dremel article from Eric G. Myers.

Q. How do I hollow out a helmet?
A. Use a Dremel. Be careful not to go through the side of the helmet as
the wall gets thin indications that the wall is getting thin includes
heat and slight change in the plastic color to a lighter tone. There
are also head attachments that won't eat into flesh readily. These
boring attachments can be found specialize jewelry/hobby shops and are
quite expensive. To hollow helmets I recommend clamping the helmet to
bench to start the initial drilling. Once the initial concavity is
made, I recommend switching a finer boring head as it will give you more
control. - Tung

I have no idea how to do this without a Dremel and still keep your
thumb.

Q. How do I remove details from a figure?
A. You can use an exacto. If you do this, I recommend doing it only
when the figure is warm. This will reduce the chances of taking off a
thumb. An easier method is using a Dremel on low speeds. Once the bulk
of the object is removed with either method finish it off by hand
sanding it. You can also try yelling at the detail in hopes that it
will go away on its own.

Q. What should I use to sand a figure?
A. You can always use sandpaper. I recommend a variety of grains but
always use fine grains when you are finishing it up. Testors sells
variety packs of sanding films. I recommend using these. You can also
use a Dremel to sand. I use a set of bits that were intended for
polishing metal. They are actually sanding stones but the grain is very
fine. On low speeds they work great.

Q. How do I cast surface details such as chest plates and holsters?
A. I suggest using Jeltrate Impression Material and Jet Acrylic. These
are available at dental supply stores for about $30 total. Mix the
Jeltrate with water as per the included instructions. Whip it to a nice
texture for about 30 seconds and spread it across the part. Wait about
2 minutes and remove the mold. Place some of the Jet Acrylic powder in
the mold and then add the liquid. Repeat until the mold is full. Let
stand for about 10 minutes and you are done. Be sure to do all the
casts you want since the Jeltrate mold will dry out within 24 hours. The
cast material can be cut and sanded and if it is about 1/4" thick you
will have a hard time breaking it by hand. If you remove the cast from
the mold early it is still pliable and can be shaped to the contour that
it will be placed on. An alternative technique is to use simple molding
clay to make the impression and cast the object out of your favorite
sculpting/casting material.

Q. How do I cast complete objects such as heads or figures?
A. This is no simple answer and it kinda needs pictures. Instead of
explaining it I will send you in the right direction. Go and find
Aluminite's Super Casting Kit, it is $65 and it has all you need to get
started: RTV rubber for molds, non-hardening molding clay, 2 part
plastic, measuring cups, and a very good instruction book. Casting
requires about 2 days to make the mold and a slew of casts from that
mold. It is not too complex of a process but it does require a little
patience and a willingness to learn. Due to the cost I only recommend
casting to those who plan to make a lot of parts otherwise you will have
a couple of $30 heads. For a little more information read the section
on creating an R3 dome. Scotty describes the one piece mold making
process.

Q. What are best sculpting mediums to use for what purposes?
A. In my opinion this depends on the body part and the specific detail
being sculpted. Considerations include the stability of the body part.
Polymer clays require firing at ~200 degrees F. This is enough to melt
some plastics including torsos and pelvis. Epoxy putties do not require
firing but only give you a 3-7 minute working window. Model Magic is
real easy to work with, gives you a 6 hour work window, air dries, but
is fairly easily ripped especially on thin pieces.

The Limbs: I feel that for sculpting detailed pieces on the limbs (arms,
legs, head) or for sculpting new limbs polymer clays are the way to go.

The Torso and Pelvis: Since these melt real easily in the oven I do not
recommend using polymer clays with them. I think that this is a place
that Epoxy Putty would work well but I have not had a chance to test
this theory yet.

Q. How do I sculpt?

A. This is a question that artists usually grapple with for a lifetime
so do not expect a complete answer here. We can provide advice from
various sources though. I have found that sculpting technique depends
on the medium being used.

