Agonistes' Star Wars customs

[Scout Trooper]

Insane..

 

[agonistes86]

This is next level. I love it. Good stuff.

Insane..

Thanks, guys!

I guess I'm going all in with this. I also want to replace the "tubes" on the sides if possible since the HT ones quite are inaccurate and of course broken up because of the split helmet. I'll glue the helmet shut so I can put proper ones. Just need to figure out what I can use for them, though.

Another nice side effect I noticed: by removing the inner eye mechanic details, the lenses are now a nice proper amber when the light hits it right, since the blank sculpt is directly underneath instead of black plastic.

 

[agonistes86]

No way back now...

It's still a bit rough around the edges, but that will all be sanded, filled, sculpted etc. by the end. I'm aiming for an ESB look, so the HT chin vent was too big.

 

[agonistes86]

Made another mock-up for test fitting. The teeth are just painted with a black marker to get an idea of the look.

I'm already liking how the greater depth and actual separate layers create more shadows and contrast depending on the angle.

 

[prvtnoclass]

Right on, that's looking so cool!!

 

[agonistes86]

I haven't made much actual progress on Vader in terms of building, but I did have two breakthroughs of sorts.

For the past 2 weeks I've been thinking what to use behind the mouth grill to add texture, and yesterday I finally figured it out. I had a netting from an old wallet that I kept just in case. It turns out it's perfect for Vader.
It's really subtle once installed, but it does add some extra detail.

These shots are still of rather crude test fittings painted with a marker. For the final version I'll take my time to make it as precise as possible. This is helping me figure out what I need to change.

I also decided that I won't be 100% happy with my work if I don't address the tubes on the side. They are completely wrong in shape, thickness and angles. So I started dremeling them off, so far only the ones on the cheek.
I'll have to smooth it out completely, paint over it, and then sculpt and install new tubes to make it all seamless.
Wish me luck.

 

[prvtnoclass]

That's insane detail!!! This fig is going to be incredible when you get it all done.

 

[agonistes86]

That's insane detail!!! This fig is going to be incredible when you get it all done.

Thanks! This is the part I love most about customizing (dremeling, re-tooling, adding small details, etc), so I'm having a lot of fun with this.

For some reason I hadn't considered repainting the entire things until @matrix69 posted his 1:6 custom. That actually solved some roadblocks in my head, so it feels easier to move forward now.

I've dremeled off the entire tubes now, and sculpted the new chin vent to make it smaller.

 

[agonistes86]

My current progress:

• I sanded the tubes off completely with grit 240, 400, 600 and 1000
• I sculpted the chin vent in super sculpey. Still need to sand it
• Thinned the lower "lip" of the mouth

Next steps are resculpting the silver nose slightly, priming everything, and then building the mouth and chin vent.

 

[agonistes86]

I've been working this past week on the neck and installation of the whole helmet.

Since I split the base of the helmet, the peg that goes into the head now sits much higher within the head (with the joint around the actual base of the skull). So this meant increasing the neck length. I made a new peg that slots into the body, and extended the neck itself.
Now the head articulates much better.

I had also been cracking my head at how to install everything in the end. My original thought was to glue the head into the helmet.
But I thought I made as well go all out here as well and make the whole thing work like the real helmet.
So I split the neck brace from the lower helmet and installed magnets so that I can remove and attach it easily.
In the video you can see how the whole head and helmet system works now.

I need to finish some details around the neck, then it's back to the mask details.

The new neck (original on the left):

How the helmet started:

Where I am now: