Topic: Darth More's Customs: Ugnaught Smith

[Blizzard Force]

Excellent work! The BB-8 looks so much better now, especially since you now see so many more details thanks to the shades/weathering...

Also, I have to say I'm a bit jealous of your ultimate paint set... Awesome to see this...man, I need a way to organize my paints in the future again as well...

[Darth More]

@Blizzard Force:Thank you, mate! Yes, shades and pigments are perfect to highlight all hidden details of a mold!

I am looking forward to talking to you about paints and colors on the next convention in May!

[Darth More]

Destroyer Droid (Mod & Repaint)

    "They're no match for droidekas."
     - Rune Haako, regarding a pair of Jedi Knights

"Droidekas, also known as destroyer droids, were a type of droid used by the Trade Federation during the Invasion of Naboo and, later, by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. Manufactured by the Colicoids[1] on Colla IV,[2] droidekas were dangerous and deadly, designed to exterminate their adversaries with extreme prejudice. They could transform their shape by curling into a ball and moving up to 75 kilometers per hour[2] across a surface, or stand on three legs and utilize a shield generator while firing at a target. Before the Invasion of Naboo, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn had to face droidekas on a Droid Control Ship."
Source: Wookiepedia

Read the full article by following this link: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Droideka




Over the last weeks I didn't have much time to make huge progress...but what I have done so far on my Destroyer Droids is this:

- modification in detail of the twin blasters and back shields/panels
- spray-painting them with primer "Chaos Black" from Citadel

In the picture you can see the TAC Destroyer Droid from 2007 on the left and the TPM Destroyer Droid from 1999 on the right. The TPM one was actually the very first Destroyer Droid I got when I started collecting in 2005. I was bothered by the way Hasbro painted it since I got it. Some day I decided to repaint the head with a copper color by Revell. I was 12 back then. Later I realized that copper wasn't the right color to make it look accurate. So I removed the color with desinfectant to give it a second try.

See what I use to remove paint by following the link below:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10178.0

The joints of the twin blasters were also worn out since I played with it a lot 12 years ago. A nice side effect of repainting the figure is that the joints are fixed and able to hold the twin blasters in position again so that they don't hang down anymore!


The TAC version was quite damaged when I got it from the rummage sale for 50 cents!
I fixed the front visor which was bent with boiling water. I also drilled holes in the Destroyer's twin blasters to give it more detail:


As you can see the Droideka on the right was quite damaged when I got it. And I got just one purpose for such figures: Customizing! So I also drilled holes into the panels on the back:


Here's a comparison of the TPM Destroyer Droid before and after I spray-painted it with the primer "Chaos Black" from Citadel:


Here's a picture of all three Droidekas I am going to repaint modified and painted with primer:
They continue my custom line of "Black Series" figures, vehicles and creatures...


I always wanted to see a Destroyer Droid in 3 3/4" which is able to fold up. But I assume it's not possible for Hasbro to do something like that in the price range of 3 3/4" Action Figures...Technically it should work I suppose - I am thinking of the engineers of Bakugan toys...

I will start with the TPM version because I messed it up before and I have more of them than I own of the TAC one (2).

[Tamer]

Nice work so far. Off to share.

[Sjefke]

I always wanted to see a Destroyer Droid in 3 3/4" which is able to fold up. But I assume it's not possible for Hasbro to do something like that in the price range of 3 3/4" Action Figures...Technically it should work I suppose - I am thinking of the engineers of Bakugan toys

I've always thought the same about the Bakugan figures.

Nice job repairing and scoring fodder.

[talonreap]

Excellent work so far, Phillip.  Your work on BB-8 was fantastic, and really got me to consider Nuln Oil (I've worked mostly with Citadel Badab Black wash in the past). I've also always wanted to recycle some old Droideka parts of mine to make the Sniper Droideka variant seen in the Clone Wars Season Two. Anyway, always a pleasure checking your progress on all your great projects!