You can work on a polymer clay sculpture for days. Model Magic can be
worked for about 4-6 hours before it starts curing too much. Epoxy
Putty gives you 3-7 minutes to complete your masterpiece.

The following is from Jimbob-Wan (jim...@flash.net) and pertains to
polymer clays. This is intended to supplement, with my experience, other
excellent articles which have already been written on this subject. In
particular, I recommend "Getting Started with Sculpting" by Rick Barrows
(http://www.gremlins.com/rick_barrows/sculpt.html) and "Sculpting and
Figures" by Adrian Bruce
(http://www.inetc.roland.co.jp/%7Eadrian/sfdi/sculpt.html). As with
most of my articles, this is a work in progress. I consider myself to
be in the process of learning. As I gain more experience, some of this
information will be amended and revised.

THE PROCESS OF SCULPTING
It's way beyond the scope of this article to "teach" sculpting. I've
never taken any classes, so I wouldn't presume to show you a "method".
In doing however, I have learned a few things along the way. From a
mechanical point of view, if you're aspiring to be a 3-D photocopier,
the single most important thing is to have good reference photos or the
actual object in front of you. The best reference photos are mug
shots-- front and side profiles. From there, you interpret the shadows
and highlights to determine the 3-dimensionality of the surfaces.
Ideally, your front and side renditions will match up into a cohesive
whole, meaning you've interpreted the photos well. It really helps to
have a "highly mobile" sculpture so you can quickly manipulate it to see
it from different angles, and access it to make corrections. Once you
mount a sculpture on a base, or the sculpture gets large, you lose a lot
of that "mobility", and the process bogs down.

It's best to start working on general shapes and proportions first,
before working on any details. You will need to rough in some basic
details as "landmarks". These give you reference points for positioning
other rough details. Don't grow too fond of anything you've sculpted by
succumbing to the temptation to work on details too early. You may have
to obliterate them later, or substantially modify their position. As
you work the planes and surfaces, the landmark positions become more
certain, and you can safely begin to detail them.

Throughout the process, much depends on the training of your critical
eye. This is crucial and probably impossible to teach-- it's the
ability to tell when something is wrong, and when something is right.
It's also the ability to localize the problem area and work on it,
instead of another area that's really okay. If you sculpt something,
and say, "hmmm, something's not quite right...", then have hope! Your
critical eye is working. All you need to do is get it to tell you
what's wrong.

A curious thing happens to me as I work on something for a long and
continuous stretch of time: the critical eye gets fatigued. It seems
like the visual image of what I'm working on overpowers my ability to
look objectively and critically at the piece. The only thing that fixes
it is walking away from the project for a while and coming back later
for a fresh look. I've done a few pieces that I wished I'd waited a few
days before firing them. After the fact, the flaws seemed so obvious,
and would have been so easy to correct if I hadn't already fired the
pieces!

Don't get discouraged, and be patient. You can only get better by
doing! If it doesn't look right--it will eventually--but only if you're
willing to put in the time and effort.

Q. What are the methods of curing Sculpey (or other polymer clays)?
A. There are numerous methods. The method that cures it the most
extensively is to bake it in the oven as per the instructions but this
has a tendency to melt pieces so a quest was started to find
alternatives. You can also pass it over a flame (using a pure flamelike
a bunsen burner will not result in soot on the figure), use a blow
dryer, or boil it.

Q. Are there any options to sculpting?
A. Details can be added to figures with a variety of materials. Film
negatives, plastic bubbles, cording, Q-Tip shafts, and jewelry beads can
be used just to name a few. Stroll (or strut if you prefer) through
your local craft store and let your imagination run wild with the cute
cashier, er.. I mean let your imagination run wild WITH IDEAS.

Q. Do I need to prime my figures?
A. This varies from person to person. Since the paints I use seem to
stick to the plastic fine I do not primer stuff. The only time I have
primed was to paint a black figure white. I did this to cut down on the
required coats of white. If you do use primer be sure to let it dry
completely before applying the paint.

