Topic: Clonehead's Custom Figures reloaded

[Clonehead]

I have shown you before this helmet combo that I intend to use for this pilot. It is the face of a Galactic Marine grafted to the Evo Pilot set B-wing pilot's helmet. I still need to make an adjustment to one side of where the two pieces meet to make things completely square but I think it will be nifty looking with some paint on it.

[Clonehead]

Much thanks dudes! It's nice to be posting some custom work again.

Helix, like yourself, I enjoy doing the helmet mods and have for some years now. I find it easier and less taxing on the fodder pile to make em from the resin parts that I cast. I hardly ever make a modded helmet using stock Hasbro parts unless I plan to use the piece as a master to make a mold from as the detail is better from stock pieces or a combo of em than it would be from a mold made using a resin part as the master.

[Clonehead]

Thanks for your comments, kind shipyarders.

Clint is that helmet on your list of parts?

Nope, CAA, that one is not on the list. While I do have some modified helmet molds made to cast parts that are on the list, The helmets that you have seen me make by cutting apart and meshing together components of 2 or more helmets from existing resin casts are not on the list. It simply takes too much time to make those modified helmets cost effective. This helmet was made by cutting apart and fitting together portions of two different helmets that are on the list and you could sure try this yourself using those same two parts. This particular helmet has probably seen over two hours worth of work to get it together and looking right. In fact, I put about 20-30 more min into it yesterday as I didn't like how the left side was meshed together compared to the right side and ended up cutting the left sides apart from each other and shaving a couple of areas prior to refitting and gluing them back together in a fashion where both sides were more square fitting to each other. Also, in the cast used from the B-wing pilot helmet, the forward corners of that upper plate above the visor didn't form out to a point and I rebuilt either point using resin and superglue.
   Also yesterday, Ii spent some time looking for a head to use for this pilot's body. At first, I snatched up this paraviper head casting that I had on hand and bored out its mounting socket so that it would fit on this figure's neck nub. I like how it looks but almost think that it could be slightly small in proportion to the figure's body. Also, when mounting the helmet onto that head, the helmet rides a bit higher than I would like which can be remedied by shaving out the inside top of the helmet with wood chisels. Were I to remove a little material from that inside top, the head could sit deeper into the helmet and the helmet would sit lower towards the body when worn.

[Clonehead]

One more shot of the helmet fitted upon the resin paraviper head and then as I was still experimenting with the head idea a bit, I tried this Gen Veers head on for size. While, i had always loved the Veers head sculpt, to me, it appears that the head sits a bit high on the figure's neck peg which could be easily fixed by reaming the heads hole a bit deeper but more importantly, this head seems a bit large in proportion to the figure's body. I do really like seeing that officer hat on this fig, though. Prehaps the pilot could be an officer who wears the hat when he isnt wearing the helmet.

That's what I did yesterday. Next, I will show what I have been doing to this fig, this morning.

[Clonehead]

When I started working on this figure, I had wanted kind of a shadow theme as far as  the paint apps on the helmet and armor which would primarily be black and grey like a shadow stormtrooper. I knew that I wanted to make his flightsuit a darker grey with some kind of camo on it. I started thinking that a grey toned camo might suit a shadow pilot better but wanted to give this guy's camo more flare than that. That's why I started with a pattern over the dark grey using the medium brown color. When applied, that brown seemed a bit more subdued than I wanted this camo to be so I decided to choose a ighter color and outline the brown pattern that I had already applied. for this, I chose polly-s old concrete which is a dirty light grey color, almost tannish in tone. I have started with my outline and like the effect and the way the two colors look over the dark grey. I will more than likely come back to touch up with the brown inner color to give it some more presence but for now, I am going with this. I am not sure yet how I will integrate these colors into the helmet or even if I will. I do want to use the black and grey armor shadow colors for the Airborne face plate for sure but haven't decided on a color for the airborne visor yet. I had thought about the chrome foil that I used for the Veers figure's goggles and had considered a shadow trooper's red and even a light Republic Commando blue. We will see.
   Still thinking about how that Officer's cap looked I dug out my Captain Needa figure and snatched off his head and tried it on our pilot's body. The head fits loosely on the neck nub but at the correct height and the proportions look right also. I can thicken the body's neck nub to make it fit tighter easily enough with superglue.   More importantly, the officer's hat on the Needa head is removable and the Modded pilot helmet fits perfect and at a height in relation to the body that I like better.

