Retro Style Emperor Palpatine

One of the best scenes in 2005's Revenge of the Sith detailed the sunset of the Jedi and the long awaited rise of the Sith.  As Obi-wan Kenobi went off to face his fallen protege, Jedi Grand Master Yoda resolved to assassinate newly crowned Emperor and secret Sith Lord Darth Sidious in his holding office beneath the Senate Arena.  This would be the final fight for supremacy, the ultimate duel of ideology, and the cementing of Palpatine's rule. 

Taking inspiration from the Kenner line of action figures I created what I envisioned to be a Retro-style version of Sidious as he engaged Yoda in their epic fight. 

Taking the existing Kenner figure, I added the cowl from the more recent Vintage Collection Darth Sidious figure as well as the hood.  I then placed the hood over the original Kenner head. 

The tricky part was filing off the excess plastic that constituted the original hood.  Once that was accomplished, I slipped the newer hood over top and glued it to the figure. 

To construct the lightsaber, I took a rod of  white plastic and painted it red an added a suitable hilt.  I elected to use this method over the more realistic lightsaber that came with the newer figure as Kenner's line of figures used simple monochromatic plastic for the lightsaber on both Luke Skywalker figures in 1980 and 1984. 

Grand Vizier Mas Amedda

While a minor background figure throughout the prequel trilogy, Mas Amedda was finally given a story arc that painted him as a tragic, flawed individual. 

Originally a Senator representing his homeworld of Champala, Amedda rose to become Vice-chancellor of the Galactic Republic and an intimate of Sheev Palpatine. 

When Palpatine was elected Chancellor in 32BBY, Amedda continued in his position as Vice-chancellor and kept the Senate in line as Palpatine secretly steered the galaxy towards civil war. 

Upon the creation of the Galactic Empire in 19BBY, Amedda became Grand Vizier and administrator of the nascent regime. 

With the death of Emperor Palpatine in 4ABY, Amedda was the de facto ruler of the Empire.  In reality, he was a puppet and a prisoner of the very regime he helped birth and was now watching collapse around him.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Jakku in 5ABY, Amedda escaped his imprisonment on Imperial Center and made his way to the seat of government for the nascent New Republic and offered to surrender the Empire.  Recognized as the head of the Imperial government, Amedda signed a treaty with Mon Mothma which formally ended the war and dissolved the Galactic Empire. 

Remembered as a fools and a pawn, Amedda was pardoned and allowed to continue his administration of Coruscant despite having little actual power. 

I chose to create a vintage style version of Amedda using mostly original parts. 

The body of the figure is Bib Fortuna, with some minor repainting of the gauntlets and chest plate. 

I removed the upper portion of the chest plate and painted the cummerbund to match the gauntlets and added a matching collar. 

The head is from the Power of the Force Mas Amedda figure. 

Yet Another Direction: Custom Vintage Star Wars Figures

Hello again. Its been a while since I updated this blog but the enforced exile caused by the novel corona virus has left me with some free time...and thanks to careful planning, lots of money.

Feeling a sense of nostalgia for the vintage line of Star Wars action figures produced by Kenner, I began to wonder what designs could be created using these figures as the base.  I know there are others out there who have made great strides in this field so I'm not discovering a new world. 

Whenever possible I elected to use vintage materials for the majority of the creations.  However, this was not possible for every design. 

The next few entries will contain a few examples of designs I've already created. I have a few more ideas but they are in the very early stages of design. 

Under Construction: Admiral Natatsi Daala (Legends)

I detest the fact that many of the stories and plots that kept the fans interested--in fact that kept the franchise running and bankrolled its creator until the end of time--are now considered invalid.  However, there are still a few fantastic Legends stories and characters who deserve to be in some way revitalized that I wanted to create one of my favorites.

From the Jedi Academy Trilogy comes the first wholly badass female Imperial, Admiral Natatsi Daala.

A fan favorite for many, her story was revitalized again and again until shortly before Disney decided they would rewrite canon and dole out storylines like methadone.  The cheek of it.

Still popular despite her virtual nonexistence, Daala commands attention and could still be rendered cannon (like Thrawn) with a one-off story or inclusion in a collection of stories about the "remnants" alluded to at the end of Aftermath: Empire's End.  Throw us a bone, will ya?

I have yet to commit to a final product due to the sheer confusion about the character's actual appearance.  No one can fully agree on what Daala looks like.  Here are some facts.

