Building the Beast - Savage Opress

"He is ready sisters! Look at the strength...the POWER!"

I must admit, when Lucasfilm announced that they were introducing to the Clone Wars series another Darth Maul-like character as an adversary to the Jedi, I was reluctant...as were many other fans I'm sure. Fortunately I wasn't dissapointed, and the beast lived up to his potential...and in turn, inspired me to begin working on a figural sculpt of Savage Opress.

Below are a series of photos that show the early work into getting the figures' frame constructed as well as some early stages into the sculpt. I wanted to experiment a bit with articulation for this figure - I'm actually wanting to expand the boundaries of articulation with all my figures from here on...finding out what's effective and also what can hender proportion and functionality.

If you've been following along with my updates, you will recognize the image below as a very early draft of my Savage frame...well, I've made a few "minor" changes....heh, heh...

First I want upper torso articulation, preferably a ball-hinged torso...right below the chest and rib cage...but wait a minute, I also want lower waist articulation...also on a ball-hinge. Sounds crazy huh..well thankfully because of this character's size, it's not that difficult. A standard 3.75" figure may be more of a challenge, but not impossible...I will try it out in the future but we're talkin' about Savage right now!

First as you can see in the image above, I took the original frame apart and preped my first ball-hinged piece...all of my ball hinged parts will come from two figures currently out in the market...A VOTC Luke Skywalker or a Medical Frigate Luke Skywalker. You can use either one or the other, makes no difference. You will need: An Xacto knife, super glue, dremel or sand paper (to smooth, straighten and flatten edges), breathing mask, rags for cleanup and possible bandaids..for when you cut the S^%$T out of your finger for the 10th time trying to get a piece to fit LOL!

As will all my new figures, I am adding additional articulation to the hips using the ball joints from the two existing figures I mentioned previously. When I remove the lower torso from the Luke body, I reveal a large opening that, if not careful, can trap a drop of unintentionally placed super glue that can "gum up the works" so to speak as far as leg movement goes...so I ad a small "cap" from an existion torso to cover the opening (as seen above). I will be placing the first ball-hinged piece on top. ***NOTE - Later in the images you will notice I removed the cap all together...this is an option but you must be carefull about the glue getting inside the mechanism. I did this becasue I felt the additional piece was knocking off the proportion.***

I have my ball-hinged piece ready to apply...but I have to be carefull of another opening seen at the bottom of the ball hinged mechanism (see above image), that if touched with glue, can make the part useless. Take special care to place your glue away from the opening and only on the edges where the two parts meet. May not be a strong a bond you would like but don't worry...soon you will be adding FIXIT to the area which will strengthen ten fold!

So here it is...first hing applied..I let it dry for a few then work the joint around awhile to be sure no glue found it's way into the parts.

Again I do the same thing adding the second hinge. Looks strange right now but rest assured, with some adjustments it will work out fine for this particular figure frame.

Again I work the joints to make sure all fuction correctly. Finally I add the upper chest ...here is where you will need to make adjustments and be sure of proportion. I eyeball mine...shaving a little at a time off the base of the upper chest but not too close to the peg holes for the arms. It was at this time I decided to remove the "cap" I spoke of earlier.

And here we go! I also removed the original feet and added some better articulated feet from an existing microman figure. These will also be sculpted over. So now just a test of the movement before cleaning up and adding sculpt to the frame...

Classic! - must have Savage kneeling to his master...whoever that may be. Alright! Lets clean him up and get to sculpting!!

Now I got a little ahead of myself and bagan the primary sculpt - What I should do first is to strengthen the glued attachements. But silly me waited to do that a step or two later...suffice to say I had to glue a piece more than once. :(

Alright, here we go - back on track. One that FIXIT sculpt cures around the glued areas, you are good to go and can make him do back bends if you wish LOL! Proceeded to work on the primary sculpt...Head, Shoulders, Neck.

Yes, more striking a pose...

The beginnings of a "Real World" Savage I think....Lets get those horns on!

Completed the two smaller side horns and the three frontal. Also advanced work on the upper body, chest and shoulders. Now the question...how large should the horns be? Remember this is a "Real World" version of Savage...and his horns can have some play to them. He is considered and "animal" a "beast"...why not larger? Also I'm a fan of the movie Legend, and the character Lord of Darkness...so the larger horns are a little tribute to the Dark Lord.

But...unfortunately they appear to be too big...too wild. Cool but not to the proportion of the figure itself. Thanks to my Facebook fans for the vote of confidence in making the changes and reducing the horns...as you can see in the below image, majority of the fans voted for B..but it was a very close vote!

So I found a sweet spot in between..not too big, not too short...just right like Goldilocks would say.

So below is the final result - I will go forward and sculpt the remaining horns at this scale. Some additional refinement is needed but I think this size keeps Savage looking like a brute, without the stressfull headaches and neck pain he may recieve with the larger horns. LOL!

And that's where I am presently with this character. I hope to have more updates to you soon but I have some painted figures that are waiting to make an eventual debut. I have some additional work in progress reports that will be posted soon, including the Tonnika Sisters, Starkiller, Sith Stalker and Darth Stryfe.

Always check my Facebook page, Sith_fire30 Creations and Flickr photostream for additional information.