I think that I am going with the Needa head. I just like how the officer's hat looks on the suited up fig and think he might look cool wearing the hat and holding his helmet when things are done.

[Clonehead]

Here's a couple of test fitting shots with the hemet over the Needa head and a couple more shots without the helmet. Check the previous page to see how I got to this point.

[TheCloneCommander]

loving the look of this Camo mate cant wait to see how the helmet looks painted up...oh yeah!!!

[Clonehead]

Thank you gentlemen and, Merry Christmas!
 I did get a little painting done on that helmet,this morning. Now I have a ways to go with it and some obligitory touchup painting is required here and there but you guys can see the general direction that I am trying to take. I wanted to go with a kind of light blue color for the visor rather than the typical shadow trooper red. I do like how the blue goes with the black and grey. Those lower side vents below the cheeks of the airborne face will be a dark grey color and I might incorporate the same dark grey on the nose piece as well. Now for the backside of the helmet, I was thinking about using some earthy tones kind of like the camo colors to help draw the helmet and body together visually.
  The black on the helmet does seem a bit shiney in those shots. I may have to tone it down some.
I notice that those shots are a bit out of focus, as well.

[Clonehead]

Thanks guys! Like your new banner, Jay.

I did a little more painting on this today. I got some earthy tones on the back of the helmet and wrapped them around the earmuffs. There are some wires/fine hoses that start at either earmuff and wrap around upper and lower parts of the back of the helmet that I plan on painting black and dark grey to bring the colors together with the rest of it. I got some more of the camo worked on as well and other than touchups, the upper body camo scheme is done. That assembly of straps that wraps around the waist and goes down to the calves has been removed for painting and will wear the darker brown color that I used for the detail lines on the back of the helmet.

[Clonehead]

Clint were did you get the stuff to make resin parts?

Hobby Lobby. Go to page 1 of my resin casting corner thread and you will see pics of the stuff that I use.

[Clonehead]

OK, time for an update on this figure's progress. One of the fixes that I needed to make was to narrow the leg loops on that assembly of straps that goes from his waist down to his calves that I borrowed from another pilot figure." I still don't know what this is called or what it's purpose is" Anyway, the leg loops were to big and to narrow them, I started by using my spru-cutters to cut the straps going around the legs where they meet the vertical straps and then sizing the loop around the figure's leg so that I could cut a comfortable length from the loop. I then used my trusty pin-vise to drill a hole in the center of each end of the loops so that I could glue a fine piece of craft wire into one of the holes in each loop's end. After that glue dried, I cut the protruding wires shorter while test fitting for tightness and when I was satisfied, I used the remaining receiving holes to glue the shortened loops back together and painted the assembly the rest of the way with that darker brown color.

[Clonehead]

A couple more shots of the wire pins cut to length and then the glued together re-sized loops.

I also used super glue to thicken the neck post of the pilot body and the Needa head fits tightly now with a full range of motion.

[Clonehead]

I have been working on his camo some more and now have it on his upper legs. I also have casted a chest air-box for him and need to paint it up. I got some more paint-work done on the helmet and have painted the wire-hose details that wrap around the back from the earmuffs in two tones of grey and black. Also, I painted those lower cheek vents and highlighted his nose area details in dark grey.

[Clonehead]

Some more shots of the helmet details. I now need to drill some holes in the airbox and the back of the helmet to receive some airhoses. Go back one page and you can see how I shortened those leg loops.
  I don't have very far to go on this one and as always around this point, I am looking forward to moving onto another one.

[Clonehead]

wow... ok I completely missed the bit about shortening the leg loops!  Briliant!  That is the type of microdetailing I love about your figures clint.  you don't skimp on any of the details.

thanks again, Devin. You know me, I like the sweatin the little stuff.

Wow is all I can say on that camo and helmet. Camo is really hard to do but you are the Jedi of Camo!

LOL, well thank you very much, JonCC. I try but think that I could do better.

one more shot tonight and then I'm hitting the sack.