Q. How do I paint my figure?
A. In my opinion painting is the ickiest part of customizing. You have
finished all the other work, now you are at the last step and this step
could ruin all your hard work! You must be very patient when painting
and allow each coat to dry fully before adding another coat. It is
better to paint many thin coats instead of 1 or 2 thick coats. To thin
enamels use paint thinner formulated for that paint, to thin acrylics
and acrylic enamels use water. I usually paint raised details and
recessed details before I paint the main surface. This makes it easier
to paint the sides of the details (the raised or lowered edge).

Q. How do I make clear R3 domes?
A. R3 units are the R2-D2 looking guys with the clear domes. Scotty
(smi...@isd.net) pioneered a technique to make these domes. Notes in []
were added by Matt.

To cast a crystal clear R3 dome:
You will need:
a superball
cardboard
Lego bricks
glue
RTV rubber
mixing cups
E-Z Water
Tin can
Stove

1. Find a superball. Try to find one that is smooth, usually the solid
color ones work best, the multi-colored ones tend to be a little rough
on the surface. [You can also use one of those small capsules that hold
rings in the $.25 machines at the front of stores.] 1a. Cut it in half
at the seam.

2. Glue the flat part of the superball-half to the center of a 6 inch or
so square piece of cardboard [or mount the capsule in non-hardening
clay].2a. Get some Lego bricks (the regular rectangle blocks with eight
dots on top) and build a wall around the superball-half, leave at least
a half-inch around the ball and at least the height over it. [If you do
not have the legos you can build the box out of foamcore]. 2b. Glue the
wall to the cardboard, center it around the superball-half. (I use
white glue for this)

3. Mix up the appropriate amounts of RTV rubber and RTV activator (the
RTV should come with instructions) and pour enough rubber to cover a
half inch or so above the ball. 3a. Let dry for at least 24 hours.

4. Start removing Lego blocks one by one.
4a. Peel mold of cardboard and remove superball. This will be your
MOLD.

5. Get a tin can and rinse well.
5a. Fill about half way with E-Z Water pellets (find E-Z Water in the
railroad section of your hobby store). You will not be using all this
E-Z Water, but it melts better with a large amount.
5b. Melt over LOW heat on a stove and mix constantly. Once it is
melted there may be lots of air bubbles, continue to cook at super-low
heat and stir lightly until all air bubble are gone. This should only
take 5-10 mins any longer will yellow the E-Z Water.

6. Carefully pour mixture into mold and FILL it. (please be careful this
stuff is dangerous when hot) Let it sit in the mold about 2-3 seconds
and then pour it back into the can. This is the most important step,
this will allow your dome to be hollow. You must pour it out very
quickly, I suggest to just quickly invert the mold over the top of the
can for 3-4 minutes, this will allow the contents to pour out quickly
and evenly.

7. Remove the CAST. The edges will be rough due to the E-Z Water drying
as it was dripping out. You may want to make several casts while the
E-Z Water is hot, this way you will have your pick later (or in case you
end up smashing one, like me.)

8. To trim the edges down you must use a Dremel tool. The cast is
EXTREMELY FRAGILE! If you attempt to use an exacto knife, you will
surely smash the dome. Carefully grind down the edges with a sanding
disc at high speed.

9. You are now ready to mount the dome on R2. Find a suitable 'machine'
to put inside the dome.

Go to http://www.isd.net/smiron/starwars.html to see the finished
product.

Q. How do I make capes?
A. This is an area of much research, I have tried at least 5 methods and
most all have failed. I do recommend a few methods.

Make it out of cloth. This is very straight forward but many people do
not like the look of cloth on the figures. The cloth is usually too
thick and the textures too coarse to go with the scale of the figures.

Friendly Plastic. I have yet to try this but I think that Friendly
Plastic could be heated on a sheet of wax paper in the oven until it is
a little puddle. Allow it to cool a little and trim it to the shape you
want. Next add the folds and such by hand and then allow it to cool. I
do not think the finished product would be very flexible but it should
work.

