Topic: jlw515's Custom Vehicles

[FialaFernbrugg]

thanks a lot for the instructions

that is very useful and I will try it on one of my clean vehicles

[jlw515]

Ok, trying to get caught up in the Custom Vehicles section; so gonna be posting some pics of vehicles and such that I actually did over the last few years.

I took the old Kenner playset, added a platform to the front, dremeled away the old bean bag chair from Vader's chamber, added the chair and console from the 500th Vader, painted the inside of the chamber white, painted the outside of the chamber gloss black. I also added square vinyl bumpers and stickers from nuibnuib's universe.






I also gave the ship a wash in black, after painting, not because the Star Destroy looks "used" in the movies, but to bring out some of the detail of the toy.







I also customized the helmet harness from the 500th Vader to fit inside the chamber.







As always thoughts and comments are welcome.

[jlw515]

Here is another project I did some time ago. I had this idea for quite some time. Converting the old G.I.JOE headquarters into a Star Wars type garrison.



I painted the green parts primer grey, and then gave the whole thing a wash in black. I also painted the beds and added some custom graphics to the computer consoles.

[jlw515]

Here are a couple more GIJOE inspired customs. I simply took a couple of old GIJOE cannons (FLAK & Whirlwind), painted them primer grey, and gave them a wash. Although I have them pictured with Imperial Troops, I think they'd fit in more with something the Rebellion would have used.









Jason

[jlw515]

Here are some pictures of my custom BAT-AT. The sculpt is so awesome, but it lacks weathering. A simple wash in a really dark grey or black is all it needs to bring out the details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Besides weathering, I absolutely hated the guns that came with this thing! Its like they just lost steam or something when it came to the guns. The side guns from the vintage AT-AT are as close to movie accurate as a person can get without just customizing their own guns. I aquired some side guns from Darklord. Cut the back boxes off and added the armored "wings" from the POTF2 version. I still need to paint the guns one color.

 

 

 

I also added the chin gun barrels from the POTF2 AT-AT. The chin guns from the POTF2 version are almost 100% movie accurate. Again, this is another area that the sculpters just blew it. Every aspect of the old POTF2 chin guns is based on the actual movie props. I tried to figure out a way to attach a pin or dowel rod to the barrels so they could just slide into the tunnels, but nothing seemed to work right. So, I just glued them in place. Movie accuracy is more important to me than having the guns move back and forth. With just glueing the barrels in place, it still allows for the lights to illuminate the barrels.

 

I did a little weathering in the cockpit (not much though) and then also weathered the inside of the body.

 

 

 

Blizzard Squadron? We don't need no stinkin' Blizzard Squadron!

 

The few, the proud, the TROOPS

[jlw515]

Here are some more pics with different lighting. Hopefully the weathering shows up better in these pics. Also, didn't resize the photos this time so hopefully photopost will upload these to the medium size. We'll see.

 

 

 
 
The vintage style side guns are THE way to go!! They look sooo much better than the abominations that come with the BAT-AT.

 

Speeder bike compartment door.

 

lightly weathered underside of cockpit hatch

 

 

You can make out the weathering on the wall around and below the computer. That grey floor didn't really take to weathering that well.

 

little bit of weathering on the red light wall. And in case anyone is wondering about the lack of stickers on the "meter poles" (man I promise that's what they look like); the only sticker (singular) I used in the whole pack was the sticker of the power generator. I would have thought being a "generic" Shadows of the Darkside Clone Wars/OTC AT-AT that it would have come with more generic stickers. So, I just trashed the other ones.

Jason

[jlw515]

I purchased a G.I.JOE Defiant off ebay a few months back. I had seen a couple of customizers use the computer bays as diorama fillers, and was originally just looking for those pieces. Well, I found a pretty beat up looking Defiant that had most of the parts at a reasonable price.

When I looked at the ship, the open box areas on the sides reminded me of the hangar bay of the Home One Mon Cal cruiser. So, I decided to do a little customizing and turn this old Defiant shuttle into a Rebel cruiser!

 

 

The "bumps" on the ship were created with half of one large plastic Easter egg, and the rest were made from Silly Putty eggs. I had to sand the logo off the eggs.

 

The front nose was badly cracked. Someone had tried super glueing the pieces together, but it didn't look good. I used some JB Weld plastic epoxy to fill in all the cracked or broken pieces.

 

I wanted a color scheme similar to the Home One ship i.e. medium grey/light grey.

 

Cockpit. Original seats painted a burnt orange then dry brushed with brown. This makes it look like worn out leather. Admiral's seat made from Capt. Kirk chair, lego parts, and Ackbar's computer console. The console/arm moves to help sitting the action figure in the seat.

 

The back opened to reaveal the inside body of the ship.

 

Had to compensate for some missing parts. Computer console made from POTF2 AT-AT chin and missle firing cannons from "Dagger Squadron" B-Wing.

 

Bottom computer from POTF2 AT-AT with commtech chip glued in place to hide Imperial logo. Chairs are from Star Trek Enterprise playset. The chairs are slightly in the way when you raise/lower the back part. So, I might have to rework them.

