K-3PO

Here’s a customization of one of my favorite droids: K-3PO.

This droid is seen in the first chapter of Empire Strikes Back. He is a white version of C-3PO who is in charge of the droid pool in Echo Base on the planet Hoth. Here is a link to this droid’s bio.

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Notice the two red dots on the chest plate. I’m not sure if the back-story was made up after the fact, but those dots are rank insignia, making K-3PO a commander in the Rebel Alliance.

Recipe:

• Vintage C-3PO

The donor figure had lost not only his gold coloring, but started loosing quite a bit of metal as well…

Death Star Droid…For Real…

As most people know, the Death Star Droid had a shiny black finish, yet the action figure was metallic chrome. Fans will recognize this silver colored droid as the RA-7 from the Jawa Sandcrawler, not the RA-7 seen in the original Star Wars on the Death Star. Making this correction is probably one of the easiest (yet satisfying) customizations I’ve done.

For more info on the RA-7, click here.

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Recipe:

• Vintage Death Star Droid

The donor figure had lost not only his paint, but started loosing quite a bit of chrome as well…

Ibtisam, Female Mon Calamari Pilot

Ibtisam was a female Mon Calamari X-Wing Pilot who flew for the Rebel Alliance. I’m including a reference photo at the bottom of this post, which shows her blue skin and wearing the typical X-Wing Pilot uniform. This is my interpretation of what her vintage action figure would have looked like.

You can find a full Wookieepedia bio for Ibtisam here.

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The Admiral Ackbar Mon Calamari character is a fan favorite, and I try to create customs using this figure whenever I can find a good donor candidate.

Recipe:

• Vintage Admiral Ackbar
• Vintage X-Wing Pilot

These particular vintage figures were good candidates for customization. The Ackbar body had marker stains, and the X-Wing pilot needed a new paint job…

Reference Photo Ibtisam

Luke As Tie Pilot

Luke originally wanted to follow Biggs to the Academy and become a pilot. What if this had happened? Biggs was a Tie Fighter Pilot before he joined the rebellion, here’s what Luke would have looked like if things had worked out differently…

Recipe:

• X-Wing Pilot Torso
• Farmboy Luke Head
• Death Star Commander Arms and Legs
• Stormtrooper Helmet

I had some extra parts laying around, and thought I would try a Tie Fighter Pilot with a removable helmet. This is only temporary, this figure will eventually become a Biggs Darklighter once I find an appropriate head for him.

Hammerhead Rebel Commander

So the character we know as Hammerhead turns out to be an “Ithorian” named “Momaw Nadon”. And it turns out, there are other Ithorians. What if some of them were part of the rebel alliance? What if one made it to commander? Here we are…

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Recipe:

• Hammerhead arms and head
• Admiral Ackbar body

I had a badly sun faded Hammerhead, which I was able to re-paint to like-new condition. Just for fun, I threw him onto an Ackbar body that also needed work, and the result was pretty interesting.

Greedo, As He Should Be…

I always felt Greedo got a bum deal. Even his action figure looks nothing like what he wears in the movie. Or maybe this is another Rodian all together. Possibly Greedo the Elder ???

Anywho, this is my interpretation of what Greedo’s action figure should have looked like. Enjoy!

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Recipe:

• Greedo head and arms
• Bespin Han Solo body (modified)
• Dagoba Luke legs (modified)

This was basically cobbled together from spare parts left over from earlier customizations.

Sold to BP of NJ, April 2010

Astromech Droid R2-A5

R2-A5 is an astromech droid similar to R2-D2. He can be seen in the original Star Wars movie on Tatooine just before the cantena scene. Unfortunately, this character was edited out in the special edition in favor of some cheesy CG effects.

This particular custom is based on a sensor-scope R2-D2, with a green-themed reproduction sticker. I’m including a reference photo at the bottom of this post for comparison. This astromech’s bio can be found on Wookieepedia here.

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Recipe:

• R2-D2 with sensor scope.

It’s a shame that so many of these droids end up in the trash heap, just because the stickers they used don’t hold up to 30 years of wear-and-tear. I’ve taken it upon myself to try and save some of these old R2 units, using my own reproduction stickers in the various myriad color schemes seen in the original three movies.

R2-A5 Reference Photo

Lando Calrissian As Smuggler

This is my vision of what Lando must have looked like in his early days as a smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon.

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Recipe:

• Lando (ROTJ)
• Han Solo body
• Bespin Han Solo legs

This particular vintage figure was cobbled together from spare parts and a Lando head that needed new paint.

Sold to EC of Seattle, WA

McQuarrie-Style Boba Fett

This is a custom vintage Boba Fett, done in the style of the original McQuarrie concept drawings…

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Recipe:

• Vintage Boba Fett

The sun faded plastic and rough paint made this a good candidate for customizing.

Mon Calamari Y-Wing Pilot

This is my vision of Admiral Ackbar as a true Y-Wing Pilot.  I think my inspiration must have come sub-consiously having grown up seeing Admiral Ackbar on the box of the vintage Y-Wing vehicle, sitting in the drivers seat no less. If you have the box, check it out.

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The tricky part of this customization was getting a solid gray paint job on top of the original orange jumpsuit. Light colors on top of dark require many coats. This figure has no helmet, I haven’t yet figured out how that would work with his large head…

Recipe:

• Vintage Admiral Ackbar
• Vintage X-Wing Pilot

This particular vintage figure was a good candidate for customization. The Ackbar body had marker stains, and the X-Wing pilot needed a new paint job…

Sold to MM of Downey, CA