Topic: Jim's Art

[James]

In the Droids comic series from the 80's, there is a cool looking white TIE Fighter Pilot in issue 8 that I really like. As you can see, he doesn't look anything like the TIE pilots that we are familiar with. He only appears in two panels and neither of them give a full view. By putting together what I could see in the two pictures, this is what I came up with.




This next picture is of Horville from the Ewoks cartoon episode 'Horville's Hut of Horrors' . This was the first picture that I've done with colored pencils in years, and I'm not really satisfied with the result. I may need to take up painting instead...

[spudafett]

those are great!  that tie pilot rocks.  It would make an awesome custom.  Would you mind posting some pics of the pannels from the comic?  I'd like to see how your take on the original looks.

I'm thinking that the mcquarie boba fett body would be perfect for a custom figure of the white tie pilot, you would have to make a new helmet....

[Reconsgt]

Very nice as a fan of both series, I like to see more art, customs or anything from those. Good Job

[Tamer]

drawings sure look good to me!

[James]

those are great!  that tie pilot rocks.  It would make an awesome custom.  Would you mind posting some pics of the pannels from the comic?  I'd like to see how your take on the original looks.

I'm thinking that the mcquarie boba fett body would be perfect for a custom figure of the white tie pilot, you would have to make a new helmet....

Here are the two panels that show the TIE pilot. You can tell that mine is mostly based on the one on the left, but since he was incomplete I had to use some of the details that I could see in the picture on the right to finish him off. It looked to me that in the picture on the right  the pilot had hoses coming from his helmet and going to his back, which is kind of a cool feature, so I added them in my drawing.
It's too bad this character is so obscure, he would make a really nice comic pack figure. Maybe I'll have to send in a question to Hasbro about that sometime.
Next up, I think I'll be sketching an X-Wing pilot from the same  comic. They have a really unusual, non movie look too. Hey, maybe there's the second guy for the comic pack!

By the way, thanks for the compliments guys!

[Clonehead]

Sweet renderings, James! I love that pilot and like your version better than the one in the comic.

[spudafett]

very cool.  Love how darth is giving the other pilots a thumbs up.  Your sketch definately fleshes out the details.  the more I look at it the more I see the concept boba fett body. 

that'd make a great comic pack.  There are alot of collectors out there that love these weird obscure characters.

[UnitedStatesDemocrat]

Very well done on the art.  I like it.

[James]

Here is a sketch of an X-Wing pilot from the same Droids comic as the TIE Fighter pilot seen above. The separate picture is of his helmet.

 

Here are the reference pictures that I used:

   

As you can see, for some reason the pilot outfit changes from the time of the briefing at the Yavin based to the time the pilots are in the cockpit.

[spudafett]

huh perhaps that is their "undersuit" and they have a thicker heavier space suit to go over that... maybe the heavier one is a g-suit?

that is an interesting helmet design.  It's interesting to see such an old comic and the style within it.  I doubt you would see such a deviation from cannon star wars costumes and such in a modern comic.  heck... I think in all the clone wars comics anakin and ahsoka and obi-wan all wear the same outfit ALL THE FREAKING TIME....

i'm sorry, but I've always found that to be a retarted aspect of tv-cartoons... people change clothes... i know it's eisier and more cost effective to make up one digital model and reuse the crap out of it... but comeon...  sorry.. i'm rambling.

great sketches.  Alot better than any of my human sketches!

[Clonehead]

I like that pilot, James. The colors and shading look great.

[DocOutlands]

Well, the helmet on that one would be fairly easy - use the head of a EU/Concept Speeder Bike pilot.  Really neat flight-suits - I'd be tempted to use them - in a different paint scheme - as the Defense Boat pilots around Outland Station.

As for the TIE Pilot, man, that design is neat!  I'm thinking maybe an Ironman head as a base, maybe one of the Ironman chests worked into a McFett.  Almost has some echoes of a Snowtrooper in there, too.  Those would be some neat ones to have, for sure.  If they'd run those as comic-packs, some of us *ahem* would buy several packs just to have plenty of fodder to play with!

[spudafett]

ya know an idea I have toyed with a while back was doing custom comic packs... buying mint condition comics and making two custom figures to go with it as well as taking existing comic pack paccaging and making a custom cardback for it all.  I think it would sell realy well on e-bay, but it would be realy expensive to put together... I priced a few boba comics a while back and it's up there.

[James]

Thanks again for the compliments guys! That comic really is a good source for new and seldom seen designs of classic characters. I've submitted a question to Hasbro in the Q&A section, so if it's sent in maybe we can get an idea if Hasbro would have any interest in making a comic pack based on these.

[DocOutlands]

Saw that - good idea!  I mean, if they are gonna make the Vong, why not Marvel figs?  Prolly come down to market awareness - what % of their market recognizes Marvel figs vs. Dark Horse/novel figs?