Sith_Fire30 Creations

In ALIEN Territory...

2012-01-21T11:01:00.070-05:00

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream...or something like that LOL!

Happy New Year everyone! My first posting in 2012! Here's hoping for more than once a month! Hope everyone had a great holiday season - time to get back to work!

This posting will be devoted primarily to a line of figures I am currently working on from the 1979 motion picture ALIEN. I'll drop a brief WIP of other pieces I'm working on near the end of the posting but I wanted this entry to focus mainly on the developing the Nostromo crew...an idea that was in my head over a year ago and is finally seeing fruition! :)

The biggest challenges to this line so far has been the sheer amount of detail that needs to go into each sculpt and of course capyuring the likenesses of the actors who portray these iconic characters. I consider this project to be an excellent learning opportunity to improve my skills in sculpting facial features, clothing and armor...especially in the 1:18 scale. A magnifier can be your best friend! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise! LOL!

Lets begin with the Captain of The Nostromo - Dallas ((Tom Skerritt).

I spoke of one of the challenges was the detail that is needed for each character - These guys aren't armored clones, super soldiers with tons of cool weapons or monsters like the Alien itself - these are just "truck drivers in space" as Ridley Scott would like to call them...so the clothing on thier back is mostly all they got. The challenge is to make the sculpt as interesting as that armored clone or the Alien with all the details in the teeth, head and tail.

Having said that, below are work in progress images of Captain Dallas sporting one of the two alternate upper torsos - This one wearing the heavy flight jacket.

Still adding detail to the jacket - the designer had a fetish for laces and zippers I guess because these things are crazier than what Michael Jackson wore back in the 80s! LOL! The sleeves of the jacket are a bit high but if you look at production images of Dallas he wore them a bit off the wrists with a tightened strip around the end of the sleeves - which I have yet to add. Plus it made room for those huge digital watches - so 70s!! :)

If you recall, this new torso system I've been working on is very simple...it has the upper body connected to the waist by a magnet which will be sculpted over so not to be seen. So instead of popping tabs that may break or become loose within the joint, you literally pull off and replace. These are strong magnets too so the thought of these upper bodies falling off is not a concern. Also you regain a smooth swivel articulation to the waist.

The mid-joint of the upper torso still retains a free range of movement and can swivel without resistance to the FIXIT sculpt built up around it - these adjustments are made in the 4th hour of curing, when the FIXIT becomes firm enough to cut away and looses it's tack. Some of the areas of the jacket appear to be thin but really are not...trick of the eye ladies and gents :)

The back of the jacket will have the Nostromo logo dropped in using a slide decal. First time using them so I hope they work out well. Same goes for logos or patches too small to sculpt...

On to the Executive Officer and the guy who knows first hand how painfull giving birth can be - Kane (John Hurt).

I love John Hurt - so it was a joy to sit down and sculpt his likeness in 1:18 scale. Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Sigourney Weaver and all the others - such talented actors! It's awesome to capture a small moment in their long careers! Anyway - enough admiration and back to the work at hand - Kane. Below is an image of the early work in progress - still much work was needed in the brow and below the eyes. The hair had yet to be added.

After a few more revisions, my finished Kane sculpt is complete! I attached Kane's head to the Dallas torso to get an idea how it will appear once his first torso is complete - I'm happy with the direction it's going! Before I paint the final head sculpt I may make some last minute changes to some of the facial features - was happy to find some new production images of John diring the filming and costume testing so a tweek here or there is very possible.

An alternate head sculpt of Kane has been completed as he appears in his EV Suit -that will be seen later in this entry. The next alternate head sculpt of Kane will be a version of him in pain...from the chestburster scene. So big things are planned with this particluar figure - stay tuned!

Next up is a final work up on the Ripley head sculpt - Ellen Ripley, Warrent Officer of the Nostromo.

I have done two other versions of this head sculpt - the last one I was (and still am) quite please with - but a Facebook friend of mine, Liko, emailed me with some observations on how I may improve the sculpt. Without going into any details, his sugestions were spot on so I went back and stengthened the jaw line and added detailing to the area around the chin. Very happy how she turned out!! - Thanks Liko for your attention to detail and sharing your opinion. It helped me out a bunch!

Two other versions of Ripley's head sculpt will be made - one with her hair up (sweaty) and the other with the hair sculpted to fit the white EV Suit helmet. She will also sport an alternate torso! I was able to tool the waist just right to add a magnet - wasn't easy using a GIJoe female frame - the T-Bar almost got in the way but I was able to file the metal stud down enough to fit the magnet flush.

This torso will be sculpted as she appears in her green flight jumpsuit. The second torso will have her in the t-shirt she wears underneath, with the upper flight suit tied around her waist.

People have been asking if I will make a Ripley wearing the Weyland Yutani issued skivvies...it's a possiblility. This would be part of the EV suit Ripley for sure :)

Now an update on everybody's favorite white blooded robot, Ash. I have finished the upper torso for the scientist Ash. Will begin working on the lower half this week.

Three versions of Ash will be made: Ash "Scientist", Ash "Robot Discovery" and Ash "Milk" - Milk being the blood of the robot that covers Ash when they reactivate him on the galley table. The Scientist version of Ash will include one or two alternate head sculpts - the first one is shown below and recreates the moment weher Ash "malfunctions"...then demonstrates what he can do to a person with a rolled up magazine...

The second alternate head sculpt is not yet determined. The "Scientist" version will also include an additional upper torso swap with him wearing his surgical gown.

The "Robot Discovery" version then goes into high gear recreating the moment Parker knocks Ash's block off...The head sculpt below is a 1:18 scale version of the head prop they used during the shocking scene.

The plan will be to have the ball jointed head and neck inserted comfortably into the upper torso using a hollow peg. The upper torso will have a section carved out to house tubing and wire which will be glued into and around this hollow peg, which will spill out when the head becomes "detached" from the body and falls to the back.

To keep the head and neck from falling all the way out and onto the floor, the back of the head will have a magnet that will attract to a small metal plate inserted to the lower back of the torso which will keep the head in place and stable. The collar and undershirt of Ash will be torn away enough (thanks to Ripley) so to not hender the action feature.

This is my plan...and I hope it works successfully. Unfortunately the mid torso swivel will be lost in order to hollow out enough room for the tubing...not too concerned since the film shows to torso become rigid and hands robotic once the head come off...by the way, the paint work on this guy is gonna be wild!!

Talk about wild...the "Milk" version of Ash is next. Below is the complete head sculpt of Ash as his head is propped up upon the galley table waiting to give some last words to Ripley.

The body will be sculpted as a minimal articluated piece, having most of the attention centered on the inside and surrounding area of the neck.

There will be two other alternate head sculpts to the one you see above...one with Ash's eyes open, milk pouring out of his mouth and the other being his cold smile after giving Ripley his condolences.

You know how you have a vision of how a piece may turn out before it even gets created and you get excited at the idea?....this Ash figure is something I look forward to tooling with every chance I get. What a fun project!

Next up is another awesome character - one of my favorites from the Alien movie and the only tough guy who took it to the Alien...or at least tried to. Cheif Engineer J.T. Parker (the great Yaphet Kotto).

I decided to do a version of parker without the headband first...but will make another version of him looking a bit more angry and determinded...this version looks too friendly and approachable...similar to who he was at the beginning of the film. I like that version but not without the bandanna. Crazy? Yes, I know but that's how I feel about it. LOL! So expect a couple more head sculpts of Parker to come.

Parker will come with two upper torso swaps...possibly three. One wearing his buttoned short sleeve shirt, one wearing his jacket and finally one with his shirt torn during his final stand with the Alien - "GET OUT OF THE ROOM!!" as he tries to save Lambert - famous last words.

Lets go back to Dallas and Kane - I have made great progress with Dallas's Nostromo EV Suit and recently began work on Kane's. Lets start with Dallas first as I have completed the paint application of his head sculpt.

The sculpt itself was created by taking one of the castings I made of the standard Dallas head and shaving away the hair, the ears bulk of the cranium then replacing it with a sculpt of the soft cap. I used the same paint technique I used for the standard head yet darkend the areas under the eyes and gave the flesh a more flushed look - showing stress from wearing a bulky, heavy suit in a hostile atmospheric environment. I know - I put way too much thought into this stuff....LOL!

Now to see how the head sculpt looks with the helmet on!

Very pleased with the characters appearance through the cloudy "glass" - I am considering adding a small LED lighting element to the interior of the helmet just above the characters head. If it works, great - If not, no big loss. I've never worked with LEDs before so I won't know what I'm missing - hoping to get some help from a very talented customizer with a lot of experience using these LEDs so keep your fingers crossed!

Let me not forget the amount of detail I am adding to these suits - the shoulder armor plates was a major challenge and took patience and a steady hand to complete. The armor is free floating, held by a clear band under the arms. I planned on casting these shoulder guards to use for the other three EV suits but found that depending on the sculpt, the same armor may not fit as well so...I will sculpt a new set of armor for each figure. Not a big deal - the more practice, the better. Just more time will have to be taken.

Additional detail added to the chest plating that is held by a magnet. This allows the mid torso joint to bend forward. The name designation will be applied using a water slide decal.

Hand articluation required a special tooling to allow for maximum motion without loosing the integrity of the sculpt. I used the bulk of a set of Kubrick Alien (Dallas) gloves, hollowed out and glued to a set of hand stubs from a GIJoe figure, then glued to the swivel forearms belonging to a recently deceased Boba Fett figure and finaly applied to the forearm joints of the figure frame. A tricky job that needs exact cuts without exposing joints that can become glued together if not carefull. Not a quick fix but worth it when it's completed! Now the hands have swivel wrists which also includes ball joints, and swivel forearms. Bad news is that I have to do this three (more like six) more times! LOL!

Working sculpt detail of the forearms - once completed, the articluation points will be well hidden.

Now you know why I take so many work in progress shots - so if I have to do it again, I have a photographic record - alomst a step-by-step diary of how the orginal was created. Which comes in handy now that I began working on Kane's EV suit...

Kane's EV Suit head sculpt was worked the same way as Dallas' piece. Like I said earlier, I may make some slight adjustments to the facial features of the sculpt now that I have some better reference data. Below, more detail added with the addition of the upper torso body suit.

I can't wait to get Lambert's sculpt working then have her EV Suit along with the other two complete walking the surface of an LV426 Diorama! Speaking of dioramas, my final ALIEN update for this entry - I plan to create three dios of unique sets from the film - The Nostromo Flight deck with MU/TH/UR, the Galley and Medical/Airlock.

A daughnting task - but a fun one at that. I've already started on the Galley - below are some of the panels that will be used along with additional hand sculpted details. The table and wrap around chair is also being worked on but did't have a chance to shoot it just yet. The Galley will consist of the main room with the heads up monitors, table with chiars and seperate small personal rooms as well as the airlock gates to other sections of the ship. Gonna be fun!

Star Wars updates!! Have a few characters that will be getting some final touches soon in the paint department. Shado Vao from Legacy is one - along with these two...

I also have several pieces back on the work bench...

Starkiller: Cybernetic Reconstruction - I'm working on the arms and the remaining torso. Removed the rubber tubes while I sculpt.

The sculpt of Commander Tsalok from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Invasion is complete!!! Next stop the paint brush!

I have many others that I am currently working on but not enough progress to warrant a blog update - rest assured many more suprises are on the way from not just Star Wars but other popular franchises I spoke of in my last update...how about a complted head sculpt of Bane from The Dark Knight Rises...or even a Blade Runner character sculpt...you'll have to tune in to find out!...wow...I sound like a bad TV commercial! LOL!

Alas, another entry for the record books. Thanks to fans of my blog and my facebook page - looking forward to a very productive 2012.

My FLICKR page is live and being updated this morning! - Be sure to stop by and have a look at my work - especially if this is your first time seeing it - I appreciate your support! Flickr photostream - Bookmark my FLICKR page and check in often!

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Questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me here, my facebook or my e-mail - sith_fire30@yahoo.com. My email may be the best way to go - I check that daily. Hope to hear from you!

Much more to come - and a major announcement sometime in February!

Take care till later!

Sith_fire30

By the way...A word of advice from the master...

Final Update for 2011 - What's coming in 2012!

2011-12-26T17:51:00.050-05:00

Hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday season! Looking forward to the new year! Thanks to all of you that showed so much interest in my last posting! I appreciate the comments and suggestions! Today I've got a number of updates to go through, mainly that of the 1979 Alien series...but I was able to throw in a few Star Wars updates as well. So many projects I have planned for the new year - very excited!

And speaking of the new year, on top of the projects I'm already committed to, I'm planning to take on a few new 1:18 lines for 2012...a couple of them I've already began work on!!!

First up will be a series of figures from Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy!

As you can see below, I've already began work on Bane from the upcoming "Rises" film...Just using the super sculpty to get an idea how the mask will appear on the casting...The casting you see will be resculpted to the likeness of Tom Hardy before sculpting the mask seperately. Presently, nothing close to final.

The 1:18 scale Bane will display the overcoat seen in the trailer, an alternate torso without the coat and will have switchout sleeveless arms.

Still trying to decide what other 3 characters from the trilogy I will begin working on...you can rest assured Batman and the Joker will be included - just not sure which versions yet. Perhaps I will do a poll on my facebook page...

The next series of figures I will be working on in 2012 are from the upcoming Ridley Scott film - Prometheus.

I've already begun working on Elizabeth Shaw - the heroine of the film. The other characters I will choose as character developement becomes more clear- I'm sure Charlize Theron's character will be part of the lineup. Thank you God!

I'm struggling right now to figure out how to tool the helmet for the environmental suit. I'm having to borrow existing parts for this step - right now I have a Clone Wars space helmet and a dome from a Kubrick figure...

The Clone Wars helmet resembles close to what appears in the trailer and can be modified but the appearance of the head sculpt underneath becomes badly distorted - something I don't want.

The Kubrick dome is clear, close to the shape but not rounded enough and a bit too wide at the shoulder....you can't always have it EXACTLY correct right? I'm thinkin' about going with this version...may be a bit too wide but the clear appearance is very important. If any of you know an alternative way I'd appreciate any feedback you can give me :)

The final line I will begin work on in 2012 will be from Blade Runner!!

Oh this is long overdue!

I can't believe a toy company hasn't invested time in making a line from this film! (Hello NECA!!!) Guess it's just not part of the popular culture these days...although every science fiction film that has follwed has tried to immulate it one way or another. No matter - I'm excited to begin work on several 1:18 scale sculpts of the following characters...

Deckard - With and without overcoat, alternate "distressed" head sculpt....distressed meaning beaten LOL!

Roy Batty - With and without overcoat, shirtless alternate torso,alternate "distressed" head sculpt - same idea for the distressed sculpt as with Deckard.

Zora - I'm tempted to do a Zora "dancer" and then a second sculpt as she appeared when making her ill faded get away. Expect both to be in the works - can't help it :)

Pris - her first appearance. I'm sure that I will do another version later down the road as she appears in J.F. Sebastian's home...

finally Rachael...I like the version of her when she first appeared at Deckard's apartment..but I may take on her initial appearance while working for Tyrel. I would like to do an alternate version with her hair down as well...

Too many facinating characters I didn't mention in the line-up (Gaff being one of them)...they will have to wait till the second series - can only begin so many projects in one year - If you haven't guessed yet, I like staying busy.

Now onto some Star Wars updates!

Just finished reading issue #3 of the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Dark Times -"Out of the Wilderness" arc. Dass Jennir has been a pinacle jedi character to develop post order 66 in my opinion - Hope when he eventually goes out he goes with a bang!...maybe he won't go out...who knows. Anyway, without giving away the plot, in this issue Dass pulls a "Clint Eastwood", riding the back of a horse-like beast, charging with lightsaber in hand toward a squad of slavers to rescue a lady-friend of his...This panel is epic - DOUG WHEATLEY YOU'RE ARTWORK IS GENIUS!

So being inspired by the incredible artwork and fantastic writing, I've decided to work on a second version of Dass - This time complete with his own horse...or beast...whatever the name of that animal is LOL!

The horse you see in the photo is from the Indiana Jones line - purchased quite a few of these when I began the Dollars line earlier this year - which by the way is still in the works. This piece will be reduced and retooled to create a skeleton similar to what I create with the other figures...only this will be my first beast! I will lengthen the legs and neck a bit, elongate the muzzle and sculpt the creature as it appears in the above image. Dass will come complete with all his gear, a saddle, his lightsaber and blaster pistol.

The head sculpt you see is from my first version of Jennir...this new version will have an entirely new head sculpt. I also completed the body frame for the new Jennir just the other day, giving additional articulation to the torso and upper legs - so to look more natural on horseback.

