Thursday, October 9, 2014
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Iron-Cow Productions Added to "Customs I Wish I Owned"
Matt ‘Iron-Cow’ Cauley’s background lies in the visual arts. Born in Dallas in the fall of 1973, he eventually relocated to New York to attend Parsons School of Design. Shortly after obtaining his degree in Illustration, he began working for Bloomberg LP as a Broadcast Designer while further developing his illustration and toy design work.
In 1999, Matt formed Iron-Cow Productions, LLC to better serve his illustration, animation, design, and toy production clients. Matt's work is regularly published and exhibited worldwide. He gained further exposure in the toy design world as a featured contributer to ToyFare Magazine. There are over 50 ICP-designed action figures that have hit the shelves since that time.
Matt eventually relocated the Iron-Cow Studios from New Jersey to New York in February 2013. During this upheaval, Matt decided to take on some small action figure customizing projects here and there until his studio was fully up and running. To keep things simple, he began experimenting with some Vintage Star Wars projects. These were never meant to be anything too complicated: simple headswaps and repaints were all he wanted to do. As luck would have it, nostalgia, combined with fun quickly blossomed into a massive 28 figure endeavor.
This was just the beginning. Matt had such a fun experience with the retro figures that he quickly began work on his next wave of Vintage Star Wars. There are currently over 60 new figure projects in the works that will be unveiled early next year.
IRON-COW PRODUCTIONS
You can see the first wave of Vintage Star Wars custom action figures here:
http://www.ironcowprod.com/plastic/odds-ends/
http://www.ironcowprod.com/plastic/odds-ends/
Matt’s illustration, broadcast, fine art, and toy design portfolios can be seen at the official Iron-Cow Prod. website at:
Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner also featured Iron-Cow Productions in his latest post over at The Star Wars Underworld.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
CLONE WARS LEGACY: "UTAPAU ARC" ANAKIN SKYWALKER by Darth Daddy
Being huge fans of "The Clone Wars" television series, we were thrilled last week when StarWars.com announced the continuation of The Clone Wars Legacy through a diverse selection of platforms which included: a novel, a Darth Maul comic book series, and the release of a complete story arc of unfinished animation featuring Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in four, 20 minute episodes accompanied by the voice acting talents of James Arnold Taylor and Matt Lanter. The four new episodes featured a new character model for Anakin Skywalker with longer hair similar to the length of his hair in Revenge of the Sith.
Since the Five Below store down the street from us had a few of the older Clone Wars Anakin Skywalker action figures, Dad figured he'd try and make the latest version of Anakin that would've graced our television screens had the show continued production. He just sculpted some new hair on the older figure and painted the hair so it was the same color as the older figure.
CLONE WARS LEGACY:
"UTAPAU ARC" ANAKIN SKYWALKER
created by Darth Daddy
SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED
Check out StarWars.com's video:
Thursday, October 2, 2014
DARTH DADDY's CUSTOMIZING CORNER: SILLOF
CLICK HERE TO READ
Sillof is pronouced "Si" (like Psi or Sci-fi ) and "llof" (like cough or pilaf) and no it is not his real name. He's a high school history and film teacher. Sillof has no formal art training, other then a few art classes in middle school. If something turns out good, he says it is just from years of practice, or luck. Personally, I think it comes more from an extraordinary amount of talent and has little to do with luck. He started building custom figures and dioramas when he was just a kid. He opened a website in 1999. It was then called "The Wookie's Workshop" and "The Wook's Workshop". before he had his current website www.Sillof.com.
His work has been featured online on blogs, websites, and online news services, newspapers at the local, national and international levels, in books and magazines nationally and world wide. His customs have even been featured on television in local news, national news, cable, and overseas, in independent films as props, costumes, and set designs. His action figures have been publicly displayed at contests, fairs, & conventions including four of the six Star Wars Celebrations. Most recently his work has been seen in Toyfare and Star Wars Insider Magazines.