Matt's Super Dooper Cape Method. This is a technique I have developed
but have yet to try on a real figure. Use Model Magic to form the cape,
poncho, or whatever and let it cure. Paint it up with structural paint
and voila! you have a flexible, lightweight cape. The painting step is
required since Model Magic will rip easily. I do not recommend any
paints other than Structural Paint since they will chip and crack and
will not provide the rubbery coating that Structural Paint will.

Q. How do I make a helmet for my Rebel Trooper?
A. This is a pretty easy helmet to make. All you need is to get an old
G.I. Joe helmet, a Han Solo Blaster and your favorite sculpting
material. Sculpt the back portion of the helmet and cure the material
(the helmet will not melt in the oven). Cut off the 'clip' portion of
Han's blaster (the little box in front of the handle) and then cut it in
half from top to bottom along the seam line. Glue this on the helmet
for the side detail. Repaint and you are all done. You can add a strap
using a film negative or the plastic from the bubble. To see the
finished product look at Tung Nguyen's custom gallery on
www.wiseacres.com/matt/

Q. How do I make lightsabers?
A. This is a method that was posted on the Customs Listserve by David
Cordess: decade...@MHO.NET. I have yet to try it but it seems like
it will work great. You will need to get something to make a hilt out of
(sculpting material, wood, etc.), a clear acrylic rod (available at
model railroad supply stores), and glass paint (available at craft
stores). All of this will cost about $5. First cut the rod to the
desired blade length + portion of blade to be mounted into the handle +
enough extra length for holding onto the rod during painting. Dip the
rod into the paint and extract it leaving it suspended above the open
paint container. Twirl the rod to get even coverage as the excess paint
flows off the rod, the paint that collects at the end of the rod will
form the rounded tip of the blade. Let it dry in this position for the
required drying time of the paint. Repeat the process until the blade
is the desired color. Design the handle however you want by sculpting
it or carving one out of balsa or find interesting hamster droppings or
whatever. If you make a hole in the handle for the blade you can have a
removable blade.

Q. How do I make insignias?
A. You can paint very carefully or you can cheat. I make the insignias
on a computer and then print them on clear labels. Just find a good
template and scan it at the resolution of your printer. Clean up the
image and change to the desired color and then resize it to the correct
size. Print it out on clear labels and you are all done. I do offer
some of these for sale for a very low price so if you are interested
please email me, mra...@flash.net.

Section 5: Carding
This section will tell you how to make your own great looking carded
figures.

Q. How do I make cards for my figures?
A. This article is from Chris Georgoulias, it was written for the Star
Wars Collector newsletter,
http://www.teleport.com/~dpip/swc/swchome.html. It deals with cards
from the vintage line but it can be just as easily adapted to the POTF2
line.

A Package? For Me?
by Chris Georgoulias

So you're flipping through a magazine or a photo collection and you come
across something incredible, something that makes you look twice, even
three times and questions your very knowledge of star wars figures.
Could it be that you never knew a figure of Luke Skywalker in his Jedi
training gear was available on an Empire card or that you've never seen
a Power of the Force Han in Stormtrooper armor figure before in your
life? The answer is both yes and no. Yes, you've just seen photos of
these figures so they must exist but no, you haven't been out in left
field since 1980 either because Kenner never made such figures
available. Welcome to the world of customized figures and packaging.
Of course, the thing that immediately grabs your attention when you see
this stuff is the figure card with that all-familiar character photo on
it. It's the particular scene in the photo that usually clues you in on
which movie the figure is derived from and what possible play situations
you could envision with it, but nowadays you wouldn't dream of opening
that figure. Would you?

