Coruscant Customs: Custom Vintage R2-Q5

CORUSCANT CUSTOMS

Figure and Diorama by:

Blue Snaggletooth

All cities with spaceports need pilots walking about. And Mos Espa is no different! Rather than making generic pilots that just looked cool I decided to do an expanded universe favorite. This figure is actually Sergeant Doallyn. This blue skinned Geranite was a professional gambler and wild game hunter until Jabba blackmailed him into a long term palace contract (many years later), but that is a story for some other time. Ol’ Sarge here must wear his helmet at all times because he can not breathe the air from any other atmosphere except from that of his home world. His space suit continually fills his lungs with Hydron-3, for with out it he would surely perish. With the average lifespan of a Geranite being 180 human years, the stories are legendary how Doallyn traveled the various systems hunting prized game which eventually landed him on Mos Espa in search of the dangerous sand panthers. It is in the streets of Mos Espa were Doallyn first met Jabba and Jabba hired him for some big game contract hunting. For the figure: I actually used pieces from 4 different figures. The main body is from a POTF2 Boskk. After removing the head, feet and hands with my hobby knife I reapplied the arms of POF2 Lando Skiff and the boots and helmet/head from a vintage 3 3/4” G.I.Joe Cobra Alley Viper. I had to sand down all surfaces to make all new attachments fit smoothly. I then super glued an air tube from Doallyn’s backpack to his helmet courtesy of McFarlane’s Ace Frehley (series 1). I painted his hands blue and did all necessary painting touch ups. His gun came from a POTF2 Greedo which I added metallic highlights.

This Ithorian was easily customized. He was quite simply a POTF2 Hammerhead with a new paint job. I painted his inner clothing (both on the figure and on the removable piece) jet black. I then painted the outer clothing areas with several different shades of purple washes. My intent is to create an ornamental walking stick for this guy made from a metal coat hanger and some sculpey. For the continuity of this diorama I am naming this Ithorian figure Narta Nas Tel. He is an extremely kind hearted individual and is known throughout the entire city for his good acts towards charity.

You may have noticed, in the EPI Mos Espa scenes, some very small (1/3 jawa size) blue reptilian styled aliens. There is actually a pod racer pilot from this species. At the beginning of the scene where Qui Gon, Jar Jar, Padme and R2 are initially walking into town you see a group of these little tourists (6-8) standing around doing what tourists do. These aliens are called Aleena and I decided to make them. Since there is no chop-shop formula to make these guys from other figures I had to rely on my good friends (sculpey and super sculpey) and start on this party of folk from scratch. The Aleena up front is totally finished (figure was formed, baked, painted and sealed). The figure in the back is yet to be painted. I am making at least 5 more of these guys and I plan on taking photos of each step of the figure making procedure for my next update.

This is an early rough sketch of my first full section of street. It is divided into 5 sections with 4 free standing moisture evaporators. That is a total of 9 pieces for this first section of street and that does not include any figure customizing that is required. When this piece is completely finished it will be my interpretation of the exact scene from EP1 where the hero party led by Qui-gon walks into town for the very first time. Other stretches of streets will then be added to this one in order to recreate a big chunk of the city itself including landing docks and inner structure dioramas.

The diorama itself took about 2 hours to make from start to finish. I started with a small 10inX10in base (1/4 inch thick) and built a homestead on top with cardboard and masking tape. I then cut out the doors with a small tooling/utility knife after I had the structure in an expectable fashion I put down some mesh wiring on the ground level to recreate ripples in the sand. I then used some drinking straws to make a piping effect leaving the structure and entering the ground. The I applied some instant plaster strips to plaster heavily the entire piece making sure to plaster extra heavily around the straws and doorway. Once the plaster dried completely I painted the entire structure a natural sandy color with a clay red colored base. When the paint dried I sprayed the entire ground level with spray adhesive and applied a layer of sand. I repeated this step two more times to recreate a lush sand soaked atmosphere. I then lightly misted the upright structure with spray adhesive and lightly dusted the entire structure with my custom sand mix. After dusting off the entire piece of any excess sand I hung the door cover. My last touch was to incorporate various pots and canisters located on the ground next to the pipes. These pots are actually beads purchased at the local hippie store. Pushed against Wald’s quarters the ever-growing street starts to come alive. I can’t wait until it’s huge. Keep checking back for future updates!!!!