[Darth More]

@ Sjefke: Thanks mate, yeah the design of Bakugan is amazing. There are so many mechanical and magnetic functions packed in just one tiny toy.

Hasbro did an attempt on a Droideka that folds up. It was released in the POTJ line in 2000 and retailed for a mere of $9.99! They designed 3 figures for their "Mega Action" Series:
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul and the Destroyer Droid:

http://www.rebelscum.com/potjmegaddroid.asp

Unfortunately I do not own this toy and it's extremely hard to find here in Germany by now.
A friend of mine got one MISB a couple weeks ago. Lucky him! So we'll probably never see anything better than the TAC Destroyer Droid from Hasbro. If the Star Wars Action Figure line lasts for the next 10 years I am optimistic due to technical progress. We might be able to print figures at home with 3D-printers some day...who knows?
Have you been aware that Hasbro bought some rights and patents to colaborate with a company that is specialized on 3D-printing? 


@  talonreap: Thank you for the compliments! I am glad I could help you with your descision on Citadel's washes/shades. "Badab Black" is one I haven't known, yet. I should go to Games Workshop, soon, and check their new stuff. They keep releasing more and more colors of which some might be a useful add to my set of colours...
I really enjoyed working on BB-8!

The Sniper Destroyer Droid is one interesting thing...LEGO released a Destroyer Droid along with a set of The Clone Wars some years ago. And I just couldn't figure out why it looks so different from a Destroyer Droid. I have to admit I've only watched a few episodes of the Clone Wars Series.
Now, I know that there really is a difference between both destroyers. Thanks a lot for the hint!
Because of you I know them, now! I am looking forward to seeing your custom Sniper Droideka!

Photobucket seems a have serious issues at the moment (since April 6)! People cannot access to their accounts anymore. Otherwise I would share new pictures with you (including an update on the Naboo Flash Speeder). I hope they'll fix the problem, soon!
Then I'll post a picture of the Sniper Destroyer Droid here, too.
Until then - let's get them painted!

Best regards from Germany guys!

- Philipp

[Darth More]

Destroyer Droid #1 (TPM)


Yesterday I had time to paint the first of my three "Black Series" Destroyer Droids. Since I had been wanting to do this since 2006, I couldn't wait to continue with this project!! But 11 years ago I just didn't have the painting skills to achieve the result I wanted (see pictures above).
And today I finally have time to upload pictures of the finished Droideka:

So after spray-painting the three Destroyers with Citadel's primer "Chaos Black" (see above post),
I grabbed my Star Wars books and looked for suitable reference material (once again):

One of the best books to find references for custom figures are the Visual Dictionaries by DK!
I used to go through these books page by page for hours...



There you can not only find interesting information on characters, vehicles and technology, but also very detailed images and illustrations:





Here are all colors I used:


Citadel: Leadbelcher (Base), Runefang Steel (Layer), Mephiston Red (Base)


Humbrol: 27003 - Polished Steel (Metal Code), 54 - Brass Metallic (Enamel), 55 - Bronze Metallic (Enamel)
Revell: 95 - Bronze Metallic (Enamel)

I painted the figure in this order:

1. Dry-brush with Leadbelcher (Citadel)
2. Painting the Droideka's "spinal column" with Polished Titan (humbrol)
3. Dry-brush the "head, shoulders, shields and twin-blasters" with Brass Metallic (humbrol)
4. Dry-brush the "head, shoulders and shields" with Bronze Metallic (humbrol)
5. Dry-brush the "head, shoulders and shields" with Bronze Metallic (Revell)
6. Painting the Droideka's visors with Mephiston Red (Citadel)

7. Correcting all edges with Leadbelcher (Citadel)
8. Highlighting all edges (you want) and some details (e.g. scratches) with Runefang Steel (Citadel)

(9.) Applying a shade (for example Nuln Oil (Citadel))

You might wonder why I used a Bronze Metallic paint twice (step 4 & 5). I bought the same color "Bronze Metallic" from two different companies: humbrol and Revell. My presumtion, that both paints differ a little bit, was confirmed.