If you've got a freshly customized figure that's just aching for a place
to live among your wall of MOC figures you may be in luck, for within
these paragraphs live the tools and secrets to make it happen. Or not.
The outcome is based upon your patience to pay attention to detail and
your willingness to complete the job. At least for the first time,
because after that the magic seems lost and it becomes less of a miracle
and more like a job.

Custom packages exist for all four card types: Star Wars (SW), The
Empire Strikes Back (ESB), Return of the Jedi (ROTJ), and Power of the
Force (POTF). And even carded figures for the Zahn novels have shown
up. Listing every custom carded figure that's been created is a bit
difficult and new ones can and do surface regularly. But for
conversation's sake some include: Leia-Huttian Slave, Cantina Band
Member, Grand Moff Tarkin, Protocol Droid, and Stormtrooper-Desert Gear.
These are but a few of many and the names, figures, photos, and logos
change with each new creator.

The question is "how do you do it?" Well, if you've ever seen the movie
Rising Sun, you'll know that you need some fancy software and something
a bit more powerful than your old 386 computer. No, actually the answer
may surprise some of you but it's as convenient as a 7-11 store and
requires no more skill than you utilized in 6th grade art class. It's
called Kinko's and glue sticks. A very low-tech way to achieve
something that comes out looking pretty impressive in the end. Take it
from someone who 's done it solely by computer before, you don't want to
sit around manipulating one image using Adobe Photoshop for twenty hours
when in the same time you could create packaging for fifteen different
figures. Though, I'll be the first to admit that learning to use
photo-editing software was really fun.

The most difficult phase of the whole process is getting started.
Thankfully, I happened to have the right connections and was able to use
a prototype card as the backbone for all of my creations. This "blank
slate" was perfect, but it's not the only way. Oh, and one more thing I
forgot to mention, you'll probably have to open one or more of your
precious carded figures so that you can have the raw materials to work
with. Bubbles from other figure lines may work well for a SW, ESB, or
ROTJ custom package, but POTF figures have a coin area that requires a
special bubble. Though at the moment, B-Wing Pilots are still relatively
cheap and quite willing to be sacrificial lambs. Until you need create
a figure that is too big for the bubble that is. Oh, the Imperial
Dignitaries that I had to butcher to make my dreams a reality....

Without going in-depth on the whole process I'll offer a few hints to
get you started. If you can't find a prototype card to start with, and
most of you will probably fall under this category, there is an
alternative method. You can cut the bubble off a card while leaving the
glued surface of the plastic still attached to the cardboard. When you
glue the new bubble down this "unsightly outline" will all but vanish,
but it renders the removed portion of the bubble useless for
reattachment. I never said success didn't have its price though. Plan
ahead, think about what you want and what it will take to accomplish the
feat. So what if you spend $40 to make a nice figure, they're great
show pieces and people do buy them. You could even make money at it,
but I'm going off on a tangent. Gee...I never do that...(grin).

The second step is usually finding the right photo to use. The series
of storybooks make a great place to find photos, and they're so cheap
you can afford to cut them right off the page. It's good to keep in
mind that any photocopy is grainier than its master and at over $1 a
color copy it's more economical to chop those story books to bits. Books
aren't the only solution though, you can use the image off an old opened
figure card as long as the photo isn't trashed. Even some photos from
the old Topps trading cards work remarkably well (photos can be enlarged
very easily on color copiers). POTF photos though, are the smallest and
neatest to work on. And the size works very well with most pictures
that you will find. Other card series require large photos that lose
resolution when blown up to the correct proportion. Though, you'll
never move ahead if you don't experiment a little.

The final trick is the nameplate. Here is the only place the computer
is involved. Any word processing package nowadays has loads of fonts
and sizes available at your disposal. But stick with Avant Garde font
and a laser printer and you'll be done in no time. Figure out the font
sizes for yourself because if I babied you every step of the way I would
be your mother. POTF nameplates are easy because they are one solid
color. If you want to attempt other card types, remember that the
nameplates all have a silver border around each, which is trickier but
not impossible to reproduce. Then again, it's your package and you can
do whatever you like. Just remember that colored paper is available
nowadays and you can photocopy onto it easily and in no time you will
have the background plate colors you think best accent your new figure.
The possibilities are extreme and the variations are limitless.