Onto another Star Wars character that has been sitting on my workbench far too long now - K'Kruhk - The Whiphid jedi as he appears in the early issues of Dark Horse comics Star Wars: Dark Times. I began this figure a couple years ago, made good progress very quickly but my interests wandered and found myself tabeling this big guy to only work on him from time to time...well, no more. This guy is ready to be completed - The sculpt is almost finished and these two alternate head sculpts below are being worked on as you read this. Can't wait to show you the final result!

Another popular Star Wars character in the works is Boba Fett - Been working on and off on his jumpsuit, a little here, a little there...imagined having removable upper body armor but not sure if that will happen now...perhaps and alternate upper torso maybe? I really like the jumpsuit look especially when the alternate head sculpt is attached (not shown). Look for some more frequent updates to this bounty hunter :)

My final Star Wars update for the year is the very popular Old Republic jedi Satele Shan. If you are playing the recently released MMO you will know who I am talking about. The upper body is in the process of being built - completed the head sculpt to closely resemble Satele as she appears in the "Return" trailer, at the same time capturing the look of the real Satele - Sno E. Blac.

I plan on doing a few more Satele head sculpt and additional paint attempts - I'm happy with the one shown above but would like to try a lighter hue to the skin tone...want to lengthen the hair that drapes down in front as well. She'll be a great adversary to Darth Malgus!

Alright...Onto the main focus of this, the last update of the year. Alien (1979)!

Ash...this figure is going very well! I am close to finishing the upper torso and arms...as a matter of fact, while you read this, the upper torso is finished and I have begun working on the waist and lower abdomen.

I've tried to capture the sags and folds of the material, the details to the uniform all the way down to the number of buttons on his shirt! Nothing exciting about Ash...No armor, no weapons, backpacks or major accessories, but this figure has turned out to be one of my faves to create so far.

This goes for all the Alien figures I will be creating - I will be using small water decals for the patches...this will be my first time using them. If they don't work, I'll paint the patches in the best I can.

Ash will have two additional torsos...Surgical Gear (where he attempts to remove the facehugger from Kane's face) and the "Robot Reveal" version - tooled to have his head fall back off the shoulders and hang from hoses down his back. This head will then be "unplugged" and an alternate head will be attached to recreate the conversation he has about his mission - the "Milk" version.

I will have to construct the table seen in the video clip above - thanks to some of my fans, I've been able to find the specs to many details on the Nostromo and have began working on that very table!!! Thanks guys! I guess in the toy industry, you would consider this version of Ash to be the deluxe figure! LOL

Let me recap who I have working for series one of the Alien line -

Ash
Dallas
Ripley
and....

Dallas in Nostromo Environmental Suit!

Yes, that's Ash in the EV Suit but Dallas' head sculpt was still in the works when the EV body frame was completed. The male EV frame is thicker and a tad larger than their human male counterparts because the size and bulkiness of the suits. When building your frames, always take into consideration what you will be sculpting and let the frame reflect the build. Time to sculpt so Ash - GET OUT OF THAT SUIT!

Once the frame was completed, I began building the sculpt starting with the head. Below is the finished sculpt of Dallas in Nostromo EV Suit!

I took the existing Dallas head sculpt I created, casted it and reduced all around the face...then resculpted the leather flight helmet (at least that's what the prop was derived from.

The helmet itself is from the the Kubrick alien series, retooled in the back with the haze cleaned from inside the visor. With a little filing to the inside edge, the helmet slips right over the head sculpt and fits snug. The cloth padding under the helmet that connects to the shoulders will be reworked and given a cloth texture. The head fits very well in the helmet, with the eyes and nose just appearing over the edge when the figure sits upright. Slumped over because of the weight of the suit, gives a full view of the figures head sculpt within.

The helmets will receive complete repaints - 3 Nostromo helmets and 1 Narcissus helmet. Oh and the helmets will be removable...

The detail that will go into these four suits will be extreme!! Have you ever taken a close look at these suits? Some of the detail may have to be generalized - but I will capture as much as possible. As you read this, I have replaced the sculpted tubing from the back of the helmets and replaced with bendable tubing. I have modded the Kubrick airtank, making it longer to fit the back and drilling two holes to fit the bendable tubing. Currently working on the shoulder pads which will be molded, casted and reused for the remaining sculpts.

Now an update on Captain Dallas himself!

The head sculpt has been complete for some time now. I began working on the body frame recently. This version of Dallas' upper torso has him wearing his olive/blue drab jacket. Since the jacket is open, revealing his buttoned shirt underneath, I need to sculpt a portion of the shirt first before adding the jacket.

The finer details of the jacket's sleeves have been a bit generalized and may be reworked. The jacket has laces on both sleeves all the way down to the wrist as well on the chest. Need to find a simpler way to show the detailing of these laces since I will be doing these on several figures to come.

and finally an update on Ripley herself...

I've begun work on the upper torso. Ripley will be sculpted wearing her flight suit, unbuttoned to the stomach, exposing her unbuttoned collared shirt and another t-shirt underneath. LAYER AFTER LAYER AFTER LAYER - LOL!

Ripley's face is hidden in the photo as I am making slight adjustments to the sculpt (thanks Liko for the advice). When finished, the likeness will be that much closer than before :)

Final words on the next series already in the works...

Kane - Three versions - Flight, EV Suit and Alien Birth (gonna be fun!!)
Parker - Engineer with an alternate torso (ripped undershirt)
Lambert - Flight and EV Suit
Brett - Engineer

Going to be a fun 2012 for the hobby. Hope the rest of you have fun with your own projects! Look forward to all the creativity out there!

Happy New Year once again! Thanks to each of you who have become a fan of my blog, my facebook page - those that have had me on their podcasts, professionals who have presented my work to the masses, given me advice and work over the past year - thanks to all of you! A very special thanks to the hobbyist - they guys and girls that create "just because". To the beginners up to the advanced - it's you that inspire me daily!

As always, thanks for taking the time to stop by and get caught up on my progress. If you want to keep up with daily updates and progress of my work, check out my facebook page - Sith_fire30 Creations
- Since my last blog update, my FB page surpassed 1000 fans...I said I didn't know if it would happen before the new year and you all prooved me wrong. Each and every one of you are awesome! Thanks so much! Here's to the next thousand!!!

Start the new year off right! Stop by my Faceboook page!! Sith_fire30 Creations and click "like"!

My FLICKR page is live but has been a little quiet over the past couple weeks - that will change very soon. Flickr photostream - Please go and check it out - bookmark my FLICKR page and check in often. Updates tonight!

Sith_fire30 Creations on twitter!!! @sith_fire30 Should get back into more WIP updates so check with twitter often

I'm on Tumblr! Sith_fire30 Works If you have a Tumblr account - you can follow me here - Sith_fire30 Works

Happy New Year for like the ten thousandth time!! LOL! And please be cool and don't drink and drive before, during or after the parties this weekend!

See you all in 2012!

Sith_fire30

Fantastic Finished Figure Friday!

2011-11-25T02:31:00.030-05:00

That's right ladies and gents - I've got plenty of finished pieces to reveal today which is the reson for my dealy in updates. I hope you will agree that it was worth the wait! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and are having a fun Black Friday to kick off the Holidays - No way you're getting me out in that insanity Ha!

Alright - Lets keep this short and sweet. For this posting I'm going to give a brief intro and description of the finished piece, a couple finished images and a link to the photo set that will be found on my Flickr photostream.

I will have plenty of time to go back and post future updates delving into the work I put into each one of these pieces. If you have any questions about the work please post them here or email me and I will be sure to answer them on future updates.

Let's get to it - first off, The Tonnika Sisters from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Tonnika Sisters photostream on FLICKR

Next up is Darth Malgus from the upcoming Bioware/Lucasarts game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Darth Malgus Photostream on FLICKR

A unique character in the Star Wars universe - Furlag from the multimedia event Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.

Furlag Photostream on FLICKR

Another unique alien from the Star Wars expanded universe - Del Moomo from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Don't worry! His brother is on his way!

Del Moomo Photostream on FLICKR

The awesome Starkiller (Arena Combat Gear) from the Lucasarts game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2.

Starkiller's Photostream on FLICKR

And finally the big guy himself - Savage Opress from the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This is a non-animated interpretation of the chracter.

Savage Opress Photostream on FLICKR

Hope you enjoy all the images - I'm still working on a few more but simply ran out of time. Will post more of Furlag and a few more of Starkiller soon.

Like I said, I will go into more detail about the building of each figure in future updates - just too much for one single posting.

If you would like to join in, Stop by my Faceboook page!! Sith_fire30 Creations

Over 200 NEW IMAGES have been posted on my Flickr photostream - Please go and check it out - bookmark my FLICKR page and check in often.

Sith_fire30 Creations on twitter!!! @sith_fire30 Should get back into more WIP updates so check with twitter often

I'm on Tumblr! Sith_fire30 Works If you have a Tumblr account - you can follow me here - Sith_fire30 Works

Thanks again for a the support! Much more to come!

Sith_fire30

A Nostromo Party and More Crazy Fun!

2011-09-26T11:45:00.126-04:00

It's the beginning of my favorite month - October! Cooler temps just around the corner here in Tampa and nearing the end of our Hurricane season. Hoildays are coming up - yay Halloween! - I'm broke (who isn't these days) but I'll find a way to enjoy them LOL!:) Anyway....

Special shout out goes to the crew at TORSyndicate for having me on episode 36 of their podcast talking about my madness. great bunch of guys gearing up for the release of The Old Republic MMO.

Proud to be a member - as you can see by the banner placment to the right of this copy. Check out the podcast here.

Alright - In my last entry I hinted about a line I was going to do some brainstorming on...

Well, I did a bit more than brainstorm...

Appropriate timing, the month of October - a month that celebrates ghosts, goblins...and monsters. I'm making an Alien (movie 1979) line of figures...It was inevitable I guess. One of my top-five favorite movies, the mother of all Sci-Fi horror and the return of master director Ridley Scott doing Prometheus next year...I saw it coming a mile away.

A month or so ago I was browsing the internet and came across some interesting prototypes Kenner made back in the late 70s of an ALIEN action figure line. A line that mostly never saw the light of day because of the violent theme involved with the movie and parental complaint. Times have changed and if Hasbro was to create a 1:18 scale series of figures based on the ALIEN franchise today I'm sure the public would embrace it...and the parents wouldn't even notice or give a crap. LOL!

So what would a modern line look like today? We've seen Aliens and Predators in the 1:10 scale (7-8 inch) thanks to companies like McFarlane Toys and NECA. 1:6 scale from Hot Toys...but how about a 1:18 scale? The original characters from the Nostromo or even the Colonial Marines? I know all too well that Hot Toys introduced a single line of 1:18 scale Aliens snap kits that gave us characters like Hicks, Apone, Drake, Ripley and some bugs...but never followed through with a second series. Shame Hot Toys..I loved these figures! I want my Vasquez, my Hudson...we need a BISHOP!...ok you can throw in Gorman and Burke.

Looks like if I want these guys, I will have to go out on my own...at least try anyway! Of course I got inspired, and had quite a brainstorming session to think about what figures I would create...first would have to be the entire crew of the Nostromo - everybody - Ripley, Dallas, Ash, Lambert, Kane, Parker, Bret and Jones (the cat).

And I'm off! Began working on the crew over the past couple weeks - just the head sculpts! Currently working on the main three: Dallas, Ripley, Kane and Ash - get their head sculpts completed, then while I'm working on frames, get the other head sculpt done for Lambert, Parker and Brett.

First up - Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt)

Tom's portrayal of Dallas - cool, calm and collected - where there was a MOTHER running the ship, he was their father. He was one of my favorite characters from the movie - upsetting to see his and Bret's fate from the deleted scenes.

This is a complete sculpt - working out the basics (ears, nose, etes and mouth) in relation to the size of the head. Once completed, I made a cast and refined. Made another and added specific details of the nose, brow, eyes, cheek bones. chin and beard.

Have yet to add the scruffy 70s hair because I will be making three versions of Dallas...

1. Captain (Uniform and a switch out upper torso for a casual version).

2. Dallas in Spacesuit.

3. Cocooned Dallas - not much articulation but will be a great diorama display.

A scale shot below...I don't take enough of these images. Sometimes saying that I work in the 1:18 scale doesn't register with some folks - not a lack of intelligence of their part, simply many don't know what the scale refers to. Sometimes it's best to show a point of measurement next to your work to give perspective - also gives light to the challenges that are faced working on such a small scale.

Next up the science officer - Ash

Funny story with this head sculpt - about a year or so ago, I was interested in doing a series of Bladerunner figures (still am)...and worked a few weeks on a Deckard head sculpt without much success...kept making a sculpt that looked a lot like Ian Holm which at the time had NO INTEREST in! After awhile, I tabled the project and kept the sculpt...so ironic that a couple weeks ago, I went through my projects and found the sculpt, spent some time refining it and came up with what you see below.

Surprised how quickly I got this sculpt finalized - nice not to have to start from scratch. So without delay, I completed the paint application for the piece. First image below is a bit of a teaser :)...

I have several plans for Ash - This is the first of about three head sculpts I will be doing of this character...

1. Ash - Science officer

2. Ash - Robot reveal. I have an idea of a break away head/neck/upper shoulder piece that would fall back as in the film.

3. Ash - "Milk" . A dismantled Ash, with his head separated from his body, showing the internals. The head will be two versions - One with his mouth open, eyes closed, the other with his sympathetic smile. Will have to include a styrene built table for the body of Ash to rest on. My consider this a "Deluxe" set.

Ash will include a motion detector, headset, surgical tools and possibly a surgeon mask/gear.

Next up is the ultimate lady heroine...Lt. Ellen Ripley.

Fun fact: I had a crush on Sigourney Weaver when I first laid my eyes on her in Alien...the movie was running on HBO and I snuck in to watch it. Tall, brunette and could kick ass with a flame thrower! Very strong facial features but at the same time very feminine.

Had to start from scratch with this head sculpt...and it wasn't easy.

First work up was way off...looked alien. Didn't even complete it - started off all wrong.

Second attempt...getting there. Was trying too hard to express the depth of the eyes, narrowing of the nose and mouth expression. Still looked way off....still looked alien to me. Scraped it.

Third time was a charm (Image below) - although I still need to tighten up a few features, I think I'm very close. I relaxed the look to the eyes and heightened the cheek bones. I strengthened the jaw and narrowed the nose. The brow needs a bit more adjustment but other than that I am satisfied with the sculpt. This piece is going to take me through three series of figures - Alien, Aliens and Alien3 - so I need to make sure it's convincing. I will need to paint up one to find out.

I am currently adding hair to one of the castings as she appeared in the first film. For the first series Ripley will have three unique sculpts...

1. Lt. Ellen Ripley - Warrant Officer (as seen in the jumpsuit image above). She will have a replaceable torso having the top of her jumpsuit pulled down to her waist, wearing the white short sleeve top. She will include an alternate head sculpt with her hair up.

2. Ripley - White Space Suit.

3. Ripley in her space "undies". Am trying to figure out a way to combine this piece with the space suit idea.

Am working on her articulated frame - image below. The frame will be tall and slender. I need to reduce it more and lengthen the legs. This version of Ripley will include a Flame Unit, Motion Detector, Cat Carrier and Jonesy.

I'm a collector of the Hot Toys Aliens Snap Kits and thankfully purchased many additional accessories over the last couple years. Also purchased many of the Kubrick Aliens figures - especially the Space Suits because they are in close scale to the 1:18 scale plus highly detailed. Unfortunately I'm starting to think wether the helmets need to be larger. For the exception of the helmets and most of the armor seen below, the pulse rifles, flame units and motion trackers will not be needed for the first line. They will come in handy when I begin work on some Aliens figures - more news on that later.

As I advance on these figures, I will be making castings of Alien eggs molded from the eggs included in the revoltech line - a very close scale to 1:18. I hope to have enough ready to create a small diorama egg silo for my space suit companions so they can explore and learn all about this strange species - especially Kane ;)

And what about the other members of the Nostromo? All are in the works!

Kane - will be making four versions of Kane...

1. Kane in uniform with headset, cigarette and coffee mug. Alternate replaceable short sleeved torso.

2. Kane in Space Suit - Alternate helmet with attached facehugger

3. Kane "Chestbuster" - Will make use of the table I spoke of building earlier. Two different torsos, one being the alien birth. Looking forward to tooling this version - and it will be graphic!. I've never sculpted or painted blood and gore before...will be a fun learning experience.

Lambert - will include and headset, cigarette, coolant rack and motion detector.