To step 1.: I was amazed by the result of the dry-brush with Leadbelcher. So I dry-brushed ALL parts of the destroyer just to see it in a complete steel look:









I took pictures of this step to show you how a Destryoer Droid could look like if it was not hardened with an alloy.
You actually have to dry-brush the legs, "spine column"/torso, arms and twin-blasters with Leadbelcher (or any other metal colour). I think Citadel's Leadbelcher leads to the best results for the Droideka because it's Citadel's darkest metal colour.

I then followed step 2 to 8. And here's the result:



Here's my custom next the Hasbro's original version from 1999:











Now, my custom Destroyer Droid has more detail than my camera can catch in one shot. This is due to the great effect of dry-brushing and has nothing to do with my painting skills...




So we went from this...



...to this!


Hasbro has already done some excellent improvement on the B1 Battle Droid. Since The Legacy Collection we've seen some awesome and super-articulated Battle Droids! They even came in 2-Packs in the SOTDS - Saga Legends line...
My favourite mold of the Battle Droid is the VC78 one from The Vintage Collection:

http://www.rebelscum.com/TVC78BD.asp

Hasbro had planned a second release of the B1 as "red tan" version in their Legacy Collection (2), which was unfortunately cancelled in 2012. I still hope to see this mold as 2-Pack some day (despite the fact that Basic Figures become more and more expensive even in the U.S.!).
Remind me to copy & paste this later in my post for the Pilot & Security Droid customs...

It's sad that the Destroyer Droid hasn't seen an update/re-tooling since the 30th Anniversary version, which is great nevertheless!


Conclusion:

So this was my first (complete) repaint of Hasbro's TPM 1999 Destroyer Droid with some minor but appropriate modifications! I think it's a nice destiny for my very first Droideka from Hasbro.
The repaint made it even more special and unique to me.

I never understood why in the world Hasbro decided to paint the Droideka in this blue-goldish metal colours.* As far as I know Droidekas always appear with a bronze alloy in the movies.**
But I have to admit it's not easy to immitate this Bronze effect. That's why I used four metal colours for all parts in Bronze.

*: During my investigationon Destroyer Droids I did find a picture that tells me I was wrong with my assumption! Now, I understand WHY Hasbro painted the Droideka's "head" in a blue-golden metal cote:

Seems like I haven't paid attention to Episode I that much...

I found this picture in Issue 44 (Vulture Droid) on page 8 of DeAgostini's Vehicles & Starships Series.

**: That's a lie!! lol  My impression was wrong. In Episodes II & III Droideka's appear in bronze though (see image of the Droideka in AOTC above the reference)...but look at this picture below! Which color do you see on the Destroyers?
Quite controversal this is, don't you think?


Source: Wookiepedia; All rights reserved to Wookiepedia and Lucasfilm Ltd.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/P-series_destroyer_droid


Destroyer Droids have always been my favourite (and totally lethal) droids of Star Wars!
And for my first attempt of a complete Droideka custom I am quite satisfied!

Before I move on to the next (TAC) Destroyer I will apply a shade to the TPM one (step 9).

Now, I realized step 9 and applied Citadel's shade "Nuln Oil". I tried to catch more detail with my camera:















I hope I could give you some inspiration for your own creations with my tutorial.


Best regards from Germany!

- Philipp

[JDeck]

Awesome job on the Destroyer droid! I really like the wear pattern, top notch.

[Darth More]

Thanks JDeck! I added some pictures of my latest progress to my last post. The shade is applied and the details are highlighted even better, now!

Yesterday, I also finished my Naboo Flash Speeder project. I already added pictures of each step, too:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10165.msg200422#msg200422

And today I'm going to work on the other Droidekas...

