Custom Nelvaan Anakin (updated, Part IV: Heads)

Great job on the hair! Those markers work really well too! I can never get my damn Gundam markers to work, even on Gundams! Why can I not remember this episode at all?

shovelchop81 wrote:Why can I not remember this episode at all?

The episode is from the Tartakovsky 2D animated series that aired 2003-2005 (between the releases of AotC and RotS), so... it's been a while... ;p

skywalkersaga wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:Why can I not remember this episode at all?

The episode is from the Tartakovsky 2D animated series that aired 2003-2005 (between the releases of AotC and RotS), so... it's been a while... ;p

Cheers! I remember the 2D version, had a really wacky looking Palpatine! I'd been trying to remember how it fitted in with the Clone Wars cartoons recently that are all 3D and couldn't find it in the 'complete Clone Wars' files I had DL'd a while back.

shovelchop81 wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:Why can I not remember this episode at all?

The episode is from the Tartakovsky 2D animated series that aired 2003-2005 (between the releases of AotC and RotS), so... it's been a while... ;p

Cheers! I remember the 2D version, had a really wacky looking Palpatine! I'd been trying to remember how it fitted in with the Clone Wars cartoons recently that are all 3D and couldn't find it in the 'complete Clone Wars' files I had DL'd a while back.

Haha, yeah, a lot of the character designs in that one were really 'out there'. I think the 2D animated Clone Wars was intended to be an optional Expanded Universe entry at the time it was made (it had some connections with the old Dark Horse Republic/Clone Wars comics, iirc), but is now considered to be 'Legends' (aka, non-canon). When the 3D series came out (2008) it was still during the Lucas-era, so it too was just another alternative Expanded Universe entry. But now the 3D Clone Wars series is the one that's been absorbed into the Disney 'new canon'.

I personally just take both the Clone Wars series as optional Expanded Universe material, and pick and choose what I like from both. :')

shovelchop81 wrote:Great job on the hair! Those markers work really well too! I can never get my damn Gundam markers to work, even on Gundams! Why can I not remember this episode at all?

Thank you Alex, very glad you liked it. They work pretty well, I just have a sense of always needing to check if they might smudge or come off, but if you do it right, they seem to be ok. These are Gundam real paint markers. They don't work all that well on hard plastic -- you can rub them off. Is it possible your Gundams have dried out?

Here is the only version of the episode I found online.

skywalkersaga wrote:

Haha, yeah, a lot of the character designs in that one were really 'out there'. I think the 2D animated Clone Wars was intended to be an optional Expanded Universe entry at the time it was made (it had some connections with the old Dark Horse Republic/Clone Wars comics, iirc), but is now considered to be 'Legends' (aka, non-canon). When the 3D series came out (2008) it was still during the Lucas-era, so it too was just another alternative Expanded Universe entry. But now the 3D Clone Wars series is the one that's been absorbed into the Disney 'new canon'.

I personally just take both the Clone Wars series as optional Expanded Universe material, and pick and choose what I like from both. :')

Cheers for clearing that up for me!

GubernatorFan wrote:
Thank you Alex, very glad you liked it. They work pretty well, I just have a sense of always needing to check if they might smudge or come off, but if you do it right, they seem to be ok. These are Gundam real paint markers. They don't work all that well on hard plastic -- you can rub them off. Is it possible your Gundams have dried out?

Here is the only version of the episode I found online.

I'll have to watch it! Thank you! Well if they are dried up, they bloody arrived that way most of the time! The real paint Gundam markers are actually designed for panel lining the kits, drop a bit in a crevice and it will 'autofill' the lines, wait for it to dry then wipe off the excess. Ironically they have alcohol in them so can cause some plastics to crack.

shovelchop81 wrote:
I'll have to watch it! Thank you! Well if they are dried up, they bloody arrived that way most of the time! The real paint Gundam markers are actually designed for panel lining the kits, drop a bit in a crevice and it will 'autofill' the lines, wait for it to dry then wipe off the excess. Ironically they have alcohol in them so can cause some plastics to crack.