1. Lambert in uniform with Nostromo jacket and cowboy boots , featuring a short sleeved replaceable torso.

2. Lambert in Space Suit

Parker - Will include a coolant bottle, Flame Unit, Motion Detector, food tray and net.

1. Parker in uniform with short sleeved replaceable torso and a second one with torn shirt.

Brett - Will include ball cap and cattle prod.

1. Brett in Uniform - Tropical shirt and ball cap.

2. Brett Cocooned

I have many other plans for this line - a couple dioramas - The commons area and Nostromo cockpit. For right now though, the figures are the thing. These updates will roll into the rest of the work I'm doing so plan to see something new with every blog update for here on out!

Speaking of updates...how about some Star Wars updates of some Sith and a Jedi!

First up is Darth Malgus from the upcoming Bioware/Lucasarts game, The Old Republic . Inspired by the brilliant cinematic trailers by Blur Studios!

My last blog entry listed that my Darth Malgus sculpt was complete and has gone on to the painting phase. This is still accurate although through the process I have ended up sculpting three more head sculpts which brings me up to a final total of eight unique head sculpts!!! Check out the side by side shots below!

Below is a couple shots of one of the new head sculpts - a very neutral, cold and focused Malgus - showing no emotion.

The shot above is his transition to a Dark Lord from the pale white Sith Acolyte seen in the next image..I made some paint adjustments to the eyes to achieve the above image. You'll notice I began painting the armor. None of it being finalized of course.

As an acolyte, I'm sure he expressed his rage from time to time - He's a Sith! You don't hold those emotions in!! So I decided to create yet another head sculpt using an existing head from a store bought figure - Mas Amedda for the ROTS line. I made a casting of the head and re sculpted the cranium. I made some tweaks to the face and brow then painted it up....

To be clear - I highlighted the brightness in the eyes for some images to emphasize the sith fire. Very cool effect!

Another scale shot if interested. Nothing fancy - just wanting to show scale.

The next handful of images are some of my favorites since I began working on this figure - actually this has become one of my favorite Malgus sculpts. It's the same sculpt as above but with the face guards added and a new paint application showing the prolific veining across his pale flesh. He appears as he would in the "Hope" trailer.

I must of had Anthony Hopkins from The Silence of the Lambs on my mind when I made the sculpt adjustments to this head - I think it resembles him a bit!...or does he look more like a pissed of Captain Bligh from The Bounty...Ha!

And that is that with the Darth Malgus head sculpts - I've enjoyed making the multiple versions but probably won't be going that far with a figure ever again (yea...right!). Anyway, look for Darth Malgus to be completed for the next blog entry!

Let's stay on target and talk more of The Old Republic with my next work in progress figure - Jedi Satele Shan! An avid adversary of Darth Malgus.

Completed the head sculpt from a cast I was going to originally use for Jedi Sian Jesiel - sans the fur texture. I cleaned up the casting a bit, re-sculpted the pulled back hair, recasted and sculpted the hair draped down the sides of her face.

The body frame will remain slender with the neck exaggerated a bit to make room for the high shoulder armor. Once complete, the proportions will make sense. I'm planning to paint up the head sculpt in the next few days...

Last but not least...Finally an update on my 1:18 scale Darth Vader...

Working on finalizing the soft good material and how it lays across the shoulders. The helmet is complete. I plan on painting a sample this week. Have several different tweaks to make to Vader before preparing for paint application.

The chain around Vader's neck is a real metal chain! - A bronze battleship chain I purchased on eBay then painted over using stainless steel acrylic paint.

Some action poses of the Dark Lord to show the articulation. Still much to cover before I can claim this piece is complete. I am still working on the helmet variant exposing Anakin's head. Should have much more to reveal in the coming weeks.

(SIGH!) Thats all for this update folks! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and get caught up on my progress. If you want to keep up with daily updates and progress of my work, check out my facebook page - Sith_fire30 Creations
- hard to believe my Facebook page has surpassed 850 fans! Thanks to all who support my work - all my friends, fans and fellow artists, YOU ROCK!

Not a fan? You kiddin'? Stop by my Faceboook page and join us before it's too late (just being dramatic)!!! Sith_fire30 Creations

That goal of 1000 fans before the end of the year is looking more and more a possible reality...but understand that I'd rather have true fans, friends and fellow artists than just a number so if it happens, it happens.

Also be sure to stop by my Flickr photostream for the images you see here and others not posted - bookmark my FLICKR page and check in often.

Sith_fire30 Creations on twitter!!! @sith_fire30 My followers are growing as fast as those I'm following - does that make any sense? HA! Be sure to ad me to your tweet list!

You can now find me on Tumblr! Sith_fire30 Works will be a daily visual of my work in progress or anything I may find interesting or usefull - just more of a pictorial diary of my progress from day to day. If you have a Tumblr account - you can follow me here - Sith_fire30 Works

As always if you have any questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me here, my facebook or my e-mail - sith_fire30@yahoo.com. My email may be the best way to go - I check that daily. Hope to hear from you!

Stay tuned for more updates this month - shooting for two more...especially as we get closer to Halloween. Hope the Great Pumpkin visits this year...tired of a bag of rocks.

Ladies and Gents - Au revoir!

Sith_fire30

Completed Sculpts, Finished Figures and more PART II

2011-08-26T21:23:00.060-04:00

Here we are with part II of a massive blog update featuring more completed sculpts and a couple FINISHED PIECES! No, you're not dreaming, I have actual finished pieces to present for this, the second half of the update. Got more to share so lets get with it and bring out the ladies....

The Tonnika Sisters - I'm not sure what kind of licensing red tape is keeping these figures from being immortalized in plastic and at this point, I am tired of waiting so I decided several months ago to take on the task at creating these lovely ladies myself...lovely ladies or simply bar trash - who knows - I don't care - Have the Cantina band strike up a tune and lets get into some of these images I took of the sisters completed sculpts...

Similar to Darth Malgus - A transition from simple frames to finished sculpts - many adjustments had to be made with the frames as progression advanced - again, similar to Malgus, your original frame will rarely remain the same as it was when you first created it..sometimes articulation becomes an issue, or proportion - no matter, the initial frame is your starting block. May not look like much but I like to photograph it because it reminds me how far I have taken the sculpt from a blank slate to a finished form...

And here we are - the completed sculpts of the Tonnika Sisters. They retain much of the original ariculation as the frames they now encase, with a few exceptions...the hair restricts much of the head movement - which isn't much of a bother - I'll go back and sculpt some "Action" versions with their hair whiping around if need be. You know how much I love to sculpt alternate heads LOL! Also, the legs don't move as far back like I would have wanted them to - but that's a judgement call I made - sacrifice the articulation for the sculpt? In this case - yes. It's one of those decisions I'm sure is made by any figure sculptor when working with mass articulation...

I'm happy I was able to retain the feminine appearance and not bulk up the frame - this can be very tricky when sculpting females - especially in the shoulders, chest and thighs. This is the reason i sculpted the figures in the nude first, then added the textured clothing - may have taken longer but it helps me at this scale at times - sometimes it's not needed and I'll sculpt the form directly. It's just one of my "things" LOL!

The reference photos I used for the sisters were from the costume images during production and Chronicles. One of the things I did not emphasize with the sculpts was, and excuse my french, the "camel toe granny panties" both wore outside of their jumpsuit...just look at the image below...no way!

Another thing I decided to do was to make the height difference less evident than what you see with the original actresses. This idea came from the various illustrations and interpretations I found from books and online - So I'm injecting a little EU into these figures as well as the original trilogy.

The clothes were sculpted over the nude forms I created, using a light coating of FIXIT sculpt. I covered a little area at a time, allowing in to cure for three hours, then taking some fabric material and pressing it into the FIXIT, creating texture. Once painted, you will see the texture of the outfit prominently as it fits to the form like a tight jumpsuit worn by a couple of promiscuous barhoppers LOL! Just kidding - these ladies are not what they seem...if you read you EU!

Some action poses of the sisters - I have yet to choose what weapons they may possess - I'd say silent weapons (daggar, knife) since what they wear leaves little room to hide a gun. Not sure yet - just image they are holding some kind of weapon...I'm leaning toward some kind of gun...you never walk around a wretched hive of scum and villainy and not have the ablility to lay out someone if need be.

One thing to remember - these sisters are dangerous!! If they set their sights upon you - look out! Might be a good thing, though most of the time it's bad. I'm very pleased with how these sculpts turned out - not 100% Trilogy and at the same time not to far off with EU influence - a nice in-between which was my goal. Looking forward to painting these two ladies up! I already have two head sculpts painted (you've seen them in prior updates) but I also plan to paint a couple more...with a slightly different color scheme. Till then, hope you enjoy the finished sculpts!

Finally I have completed my first Yuuzhan Vong Warrior! Heavily influenced by Colin Wilson's illustrations from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Invasion...

As well as the bio-mechanical art of H.R. Giger...

I give you the first of my Yuuzhan Vong Warriors!

The figure is a complete sculpt using a frame built from the Spawn Nitro Riders series. The warrior stands at 4.75" tall and was sculpted using Aves FIXIT sculpt.

Much of the hard detail had to be realized myself since the illustrations in the comics, although fantastic, were mostly generalized. I took ideas from the art of H.R. Giger, which works perfectly for a creature like the Yuuzhan Vong, and instilled some of the bio-mechanical/organic traits of the Giger Alien into the Vong Sculpt - Looking at the detailed images below, you may see some similarities...

Yes, I was listening to the Alien soundtrack when sculpting this creature! :)

Here's a concept image by H.R. Giger of the Derelict Ship from Alien...See anything familiar?...

Jedi Master Luke Skywalker vs. The Vong! Someday there will be more than one Vong facing him down - unfortunately for this warrior, the contest will be short lived...or will it?...

The Vong's amphistaff is a borrowed piece from the Jacen Solo action figure.

Very pleased with how this figure looks and feels - I think the essence of the Vong has been captured, as well as some of the unique illustrative mastery of Colin Wilson. The figure has a massive amount of articulation - the joints are solid and the figure heavy and stable. I hope my future Vong figures turn out just as good (knocks on wood)!

Speaking of future Vong, here's a few new work in progress images of Commander Tsalok, also from the pages of the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Invasion...

If you thought the previous Vong was big...this guy is HUGE! Measures 6" tall - and for it being a 1:18 scale figure - that's BIG and HEAVY! The sculpt is almost complete! With only the alternate head to finish and some additional details to be added to the body. This Vong has been infulenced more heavily from the comic series since the character is more unique to the story arc with many of it's features taken directly from Colin Wilson's illustrative work.

Another future Vong in the works is actually from the distant future! From the pages of the Dark Horse comics series Star Wars: Legacy is Choka Skell. Completed the upper body sculpt and is currently working on finishing the lower abdomen and legs. Hope to begin the sculpt of his fellow warrior Liaan Lah soon after this sculpt is complete.

Finally for this update is a figure I did several years ago and just recently realized that I never gave the figure a proper reveal...I present the torture droid AX/RX from the pages of the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Republic!

Like the character itself, this sculpt is a heavily modified 2-1B action figure using existing parts and some of my early FIXIT sculpt work. The figure contains some articulation - as mch as the original 2-1B figure had. Some of the images show another sculpted creation of mine, AX/RX's creator - Kh'aris Fenn!

Again, a figure I should have shown a loooonnngg time ago! I think this is the only droid I have created...WOW! I need to make some more!

And that's it for now! I'm spent! Part one of this massive update, which includes finished scupts of Darth Malgus and works in progress of the Imperial Trooper, Twi'lek Mandalorian Neo-Crusader, Dark Lord Starkiller, Wolf Sazen and Boba Fett can be found here in case you missed it! - PART I UPDATE. Such a massive update, it had to be broken down into two parts.

As always, If you want to keep up with daily updates and progress of my work, as well as news about other artists and collectibles, then you need to become a fan of my facebook page - Sith_fire30 Creations - Thanks to all the fans of my page - we're closing in on 800 Sith Maniacs! Thanks again!

Also be sure to stop by my Flickr photostream for all these images I've posted here for BOTH updates - plus many more not included.

Sithfire30 Creations can now be found on twitter!!! @sith_fire30
be sure to follow!

If any of you have questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me here, my facebook or my e-mail - sith_fire30@yahoo.com.

Again, be sure to check out my podcast interview with Lucasclones and Tamer (Chad and Shawn) from Inperialshipyards.net and become a fan of their facebook page - Custom Action Figure News. They are great guys and need your support - Thanks in advance.

Alright people - go back and see part I again LOL!! Thanks for your continued interest in my work!! More to come...By the way, been tossing up some ideas of a possible series staring this heroine.

Oh, I'm sure you can guess...take care!

Sith_fire30

Completed Sculpts, Finished Figures and more PART I

2011-08-24T21:24:00.074-04:00

Hey everyone! Time for another productive update - a massive one at best! So big it had to be broken down into two parts - but before we get into part one....

Be sure to check out my podcast interview - Episode 16 - with Lucasclones and Tamer (Chad and Shawn) from Inperialshipyards.net and become a fan of their facebook page - Custom Action Figure News! I was invited to do an interview with them several weeks ago - very kind of them to have me on their show! I had a great time and answered a ton of questions many of you may have wondered about - be sure to take a moment and check it out.

I have plenty to share so let's get things started with some works in progress - First off will be Jedi Master Wolf Sazen from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Legacy.

You may recall that my original head sculpt of Sazen has his hair down - similar to the concept art of Wolf in issue "0" of Legacy - near the end of the series, Wolf is seen with his hair pinned back which I found to be a good look for him and especially with the fact that I needed a head sculpt that would allow movement on the neck joint - Wolf's original head restricts movement because of the hair down over the shoulders.

You'll notice I removed the lower part of the figure's tunic, and added ball jointed hips for added articulation. I also made adjustments to the length and resculpted the figures left arm.

Below are additional detailed images of Wolf's alternate head sculpt.

Next up, a shot of Boba Fett. I'm taking my sweet time with the sculpt - working out the jumpsuit before adding the armor...piece by piece. So far I have completed the upper half of the jumpsuit. I know that many artists that have worked customs of Boba have received numerous negative critiques due to the "claimed" lack of accuracy...let me be clear - this will be my interpretation of the character...I will do my best to be accurate but I won't be kicking myself if I miss something here or there. I appreciate any tips you guys can give me but wanted to be clear this is my interpretation and mine alone. Many more images to come of this guy...

Next up is an update on the Dark Lord Sithstalker sculpt from the video game, The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition. Worked on the torso and back of the figure, adding detail yet keeping in mind the articulation that works hand in hand with the sculpt.

Detail showing the spinal column of the back and the "control pack" between the shoulder blades...this piece was sculpted separate from the figure, with the idea of adding a small acrylic window to the pack showing some detail that I will add later. At this point, I will be working on completing the legs and boots, as well as the details to the forearms.

Next up is a figure that has been tabled for a VERY LONG TIME but is finally back on the workbench and close to having it's sculpt completed! I'm talking about the Twi'lek Mandalorian Neo Crusader, inspired by the illustrations from Dustin Weaver and found within the pages of the Dark horse comic series, Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic, Flashpoint story arc.

When I first decided to make this figure, I never though of doing an alternate head sculpt showing the character without the helmet...unfortunately there isn't enough source images of this character to give me any clue what he may have looked like under the getup. So, I have been forced to take a bit of a creative license and create my own concept. He's battle scared across his left eye, with an old fashioned eye patch covering the wound. Could he be hiding something behind that eye patch? Tech perhaps? Maybe he's not even blind in that eye...perhaps the patch itself is tech...who knows. He's armed to the teeth - flame unit, net launcher, poison darts, vibro blade and his two trusty handguns. Much more I'm sure - he's a Mandalorian for crying out loud! I took more creative license with the figure's sculpt itself you may notice - the illustrations are much more simplified than that of my working sculpt currently.

I may also add that the ammo belt across his waist contains a new articulated feature - the belt is a mix of sculpted, casted and borrowed material - the belt has been cut in two with each cut at either sides of the figure, then brought back together with a clear rubber band glued beneath, out of sight. The belt can now move freely with the figure's waist articulation, freeing it up and greatly reducing the resistance that would most likely break the detailed ammo belt.

An update to my Imperial Sith Trooper sculpt as seen in the upcoming Bioware/Lucasarts game - Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I plan on making 4 of these similar to the New Republic Shock troopers I'm currently working on. But instead of sculpting the armor over and over again, I plan on making the armor removable with this initial figure, then casting the pieces four times over, giving me a complete series and cutting my sculpt time. The helmet is complete and has been casted so once the armor is complete, all I'll need to sculpt for the remaining three figures will be the jumpsuit, leg and arm details.