Sillof, is a seasoned builder in the Diorama Workshop, who recently organized the Star Wars Custom Action Figure Panel at Star Wars Celebration VI. It was really nice to see his customs on display. Sillof's customs are really unique within the community and stand out in a signature way. Yes, he only makes the same core characters over and over again, but don't let him fool you...his interpretations of these characters are out of this world! Unlike most custom action figure artists who work in the 3 3/4" scale, Sillof works in a 6" scale. In his art, he reinterprets our favorite Original Trilogy characters in various different ways. Unlike other customizers, Sillof has gotten away from faithfully creating characters and has begun to redesign these figures in various time periods or aesthetics. Sillof has reinvented Star Wars in his own image ranging from themes such as "Steam Punk" Star Wars to "Western", or Star Wars as what it might look like if it occurred in 1942. My personal favorites of Sillof's is where he envisions our favorite Star Wars characters as samurai warriors and his recent Mad Max - Star Wars mash ups. I'm definitely a big fan of this artist and his work has even found its way into my own custom collection. His Toy Wars stop motion film and his recent Noir Wars film are worth a look too. True labors of love.
He starts with a general concept or direction (samurai for example) Then he brainstorms what he wants. This is mostly done in his brain. Then he makes a list of adjectives and descriptions of the character, maybe a little back story and the physical elements he wants to include in the figure. He then begins the actual construction. He usually works on all of them at once. So while the glue or paint is drying on one he works on another. Some parts of the figures are recycled from existing toys. They are cut off and glued together. Sometimes he sculpts over the old toy parts. Sometimes he dremels down the part using it more as an armature and sculpts over it. Often times, he will sculpt an entire new piece. Some of the figures are completely built from scratch. It really just depends on what he wants, needs, and what he has on hand in his various drawers of parts.
He sculpts using a 2 part epoxy polymer sculpting compound called Apoxie Sculpt by Aves Studios. You mix 2 parts together and then in few hours it is hard a rock. It is not as easy to work with as sculpey but more then makes up for it with it's durability. Sillof says it gets easier to work with practice.
Prepare to be blown away!
You can see more custom action figures created by Sillof here:
http://www.sillof.com/
We also recommend checking out his "Toy Wars" film series where he brings his action figures and dioramas to life at this link here:
http://www.sillof.com/Toywars.htm
His work has been featured online on blogs, websites, and online news services, newspapers at the local, national and international levels, in books and magazines nationally and world wide. His customs have even been featured on television in local news, national news, cable, and overseas, in independent films as props, costumes, and set designs. His action figures have been publicly displayed at contests, fairs, & conventions including four of the six Star Wars Celebrations. Most recently his work has been seen in Toyfare and Star Wars Insider Magazines.
Sillof, is a seasoned builder in the Diorama Workshop, who recently organized the Star Wars Custom Action Figure Panel at Star Wars Celebration VI. It was really nice to see his customs on display. Sillof's customs are really unique within the community and stand out in a signature way. Yes, he only makes the same core characters over and over again, but don't let him fool you...his interpretations of these characters are out of this world! Unlike most custom action figure artists who work in the 3 3/4" scale, Sillof works in a 6" scale. In his art, he reinterprets our favorite Original Trilogy characters in various different ways. Unlike other customizers, Sillof has gotten away from faithfully creating characters and has begun to redesign these figures in various time periods or aesthetics. Sillof has reinvented Star Wars in his own image ranging from themes such as "Steam Punk" Star Wars to "Western", or Star Wars as what it might look like if it occurred in 1942. My personal favorites of Sillof's is where he envisions our favorite Star Wars characters as samurai warriors and his recent Mad Max - Star Wars mash ups. I'm definitely a big fan of this artist and his work has even found its way into my own custom collection. His Toy Wars stop motion film and his recent Noir Wars film are worth a look too. True labors of love.
He starts with a general concept or direction (samurai for example) Then he brainstorms what he wants. This is mostly done in his brain. Then he makes a list of adjectives and descriptions of the character, maybe a little back story and the physical elements he wants to include in the figure. He then begins the actual construction. He usually works on all of them at once. So while the glue or paint is drying on one he works on another. Some parts of the figures are recycled from existing toys. They are cut off and glued together. Sometimes he sculpts over the old toy parts. Sometimes he dremels down the part using it more as an armature and sculpts over it. Often times, he will sculpt an entire new piece. Some of the figures are completely built from scratch. It really just depends on what he wants, needs, and what he has on hand in his various drawers of parts.
