WIP: Naboo Costume Shop Luke Skywalker

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Here's a custom minifig I'm partway through making, and I wanted to get your impressions. This is going to be Luke Skywalker from "The Empire Strikes Out" cartoon, wearing a cheap version of Vader's costume.

Gosh, I wish this had been the freebie minifig that came with the DVD. Anyway, I took a Vader helmet and chopped off 75 percent of the back of it, then drilled the eyeholes. Next, I need to get a spare Luke hairpiece so I can chop off the front 25 percent of that and glue them together. Bam, custom headpiece (which TLG obviously wasn't willing to manufacture for a DVD exclusive).

If you're unfamiliar with the movie, it has the original trilogy heroes travel to Naboo to establish a new Rebel base. There are Imperials on the planet, so in a very funny scene, Luke runs into a costume shop and puts on an obviously fake Vader suit that looks pretty much like this. (Luke's hair is still visible from behind.) Oddly, everyone falls for it.

Thoughts are appreciated. I've never modified a headpiece before--if anyone has thoughts on what glue to use, please let me know.

[GeneralLego]

Do you mind taking a picture from the back of him?

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Do you mind taking a picture from the back of him?

Well, I can do that when I'm finished...there's nothing to show right now except the other side of Luke's head and the cape.

[GeneralLego]

What kind of drill and saw did you use to make the helmet?

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

What kind of drill and saw did you use to make the helmet?

A Dremel. I used a circular blade to cut off the back of the helmet and then a small drill bit to poke out the eyes. The portion where I cut the helmet is actually a little uneven and I think I need to run it over a sander a few times to try to smooth it down.

[Sir Brickalot]

D'you know, I was only thinking about this the other day! I also wish this had been the free minifig as well.

Hey, why don't you try to make an R2-D2 in Ewok outfit?

Edited June 20, 2014 by Sir Brickalot

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

D'you know, I was only thinking about this the other day! I also wish this had been the free minifig as well.

Hey, why don't you try to make an R2-D2 in Ewok outfit?

I'd love to, but I have no idea how! That thing has to drape right over a 2x2 cylinder shape!

[Sir Brickalot]

Well, you could slice an Ewok headgear in half, drill two holes through the eyes, then stick the front and back of the headgear to R2, and put a 1x1 reddish brown tile on R2's cylinder to look like it's draping over. Hope this helps!

(also, can I suggest you use a small sized cape on Luke as it looked smaller than the regular sized in the movie.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Sir Brickalot

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Well, you could slice an Ewok headgear in half, drill two holes through the eyes, then stick the front and back of the headgear to R2, and put a 1x1 reddish brown tile on R2's cylinder to look like it's draping over. Hope this helps!

(also, can I suggest you use a small sized cape on Luke as it looked smaller than the regular sized in the movie.

Hmmmm.

I'll have to check the DVD again for the cape length--it's ambiguous in this photo. I don't have any short capes, but it's be an easy matter to just slice an existing cape down. Also, looks like I need to make the eyeholes a little wider away from the center of the head.

With the R2-Ewok, I'd have to think really hard about it. I do have some early Ewok figures, so I suppose I could paint the brown one to match the above picture. I was thinking the best way to do this, though, would be to stick R2 legs into some 1x1 bricks with technic holes and put a jumper 1x2 plate on top so the head could attach. Still, it wouldn't be ideal. I'll consider it, but I am nowhere near as talented as some people in modifying minifigs.

[hindthcameb]

yes,The portion where I cut the helmet is actually a little uneven and I think I need to run it over a sander a few times to try to smooth it down.thanks

Edited June 23, 2014 by hindthcameb

[Sir Brickalot]

^ Have you made one too?

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

Alright, I sat on this for too long. Well, no...actually, I went on vacation, and I had to go buy some Vader keychains and Luke magnets so I could get the parts I needed to finish this. The mock-up you saw above was cobbled from my minifigs from my 2011 Millennium Falcon set, and I sure didn't want to butcher those. So:

(EDIT: Here's a better photo where you can see the eyes.) This figure was assembled from a Vader keychain that I got at the Lego store, with Luke hands, head, and hair from the Luke magnet which is currently in the clearance bins. Thank goodness--that saved me a few bucks just to get a head and hair. The helmet is, of course, a custom assembly of Luke's hair and Vader's helmet mashed together after some Dremel-induced surgery. The cape is a regular Vader cape, only shortened to the waist (as in the movie).

One thing i just realized is that in the Lego cartoon, Vader's chestpiece is much more simplified than what you see above. So...grrr. I imagine that chestpiece doesn't exist anywhere. If somebody wants to produce a custom sticker version of that and print it on decent paper, that would be awesome. In the meantime, I'll have to live with this being "close enough."

The marriage of the helmet and hair was not perfect. As you can see, I was not quite able to shave off 180 degrees of the hair. Ideally, I would have been able to assemble the mask and hair into one piece, but the angle made that ridiculous. I finally decided to just Kragle the hair to the head, then separately Kragle on the helmet. In other words, this is not a custom headpiece: now it's a custom head. Luke cannot take off the mask. Dremeling two pieces that small is an art and I don't quite have the talent. I don't think it looks too bad, although I'm not pleased with the small gap between the mask and hair. If anyone has a reasonable suggestion on how to fill that gap without having it look horrible (putty and paint would probably look bad), please advise.

The back view. At some point, I'll have to attach a small string to the mask to be completely accurate. I imagine I'll have to soak a thread in glue, attach it, ad then wait for it to dry.

So, feedback appreciated!

Edited July 29, 2014 by ResIpsaLoquitur

[Fuppylodders]

Get a new hairpiece from bricklink. No point trying to fix something that needs filling unless you are willing to paint it, then its not strictly pure lego :p id say start the hair again and shave off little bits and keep test fitting it until it works. As for the chest details, use a fine detail brush and some nail varnish remover, that will work perfectly fine providing you have steady hands, and that there isnt an exact print out there already. Id prefer that than a sticker!

[VK-318]

Okay, so he's now used the craft knife and Superglue, and Fuppylodders is advising nail polish remover ... I think we have a budding Lord Business on our hands here!

Seriously, though, well done. Fuppylodders probably has the right idea, however ... gruesome it may be.

By the way, it's really quite interesting how easily "Kragle" has entered the AFOL vocabulary.

[Brickdoctor]

Considering the amount of cutting and gluing and drilling now involved in this minifig, I'm going to move it to MCW...

[Fuppylodders]

Okay, so he's now used the craft knife and Superglue, and Fuppylodders is advising nail polish remover ... I think we have a budding Lord Business on our hands here!

Seriously, though, well done. Fuppylodders probably has the right idea, however ... gruesome it may be.

By the way, it's really quite interesting how easily "Kragle" has entered the AFOL vocabulary.

[neoconagenda]

Kragle... I am guilty...

[Sir Brickalot]

Lookin' good ReslpsaLoquitur!