The main chest and back armor is held together by magnets. The upper chest armor is laid through the neck post and across the shoulders, and the shoulder armor is held by clear rubber bands.

I'll be beefing you the upper arms and continuing the sculpt of the lower arms and legs. I'm already starting on number 2 of the four figure set.

My final update for this, part I of this massive blog update is the completed sculpt of Darth Malgus, from the Bioware/Lucasarts game, Star Wars: The Old Republic also featured in the novel by Paul S. Kemp - Star Wars: Deceived.

The completed sculpt of Darth Malgus - the image above is from start to finish. Image below - the completed sculpt. I really enjoyed working on this figure and quite honestly and obviously, got carried away with the awesomeness of the character LOL!

Some additional images of the detail added to this sculpt - To this point, possibly the most detail I've added to a figure since I began sculpting at this scale..

I went back and sculpted the forearm tech again - making the lines crisp and having it flush with the connection to the upper arms.

I completed the hood for the Sith Lord as well as his lightsaber. The soft goods are his cowl which drapes through the upper arms and across his back, looping under the shoulder armor.

I'll let the photos tell the story of how much I loved working on this figure :) I have a warm place in my heart for the Sith :)

The image above is of Darth Malgus with his variety of alternate head sculpts! Six in all! Yes, I promised I would stop at 5 but the one under the hood will be number six...His eyes glaring, showing Malgus' fury!

The heads of Darth Malgus, beginning with the one from the Cinematic Trailer - Return. The transition from pale white, clear eyed warrior to a physically distressed, scarred and powerful Sith Lord has been captured with these various head sculpts - just couldn't bear to leave one of them out LOL!

Final images of this piece before the sculpt gets primed and painted. Don't forget this figure will also include alternate battle damaged armor to the chest and left shoulder guard. Looking forward to seeing how this piece translates when painted!

Get ready for Satele Shan! Can't have a Sith Lord like Malgus and his Sith Troops without an adversary right?

Alright - part one is in the can! Part two of this update can be found here, which includes finished sculpts of the Tonnika Sisters, works in progress of Vong charcters such as Choka Skell and Tsalok from Star Wars: Legacy as well as COMPLETED figures like my first in a series of Vong Warriors and the Republic torture droid AX-RX - This will make three posts in one month - very impressive if I may say so LOL!

If you want to keep up with daily updates and progress of my work, as well as news about other artists and collectibles, then you need to become a fan of my facebook page - Sith_fire30 Creations - Thanks to all the fans of my page - we're closing in on 800 Sith Maniacs! Thanks again!

Also be sure to stop by my Flickr photostream for all these images I've posted here for BOTH updates - plus many more not included.

Sithfire30 Creations can now be found on twitter!!! @sith_fire30
be sure to follow!

If any of you have questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me here, my facebook or my e-mail - sith_fire30@yahoo.com.

Alright guys - head on over to part II!!! LOL!!

Sith_fire30

Getting My Paint On!

2011-07-27T13:02:00.068-04:00

Thought I would put down the sculpting tool for awhile and get some paint work done! The images below are all works in progress - some needing more work than others, but all nearing that magical moment of completion. The painting of these figures in my opinion is just an extension of the sculpting process because this is where I deliver the depth of the folds, bring out the textures and reveal the expression of the character which before have been nothing but a neutral blank slate. It's awesome to sit back and watch the sculpts I've invested time in come to life one brush stroke at a time. I love it!

Anyway, enough of that - I'm sure many of you will be pleased to see some of these pieces come to fruition - trust me, so am I! I've got some big plans for some upcoming projects and to free up some elbow room on my workbench will be just what the doctor ordered! So let's get to it!

First off we have a teaser shot of three individual figures nearing completion or in the case of one of them, has already reach it. The image is of (from left to right) Del Moomo - Ithorian bounty hunter, one of two brothers as seen in the Dark Horse comic series, Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic. Next is one of my favorites, the bounty hunter Furlag from the multimedia release of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. Finally is a close in shot of the Gotal smuggler Lumbra, from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Dark Times...who might I ad, within the past couple months revisited the sculpting table to have articulated ankles added (he's very pleased LOL!).

Below is a close-up shot of Del Moomo's eyes - I think these are some of most entertaining eyes I've done so far. Also noticed as I added the paint that I captured some of the unique illustrative style Brian Ching contributed to the comic...I've noticed that I tend to pick up a little bit of the artists' technique in my sculpting...I just don't create a neutral interpretation of the character (sometimes I do), I try to bring a little of the artist's style into the piece itself.

Below is another close-up of Del's outfit - sorry but didn't have any time to take more detailed shots of the other two. No worries though - you'll get more that your fill for each one of these soon enough :)

Went back and reworked the paint job on Deliah Blue's head sculpt - I wanted bigger eyes and a slight change to the skin tone. Next to her is a work-up of the Morrigan Corde's head sculpt...which is the focus in the next several photos below...

Here is the completed sculpt of Cade Skywalker's mother - Morrigan Corde from the pages of the dark horse comic series Star Wars: Legacy.

The next couple images below show the figure primed and ready for some color. I prime all my figures using a brushable acrylic, not spray paint. I use Floquil Testors acrylic color Undercoat Light Gray. Before you apply your primer, be sure that all joints can move freely and not work against each other, reducing the amount of space between each joint. If you fail to do this, your paint will wear away from critical articulation points like the elbows and knees. I'll post a separate tutorial about this soon.

Below I've started by adding the flesh tones first as well as work on the head sculpt. Morrigan will eventually be a blonde but while I work on the rest of the figure, she'll remain a brunette. I always start by filling in the flesh tones first, working them close to completion, then going back and adding the colors to the clothing and accessories. This isn't some golden rule in painting, just a preference that works for me.

These images show the addition of the jacket and green bustier. The comics show the jacket having a glossy sheen which I will add to it later using a clear gloss coat after the final painted piece has been fixed with matte spray. I'm really happy that some of the mild texturing of the bustier has shown through the paint work :)

I mentioned that Morrigan will eventually be a blonde - the image below is an earlier paint up (about a year old) which includes an additional "wave" of hair that drapes over one of her eyes. I will keep this head sculpt as an alternate, but will attempt to do another version and tighten up the eyes a bit.

Next up are some paint progress images of Starkiller from the Lucasarts game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. Below is an image of the primed figure ready for some color. Tricky to paint around the soft goods but it can be done :)

The following images are close-up shots of the work in progress...at the time these photos were taken, I have added color down to the belt. None of the smaller paint details (metal clasps, connectors) have been added yet.

The next few images are of a new figure I've began working on - I've said that one of the versions of Starkiller I would be creating this year would be that of the Sith Apprentice Robes. Below is one of the completed head sculpts...

The hood is just for show and isn't the final accessory for the figure - The skin of Starkiller has grown muted, veiny..gray...while his eyes burn with sith fire. Much more intense that what is seen in the video game but whose to say I won't do another head sculpt that's more similar? :) I will be adding more shades of gray around the cheek bones and chin - it's a bit too flat presently. I want the eyes to be wide open and intense. The head sculpt is the same as the Arena Combat version you see above, no changes to the sculpt.

The next series of shots are that of my first in a series of Yuuzhan Vong warriors - As of yesterday, this figure's paint work has been completed! The armor is both heavy and organic, so I used a thin, watery light coat of Oily Black acrylic over previously painted parts of the figure to give the armor a living, breathing appearance. I took a bunch of inspiration from H.R. Giger and how he painted his biomechanical creations. I have four more Vong lined up and two more frames being built...

The Vong Warrior comes packed with a TON of articulation! More will be shown when final images are taken.

By the way, I'll be creating an alternate head sculpt (suprise) of the Vong Warrior wearing the Gnullith - Which is a biotechnological breathing apparatus used for space flight and on non-atmospheric worlds...

This last shot below is an older image but still represents well of the final piece. Final images coming soon!!!

Next up is Darth Malgus, from the upcoming Bioware game Star Wars: The Old Republic...and his official, FINAL alternate head sculpt. Number 5!!!

This head sculpt is of Malgus as featured in the Hope cinematic trailer, smiling deviously as he runs though a Republic soldier with his lightsaber in true Sith tradition. This is the final alternate head sculpt for this figure - 5 in all - the most I've made for a figure. Now all I need to do is get the body sculpt complete!

All five side by side...

Another completed Sith head sculpt - this time from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Legacy. Darth Stryfe wears the markings of the One Sith - the sith order lead by the Dark Lord Darth Krayt.

I think this is the second "red flesh" sith I've painted with the black tattoos - first one being Darth Talon which by the way is going through a second metamorphosis on the work bench. Stryfe's body sculpt is still being work on but is close to completion! :) The next red skin sith to be created will be Darth Wyyrlok...

My final update has to do with the alternate head sculpt to my non-animated version of Savage Opress. But before I get to that, I completed the horns to the primary head sculpt! I used a dark brown as the base for each horn, then used a light dry brushing of several lighter colors.

If you recall the last time we saw this beast he was leaving on a quest to find his lost brother, Darth Maul. Before that, he had a "Fight Club" moment against two Sith, two Jedi and a boat load of droids...and walked away with a few "scratches" LOL...Brutal! That episode inspired my alternate "Brutality" head sculpt of Savage...

The above image shows the primed head sculpt painted with multiple coats of dark brown.

After allowing the dark brown layer to dry, I apply several coats of yellow to the entire head sculpt...thin layers will allow the brown coat underneath to darken the yellow being placed over it...you don't want the yellow layer to be thick and heavy or it will become flashy like the store bought, animated version...

Allow the yellow layer to dry, then take a fine tipped brush, and apply the tattoo markings. I personally don't try to make them exact...I work to make each side symmetrical but if a point is a little rounded, or if a curve isn't rounded enough...I don't have a problem with it because in my opinion, makes it more real to me. This goes for the Darth Stryfe head sculpt previously mentioned...

Time to accentuate the battle damage! I made the damaged eye to appear wider, bloodshot and bruised. Darkened the flesh around the eye and cheek, and added a darker orange and red to show trama. Then I took a dry, hard brush, dipped it into some red paint, wiped off the excess then ran the tip of my finger across the top of the brush that in turn shot a misting of red spots across the eye, cheek and forehead - blood splatter!!!

Some good news about Savage - His sculpt is almost complete! This shot below was taken yesterday - all that remains is the straps around the arms, some additional buckles on the boots and a lightsaber hilt.

And that's all I got for this update - I'm trying to get more updates pumped out and placed on my blog so I hope August will have more than two entrys. If you want to keep up with daily updates and progress of my work, chaeck out my facebook page - Sith_fire30 Creations
- where the greatest fans in the world show interest in my maddness! I've surpassed 700 fans!! Incredible! Thank you guys so much!

Not a fan? Stop by my Faceboook page and join us! Sith_fire30 Creations

Still hoping to hit 1000 fans before the end of the year...the way it's going now, looks to be an obtainable goal!

Also be sure to stop by my Flickr photostream for the images you see here and others not posted - bookmark my FLICKR page and check in often.

Sithfire30 Creations can now be found on twitter!!! @sith_fire30
be sure to follow!

If any of you guys/gals have questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me here, my facebook or my e-mail - sith_fire30@yahoo.com. I made a typo in my email address within my last entry so if you tried to email me and got a bounce back, try again - My fault and I apologize :)

I'm working to complete some tutorials - till then if you have any questions about anything I've worked on, please don't hesitate - happy to help.

Alright ladys and gents - Cheers!

Sith_fire30

A Fistful Of Works....In Progress!

2011-07-08T08:58:00.057-04:00

And that's the truth! Not as big an update as the last but definately some progress being made on several figures which will be finding completion soon. Would like to start out with a little Metal Gear!...

Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

Since the last update I've began building the chest and upper abdomen. You can see the progression below.

...and if you've followed any of my work in progress, you'll notice I have a systematic progression to building my sculpts. First the head sculpt (sometimes to completion), then the neck, shoulders, upper arms, collar bone/chest, abdomen and finally lower abdomen...funny thig is, the back side is completely bare! You wouldn't notice in the images but I haven't built up the back of the figures torso in the least...it's merely a choice and a way of controlling the progression...I also find that working a little at a time I'm able to apply more attention to the details and arrive at a more accurate sculpt when finished. Just one of my wacky ways...

Here I've gone ahead and added the ammo vest and clasps. I know the ammo vest allows more slack that what is seen...looks a bit skin tight with the waist being to small. No worries, I'll be adding some loose folds later before I add the ammo pack attachments.

Next up is my progress on the Cybrog Ninja, Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid.

You can see from the image above and the one to follow that I've made HUGE progress over the past several weeks! This sculpt is base on the sculpt work provided by the crew over at Play Arts for their 12" Metal Gear line - the images I showed you in the last entry. In fact here is a new image showing their progress...

So impressed and excited I am for this piece, I've taken on the challenge of reducing that 12" piece to the 1:18 scale...below are my most recent updates.

This version of Gray Fox derives from the concept art featuring additional cybernetics (as seen in the arms and legs) than what appears in the actual game play render.

The legs and lower arms are tricky - so is the chest! I will thicken them up a bit more once I have the other arm and leg done. With this sculpt, I went outside my usual system of building because of the complexity and the abundance of line.

Head sculpt close to completion - this version will also include an alternate head sculpt of FOX with his human face exposed...hmmm, seems all my figures now have more than one head sculpt..what can I say, I like the extra work...LOL!!!

Already presents the cold, machine like stare with that cycloptic eye..."Neither Enemy Nor Friend. I am Back From A World Where Such Words Are Meaningless".

Back to the galaxy far, far away...Next up is a brief update on the Tonnika Sisters - trying to limit the updates a bit on these two while I continue to sculpt the remains of the clothing on each figure - Just added the neck collars, soon will add additional detail and have them ready to be painted.

Told you it would be brief...no worries, more to be seen soon from the sisters.

Let's get on to the Republic Shock Troopers and their new toys..

Not only are these four individially sculpted soldiers going to get unique accessories/gear but all will be issued firepower - these custom blasters I created. What you see are castings I made from a master...the weapon itself is a mashup of existing "store bought" and some sculpting. Tried to make the rifles have the look and feel of the weapons shown through the pages of Dark Horse's comic series Star Wars: Invasion..which artist Colin Wilson so masterfully illustrates...

I have to say that when I chose to sculpt four of these guys, I wasn't sure I could keep my enthusiasm with the project...repeating the same process over and over...and over again can become a labor, and you naturally loose interest. But now that I see these guys together closer than ever to completion, I will never do just one trooper even again - troopers will always come in twos or fours...like my Imperial Trooper in the works...hard work but worth it!

I've added additional (but slight) detailing to the helmets. Also acquired the tubing for the back of each to plug into their environmental tanks.

I will possibly go back and cast the rifles in black or smokey gray - first time I've casted my own weapons so didn't even think about coloring till after the fact. May create a smaller side arm for each trooper as well.

As far as where the rifle will be placed when not in use...time for the magnet trick! Will embed a magnet into the side of the rifle and somewhere along the back of each trooper so the rifle can easily be stowed.

Another piece nearing completion (the sculpting part that is)...is Darth Malgus from the Bioware/Lucasarts game, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

While completing the sculpt, I have been testing the "Soft Goods" such as the cape and hood and how it will function with the figure. Below are test images...

Decided to go with a rubbery hood instead of cloth. At this scale the material is too light to lay correctly. The plastic hood comes from a Vintage 2011 Darth Sideous figure, and shortened to fit tighter to the head. I will make a casting of this to be rid of the deam lines and add an extension to the back.

So far I have a total of four completed head sculpts for this figure...why not make another one...I'm crazy right? Well, like I said in my last entry, I wanted to recreate the likeness of Malgus as seen in the Hope trailer where he gently glances over and smiles after executing a republic soldier. So very Sith of him! What can you say - he enjoys his work!

I'll get this sculpt painted up soon!

One final update on Darth Malgus would be his lower leg armor being completed. Still need to sharpen the lines...next will be the foot armor and boots.

Alright, onto another figure nearing completion, Savage Opress. I think somewhere back in another entry I spoke of an alternate head sculpt showing battle damage - well, here ya go - The "Brutality" version.

Sporting cut horns, cuts and bruises, this version of Savage will consist of the alternate head sculpt, battle damaged chest armor and shoulder armor. The image above and below lack the side horns that were added later.

And here he is complete - This is not a version that shows a defeated Savage, this one will depict a version that doesn't know when to quit...a merciless brute! You don't want none of this!....

Well after saying how tough he is, I rip off his arms...my bad, and I apologise...but that's not the focus of the next two images. I completed his belt (sans the hilt) and his soft goods/plastic tunic.