By now you're probably wondering when this article will end, very soon I
promise, but we still have to get your card finished. I've left out
some minor steps in the process because learning for yourself is part of
the fun. Once you have the card laid out like you want with the correct
photo, name and background colors overlaying the originals (use rubber
cement) you make a final color laser copy and you're ready to go. Since
you probably have to open a figure to use the blister, the old card is
good to u se to glue your new copy onto. Use a glue stick, it's quick
and painless. If you decided to open a figure on a crappy card then
you'll have to mount your copy onto cardboard of like thickness and copy
a card back to mount also. But you don't have to harm a carded figure
to copy its card back. After you scrape all the glue off the old
bubble, use a silicone-based adhesive to bond it to your new card. It's
easy to wipe off the excess. It's smelly also, but easy nonetheless.

Your new custom carded figure is now finished. Take it along to shows
and conventions and it will be a great piece to show off to strangers
and other collecting fanatics. Tell them that you read about it in SWC!
And for those of you with internet access and Netscape you can check out
loads of images of custom figures available on the archive of champions
created by Gus Lopez and located on the World Wide Web at the URL:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/lopez/collectors.html. Happy
customizing!

Q. How do I make POTF2 cards with the holo-foil stickers on them? A.
Here is a method that Peter Crone came up with How to Make Holograms for
Your Custom-Cards "As if it wasn't hard enough to make the cards
before." by Peter Crone pc...@tiac.net.

If you intend to make the "holograms," I'm guessing you have a computer,
a laser printer, a method for acquiring images (a scanner, or digital
camera) and a program for manipulating the images (Photoshop).
The main ingredient in making a Kenner-style "hologram" (since they're
not really holograms at all, I've taken to using quotation marks) is a
product called "Foil," which is available through a mail order catalog
called Paper Direct, (800) 272-7377. What you are looking for is either:
DF2010 a roll of silver foil 2 inches wide by 25 feet long, $19.95, or
DF8010 16 sheets (8.5 x 11 inches) of silver foil, also $19.95. If
you're really serious about these, order 5 rolls of foil and the price
drops to $13.95 per roll and you also get a storage tray. Foil comes in
all sorts of colors and textures, including silver, gold and bronze, but
I do not have the catalog numbers for those colors. I suspect that other
companies might sell Foil, or a similar product, but I only have the
ordering information from the Paper Direct catalog.

And now the step-by-step:

First, take an original "hologram" from a Kenner Star Wars figure card
and scan it into your computer. Use this scan to make a master image of
the border you plan to use. You may need to alter the color on the
exterior part so you can work with the image more easily, but that
depends on your preference and your monitor.

Acquire the image you would like to have printed on the "hologram."
Using Photoshop's Layers option, put the scanned image of your
custom/subject on one layer. Align the border as you'd like it to appear
on the final card. Make sure the border is on a separate layer, above
the layer with the character image. When they are aligned, click back to
the character image layer. Keeping the border over the image you are
working on, erase any portion of the photo that extends past that
border. Then merge the layers.

Now take your color image and make grayscale, if you want. I found the
color image actually looks best in the final foil-print, but that is
probably dependent on the image you are working with and not the process
as a whole.

Now it's time for the Foil:
You should read the instructions that came with the Foil, in case
anything has changed since the last time I tried this.

First, print the final image you have made onto a piece of regular
typing paper. Attach the Foil, coated side down, to your actual document
with the provided tape, covering the printed image. Run this through
your printer a second time, making sure to put the paper into the feed
so that the Foil runs through on the side that the image will print on.
The laser printer puts a layer of silver onto your b&w print-out.