[Tamer]

Now that looks fantastic. Man, what a great reference source too. off to share.

[Darth More]

Thanks a lot Shawn! I hoped you consider it useful!  Also thanks for sharing!

[Darth More]

Destroyer Droid #2 (AOTC/ROTS)

Yesterday, I had time to paint the second of my Custom Destroyer Droids. And today I got time to take and upload pictures.

It took me about 4 hours to spray-paint (without time for the primer to dry) and paint the Droideka.
And it'll probably take another 4 hours to take and modify the pictures, import them to Photobucket (which takes hours alone! Do yourself a favor and use imgur!),  write the texts and post everything on here.

So let's get started with the TAC 30.59 Destroyer Droid (Droideka):


Here are all colors I used:


Citadel: Leadbelcher (Base), Runefang Steel (Layer), Mephiston Red (Base)


Humbrol: 27003 - Polished Steel (Metal Code), 54 - Brass Metallic (Enamel), 55 - Bronze Metallic (Enamel)
Revell: 95 - Bronze Metallic (Enamel)

Here's how they look once they're dry:





I painted the figure in this order:

1. Dry-brush with Leadbelcher (Citadel)
2. Painting the Droideka's "spinal column" with Polished Titan (humbrol)
3. Dry-brush the "head, shoulders, shields and twin-blasters" with Brass Metallic (humbrol)
4. Dry-brush the "head, shoulders and shields" with Bronze Metallic (humbrol)
5. Dry-brush the "head, shoulders and shields" with Bronze Metallic (Revell)
6. Painting the Droideka's visors with Mephiston Red (Citadel)

7. Correcting all edges with Leadbelcher (Citadel)
8. Highlighting all edges (you want) and some details (e.g. scratches) with Runefang Steel (Citadel)

9. Applying a shade (for example Nuln Oil (Citadel))

You might wonder why I used a Bronze Metallic paint twice (step 4 & 5). I bought the same color "Bronze Metallic" from two different companies: humbrol and Revell. My presumtion, that both paints differ a little bit, was confirmed.

Here you can take a closer look at the progress of step 1:




Although this is not screenaccurate I painted both sides of the twin blasters with humbrol's 54 - Brass Metallic. I applied the Brass paint before I dry-brushed the rest of the arm with Citadel's Leadbelcher. You can hardly avoid painting over the small edges with the technique of dry-brushing:


But that doesn't matter. You can easily correct the edges in case there's Brass paint where it's not supposed to be...




I then followed step 2 to 8. And here's the result:











Dry-brush of the head before and after:





Final layer of Bronze:







Inner side:




After that I realized step 9 by applying Citadel's shade "Nuln Oil":














Here's my custom next to Hasbro's original version from 2007:









So I made this...




...to this! And you can do it, too!





Conclusion:

Wow, this was fun! In my opinion Hasbro's TAC 30-59 Destroyer Droid is the best version available so far! Having said that I still hope to see it re-released or modified once again.

I paid 50 cents for this Droideka, spent 4 1/2 hours working on it (including fixing it) and now it's priceless for me!!
It turned out great and the more I look at it and all the details of its mold I celebrate it more.
This is the favourite of my customs so far and let me tell you:

It has become my favourite figure of my entire collection! Try it yourself! It's awesome!

And here are some pictures of them on display:


Enjoy!









Cheers from Germany!

- Philipp

[Darth More]

While the paint was drying on the second Destroyer Droid I painted another B2 Super Battle Droid.

You can see the custom figure on the right next to Hasbro's original TLC SL-10 Super Battle Droid:






This is how I painted the Super Battle Droid:

1. Painting the torso, the visor and the joints with 27003 - Polished Titan (humbrol)
2. Dry-brush of the entire figure accross all edges with Leadbelcher (Citadel)
3. Applying the shade Nuln Oil (Citadel)

[Tamer]

It looks good on the front pages!