The design on the front of the tunic will be painted on.

Just yesterday I recieved the Hasbro Clone Wars version of Savage and I must say, not a bad figure...for the exception of not having ball jointed ankles and the yellow and black being WAY TOO YELLOW AND BLACK!

Anyway I had to do a comparision shot to the non-animated version I'm working on..why oh why did they skimp out on the blade!

Again, a nice figure - not knockin' Hasbro's at all. I just think that if it met my version in a dark alley it would scare the tats right off of his ultra yellow body LOL! BOO!

And finally for this entry - the title speaks of a "Fistful of Work"...I've taken on Cold War Espionage and Galactic War, how about I broaden my horizons and take on Bounty Killers south of the boarder?...

That's right, as the announcement says below, I'm going to create 9 - 10 figures (and their horses) based on the Dollars Trilogy: A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

For a Fistful Of Dollars I've chosen three characters - Joe (Clint), Ramón Rojo and his brother Esteban Rojo - just because of that elaborate costume!

For A Few Dollars More will be Monco (Clint), El Indio and Col. Douglas Mortimer

And finally The Good, The Bad and the Ugly will be Blondie (Clint), "Angel Eyes" and Tuco

Now I've already begun sculpting - in fact I have completed two head sculpts. Both versions are of Clint Eastwood. Since he looks similar in all three films for the exception of a small costume change, I will be using thess sculpts throughout the line. The two group images below are that of the same head sculpt, just different settings...

I will have four versions of this headsculpt when completed - One with the hat, one without. Then a second set being the same for the exception of him smoking a small cigar.

The brim of the hat was difficult to sculpt at first but realized that I could add the FIXIT on a little thicker then once cured, reduce it with a dremel tool then sand the brim down. Happy to say, it works!

Alas, once again, we've come to the end of another blog entry - but I'd like to take a moment to put all this aside and ask for your help...

Michael Martinez, owner and artist of Mercury Art Studios, was tragically killed last week by a drunk driver. He leaves behind his fiancé Hollie, his baby daughter and another one that has yet to be born. I met Mike online...never met the man personally...but you couldn't mistaken the enthusiasm he had for the hobbie of customizing action figures. He and I would brainstorm on occasion and his ideas were fantastic. He was just getting confident at incorporating more sculpted work into his figures and breaking away from retooling. He didn't limit himself to just one subject or scale - and was able to make a living selling quality work he created for fans and collectors to purchase on Ebay. He had a lot going his way, not only as an artist, but as a father and future husband. A tragic loss.

If you knew him or Hollie, please send them a message of support and your prayers. You can leave a posting on Mike's facebook page - Michael Martinez or on his Mercury Art Studios page here - Mercury Art Studios

If you would to make a donation to help Hollie and the kids out, you can send it directly to her via paypal at this addresss - totalsurvey8@windstream.net. Shout out to Tamer for the info - thank you!

RIP Mike - You'll be missed!!

Now - On a lighter note. My facebook fans and followers here on the blogs are suffering my maddness! Over 650 on facebook and over 105 followers here on my blogspot!?! We need a doctor in here! LOL! Seriously I appreciate each one of you and your continued interest in my work! You all inspire me just as much as I hope inspire you - we need each other right?! Wanna join in on this maddness? Stop by my Faceboook page and become a fan! Sith_fire30 Creations

Also be sure to stop by my Flickr photostream for todays images plus many more. I'll be launching these images as soon as this blog entry goes live so please stop by - I will be adding more images which will NOT BE SEEN ON THIS BLOG or on Facebook so bookmark my FLICKR page and check in often.

Sithfire30 Creations can now be found on twitter!!! @sith_fire30
be sure to follow! I suck at it but still getting a tweet out every once in awhile LOL!

If any of you have questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me here, my facebook or my e-mail - sith_fire30@yahoo.com.

Talk to ya later - next update coming soon!

Sith_fire30

The Many Faces of Malgus, Savage, Snake and much more...

2011-06-13T10:35:00.056-04:00

So I got bit by the painting bug about a week or so ago and decided to knock out some much needed paint work. But instead of working on painting figures that are already close to completion (Vong, Furlag etc), I decide to do paint work on head sculpts to figures whose body sculpts aren't complete...some of which I've just begun work on. Logical huh? - well I've never been one known for logical thinking..especially where my art is concerned LOL! Nevertheless, I have plenty of progress to share with you and yes, a good combination of paint and sculpt...a little of everything. Lets get to it starting off with some Metal Gear...

Now if you follow my facebook, you've probably seen most of this - but for those that haven't...my painted head sculpt of Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

I had a choice to go with either the concept art Snake or with the game render - I chose the concept. I simply liked the rougher appearance - looks like a guy gone rouge..and will be a more easier transition when I begin work on a Iroquois Pliskin variant.

Below is an image of the completed frame for the body of Snake - a mix of both Microman and Hasbro joint systems...He's got a little bit of everything and max articulation. Now I'm not fooling myself..I'm gonna loose some of that articulation when the sculpting is worked in but I'd rather have too much and loose a little that vice versa. :)

The image above shows the progress of his shoulders and arms - I want Snake to have a natural postioning when holding a pistol in front of him - the ball shoulder joints will allow that - so they will not be covered up completely but rather painted over. It worked for my Darth Talon figure so it should work fine here.

On to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. I have updated both PMC soldiers lower hip and leg articulation for a wider range of movement. For the remaining two PMCs which I haven't started work on, they will both get the same treatment.

Old Snake is going to have an updated head sculpt with changes to the hair and addition of the Solid Eye as a variant. Also working on updating the face camo mask variant. Above and below are images of the sculpt itself - may need to reduce the shoulders a bit but not much -the muscle suit tends to look a little thick in some places for a reason of protection. I added some additional wrist articulation to his gun hand - details will be sculpted back. Legs and feet need some work next. Hope to step up work on this old man very soon.

Now I about had an accident when I sat a tweet from Hideo Kojima the other day showing a production piece of a 12" version of Gray Fox - the Cyborg Ninja from the original Metal Gear Solid. Below are the awesome images...

Suffice to say I was hooked - that piece is as good as bought! I've been so excited that I have gone back and began a total rework of my 1:18th scale version - using the Play Arts images as a reference. So far I have completed the neck, upper chest, left shoulder/arm, lower abdomen and lower back detail...

Some of the detail is so exact that it may have to be simplified or left out for the smaller version - I will try to include eveything I see and translate it to the smaller scale to the best of my ability. Very exciting!!

Finally for this Metal Gear update I have some finished frames to share...

1. Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty sporting his "Skull Suit".
2. Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid - just mentioned in the update.
3. Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear Solid - A foxhound fave of mine and yes, he will have a
removable mask.
4. Meryl Silverburg from Metal Gear Soild 4: Guns of the Patriots - Just dig this character
so much. After her, I'll only lack two more members of Rat Patrol 01 - Johnny and Ed!
5. Screaming Mantis from Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots - This is the frame for
her "beauty" form. Working on a special frame for the "beast" as well as the two little
puppets she holds...

That's it for Metal Gear - Onto some figures in a galaxy far, far away...

I have completed the sculpt for Starkiller: The Force Unleashed 2 - Arena Combat Gear. He will soon find his way to be primed then painted and ready to take on the Empire. I've really enjoyed working on this piece - especially the belt and the removable shoulder guard! I look forward to adding more versions of Starkiller to the set.

Below is the completed sculpt - ready to be primed.

The soft goods are from a vintage Bib Fortuna! And the lightsaber hilts fit into two clear sleeves attached to either side of the chest. Clear so they won't be seen as much and distract from the rest of the figure.

Next is progress on my Darth Stryfe from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Legacy. I am presently working on his waist, lower legs, boots and armor. A special shout out to Rémi Ravaz who sent me some much needed reference images of Stryfe's back and somewhat less than impressive leg armor.

Your were a great help Rémi - thanks! May take a little creative license to his lower leg armor - just a bit - not much LOL! After the armor is completed, I will begin work on his unique looking lightsaber hilt.

Alright - has everyone seen the new Cinematic trailer to Star Wars: The Old Republic? The trailer is entitled "Return" and sports the best lightsaber battle in any Star Wars production...ever. Haven't seen it? Don't read anymore till you get up off you butt and have a look - you'll understand my enthusiasm about this figure once you see it...Return Trailer

Just be sure to come back once you've seen it :) I'll wait (watches the clock)...

Cool! You're back! - Now that you've seen it, let's proceed with a Darth Malgus update starting with a few detail shots of the body sculpt so far...

This is the most hard detail I have placed into a single figure - I enjoy all the technology - the straight lines and shadows that are produced. I only hope that the paint application will still allow the detail to show through. Getting close to completion of the main sculpt but will go back and do some minor corrections to the forarms and chest armor - nothing dramatic, just a little tightening up is all.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I planned on doing a battle damaged version of the chest and shoulder armor to go alongs with the battle damaged head variant - the image below shows a very white cast of the battle damaged version - so white in fact that it's difficult to see the details - they will stand out clearly once painted.

Below is the four variant finished head sculpts of Darth Malgus...

1. "Return"
2. "Hope"
3. "Hope" Battle Damaged
4. "Deceived"

Number two and three you have already seen. Below are some detailed images of the "Return" sculpt...

Malgus goes through a very dramatic transformation upon becoming a Sith Lord and killing his master - In "Return" his flesh tone is stone cold white...with only the sith fire of his eyes showing a striking contrast.

The eyes for Malgus are a mix of black filler, then a white coverage for the eye ball, next a black pupil highlighted with orange and yellow with a small dot of black for the iris. A little orange around the lining of the eye itself and some reflective accent to the iris with a yellow touch. It's not an easy task and I NEVER get it on the first try...and I always make adjustments. I just know how limited my attempts are - don't want the bug eyes!

Next are some detailed images of Malgus from the "Deceived" trailer - you can see here his flesh tones have darkend and have becomed stressed - with blood vessels protruding and brusing emanating from behind the mask caused by the injuries he sustained in earlier battles. His eyes are more determined, more anger is seen - his eyes are blood shot and buring with focus of the vision he had of Coruscant buring (from the Paul S. Kemp novel).

At one point I thought of having the mask removable but reconsidered...what would be the point. I am however doing one more head sculpt of the Dark Lord...capturing his morbid grin as he slays Republic Troops in the "Hope" trailer...It's become the staple image for malgus in my opinion...who dare I say - Is more true to the Sith religion than Vader ever was...but that's another discussion all together.

Whose ready for a major Savage Opress update!!!

Although his body sculpt is still a work in progress (yet almost complete), doesn't stop me from proceeding to paint his head sculpt!

First though are a couple images of Savage's COMPLETED Enchanted Blade - given by the Nightsisters. I like to simply call it his "Boom Stick"...

Now to the painted head sculpt! the first couple images below are the two base colors I used - Dark Brown and yellow.

I began with a light gray undercoat acrylic primer, then several light layers of yellow across the entire sculpt. Once dry I began to add the dark brown markings - first across the back of the head then the detailing to the front.

Before adding the eyes, I darken the areas around with a darker brown hue then black.

And finally, using the same method I've spoke of before - I add the eyes...

I am so pleased about the amount of the detail I was able to capture in the eyes with this piece...he has a look of focus yet at any moment can be set off into a rage. I also like the irregularities in the tattoos - it's has a look of scared flesh...organic and not perfect...even though it's nothing more than layers of thin acrylic...I'm looking forward to painting the rest of the body.

The paint work for the head sculpt isn't complete - still need to tighten up the browns and do the horns.

I will be doing a battle damaged alternate, with his eyes a bit wider with possibly a snarl to his mouth, some singed and cut horns and a bloody lip. Really look forward to completing this guy!

Some final updates...I am working on a second version of Delia Blue ( haven't even completed the first one yet!), below is the finished frame.

Also decided to go back a rework my Mara Jade figure - giving her ball hinged hips and reducing the thickness of her legs, thighs and buttocks...I feel like a plastic surgeon LOL!

I also want to clean up the paint job just a bit...retouch the eyes and the hair, and clean up the arms.

I completed the two frames for Darth Krayt and Darth Wyyrlok from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars Legacy: WAR.

Also completed the second frame to my small Imperial Troop set from the upcoming Bioware Game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Speaking of the Imperial Trooper, I have completed the helmet sculpt! At this point, it's made for a ball jointed neck...not sure if I will make these helmets removable yet. I will make a mold and cast a couple to test it out.

While we are talking about troops - a brief updated on my New Republic Shock Troopers from the Dark Horse comic series Invasion! The basics have been sculpted - meaning most of the uniform items neccessary for each solidier has been completed. I will begin working on several different pouches, weapons etc to help differentiate between each soldier and give them some identity.

And finally and update on my Darth Vader figure...it's all about the helmet!

I began sculpting the inner top cylinder of the helmet and embedded a magnet within the piece that will attached to the dome and hold in place.

The image below shows the detailing I've put into the inner frame of the helmet. Not 100% accurate but close enough at this scale. Dome still fits nicely in place. Next I am planning stage three of the sculpt, breaking down the piece into three components and adding my Anaking head sculpt to the mix. I still am planing to paint up a version of this stage.

And for the final update for this entry is the beginnings of Vader's Meditation Chamber from ESB. I just started and already I am making some adjustments - the chair the figure is sitting in is a bit too large...needs to be tightened up some.

When complete, the dio will contain the revolving chair, the chamber itself, a step up entry, the outer wall with door entry/view screen and a holo communication area. Gonna be a challenge! Will be focusing on the chamber first. :)

Alas, we've come to an end of another busy update - Hope you enjoyed it! I want to get some more finished pieces on the table for the next update! I appreciate that you guys enjoy the works in progress but a finished piece every once in awhile would be nice I'm sure. Like I've said many times before, thank you so much for your continued interest in my work!

Wanna know who are the greatest fans on the face of the Earth? Sith_fire30 Creations fans on Facebook that's who! Over 600 followers and counting! These guys are some of the most creative and enthusiastic bunch of guys and gals on the planet and I'm happy to have each one of them aboard! Wanna join in on the maddness? Stop by my Faceboook page and become a fan! Sith_fire30 Creations

Dare I hope for close to 1000 fans (or more)by the end of the year?...a man can dream. Hey - I'll keep pumpin' out the work and you keep spreading the word - Deal?

Sithfire30 Creations can now be found on twitter!!! @sith_fire30
be sure to follow! I'm a "tweet" lazy but again - I'm trying to get better!

I usually try to post these updates on weekend but was a bit late this time around - My apologies. If any of you guys/gals have questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me here, my facebook or my e-mail - sith_fire34@yahoo.com.

Alright - back to the real world (sigh)! Thanks again!

Sith_fire30

Painted Ladies, "Undead" Sith and Sculpt work!

2011-05-24T14:43:00.051-04:00

Being this the first day of my vacation, Geek Pride Day, the the 34th anniversary of Episode IV:A New Hope and the 28th anniversary of Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi as well as being my Birthday (woohoo!) I though I would share my excitement with a reveal of several fully painted head sculpts of the Tonnika Sisters, the awesome Sith Lord Darth Malgus and many more.

Here are the two teasers images I posted of the sisters on my facebook page last week...

Below are new images of the Tonnika Sister's head sculpts. Not 100% movie accurate likenesses but I never intended them to be - I'll leave that to Hot Toys LOL! Have you seen that new Superman Christopher Reeve sculpt? Outstanding! Anyway, about the sisters...Funny how they share the same facial head sculpt yet their likenesses are completely different...just shows what you can do with a slightly different paint application.

Now, I'm working on a second set of the painted heads just to see if I can improve on them a bit. Not that I'm unhappy with the ones I've currently painted but it's practice so I'm not knockin' it. The bodies aren't complete as you can see - thinking wether I should add holsters to the smalls of their backs...at this point I highly doubt it. Never seen in the film so it's an option I may consider closer to completion.

Another couple of completed head sculpts are that of the Old Republic Sith Lord Darth Malgus as see in the Bioware cinematic trailer "Deceived" as well as featured in Paul S. Kemp's novel Star Wars: The Old Republic - "Deceived". Below is the teaser I posted on facebook this week...

The first Malgus head sculpt reflects his appearance at the beginning of the "Hope" Trailer. He is seen wearing guards on either side of his face, ready for battle.

Some of Malgus' physical features easily seen in the trailer are that of his pale "death-like" skin and visible blue veining through his forehead that reaches across to his temples. A side effect of the Dark Side I suppose - can't give yourself to such power without something being taken away.