Daala is described as having incredibly long hair that flows like copper fire and hangs well past her hips.  She wears an olive green jumpsuit uniform.  She has green eyes and a stern bearing.  I finally chose a head that conveys most of that with Red Sonja.  The only other Pop character extant that wears an olive green uniform is Grand Moff Tarkin, so his body was used.

Now, here is where the confusion enters in.  On the cover to the first book in the trilogy, Daala is depicted as a stern woman with long plaited hair coiling over her shoulder.  I find no instance if her hair described like this.  Only that its long, red to orange, and flows behind her.

Second, her uniform bears the insignia of a Grand Moff (technically, Oversector Command to parse a military indium).  Agian, this counters how she is described in the novel.  In Jedi Search, the first book of the trilogy, her rank insignia is described as "a row of six scarlet rectangles set above a row of blue rectangles."  This is most definitely the insignia of an Imperial Admiral and not a Grand Moff. 

The few custom Daala figures I have seen all depict the plaited hair and wrong rank.  I elected to go for as accurate as possible.  Still, i did create a few with the Grand Moff rank just to see.

Seeing as how I'd like to shoot for accuate based on the story, I will maintain the Admiral's rank.  Its doubtful that Disney will rr-cannonize Daala, seeing as how they have already broken many barriers with other female leader like Grand Admiral Sloane and Moff Mors.  However, it would be great to have some plotline following her mission of vengeance against the nascent New Republic. 

Upcomings Customs

Over the next few days I will be posting a few new creations.

First up, a revised and more accurate version of the First Order's Captain Canady.

Next I am diving into Legends with one of my favorite characters, Admiral Natatsi Daala.

The Last Jedi Custom: Captain Canady

Even though he was on screen for a scant few minutes, Captain Moden Canady made an impressive entrance in The Last Jedi.  Commanding the Siege Dreadnought Fulminatrix, Canady proved himself to be a component and highly capable leader. 

His scenes in the film present him as a dedicated officer concerned only with accomplishing his mission.  His ship is also pretty badass.  

Canady even stands up to the simpering General Hux, whose grand gestures and pompous rhetoric seemed geared towards playing to a galactic audience rather than decisively eradicating the Resistance.  

The novelization of the film gives further detail to the character's backstory as one of the survivors of the Galactic Empire who escaped into the Unknown Regions and helped forge the First Order.  

Rather than stand content to risk his ship and the pilots under his command to theatrics, Canady got the job done.  In this, he is very much like General Veers.  I won't outline the obvious parallels to The Empire Strikes Back except to state that both Veers and Canady know their roles and perform them well.   

Unlike General Veers, Captain Canady does not survive the battle. After all but destroying the Resistance fleet, Canady and the Fulminatrix fell victim to the suicidal run of the last surviving Resistance bomber.  

To construct this figure, I used Grand Moff Tarkin's head painted to resemble Canady's graying orange hair and placed it atop a General Hix figure.  I then added the singular black band indicative of all First Order ranks.  Finally, I removed the code cylinders from the First Order Finn figure with an exacto knife and glued them in the appropriate spot on the figure.  

My first inclination was to paint the First Order Finn figure black and place the modified head atop it but when I attempted this I was unhappy with the results.  Despite locating the appropriate paint, I was less than thrilled with the end result. The figure looked too rough and tacky.  This was mostly due to the imperfections in the figure itself.  

The uniform on the Hux figure looks much better despite the greatcoat he wears. While this is inaccurate for Canady I am much more pleased with the results.  

Gen. Maximilian Veers Custom Pop

He was the straight-backed, competent Imperial who crushed the rebels at the Battle of Hoth.  A fan favorite, he has yet to be presented as part of the Funko Line.  Well, Veera fans here he is. 

General Veers was not the typical Imperial officer.  He was smart enough to follow his orders and skilled enough to carry them out successfully. 

Intensely loyal to the Empire, Veers is also unconcerned with grandstanding.  He does his job.  Fans can like a character such as Veers because he is not evil.  He is a military leader fighting a war...nothing more.

To make the venerable general, I took a Tarkin body and painted in the gray of the Galactic Empire's line officer corps.  I then took a General Hux head and painted the hat to match.  This required me to paint over the First Order emblem in order to paint the silver officer disk. 

For the rank insignia, I used the image on the Tarkin box.