Here's the useful part: The coated side faces the page you print on, the
non-coated side of the film gets printed on to create that dazzling
image on your paper. When the film comes out, there's a black laser
print of your image on a field of your selected color. Say for instance
black on silver, or black on gold, pretty much like the Kenner
holograms.

For an illustrated version of this article, visit:
http://www.tiac.net/users/pcr1/holo.html

Q. How do I clean the cardboard off the bubble?
A. There are many proposed methods and I cannot say which works best but
they all involve getting the bubble wet and scraping it with anything
from a razor blade to steel wool. The bubble may get scratched a little
here but these scratches are not real noticeable once the bubble is
glued to the card with silicon based glue.

Another alternative to use a mixture of 2 parts water, 1 part acetone
and quickly apply over the bubble with a brush. Quickly wipe off that
area using a paper towel or cloth. This should remove the attach paper
as well. Although this is a very clean method, you must remove the
acetone mixture ASAP or else it'll eat away at the bubble -Tung

Q. How do I make/modify the indentations in the bubble tray? A. Use a
localized heat source (lighter, soldering iron, etc.) to soften the
bubble. When it is soft enough, assuming you did not go overboard and
melt it, push the new piece into the tray and form the tray to the
piece.

Section 6: Recipes

This section will provide a how-to for various complete figures. If you
want to know how to make a specific part such as R3 domes, helmets,
lightsabers, etc. please look in Section 4: Techniques.

Q. How do I make the Sandtrooper SE?
A. This is a very easy figure to make as long as you can find one
special ingredient. All you need is a Sandtrooper and a pair of old
G.I. Joe binoculars. I got my set through a trade, they can also be
found at flea markets. Boil the Sandtrooper for a few seconds to soften
the plastic and then cut the straight arm at the elbow. Reglue the arm
at the desired angle and fill in the gap with a filler of your choice (I
used Jet Acrylic). Sand down the elbow until the seams disappear and
repaint the elbow and shoulder pauldron if desired. Cut the strap off
the Joe binoculars and paint and weather to taste. That is all there is
too it. To see the finished product go to www.wiseacres.com/matt/ and
look for the Matthew Rardon custom gallery.

Q. How do you make an Imperial Officer?

A. This recipe came from Tung Nguyen (nguy...@OHSU.EDU) My Imperial
Officers are made from Luke Jedis. Cut the legs right below the "skirt"
and trim down the angle of the plastic so that when you reattach it,
he'll have a closer gap stance. Add sculpey to the upper thigh to make
the baggy pants and add wrinkle lines as desired. Add sculpey to the
"skirt to extend it and smooth it out. Cut out a piece of bubble
plastic and glue it to the middle of the waist area to complete the
"skirt" look. Add sculpey to the chest to make the raised vest look and
trim off the edges with an exacto blade or razor blade. Cut out
sections of a thin paper clip and glue it on the make those pins on the
Imp officer's chest. For the rank insignia, there are a few options.
The easiest thing to do is to paint it on, but I'd much rather go for a
textured look. This can be accomplished by either cutting out a piece
of plastic from the bubble and gluing it on. The other option (idea
from Matt Rardon) is to cast Luke Hoth rank insignia and glue it on.
Next add sculpey t o the shoulders and square it out to make the
jacketed look. Finally, add sculpey to the cuff/wrist and the neck
area. Turn the head a few time to make sure it can still rotate before
you bake the sculpey. Now with all this said and done, you can easily
wait for Tarkin to come out and use his body if he's not too scrawny.
There's also a great chance Kenner will release these guys. Best of
luck.

Q. How do I make the TIE Commander?
A. This was provided by Andy Bartlett (ab...@KSU.EDU)
I designed the TIE Commander as a super-elite Imperial Pilot that would
be trusted with the most advanced TIE Starfighter designs like the TIE
Defender from the TIE Fighter PC game and the TIE Phantom from Rebel
Assault II. It's a pretty easy custom to make, and it produces really
nice results.