I captured this look by first applying a standard flesh tone base, then added very fine veining using a intense dark teal/blue. Next, I began applying several light coats of Off White to give Malgus the pale, anemic appearance. With each coat, the dark teal/blue veining bagan to lighten and gave off more of a light blue, translucent appearance, as if the veins were just below the skin. Next I added a couple more drybrushes of the Off White, heavier in some places than others to show the veining "fading" in and out through the skin. I finally added a drybrush of white around the brow line and top of the head to intensify the colorless flesh of the Sith Lord.

Next I shadowed under and around the eyes, cheekbones etc. with suggestive blends...you'll see a close up shot below of what I mean by suggestive. I don't blend each color together all the way...I try, but at this scale, there really is no need. Just adding the colors you require then a light wash (VERY LIGHT) will give depth. Plus, if you try to blend and mix acrylics too long on this type of surface, it will begin to peal away as it drys..leaving a clumpy mess. Very close up you will see the suggestive lines and applications, but take a few steps back and the colors run together...similar to a mild painterly effect.

Below is the image showing the blending. Close up you see the lines are a bit more distict around the outside of the eye sockets and the creases of the cheeks from the corners of the nose to the sides of the mouth. Pan back a couple inches from the subject, they all run together. Since your working in an aread as small as the head on a dime, y0u need to be patient and conservative with the heavy paints.

The next Malgus head sculpt is my favorite so far...It's Malgus as he appeared in the Hope trailer after the second grenade goes off close to his face near the end of the cinematic. One grenade to the face is enough....but two? You're asking for a world of hurt Jedi!

The above shot is my favorite! Reminds me of the old Dawn of the Dead poster for all you zombie fans out there (me included)!

Same paint application I did for the first one applies to this as well - the flesh damage was achieved by taking a dremel tool's bristle brush to a plastic casting...very carefully.

Below is an image showing both sides of the sculpt (same sculpt by the way - not two of them) - You can see in his expression he's not happy and looks a bit determined in the eyes. Wouldn't you be!?!

I have two more head sculpts to paint for Malgus - the "Korriban Triumph" version and the "Sacking of Courscant" version where he appears in his mask...the most head sculpt variations I've ever done for a figure! Fortunately the Malgus creators have made it easier on me by allowing him to remain in the same costume...and for that, I thank you!

Quick update on Malgus' body sculpt - Getting close to completion! Working on his cape/cowl which will fit under and around his armor. Currently working on the back of the legs, buttocks and boots. I have casted the shoulder and chest armor to create a battle damaged version to go along with the head you see above.

Next let's switch "Gears" to an old soldier...well, not so old in this version. That update will be later. Up next is a finished painted head sculpt of Solid Snake as he appears in MGS2:Sons Of Liberty.

I gave the sculpt a bit more facial hair and a heavier doo on top to be more accurate with the concept sketches and not that of the actual game play.

Next the images show the completed articulated frame Snake will sport on his adventures! A combination of Microman and Hasbro joint systems...guess you would call this a hybrid! Maxed out on articulation but such a way that it will not hender the sculpt. This may be a direction I take with future figures...a couple concerns but nothing serious. Gray fox 2.0 will be sporting the same concept.

Speaking of Gray Fox - the ninja is going through a complete overhaul. After seeing the Play Arts version of this fantastic character I had to go back to the drawing board. Some parts will be brought over but what you have seen to this point has changed dramatically - stay tuned!

Alright - One final painted head sculpt to present but in a tutorial form!!! Below are the steps I take to paint facial features of a head sculpt...using Deliah Blue as the subject!!

Step 1. - Choose your base coat and apply several thin layers to you primed sculpt. I prime my figures with several coats of Floguil Undercoat Light Gray. I use Floquil and Polyscale acrylics for all my pieces. Now, back to your base coat - apply each thin coat and allow to dry. Do this repeatedly till you have a nice, smooth, even coat. Many people make the mistake of applying one thick coat..bad idea. Acrylic at this scale isn't as forgiving - allowing a thick coat to dry may reduce details of the sculpt underneath and set up bumps/clumps that your brush will have struggle to go over when adding the small details. Be patient, add thin coats and all your hard work will pay off in the end.

Step 2. - Time to take a fine brush and add the eye detail. First I fill in my eyes and the lids with black. Then allow to dry. You're setting up the outlines of the whites of the eyes, lids and lashes at this point. Don't be too heavy depending on your subject - we're working of Blue and she requires heavy lashes but for a male sculpt, not so much.

Step 3. - Next add the whites to the eye. Be sure to use a thin coat a little at a time. This is where you can really mess things up if the white is too thick...allow to dry. Now go back and add points on the whites of the eyes where your iris' will go, as well as fine tune the outlines of the lashes and whites of the eyes.

Step 4. - Before I add any further detailing to the eyes, I want to go back and add shading/shadows to the face...around the hairline, the cheekbones and the chin. I use a slightly deeper color than the base coat, depending on your subject. I don't use black to deepen my colors - for Blue's pinkish base coat, I use red to deepen. If I was working on a caucasian flesh tone, I'd use browns, same for African American skin tones. Black is too intense and can muddy up your base very quickly. Be subtle. Okay, back to the eyes...time to fill in the Iris'! I use black for this which will help with the outlining when you add your eye color. This needs a steady hand! If you mess up, you have a couple attempts to correct before the acrylic becomes heavily layered and lifts from the sculpt (bug eyes). Allow to dry.

Step 5. - Time to add the eye color! Again, a steady hand! You want to add a drop to fill most of the area where you previously added black. When completed successfully you should see just an outline of black going around the color you just applied. If you're like me this requires a magnifier. Don't have one? Get one - It's a great investment and not that expensive.

Step 6. - Pupils and reflections. Remember the magnifier I mentioned? Good luck with this if you don't have one!!! Have fun with that migraine you'll get an hour later LOL! Alright - again, a steady hand. I use a very fine, customized brush just for this application. Drop a touch of black paint as best you can in the center of the iris. Got it? STOP! Let dry..next is a challenge. You need to add even a smaller drop of white or an off white to give eyes relection. This is optional...some don't dig the look. Hasbro has a history of heavy reflective applications that are horrible! I'm talking about a singular touch of white off set the center of the pupil - same position in both eyes. It takes practice, more practice and unbelieveable patience! I'm still learning but don't dread the eyes as much as I used to. Once this is accomplished, the lips are all that's left.

Step 7.- Lips - again, depends non you subject. With Darth Malgus, very simple. A few thin lines of grays and browns. With a female such as Blue, you need to coat her lips with a darker base color first. She sports a funky blue lipstick so a dark blue is appropriate..this will give a liner for the lips and shadows to the corners of the mouth. Let dry. Next add a lighter color blue to the parts of the lips that protrude. Let dry. Later you can ass a thin coat of gloss to give the lips a wet look if you wish - I usually only do this for the females.

There you have it! That's the way I paint head sculpts...a simplified version. A tutroial such as that of Malgus would take several blog entrys to instruct - you will learn those steps through trial and error. The more you practice, the more you learn. Below are some images of the finished Deliah Blue head sculpt.

I have two additional Blue head sculpts in the works - one will be a similar sculpt with hair drapped over one of her eyes and down her face. The other shows her sporting a bandanna that she wears when working on Cade's starship, the Mynock.

Hope tis painting tutorial comes in handy and helps you achieve better quality paint applications. I'll post more tips and tricks as I go and if you have any questions , please let me know! Just email me at sith_fire30@yahoo.com or hit me up on my facebook page - Sith_fire30 Creations on Facebook.

Back to some sculpt updates - First, the Imperial Trooper Helmet sculpt from the upcoming game Star Wars: The Old Republic. The sculpt is close to being complete, then I will make a few copies for my small sculpted army of four. Yes, I'm sculpting four of them! Similar to the Republic Shocktroopers I'm currently working on. What you see in the image below are several views of the same sculpt, front, side and back.

An update on the Darth Stryfe sculpt - finally got back to finishing Stryfe's hair! May add a few more details around the ears but other than that, headsculpt complete! Working on the back armor and the lower body and leg armor.

Final update for today is of Savage Opress...or more specifically his "Boom Stick". Yea, I know - "Boom Stick" usually reffers to a gun or explosive weapon...seriously though, have you seen this staff in action in the hands of Opress? Might as well contain explosives the way the staff throws poor clone soldiers that happen to be in his way.

The staff's base is cut from styrene and is incased in FIXIT sculpt. Still a work in progress - I am adding details to the blade right now. Since this will be a "non-animated" version of the blade, it will not be a rated G version - not bright and shiny, but will look heavy and beaten...the punishment from it's victims. A little blood staining isn't out of the question - Listen, Savage is an animal!...and this blade should represent an extension of his brutality. Below is some of the details being applied...

and That's it for today!

Hope you guys enjoyed the update - I plan on another one soon since I have some free time to work a bit more on the projects. Thank you so much for your continued interest in my work!

Speaking of continued interest, Sith_fire30 Creations facebook fans are slowly approaching 600! WOW! Sith_fire30 Creations

You guys - each one of you - are awesome! Shame on you if you haven't become a fan LOL! Seriously, your interest and enthusiasm is inspiring! Thank you!

Also be sure to stop by my Flickr photostream for todays images plus many more. I'll be working on an update to the images on my phtostream later tonight. I'll also break down those step-by-step images of Blue and have them available if needed. :)

Sithfire30 Creations can now be found on twitter!!! @sith_fire30
be sure to check it out!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Looking forward to sharing with you what I have in store over the summer months! You guys/gals have questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me here, my facebook or my e-mail - sith_fire34@yahoo.com.

Thanks again!

Sith_fire30

A Little Tease of Blue...

2011-05-18T10:43:00.003-04:00

Been very busy and have become a bit late with my blog posting - Got one coming later this week!

Till then, a teaser of a WIP paint app of the head sculpt for Star Wars Legacy's zeltron femme fatale - Deliah Blue. Yes a bit blurry, but then it wouldn't be a tease would it :)

I'll be featuring step-out images of the process I take to paint facial features of characters such as Blue so you'll get a better look at her on the next update.

Much more to come!! - Thanks for your continued interest in my work! Always gratefull!

Dayton
sith_fire30

Updates, Final Five and Some Gear Reloaded...

2011-04-30T18:53:00.033-04:00

First off would like to give my prayers and support to the people of Alabama and the surrounding states..many of my friends, that were affected by the barrage of severe weather over the past couple weeks..especially the last several days.

Alright guys! I have a TON of updates and other things to get to so let's not dawdel! LOL!

First the final five Male and Female characters I will be working on for the rest of the year. I gave you the first set of five last entry. The purpose of this is for my own benefit, to keep me focused on specific projects instead of randomly working on ideas I feel at the time would be "cool" or interesting, only to find myself asking "what was I thinking" weeks later. No frames to show for these as of yet - some I have constructed, others are still being figured out.

So naturally if I am going to do a Darth Krayt, I need to have a Darth Wyyrlok. As you know, I had created this figure once before but wasn't satisfied with it's articulation and armor sculpt. Much needed improvements will be made on the second go.

To continue the Force Unleashed Series, I have chosen the original Sith Stalker as seen in the Dark Side ending of The Force Unleashed video game - this figure will include an alternate head sculpt without the helmet.

With the Invasion Luke Skywalker complete, Finn Galfridian is next in line to do battle with the Vong. He will include his droid sidekick Prowl.

Treis Sinde - Imperial Knight from Legacy, sporting his Mon Calamari diving gear. A strange choice I know but a character I've been wanting to do since issue #32.

Finally "Bantha" Rawk - again from Legacy - Originally Nat Skywalker, descendant of Anakin and Luke Skywalker, the older brother of Jedi Council member Kol Skywalker, and uncle of Kol's son, Cade.

And the final females?.....

My first choice is Darth Wyyrlock's daughter, Saarai meaning "truth" in the ancient Sith language. She knows how to handle herself as we have seen with her duel with Darth Stryfe.

Darth Maladi, also from Legacy. Planning on an alternate head sculpt as she appears in Legacy War.

Kaye Galfridian is Finn's sister in Invasion and takes the battle to the Vong on the planet of Yammosk. Why Kaye?...I really dig the Enviro Suit Colin Wilson illustrated in the comic.

Eleena Daru, Darth Malgus' lover in the Paul S. Kemp novel Star Wars: The Old Republic "Deceived". No spoilers here but read the novel and you'll understand why I chose her.

Finally another Old Republic character from the "Hope" cinematic trailer, Jedi Master Satele Shan. Malgus has to have some sport right? LOL!

So there you have it, my final male and female figures I will be working on the rest of the year. I'm sure I won't complete all these by the end of the year - who knows. It will keep me busy though. Expect updates of these figures on a regular basis..as well as some suprises along the way. I don't like sticking exactly to the script.

Now onto the updates...First off is one taken off the shelf and back onto the workbench...Mandalore the Ultimate from Knights of the Old Republic.

Not sure when it was the last time I did an update on this figure...perhaps only once in a limited number of forums...not sure. Mandalore will appear per Brian Ching's illustrations in the Dark Horse comic series KOTOR. I started the figure awhile back before I began building frames - so I will need to revise the figure's just a bit, reducing the forearms, lower legs and resculpting the hands. I plan to have a mix of cloth and plastics for the cape.

Next up a quick update to both Jedi Shado Vao and Wolf Sazen from Star Wars Legacy...

I had Shado's sculpt primed and ready to go - like I said in my last entry. I decided to add ball hinged hips to the figure for added articulation. This past week I added back the fabric and belt, this time much more conservatively and using a "borrowed" belt instead of sculpting one. I will sculpt the drapped clothing over the top of the belt as well as additional details this week and proceed to painting. By the way - the fabric I used was that of a vintage Bib Fortuna's robe :)

Wolf Sazen is still being worked on - totally reworked the lower half of the figure, adding ball hinged hips and tooled around with his missing arm. Since the comic has Wolf obtaining a replacement arm from the one he lost to Darth Nihl, I decided to include that option with the help of the trusty magnets...

Below is a shot of Wolf's alternate cybernetic arm which is attached by the magnet.I am also working on an alternate head for Wolf...possibly stated this in an earlier entry. His current head has limited movement - I want to create one with his hair pulled back.

Next is the Imperial Trooper from Star Wars: The Old Republic. You guys that check into my facebook page from time to time got a glimpse of my work - Here's plenty more. Please recognize the sculpt is still a work in progress but I was excited to share and didn't want to wait till the final before molding. Much to be worked on but it's where I want to be - need to get to work on the backpack once the helmet is complete.

With FIXIT it takes a little at a time and working in layers to complete a helmet sculpt such as this...at least in my opinion.

Work in progress update to my Dark Lord Sith Stalker from The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition. Made adjustments to the helmet - reduced the dome. Added the rib guard and (not shown) lowered the abdomen and reworked the hip articulation.

The blades that attached to the Sith Stalker's hands...I'm still working on a solution for those. Want to be able to manipulate the hands and arms without work of breaking them off.

How about some Boba Fett...

I am currently working on Boba's jumpsuit, will complete the suit before adding the armor. Was thinking of making the armor removable..to give Boba some "off" time so to speak. We'll see.

Boba will have an interchageable head sculpt, helmet and without. I will not make a removable helmet for this figure. Just not my cup of tea...

Here's an update to my first Imperial "Pin-Up" girl in Stormtrooper armor as mentioned in my last entry...

Not much to show right now but it gives you an idea. Haven't even come up with the head sculpt yet! LOL

A quick Tonnika Sister update! - The body sculpts are complete. Have begun adding clothing to the figures as well as the boots. First are images of the bodt sculpt, including a couple images of the hip/buttock joint that has been a challenge for me at this scale.

I will beging painting the head sculpts sometime this week.

While we are still on the subject of females, how about an update on my Deliah Blue from Star Wars Legacy!!...

Not much has changed since the last update - except for a little more meat on her bones and some hips to go with it. She was way to skinny! Hoping to have the same results as I did with the Tonnika Sisters.

This version of Blue will sport the duds she wore in Legacy issue #44! I have planned two other versions of this character.

Onto a Darth Malgus update and one of the reasons why I like to take Work In Progress images...why you ask, check out the image below...

I get a kick from the before and after pictures - shows the amount of work I put into the figure and helps me understand the adjustments I had to make to create the figure as accurate as possible. I encourage all of you that sculpt on a figure or wireframe to take early snapshots like these...it really benefits your work in the long run!

Now, onto Malgus...

Tested the articulation the other day and posted most of these images on Facebook - the last few are new images showing the sculpt detailing of the lower body armor of the hips and legs.

Working on the lower leg armor and the back some more. Am working on how to attached a cowl.

My final Star Wars themed update is of Savage Opress...who is becoming more and more a beast everyday.

The upper armor is complete, with some minor adjustments remaining...

