Topic: Darth More's Customs: Ugnaught Smith

[Starchaser]

Nice way to commemorate a mile stone:) I like the BB "family." Personally, I would vote for green as the next addition to the line.

[Darth More]

Tamer, JDeck & Starchaser: Thank you so much for the congrats! Purple & green would look great! I think I'll just do both once I get another BB-8 figure.

Do you think I should add some weathering to BB-R and Triple B, too?

[Darth More]

JEDI: Fallen Order - Imperial Purge Trooper


I saw the first trailer to JEDI: Fallen Order, yesterday - who else is excited?!
Actually, I watched it over and over again! I couldn't care less for Epsiode IX, but THIS looks promising!
If the gameplay will be as good as the graphic engine, this game will be awesome!


The trailer shows some interesting locations and characters. I'm most excited about these Dark Airborne Troopers, to which is referred to as Imperial Purge Troopers.
I'm not sure though if this is their final name. Have you heard anything specific about them, yet?

I couldn't resist and took some screenshots for reference:




I do not own this image. Source: reddit



And here is the official trailer from RESPAWN Entertainment owned by Electronic Arts.

I do not own the following images. Source: STAR WARS JEDI: Fallen Order Trailer 13/04/2019











And it also looks like we're getting some more new Clone and Imperial Trooper variants in this game...





So I grabbed a couple TAC Airborne Troopers from my fodder bag and I cannot wait to make them into a custom 3 3/4" figure! I'm sure there already are some 6" versions in the works accross the planet, too! I actually had a Shadow Airborne Trooper on my to-do list already, but it's different than the Purge Trooper - so I don't mind and take this occasion to work on this concept, now!




I'm going to work with humbrol's 27003 and 27004:



But before I can start I need to make some new molds and resin parts, which will be kit-bashed. And I need some emblems of the Imperial emblem...





I'm also working on some more Clone Trooper customs featured in my other thread:

http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10513.30


- Philipp

[Tamer]

Awesome characters. Great start. Off to share this and that youtube video.

[hemble]

Great use of parts mate and they will look awesome once painted.

Ron

[Starchaser]

That trooper caught my eye as well. This will be a great build, I was thinking about doing one as well. I think you will beat me to it by a long shot though.

[Darth More]

Tamer: Thank you! Yes, I'm really looking forward to this game! EA have to compesate the mess of the last six years...


hemble: Thank you, Ron! Yes, I have to pour the helmet and pauldrons first - and they cannot hold anything without hands - so back to the lab, again! I cannot wait to paint them!


Starchaser: The Purge Trooper is an awesome concept, indeed! Please, make one as well! Yours will look excellent! I don't think my skills are that good even if this was a competition. The more fun I have with the project, the better are my results - especially the repaints of the two Destroyer Droids were a ton of fun! Can't wait for the third one and to see your Purge Trooper(s)! Gotta step by at Games Workshop before. I really hope they'll survive the Brexit...I want GW to stay in in the rest of Europe...


Thanks for your comments & support guys! They are always appreciated!

- Philipp

[L-Jarvis customs]

Outstanding work as always!

[krztfr]

Can't wait to see these painted up

[Darth More]

L-Jarvis customs: Thank you very much for your feedback!



krztfr: Same here! I made some more progress, but it wasn't as easy as I expected it to be:


- Philipp

[Darth More]

So on Monday after work I continued working on the Purge Troopers:







I tried to take the figures apart with hot water - and I dramatically failed! When I tried to remove the shoulder, I found out that both shoulders seem to be connected with each other with a piece in the torso* (*ADD: This does not make any sense. At all. But the disks for each joint are incredibly strong.) The only parts that I could remove were the leg(s) and othe forearms. There was no way for me to seperate the torso from the hip just by pulling (even with a pair of tongs!).
So if I did manage to take them apart, I could also use another regular Clone Trooper bases on ROTS #41. Now, I have to use the rare Airborne Troopers and even have to drag the left shoulder armour. Interesting to note here is that the glued belt of Commander Keller just fell off in the hot water. So it seems the heat solved the glue, which is very surprising to me!






I cut the straps with a precision knife. Talking about precise paint jobs of the original factory:






And then I painted the first parts to find the definite color:












Personally, I think the 27003 Polished Steel looks more authentic compared to the reference. On the other hand, the 27004 Gunmetalmight look accurate when I apply a shiny clear cote...it dries mat, although the suggested color on the tin is glossy and looks WAY different! One thing that has been bothering me a lot lately with email colors...
ADD: I forgot that this paint is a sort of technical color! By actually "polishing" it with a paper towel/tissue I achieved the perfect look! Now, it's nice and shiny - so I made a decision - pictures of the result will follow!

What do you think? Please let me know in the comments below!

- Philipp

[ImperialOfficer]

Hey Darth More, nice progress. I like the polished steel better. As for the torsos, clone trooper torsos are made of hard plastic similar to the joint disks and do not flex under heat. When separating torsos like that I either take an exact knife and try to cut the torso open at the seams, or I use a vice to push the joint disks in to poo the torso open. I can post a more detailed tutorial if you want.

[Darth More]

ImperialOfficer thank you so much for your support! After thinking about it twice I have to take back my thought of the previous post. It actually makes no sense that both shoulder joints were connected inside the torso. BUT a solid disk for each joint inside the torso makes way more sense. However I would like to see how such a Clone Trooper torso looks inside. If you can provide any insight, I would be most thankful! Your comment already helped a lot, though! Yes, the plastic they use for the torso is much more robust...and is not resistant to light - an issue I hope they will eventually solve...

In my figure fodder I found some evidence of how stable Hasbro actually designs their products and which immense forces these joints can resist:




One thing is for sure: I will never take apart a Clone Trooper based on ROTS #41 ever, again.
With six times of heating up the hips and by using this instrument from my job (a LeCron), I could finally attach the right leg to the torso, again...this figure definitely had to take the most impact of semi-professional work of me...the left leg is pretty flimsy now and the right joint is deformed. And I think this was so not necessary...but I learned a lot from it today...





- Philipp

[Darth More]

So today I worked on the left shoulder armor. I cut the puches with a precision knife, removed all pressure lines and sanded all the edges:







It turned out better than expected. So that's my progress so far. More pics will come soon once the body is painted. Casted helmet and hands will follow. Off to paint, again!

- Philipp

[Tamer]

Nice updates. Off to share the latest.