 

 

Computer consoles with custom decals. Was really torn between adding some weathering to show details of these computers or leaving them clean like in Jedi. I just left them clean.

 

Rear boosters. The Defiant only came with three boosters. I left the two largest, and used a couple of Lego cones to make two more boosters.

[jlw515]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason

[jlw515]

Here are some photos of my (work in progress) Star Destroyer bridge diorama playset. My diorama is by no means to scale, and not necessarily movie accurate. There are a few things that I did differently to adjust for the size of diorama I was making.

 

I took the advice of AresX and used MDF board to make this diorama. I originally started with foamboard and when I went to paint a base coat the whole thing warped! The MDF (medium density fiber) board is easier to work with, to me, because I have really nice compound mitre saw to work with.

However, I think if I were to invest in the best materials, I might try my hand at the polystyrene (plastic) sheet goods that Owen Driscoll has worked with. But until I feel the need (and have the cash) to upgrade to the plastic sheets, this diorama will serve it's purpose.

 

The computer bay (pit) was made with MDF board and a thin sheet of polystyrene. The boxes on the walls were made from pieces of wood yard sticks and paint stir sticks. I got the decals from Nuibnuib's website and just customized them to fit the sizes I need.

The main computer terminal is still a work in progress. It is made from a combination of Lego parts and paint stir sticks. The movie prop would actually seat six (6) Imperial techs. When mine is done, it will only seat four (4).

 

Here is an example of where I sacrificed movie accuracy for "playability." To me, the side alcoves on the bridge are just wasted space, so I made the opening a little wider and this area will actually house the grey computer terminals where Capt. Piett discovered the location of the Rebel base on Hoth. The computer terminal will be removable to allow photos to be shot through the door opening into the bridge.

 

The viewports were made from one (1) inch thick MDF shelving boards. The computer terminal in front of the viewports are made from wooden yard sticks and paint stir sticks. I still have to do some putty work and add decals.

 

Better shot of computer bay (pit) and my work in progress computer terminal.

 

Obligatory bounty hunter photo. Didn't realize it was out of focus. The Nuibnuib print in the background is just a place holder.

As far as color scheme goes, I went with more blue than machine grey. I actually think there is a continuity error throughout TESB about the color of the bridge. In the matte paintings the bridge looks more blue, but actual set pieces look more machine grey (to me).

[jlw515]

Ok, this is one of those customs that on the surface looks like a simple swap of the wings, but there was much more involved here.

Since 1996 this makes only the second time I've customized a TIE fighter. Both times, immediately after starting the project I've just about regretted it. Check out this link for my first custom TIE fighter.

 POTF2 Custome TIE

With the the new VTC TIE fighter I was excited about getting the new tooled cockpit. I already had the older large wing TIE and figured I could just give the VTC Tie a wash in grey to make the pieces blend together. Then I got the bright idea about swapping out the viewport lens (because the VTC viewport is tinted and you cannot see the pilot).

Well, swapping out the viewports became more work than I expected and I had to cut out portions of the inside walls to cut the tabs that were factory snapped together, which hold the ship together. In the end, I'm happy to have a TIE fighter with a clear viewport, but if I'd have known how much work it was going to be, I would have never started this project.

 

Now you can see inside the ship through the viewport. The viewport from the older TIE is actually a little bigger than the newer version. Some of the edge had to be filed down, and the viewport glued in place.

 

Gave the cockpit (eyeball) a wash in grey to better match the large wings.

 

Since there is no pressure on the inside walls, I just glued over my cuts with black poster board and glued the decals back on.

 

Full shot. Like I said, I'm happy with the final results but wouldn't suggest this custom to anyone.

[jlw515]

So, I was disappointed in the red/orange color scheme of the new Y-Wing. I had every intention of painting it when I saw the initial photos, but more so when I actually bought one. Upon opening the box, I was tempted to repack the thing and send it back, but I know it will be years before Hasbro re-releases it in movie accurate colors and I so wanted this Y-Wing with new cockpit and such. So here are some photos of my custom Y-Wing. Simple paint job and weathering. I found this awesome Krylon "stainless steel" paint (it was actually a "nip" i.e. free sample at my old job). It works great for spraying a mist of paint to give the ship a worn look.

Sorry for the quality of pics, I had to take the photos with my Blackberry. They actually came out better than expected.



















Oh yeah, and I swapped out the purple glass from the previous release of the Y-Wing for the clear glass from this release, because I actually like the paint scheme better on the previous release, but hated that purple glass on it. I don't think the purple glass looks too bad on this custom.

[jlw515]

And here are some updated photos of my Star Destroyer playset/diorama. It's about 98% complete. I need to touch up some paint in a couple spots and finish the computer bay that goes in the pit.

[wraithnine]

its a deluge of awesome customness!

[Tamer]

Wow, time to take this to our FB Page. Look for it on our front page soon.

[botwt]

Great stuff!!