Below are images with the leg armor and boots still being worked on - the soft goods (fabric) will be added soon.

Embo is still being worked on - side-by-side with Savage to show some scale.

I'll begin working on painting Savage's headsculpt this coming week. First though I will try to cast the crazy thing, making myself some additional plastic copies to form alternate head sculpts (battle damaged, screaming). Also considering building a Savage as he appeared before his transformation.

So that's it for the Star Wars themed work - anyone interested in a Metal Gear reload?

The above image is that of some of my existing figures in the works. I have set aside some time to work on Metal Gear figures on a regular basis now. Below I have made a list of five male characters and five female characters (similar to what I'm doing with the Star Wars figures) that I will begin working on as well as the existing figures.

Core figures come first I always say - which is why I chose multiple Snakes and multiple Raidens. Various females though - I look forward to begin work on them!!!

Below are some recent images I took of my existing Metal Gear figures...not much have been updated but plenty need to be reworked..

The Cyborg Ninja - I started this sculpt using a base microman figure several years ago and tabled it...which is a shame on my part. Too cool of a character to leave the figure half finished. I've learned much since beginning this sculpt and will be making some revisions to the body of Fox as well as the microman frame. Say goodbye to the microman hands - can't stand them. Horrible.

For both Vamp and Raiden, I used a microman body as their frame. I'm a little concerned about the stability, plus the joint setups are a little hard to look at in places. I need to rework them...just in some spots, not the entire frame.

My favorite sculpt so far - Raiden is a delicate figure in terms of detail and frame. I hope to strengthen the figure while building the sculpt up a bit more.

One last shot of Gray Fox - next time you see him you will notice the differences. Time to get to work on these guys - been way too long!

My facebooks fans are over 500 strong and growing! Sith_fire30 Creations
It's something else to have people interested in you work like this - I am very appreciative! If you haven't become a fan, and like what you see when visiting, please click on the "like" button! Thank you in advance!

Also be sure to stop by my Flickr photostream for these and other photos of the recent updates. Tons of images to place so if the images you see here haven't been posted yet, be patient - I'm working on it! :)

Sithfire30 Creations can now be found on twitter!!! @sith_fire30
be sure to check it out!

More always on the way - especially now with Metal Gear in the regular rotation!!! You guys have questions, suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me here, my facebook or my e-mail - sith_fire34@yahoo.com. Thanks guys - Long update, hope you made it through!

WAR.....has changed.....

Updates n' Stuff!

2011-04-14T13:48:00.037-04:00

It's the weekend! Hope everyone has a good one! Thought I would kick off this update with some images showing the details I'm adding to the Darth Malgus sculpt. There is some serious detailing going on...almost wish for the Sith robes and cloak compared to what some of the Old Republic Sith strutted around in. Can you get anymore complex? Wow!

To be honest - I enjoy it. It's rewarding to see what you can accomplish with some patience and a head mounted magnifier!

I'm pretty much done with the upper body, for the exception of a few tweeks here or there. Currently working on the waist, hips and legs.

You'll notice some tweeking that needs to be made to the buttocks where the suit is uneven , also need to clean up the elbows. I think this is the most detailed sculpt - in terms of armor - that I have ever done.

Detailing to the back of Malgus' head was still a work in progress. As of this posting, the detailing is complete and the head is ready to be cast. Looking to obtain a cloak this week and and begin work on his lightsaber...or lightsabers as some would say he has two. So earlier this week I posted the first set of female and male frames which will add up to the figures I will be working on the rest of the year. Still have another set of female and male frames (5 and 5) completed which I will reveal in a week or so. Let's start with the set of female frames...and one of them is a first for me...

Female #1 will be my first sculpt based on a fan made character...I was doing a search for Twi'lek the other day and happened across this image illustrated by a user on the deviant art site known only as "Nutuna"...which is the name of the female Twilek shown. Nutuna the Bounty Hunter. I have tried to contact the user to ask permission..always cool to ask...but nothing yet. This piece was created back in 2008 I believe - as much research as I do I'm suprised I didn't come across this image sooner!

If you know who this user is please let him or her know what I'm doing and how to contact me.

Next up is the Star Wars pin up girls illustrated by the very, very talented Feng Zuh. I think I mentioned somewhere on my FB page that it would be fun to do a series of themed Dancers or Cantina "entertainers" since they are a staple in the Star Wars Universe. This is a great way to start! Images below are by Feng Zuh

I plan to build the four listed in the above set - Starting with the model Stormtrooper. I think there may be another few available but let's see what I can do with these. I've become a bit more confident in my female sculpting and want to challenge myself.

Next up are Edessa (Jarael - My fave) in armor from issue 49 of the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Nera Dantels from the Dark Horse Rebellion series. I previously announced Nera awhile back, even worked up a head sculpt of her - but other that the frame, I'm reworking the figure to reflect the look artist Colin Wilson gave her in the later issues of Rebellion.

So that's one of two sets of females I will be working on the rest of the year. I will post the second set soon.

How about what I have planned for the first set of male figures...

I was to have five figure frames ready to show but only had time to complete the four. The fifth frame will be male...just not exactly human. Actaully far from it....I will be producing a character from the Vratix species...specifically the character Spraug, an underworld criminal from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Invasion.

So you can see that the fifth frame is more...complex. Very articulated too! I think it will be a first - I hope the build works :)

Three of the four in this reamining set are video game related.

The first is Starkiller in Dark Apprentice's Robes and secondly as Maulkiller from the DLC of Lucasarts Force Unleashed 2 video game. I like the Starkiller costumes..especially digging the new Darth Malak DLC and Blood Armor. And I can't get enough of the Sith Stalker which I'm already working on the Dark Lord version.
Expect many more TFU sculpts.

The other game inspired character will be the previously announced Imperial Trooper from Bioware's upcoming game The Old Republic. I will be making a set of these troopers to go side by side with the Darth Malgus figure.

The fourth character in the works will be Darth Krayt from the Dark Horse comics series Legacy: War. Which means for my 2nd set of male figures, I will have to include Darth Wyyrlok involved...Looking forward to working on this second version of Krayt.

So there you have it - half of the figures I plan to begin, work on and hopefully come close to completion before the end of the year...I really doubt I will get them all done but it will keep me busy. Similar to the second half of females, I will announce the remaining male figures in a couple weeks.

Got some work in progress pieces to report on so let's get to it!

Commander Tsalok from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars Invasion.

I've been working on Tsalok on and off for about a year now - heavy figure..with almost every part being sculpted using FIXIT...for the exception of the hands. The hands are from the retail version of a Yuuzhan Vong warrior that came in the comic pack. His parts, combined with a ROTS wookie figure helped build the frame for this massive guy!

His sculpt is almost complete - with only the upper thigh armor, buttocks and back spikes needing work.

The first head sculpt is based on the initial introduction of Tsalok during the Battle of Rychel where the Commander killed Jedi Master Lar Le'Ung and was suprisingly spared by young padawan Finn Galfridian.

I'm loving how the horned armor turned out this guy - the tusks are massive surrounding his knees.

A second head sculpt is being worked on presently which reflects Tsalok's appearance in many of Colin's panels in later issues of Invasion - where the long, sharp teeth of the Vong commander seem to pour down from his mouth, shielding his lower jaw. These images are a work in progress- I need to thin out the sides a bit more and add the lower jar and teeth to come up and just over the upper fangs.

You'll notice I etched his tatoos into his cranium plate - didn't do it with the first head sculpt but not a problem. Tsalok is too close to completion to set him back up on the workbench so expect more updates of this monster to come.

How about those Tonnika Sisters!!! Both ladies almost have their body sculpts complete and will soon have clothing and textures sculpted. I have the lower back and buttocks remaining on one of the sisters.

My question is....did the sisters pack some heat? Where do I place a holster? LOL! You just don't walk into a cantina wearing tight body suits without some line of defense. Possibly silent weapons?..knives possibly?....

Savage is looking more and more like a beast every day! The guys is MEAN!

Curently working on the forearm armor for both versions.

Yes, Savage is short one arm - well, I have armor drying at the time of the photo so no worries! The next challenge for Opress will be the soft goods - which may be a mix between borrowed factory parts and material. Haven't decided yet.

The boots will be sculpted over the existing feet.

Next a quick update on Darth Stryfe from the Legacy series - I reduced the hips and waist to make room for the belt, armor and soft goods, but first I will complete the sculpt of the lower legs and boots. I'm also going to work on finishing the head sculpt - which is primarily the hair. Need to sculpt it in such a way to allow for neck movement but at the same time look natural. No problem right?...(rolls eyes)

Shado was clsoe to having the first coat of paint added when I decided to tear down the belt and soft goods and add ball hinged hips. This will improve Shado's articulation allowing for more action poses instead of the static limited pose he was stuck in before.

My first Starkiller sculpt is almost finished - Starkiller in Arena Combat Gear. Working on the hips, belt/holster and soft goods. Excited to get this guy painted and shooting some amazing pics!

Still working on an alternate head sculpt which resembles Sam Witwer.

I got another update coming soon involving the New Republic Shocktroopers and Metal Gear figures. Just too much to fit into one posting - plus my eyes are beginning to cross from working in front of the computer all day - no good kids! Just no good!

Have I told you facebook fans lately that I love you? LOL! Closing in on 450 Sithamaniacs and counting!!!
Sith_fire30 Creations
If you haven't become a fan, please click on the "like" button when visiting and have my eternal gratitude!

Also be sure to stop by my Flickr photostream for these and other photos of the recent updates.
As well as old school work! It's all there!

Sithfire30 Creations can now be found on twitter!!! @sith_fire30
and yep...still not posting as much as I should..if none at all. I need to get with the program...

Like I said, another update coming soon - a kind of "part two" of this entry. Anyway, I appreciate you taking the time to stop by. Always more on the way!

Comments, suggestions and critique are always welcome!

Till later

sith_fire30
.......
and who the heck is this guy???

The Sith Sacker of Cities....

2011-03-25T21:50:00.028-04:00

...try to say that three times fast! HA!

Hey guys! It's the weekend and I'm out and about writing most of this blog update using my iPhone so please excuse me for any grammatical errors...my expertise in using the thumbpad is limited LOL! :)

So this week marked the release of the Paul S. Kemp novel Star Wars: The Old Republic "Deceived". The story centers around Darth Malgus, the sith lord that sacked Coruscant and laid waste to the Jedi Temple over 3500 years before the rise of Darth Vader. It's a must read if your a fan of the EU or simply curious about events that happened yesrs before that of the Original Trilogy.

To celebrate the novel's release, I thought it would be appropriate to center on my work in progress of the central character - Darth Malgus. I haven't read the novel yet, but I've definately become a fan of the Sith lord, as you can see with my most recent updates below...

The image above represents Malgus before the Battle of Alderran (Hope Trailer). A head sculpt without facial battle armor, cleanly shaven with a face only a Sith witch could love.

Before I get any further let me bring you up to date what has been completed since my last update on Malgus. Both shoulder guards are completed and work properly, using clear bands glued together in loops to the upderside of each guard, then wraping around the arms up to the shoulder joint.

The removable chest armor is completed, still working on the details to his back. I have made a mold/cast of the armor to recreate a battle damaged version.

I have completed both arms, as well as the detailing to the forearm keypads which are very complex. I removed the old hands and upgraded them with hands that are ball jointed and hinged for additional articulation - they are also thicker which compliments the rugged forearm armor.

The lower abdomen is still bare but the legs are finally beginning to take some shape with the upper legs having the first phase of sculpting completed while the boots are beings added.

Above is the second alternate head sculpt - Darth Malgus: Alderran Invasion. This version you've seen before - includes the facial armor or protctiove glove that wraps around his jaws up to the sides of the face...that is until he gets up close and personal with a stingy grenade...

Not once, but TWICE does Malgus take it from close range of an explosive device - it's the second explosion that causes the damage you see in the photo above. Shoulder armor has not been casted yet but once completed it will reflect damage as well. I did this simply by using a 442 Carbon Steel Brush attachement on my dremel and carefully shreading away the areas of the plastic casting that received the damage...and that's exactly what the explosives are designed for...shread. Carefully though, because the metal wire does not forgive, and will cut the plastic cast in half if not careful. It's the first time I used this tool...as well as some others to add pings and pot marks. I think it worked out pretty good.

Not seen in this photo below but added to the facial sculpt is just a bit of the "jaw guard" that remains just below the ear and lower jaw then shreads away. It was completed last night after the photos were taken and will be seen with my next Malgus update.

Now we get to the breathing mask everyone is familiar with - Alternate head sculpt number four!!! Darth Malgus: Sacking of Coruscant. Can't believe this figure has 4 different head sculpts..HA! Thanks to the creators for keeping the Sith Lord's costume consistent or I'd be in BIG TROUBLE!

The early images show the mask in mid sculpt - the latter ones show the completed mask.

The images above show how the mask can tuck down behind the collar guard similar to what we see in the "Decieved" trailer...the below image shows the free range of motion up and around the collar guard. Still though, I think I will be revisiting the collar guard and reduce the size and height - it actually slopes a bit further down on the armor.

Some detail of the forearm tech - did my best to keep each side identical although I'm sure there will be some inconsistencies...no big deal - sculpting is a fluid thing and since I'm not working in a toy factory where I can use a 3D printer...I guess I'm allowed a bit of artistic suggestion.

The image above shows Malgus as he appears at the time of this update - The upper half looks top heavy but will even out once I begin to fill in the blanks below. Happy to say he still retains full articulation as when his frame was first built.

Here are images of the completed mask - still needs some refinement but the sculpt is complete. Added the vents to both sides and the small decorative strips on the main "filter" I guess you would call it.

I cannot wait to paint this guy! All the veins running through his head and the sith fire in his eyes...it's gonna be fun!

Finally to top off my Darth Malgus update for this week...I made some adjustments to a Vintage Sidious hood and will have it as part of the accessories for Malgus when finished...

"...and now...finally...we have returned!" - Darth Malgus.

and if you haven't seen the trailers that feature the Sith Lord - check them out. Below are links...

http://www.starwars.com/video/view/001236.html

http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/deceived-cinematic-trailer

http://www.swtor.com/media/trailers/hope-cinematic-trailer

Next up - An update on my "non-animated" Savage Opress figure. The image above shows the work in progress on the arms of the shirtless version. The hands are pegged and can be removed and added to the armored version. If you see some irregularities in the abdomen sculpt, that's just the dark imprints of the magnets showing through the very thin layers of FIXIT that cover them...once painted the irregularities will vanish. The waist will remain small so to affix the soft goods and belt and not interfere with hip articulation...

...and here is Savage all armored up and ready to kick the ass of anyone who gets in his way...anyone. Completed the other shoulder guard - still need to complete the forearm armor then I will have the upper body complete.

Uhh...Savage? I think you forgot something when getting dressed this morning?...How about putting some pants on dude?! HA! You'll notice he appears very top heavy at the moment but again, like that of Malgus, everything will even out once the lower body sculpt catches up.

Unfortunately because of the top heavy armor, I will be needing to replace the articulated microman feet with more of a standard ball jointed set. The microman feet simply can't stand the weight and isn't substantial enough to withstand a sculpt over to create the sized boots needed for Savage. Will be replacing them with the feet similar to what I'm using for my Vader sculpt.

Onto the Tonnika Sisters - who are looking more devious every day HA! Head sculpts are complete!! Finished the last one early last week. Working on the body sculpt of each now and will soon begin working on the costumes.

You remeber that I changed the hip articulation to both figures in my last update and in doing so they both ended up the same height. This week I shortened the sister closest to the camera and highten the sculpt of the hips a bit.

I think the adjusted heights of each figure works well, so does the different looks for the hairstyle - keeping each sister a unique piece and not just a carbon copy of one another.

Can't help thinking that they a secretly plotting against me!! HA!

Below is a quick update on my Darth Vader sculpt! Working on shoulder armor right now, thinking of how to attach each piece...possibly similar to what I'm doing with Malgus and Savage.

Detail added to the shoulder armor as seen in the image above. Below, I am needing to extend the chest armor slightly over the shoulders - one side has been completed. Once the other side is done, I will trim both sides back a bit to allow complete arm rotation across the chest...or at least the best to my ability. Some areas of articulation become limited due to the accuracy of the sculpt - I understand that - sometimes it can't be helped....but I hope to keep that from happening here.

Finally a look into a very rough head sculpt of Darth Vader: Anakin Skywalker - Based on the sculpt Sideshow Collectibles did for their 1:1 Darth Vader bust.

1:1 to 1:18 - talk about a scale down!! The sculpt will be totally seperate from the rest of the helmet armor and will be ball jointed.