He sculpts using a 2 part epoxy polymer sculpting compound called Apoxie Sculpt by Aves Studios. You mix 2 parts together and then in few hours it is hard a rock. It is not as easy to work with as sculpey but more then makes up for it with it's durability. Sillof says it gets easier to work with practice.
Prepare to be blown away!
You can see more custom action figures created by Sillof here:
http://www.sillof.com/
We also recommend checking out his "Toy Wars" film series where he brings his action figures and dioramas to life at this link here:
http://www.sillof.com/Toywars.htm
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
WHO MADE IT?
Over the last few years Customs for the Kid have bought a large number of Star Wars custom action figures. Sometimes we procured the action figures from the artist themselves, while other times we purchased these figures from fans like ourselves who had purchased the customs for their own collections. Later due to a variety of circumstances, these fans sold off a few of these Star Wars custom action figures while liquidating their collections. A few of these figures found their way into our own collection, but for one reason or another, the creators of these customs were forgotten by their original owners and we never learned who the artists were that created these figures.
Since a large portion of our readers here at the blog are Star Wars customizers, we figured we'd see if any of our fans could identify the makers of these cool action figure creations. If you made either of these figures or know the customizer who did, please let us know in our comments section so we can give these artists credit where credit is due. We thank you in advance for all of your help!
Since a large portion of our readers here at the blog are Star Wars customizers, we figured we'd see if any of our fans could identify the makers of these cool action figure creations. If you made either of these figures or know the customizer who did, please let us know in our comments section so we can give these artists credit where credit is due. We thank you in advance for all of your help!
"Sakiyan Jedi"
creator unknown
"Rebel Soldier"
creator unknown
Imperial Shipyard's 2014 Birthday Custom Challenge
Imperial Shipyards has a new custom action figure contest to celebrate ISY's birthday. Voting has just wrapped up and it looks like the theme of this one is going to be to make the ultimate version of a character in 3 3/4" scale. Check out the new contest and join in on the fun. They have some great prizes so you don't want to miss out!
Thursday, September 25, 2014
DARTH DADDY's CUSTOMIZING CORNER: Stitchfett Custom Figures
Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner featured Star Wars customizer Stitchfett in his latest post over at The Star Wars Underworld.
I came across the work of Yovitt Planadeball a.k.a Stitchfett while searching around on eBay a few years ago. I was trying to find cool Star Wars custom action figure auctions to post to my blog's Facebook page and I saw that Stitchfett had created a unique figure in a style that I had never saw before. Something Stitchfett has labeled as the Microman series. His action figures have incredibly good articulation and also come with assortment of interchangeable hands.
That's when I reached out to Stitchfett a native of Puerto Rico. Stitchfett will surely tell you that there is a time when a kid is supposed to grow up, mature and get rid of his toys... well, Stitchfett didn't quite do that and that's how he ended up the man he is today. He still remembers using toilet paper dowels, card board & clear blisters to make ships, painting his figures with Testors paints, and playing with them under his bed. His advice to beginner customizers, the secret to success is practice. By failing, you discover new techniques that no one else could teach you, but most importantly... it's about having fun! Great advice. I couldn't agree more.
Stitchfett Custom Figures:
You can go to the eBay page of Stitchfett by clicking the link below:
Friday, September 19, 2014
DARTH DADDY'S CUSTOMIZING CORNER: DAVID SMITH
Darth Daddy's Customizing Corner featured Star Wars customizer David Smith in his latest post over at The Star Wars Underworld.
CLICK HERE TO READ
David Smith is an action figure customizer based in Austin, Texas. He has been making custom figures and cardbacks since 2012, and has created over 30 figures as well as over 100 custom cardbacks. David's became interested in drawing and art at age five. He has over 10 years of formal and informal training in visual arts. He has also designed several posters, flyers, and album covers for Austin bands. He has a deep love of 70's & 80's Sci-Fi and horror films. Star Wars and Dune are his favorite films of the genre. David's interest in making custom action figures came from his love of collecting autographed Star Wars action figures. Many of the celebrities on the show circuit didn't have action figures of their characters. David started making his figures and cardbacks to fill this void. He has made custom action figures for Stephanie English, Nick Joseph, and Derek Lyons.
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