Again - thanks to the fans! You guys rock! Stay tuned for more :)

The Dark Times - Dass Jennir and H2

"For over a thousand generations, the Jedi knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the old Republic... before the Dark Times...."

Straying from the path he has sturggled to hold true, Dass Jennir arrives on Telerath. Unbeknownst to Jennir, his destiny with the living force is about to be revealed and his burdened conscience wiped clean....

Dass Jennir is a favorite character of mine from the Star Wars Dark Horse Expanded Universe. If you haven't read the Dark Times comic series, and looking for a story true to Star Wars lore, very well written (Welles Hartley, Mick Harrison) and brilliantly illustrated (Douglas Wheatley) then I highly suggest purchasing these volumes at your local comic/bookstore.

I was already a fan with it's initial release, but as soon as I laid my eyes on the cover of Dark Times issue 13...

I was hooked! I knew it wouldn't be long till I was at my workbench tooling around with the idea of sculpting a workable Dass Jennir figure...capturing his appearance on the cover and throughout the rest of the series. The less trusty and even more annoying sidekick H2 brings humor to the story and had to be included as a set...

My apologies for taking so long to complete this piece...as with all my work, I never center my full attention on just one project, always a bit at a time, tabling and returning to the subject when the inspiration hits...I'm sure that if I only worked on Dass and H2 the project wouldn't have taken more than I'd say a couple weeks...maybe three. Whereas with all my other projects in the works, this sculpt took me over a year to complete LOL! No matter - I enjoyed it! Can't rush a good thing right?

Now to the pictures - many more found on my Flickr page so be sure to check it out :)

Jennir comes with two additional head sculpts - the primary being the hooded "stranger", and the secondary being the "Bearded" and "Jedi Warrior" head sculpts. The "Jedi Warrior" head sculpt was a last minute addition - decided to include the sculpt after reading the last issue of the Blue Harvest storyline (issue 17). Even though the figure does not reflect the exact costume he wore in the issue, the head sculpt is a nice compliment to the set - besides...who said I was done with Dass - I see two more versions of this guy being created in the near future!

Always need to throw in the trusty "Scale Shot" with a dime in the image showing scale. This is a 1:18th scale figure - fully articulated with all the basic movements, however some are a bit limited than others. Lets face it, I'm working with a "stone-like" epoxy, not as durable as plastic...but can be posed in many postions like other factory made figures...mostly when his cowl is removed.

Here are some shots with Jennir's Bearded head sculpt - a seperate cowl piece was sculpted and fit to give the appearance that hood was lowered around the shoulders. The hat has a clear band that goes around the neck under this seperate piece which hides it. Then the head is attached and he's off to the cantina LOL!

Here's Jennir with the cowl removed completely - the cowl is a seperate sculpted piece made from the FIXIT epoxy. This material is incredible to work with - no limitations to what you can do with it. Props to Aves!

H2 was fun to create! The droid was once an R2-D2 figure, with heavy modifications to the sides, head, legs (removed) and undercarriage. The wings are made from styrene and epoxy with a small plastic tube threaded through the main body to either side. The head and wings have a full range of rotation. The clear stand was once that from a microman figure - works perfectly with H2. I'm working on a way to mount him on a clear ball joint so it can have the appearance to be bobbing and dipping back an forth in the air.

As you can see - the blaster is removable. No need to attach a saber hilt since Dass was keeping his Jedi ways "in the closet" so to speak. Anyway - we all know by now that is was H2holding his lightsaber.

You may notice the "Hooded Stranger" head sculpt is sporting a flattop LOL !- this is so that the hat can fit better - also within the top of this head is a magnet, which combined with the embedded magnet inside the hat, allows the two pieces to "snap" into place securely.

Although difficult to see, H2's main lense is actually real layered glass, cut down, beveled and glued inside a small plastic tube within the droid's head piece, then sculpted around to give the look of the main lense. Looking directly into the piece you can see layers which give the appearance of a true camera eye!

A faint shot of illustrated Cato Neimoidia in the background. I do want to build an accessory to go with this figure set - I'm currently tooling with the idea of making the boat which he arrived in on Telerath!!! Not kidding! I'm even including an articulated "Fish" taxi driver!!!

Finally Jennir finds himself and his destiny once more - although not costume accurate (for now) , it's more than enough to have the head sculpt showing the reborn Jennir, leaving us wondering the Jedi's fate in the final pages of issue 17. We shouldn't worry, the force is with him...

I hope you enjoyed the images - next to my Darth Krayt, this is one of my favorite pieces. Happy to have Dass blessing my display shelf and hope that Hasbro may look just a bit deeper into the EU and select this guy as a future action figure.

Visit my Flickr photostream for many more images of Dass and H2, as well as my Facebook page, sith_fire30 creations. We are now over 200 fans and counting! Thanks to all of you! If you haven't become a fan, please take a moment and click the like button when visiting.:)

Again, your comments and praise/critiques are so valued in my creative process - Thanks for all your continued interest in my work - coming soon we continue our journey through The Dark Times with the Space Pirate Lumbra and possibly a close to completed Dark Times K'Kruhk as well. I also have a Vong Warrior chomping at the bit to get completed!

Oh and by the way...been watching Clone Wars lately? You should...below is a very early work in progress shot of Savage Opress.

sith_fire30

Coming This Weekend....

The Dark Times....

Completed Dass Jennir and H2