Several new sculpts are in the works!!! - Below are TEN new characters that you will be seeing on my workbench in coming updates...

Sith Trooper from Star Wars: The Old Republic - will be making two of them!

Sith Warrior from Star Wars: The Old Republic - also multiples in the works.

Eleena Daru from Star Wars: The Old Republic - Can't have Darth Malgus walking around without his girl right??

Satele Shan also from Star Wars: The Old Republic. Malgus has to have a enemy to pick on every once in awhile.

Captain Juno Eclipse from The Force Unleashed 2

"Maulkiller" from The Force Unleashed 2 DLC.

The ORIGINAL Darth Sion from Knight Of The Old Republic II: The Sith Lords!!

Darth Malak from the DLC of The Force Unleashed 2 Edor pack. Some of you may remeber that I began a Malak sculpt a few years ago but never completed it.

Darth Krayt from the Dark Horse comic series - Star Wars: Legacy - WAR

Darth Wyyrlok from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars: Legacy - WAR

I'll have many other suprises along the way...including some updates to my Metal Gear Solid series of figures and other non-Star Wars related figures such as hmmmm...

King Leonidas and other characters from 300

Baby Doll from Sucker Punch - regardless what you think about the film (which I found to be a very entertaining fantasy film) you have to agree these gals look sweet with swords and machine guns LOL!

Sweet Pea was my fave in the movie so she would have to be in the lineup.

Sorry for the late post by the way, hoped to get this up earlier but life throws you off center from time to time and well...better late than never!! To my facebook fans, we just broke through 400 in less than a week! For me that is so great words can't describe! Thank you!

Always check my Facebook page, Sith_fire30 Creations and if you haven't become a fan, please click on the "like" button when visiting.

Also be sure to stop by my Flickr photostream for many more photos of Malgus, the sisters and others listed in this update.

Sithfire30 Creations can now be found on twitter!!! @sith_fire30
and if you haven't noticed me posting much, that's because I'm not used to doing so...just give me a bit and I'll work into it.

Will be walking away from the figures I have been working on in this update and get caught up on others that have been warming the workbench. Don't worry though - work will continue for these figures but the updates will focus on others for now. AVOIDING BURNOUT! HA!

Comments, suggestions and critique are always welcome!

Cheers!

sith_fire30

Vader, Savage, some cantina chicks and others....

2011-03-10T12:48:00.026-05:00

Ladies and Gents...

First off I would like to offer my prayers and well wishes to the people in Japan. Times like these we all need to come together and help out anyway we can. If you would like to help, below are several links to humanitarian charities...

The Red Cross

Salvation Army

Samarian's Purse

Again, all my hopes.

Alright, back to why we're here. Remember this piece below? It's my work in progress of the "Ultimate" Darth Vader figure I have been working on for months. Well....it's no more. I was never satisfied with the helmet and especially the body work. The dome was too wide, the upper legs too thick...just too many things to list that gave me such angst. I scrapped the sculpt and from it's ashes would rise a new and improved frame in which to sculpt upon.

Behold the phoenix! LOL! I know the below image doesn't look like much but believe me, as you watch the progression, you'll see how important the new frame is.

First off though I wanted to revisit Vader's helmet. For the exception of a few plastic parts from the original cast, I have reworked the lenses (making them larger), the dome and brow of the helmet (making the dome larger and the brow more menacing), the bridge/shape of the nose and widening the cheek structure, broadening the mask.

Final details will be added once the helmet is close to completion. My goal is to capture the helmet as it appeared in A New Hope...I think the image below is getting close!

I'm not calling this the "Ultimate Darth Vader" for nothing! The figure will eventually have a connecting three piece helmet, including a newly sculpted head of Anakin (Vader) as he appeared in ROTJ but with the attitude of the recent 1:1 Vader bust from Sideshow Toys. Below are some of the detailing being applied to the back of the helmet's neck piece.

Below are detailed images of the sculpt applied to the frame. You will see that Vader still contains much of the original articulation as the frame allowed - He will be able to kneel - as he would when addressed by the Emperor and he will be able to sit in a meditation position, so to include him with the scratch built meditation chamber I am currently working on.

"What is thy bidding, my master"

Many say that Vader doesn't need so much articulation being a stonch, statuesque character...I disagree. There was the Great Jedi Purge...and Vader had to move with a quickness to put Jedi down. It's only after many battles and more damage to his body that the machine began to overtake the man and eventually became the character described by Kenobi in ROTJ - "More machine now than man...twisted and evil". So I'm not minding the added articulation all too much.

Below is the sculpt as it appears today - I plan on adding more thickness to the gloves and completing the lower leg armor.

Did come upon one problem - Was working on keeping Vader's hip articulation free when I ran into a stumbling block...his cod piece. If I was to sculpt it on, would definately hender articulation...especially when kneeling. Use banding?...nahh. Then I though of the magnet trick...would allow the cod piece to move freely and fall back into place when the figure stands straight. Works great...but the image below...may look a little painfull (men you have been warned) LOL! The previous image of vader kneeling shows the idea working - I love these little magnets!

Another figure where magnets have come into play is my Savage Opress sculpt. Below is an image of the muscular structure I have built up over the frame. Difficult to see but there's two magnets embeded in the chest...

and two more embeded in the newly sculpted REMOVABLE ARMOR!

This allows for two versions of Savage to exist - one wearing the familiar armor and the other shirtless, revealing his tatoos.

Back armor completed in the image above. Strangely didn't need magnets - the back armor can literally "snap-connect" to the back! Not sure how that happened but hey if it ain't broken, don't fix it!

Below image shows the beginnings of the shoulder armor. Both shoulder pieces will be strapped under the arms and will be free floating to allow max articulation.

and here is how Savage appears as of March 13th. I have completed one of the two pieces of shoulder armor, the upper chest, back and abdomen armor. Haven't started on the lower body yet - so he looks very awkward right now...very top heavy.

Below is completed detailing to the forward chest and abdominal armor as well as the first piece of shoulder armor. The shoulder armor has been attached using clear banding.

I haven't begun detailing to the back armor yet.

Below are a sequence of images showing the upper body armor being removed piece by piece, transitioning to the "shirtless" version of Savage.

I'll begin working on the lower body to give the form some balance. I will also continue to work on the remaining body armor and bare/clothed arms.

Next is a quick update on the Tonnika Sisters.

If you recall the last batch of updates the sister's hip articulation appeared like that of the image below.

I chose to replace the current hip articulation with ball-hinged joints. This will allow for more articulated freedom and away from the static pose. The image below shows the results after the successfull surgery - both recovered just fine LOL!

If the head sculpts in the above image look very similar, that is because they are - one is a plastic casting of the original. Both sister's will have a distinct sculpt. I just used the casting to get an idea on what they may look like.

Unfortunately one of the sister's will have to go back under the knife...when upgrading the hip articulation for both I unintentionally brought them both back to roughly the same height. This just will not do and will be corrected.

Below is a shot from the back - Still need to work on the arms, small of the back, buttocks and lower legs. After the form is complete, I will begin sculpting the clothing. Some people ask why I do this, sculpt a nude just to sculpt over it again - It helps me with perspective...like creating the suggestive line art before adding the details. Just a technique - nothing more.

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by Echobaseforums.com and provided some exclusinve images of my work. Below are the images in case you haven't seen them (SHAME!) with a bit of an update for each.

Lumbra is close to completion - working on paint detailing presently.

My first Vong Warrior is also close to completion - Taking me some time because I'm acquiring the correct color set and technique for the Vong species...once completed the others in the lineup will only take half as long to finish.

Shado was a sculpt I never thought I would finish...and even to this very day I have a few adjustments that are needed. The first head sculpt is fully painted and completed. Shado shows his curious grin...and determined glare. He will be followed by two alternate head sculpts, one with the lekku draped over his shoulder and the other with the lekku flaring outwards. I'm really tempted to add ball-hinged hip joints to Shado...but that means some resculpting and I'm really over resculpting parts to this guy...perhaps just one more time.

Finally for this update, a finished head sculpt of my Mon Calamari Bounty Hunter - which originated from a concept drawing from the Lucasarts game Star Wars Galaxies. The eyes are coated with several layers of gloss acrylic to give the appearance of moisture. Surprisingly the gloss dried solid...I've had some instances when gloss layers dry but remain soft and a tad sticky. Fortunately not this time. Still working on the rest of the sculpt which is about 90% complete.

Alright everyone, that's all for now but stay tuned for more :) - I'll say it again, I am humbled by the continued interest in my work and never take that for granted - and to all my facebook fans, we are what...three away from 300? FANTASTIC! Always check my Facebook page, Sith_fire30 Creations and if you haven't become a fan, what are you waiting for huh!?! LOL!

Also be sure to stop by my Flickr photostream for additional information tons more photos which I will be updating throughout the day. Comments, suggestions and critique are always welcome!

Sithfire30 Creations can now be found on twitter!!! @sith_fire30
I'm a bit slow with the whole twitter thing but give me some time and I'll be like a little bird!

Another update will be coming hopefully next week featuring an update of my upcoming set of New Republic Commandos from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars Invasion...along with other update.

Take care till then!

sith_fire30

Interview at Echobaseforums.com

2011-03-06T14:42:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone! Michael Martinez and the crew over at Echobaseforums.com (now Echo Base News) were kind enough to interview me as well as feature EXCLUSIVE IMAGES of some of my upcoming work.

My Interview at Echobaseforums.com

Be sure you take a moment to check out the interview - Thanks again to Mike at mecuryartstudios and the crew at Echobaseforums.com for the opportunity.

Quick update!....

Added ball hinged joints to the Tonnika Sisters hips :)

More to come!!!

Ladies, Crusaders, Old Soldiers...and some Sith!

2011-01-28T14:44:00.027-05:00

Hope everyone is enjoying the Toy Fair 2011 coverage! I know I'm excited!!!

Seems as though whenever I prepare my next blog entry, I always end up postponing it's launch to add additional images...I'm worse than NASA! LOL! Thought it would be fun to coincide with the Toy Fair coverage...my own mini toy show - Ha!

Alright, I have a ton of updates to speak of so lets get at it...starting with the Tonnika Sisters.

Below are work in progress images of the sisters with focus on the head sculpts. I have completed sculpting one of them so far. The other will be slightly different, with an identical facial sculpt but altered hair braid. Although the the facial sculpts are identical, I will apply different paint schemes to differentiate between the two. You'll notice one is shorter than the other...this is of course intentional. I plan on retooling the hips and legs for better articulation...not happy with how they work with the sculpt currently.

Hair brading....UGH! Thank you maginfier!!!

HAIR, HAIR WONDEROUS HAIR!!!

Here's one I wasn't planning on working on till much later but some of the talented customizers as of late have inspired me to make my own version of Boba Fett. I'm sure we can all agree that Hasbro just hasn't gotten this guy right. It's always been something wrong with the figues we get, but my biggest gripe has been the "form fitting" helmet Hasbro insists on including with almost every version of Fett for the past several years. I hate that accessory.

So here I go with my interpretation. I will try my best to be movie accurate to the Empire Strike Back costume version...If I can include alternate arms and legs to reflect the minor changes in ROTJ I will do so. Please don't crack down on me if I'm slightly off on a color scheme or the wookie braids aren't long enough...I know there's some major hardcore Fett fans out there and that's cool! I can promise you this...I will be more accurate than any Hasbro version that has come out in this scale. I also want to do a version of Boba from the Dark Empire graphic novel series... oh and of course I will be making a version of Jango as well. No removable helmets, the non-helmet heads will be alternates.

Boba will have the max amount of articlation I can possibly give him but not so much that it will influence the integrity of the sculpt. You can see below that he will have plenty - Ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders, ball jointed elbows, swivel forearms, swivel wrists, ball jointed upper torso, swivel waist, ball jointed hips, knees and ankels...WHEW! I think I may be able to get a dynamic pose or two with that kind of articulation don't you? :)

While we are on the subject of Mandalorians, let's revist a piece that has been sitting on my workbench for a couple years now. Finally my Mandalorian Neo Crusader will be completed soon and it has gone through some major changes over the past two years. This guy looks nothing like the original and I'm glad I took my sweet time! This Mandalorian appears in the Knights of the Old Republic comic book series from Dark Horse comics - Flashpoint storyline, issues 7 and 8.

His articulation is a little limited around the hips (not bad) but I may be able to fix that without resculpting anything (oh God - no more rescultping).

He will have two additional "helmeted" headsculpt with alternate lekku positioning. He will also include a "non-helmet" version...which I can use some creative license. Looking forward having some fun with that :)

Alright, lets leave the Star Wars universe for a moment shall we and head for the jungle where our friend Snake is patiently awaiting completion of his sculpt. Unfortunately for him, some major adjustments will need to be made (woah Snake - easy man! Calm down)...

Head sculpt is good to go, torso good to go - arms...stand by...no go! The upper arms are too short and the elbows are to high - the forarms are too long.

Not happy with the hip articluation - would like this figure to crouch and have more dynamic movement. Legs are a bit out of proportion too...no problem though, we can fix them...we have the technology. Snake will have a removable upper torso that will be replaced with a shirtless version - Woohoo! Calm down ladies! I hope to get these adjustments made and completed in the next few weeks so this guy can get painted and out of my hair! The house smells like smoke Snake - easy on the cigs dude!

Alright - back to a galaxy far, far away. More MGS updates coming soon by the way :)

Some more "magnet magic" with Darth Stryfe! I have embeded two magnets in his upper shoulder armor which will allow for a removable "soft goods" cowl! Not sure if you have seen any of the detailing to the removable armor so here's a shot for you which includes the magnet seen in the shoulder area.

Another sith lord in the works - Starkiller as the Sith Stalker (Dark Lord Version) from the video game The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition. You've seen the completed helmet - still needs some adjustments..an updated version will be seen later. Rright now I wanted to present some of the upper body sculpt...

The back will have tubing and the respirator box with a clear acrylic window! The figure will have an alternate head sculpt without the helmet. If you are familiar with the game you will have an idea what he looks like behind the mask.

I am currently tooling around with the Tuskin Raider Stalker costume as well - hope to have something to show soon.

Onto yet another Sith Lord - Darth Malgus from the upcoming Bioware game Star Wars: Old Republic. You've seen this dark lord in the "Hope" trailer - he will have alternate damaged body armor and an alternate head featuring the respirator seen in the "Decieved" trailer.

I've placed a TON of detail into the chest armor...happy I was able to keep it a seperate piece.

Below is an updated shot of Malgus's shoulder armor, which is attached with clear bands glued to the inside of the piece while having the arm thread through to the shoulder joint. I think I've mentioned this before but I plan to create two additional Sith Soldiers and two Imperial Troops. Malgus has to have a posse!!!

A quick update to my Savage Opress - almost complete with the head sculpt...just a couple more horns to place, some refinement and he will be complete. I will continue on with the body sculpt, starting with the completion of the upper and lower torso. He will have removable upper body armor and interchagable arms. I will also plan on a battle damaged head sculpt (saber scorched horn damage)!

Finally tonight I am revisiting my ongoing work on an ultimate Darth Vader - this time updating articulation and reworking the helmet. The helmet you see below is the older version - just wanted to show the new updated articulation. The feet come from one of the Halo figures by McFarlane toys. These will of course be "dremeled" down and resculpted. The helmet is going through a complete resculpt...and I'm talkin' complete. I work on one section, mold and cast, then a next phase. So far I've completed the mouth piece, nose and helmet plate. Once the helmet is finalized, I will cast again to begin creating a three piece using the magnets I've spoken of in an earlier entry. I will also be working on a head sculpt of Anakin (Vader).

The articulation is such that the crotch plate piece and cloak will cover the non sculpted hip joints - I wish those not to have any sculpting around them which may prevent the figure to achieve a meditiation position...like when siting in a meditiation chamber...oops! I let it slip!! heehee...

One final thought on Vader - just finished reading the Dark Horse comic - Darth Vader and The Lost Command. The first few panels is of Vader (Anakin) stripped of his armor and prosthetic limbs, receiving upgrades and repair from imperial droids. How cool of a figure would that be!? And you know...when I get an idea in my head...Uh Oh! Look out!

I'd say that's enough to last me till the next update wouldn't you say LOL! Seriously, thank you guys and gals for you continued interest in my work - and to all my facebook fans, you guys rock! We're almost at 300 fans - incredible! Always check my Facebook page, Sith_fire30 Creations and Flickr photostream for additional information and tons of more photos. Comments, suggestions and critique are always welcome!

I'm back to looking at the Toy Fair coverage and wishing that I was there! You all have a great rest of the weekend and a Happy Valentines day!

sith_fire30