Materials

Figures: TIE Fighter Pilot; Luke Skywalker in Coruscant Guard Disguise
Paint: black, gray, red (optional), silver (optional,Glosscoat, X-Acto
knife, superglue

Instructions

Remove the heads of both figures by whatever method you see fit. I
always use the "crack-apart" method--splitting the seams under a
figure's arms with a sharp knife and cracking the figure open. It's
always a good idea to save figure parts for later customs, so use care
when opening figures.

Paint the Coruscant Guard body black. Let the body dry thoroughly before
continuing; you will be painting on it some more.

Once the black paint is dry, you're going to re-paint the "undersuit"
back onto the figure. Basically, where the figure was gray before, paint
it gray again. This seems like overkill, but the gray on the figure is
too light (a darker gray looks much better with the black), and this is
much easier than trying to paint the red armor black with a brush.

If you want, you can use the silver and red paint to redo the "rank"bars
on the left breastplate of the figure's torso.

When the paint is dry, paint the figure with gloss coat.

The TIE Pilot's head remains unmodified. Put it on the figure and use
the super glue to reseal the torso.

There you have it--a very easy, very attractive custom figure: the TIE
Commander

Q. How do I make Rebel Soldiers?
A. This is a set of recipes from Rod Stepan (ste...@NETDOT.COM)

I've got about three different Rebel Soldiers here is what I used:
Plain & Simple Rebel Trooper:
1.Death Squad Commander head
2.Trench Coat Han Solo
3.Superglue
4.paints-acrylic

Glue Commanders head onto Han's body. Paint the shirt light blue. Paint
helmet pale gray with a dark gray triangle on the front. Paint belt
brown with a silver buckle. Then top coat with a semi gloss varnish to
protect the finish.

Advanced Rebel Trooper
1.Death Squad Commander
2.Luke in Bespin
3.thin black leather patch

Pop Luke's head off of its seam, and cut the Commanders head so it will
fit on. Paint the body light blue, pants gray, boots black. From the
leather patch (you can get these at hobby stores) make him a vest. It's
up to you how it's done. Paint the helmet same colors as the plain &
simple Trooper.

I also have a Rebel Honor Guard and POTF2 Rebel Trooper the recipes are
kind of detailed, but if you want them drop me a line.

Q. How do I make So-And-So?
A. Here is a list of links to a few recipe sites
http://www.wwu.edu/~n9144581/sw.html
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~abart/.starwars/.custom/links.html
http://www.ipass.net/~adamcas/recipes.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/2094/cust.html

Q. How do I make a helmet for my Rebel Trooper?
A. This is a pretty easy helmet to make. All you need is to get an old
G.I. Joe helmet, a Han Solo Blaster and your favorite sculpting
material. Sculpt the back portion of the helmet on and cure the
material (the helmet will not melt in the oven). Cut off the 'clip'
portion of Han's blaster (the little box in front of the handle) and
then cut it in half from top to bottom along the seam line. Glue this
on the helmet for the side detail. Repaint and you are all done. You
can add a strap using a film ne gative or the plastic from the bubble.
To see the finished product look at Tung Nguyen's custom gallery on
www.wiseacres.com/matt/

Section 8: Custom Figure Pages
This section includes a list of custom figure pages of various people on
the Custom Listserver.

Customizers Crossroads Links http://www.wiseacres.com/clinks.htm
El Colector http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/2094
Custom Figure Web Page http://members.aol.com/pduncan177/
Customania http://www.mindspring.com/~jdorough/custom/
Jimbobs Links http://www.flash.net/~jimbob1/index.htm
Customizing the SW Universe http://www.wwu.edu/~n9144581/sw.html
Pete's Custom SW Page
http://www.tiac.net/users/pcr1/petecustomfigs.html
The Toy Renaissance http://www.wiseacres.com/matt/
Andy's SW Homepage
http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~abart/.starwars/
Adam's Page http://www.ipass.net/~adamcas/sw.htm
The Blue Pages http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~tpruss

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