I hope you enjoy it. And thanks for explaining this behavior (and purpose) of the real paint Gundams. Would you say the colors are the same between them and the regular Gundams? Because I have some hard plastic parts that need to match what I've painted with real paint Gundams but they rub off on hard plastic.

GubernatorFan wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:
I'll have to watch it! Thank you! Well if they are dried up, they bloody arrived that way most of the time! The real paint Gundam markers are actually designed for panel lining the kits, drop a bit in a crevice and it will 'autofill' the lines, wait for it to dry then wipe off the excess. Ironically they have alcohol in them so can cause some plastics to crack.

I hope you enjoy it. And thanks for explaining this behavior (and purpose) of the real paint Gundams. Would you say the colors are the same between them and the regular Gundams? Because I have some hard plastic parts that need to match what I've painted with real paint Gundams but they rub off on hard plastic.

Not sure about colour matching to be honest, panel liners tend to only come in four colours usually: Black, Brown, Red, Grey. You can buy lots of others but those are the essential ones for building Gundams as a rule. They're only used for colouring very small areas (hence the stupid prices!) so a colour comparison isn't something I've personally ever seen, YT videos on it probably exist. Personally I'd just use acrylics and avoid the whole marker hassle lol, sometimes they are quick and convenient (almost like cheating) but often they are just a pain in the neck with subpar results unless they are the only thing that can actually work on a certain material I try to avoid using them.

Finally a bit more time to read into this thread. Man, I love customzations in this hobby. And the more you make on your own the more you can really see the work that went into different things.

I don't know how long you worked on that but it turned out pretty great! I haven't seen the Clone Wars so far, except for first episode. So I don't have a pic in my head of the source material Anakin with the blue lines.

Anyway, the M33 is just a very versatile body, also my favourite for many kitbashes. And the rooting is top notch! Also good job with the artificial hand...sorry if I've read over it, did you had to adjust it or can you plug that hand onto any figure? 
Also like the Padme head - every time I see it I think about getting it, but I have to spend my money on other projects right now.

I have no real preferences for the backdrop pics, maybe B, because with the deep purple shades the light on anakin should be a bit different to go with that? I'm not sure though.

shovelchop81 wrote:Not sure about colour matching to be honest, panel liners tend to only come in four colours usually: Black, Brown, Red, Grey. You can buy lots of others but those are the essential ones for building Gundams as a rule. They're only used for colouring very small areas (hence the stupid prices!) so a colour comparison isn't something I've personally ever seen, YT videos on it probably exist. Personally I'd just use acrylics and avoid the whole marker hassle lol, sometimes they are quick and convenient (almost like cheating) but often they are just a pain in the neck with subpar results unless they are the only thing that can actually work on a certain material I try to avoid using them.

Thanks for explaining. I was looking for a shortcut on color matching between the real paint markers for the rubbery TPE and whatever one can use on the harder plastic hands and feet -- acrylics take a while to mix to the correct color and can chip off. But it sounds like they might still be the preferable option.

Valiarde wrote:Finally a bit more time to read into this thread. Man, I love customzations in this hobby. And the more you make on your own the more you can really see the work that went into different things.

I don't know how long you worked on that but it turned out pretty great! I haven't seen the Clone Wars so far, except for first episode. So I don't have a pic in my head of the source material Anakin with the blue lines.

Anyway, the M33 is just a very versatile body, also my favourite for many kitbashes. And the rooting is top notch! Also good job with the artificial hand...sorry if I've read over it, did you had to adjust it or can you plug that hand onto any figure? 
Also like the Padme head - every time I see it I think about getting it, but I have to spend my money on other projects right now.

I have no real preferences for the backdrop pics, maybe B, because with the deep purple shades the light on anakin should be a bit different to go with that? I'm not sure though.

Thank you very much for the kind words, Simon! I'm delighted you liked it.

Here is the only version of the episode I found online, if you want to check it out. The native language is actually Hungarian!

It didn't take a ton of time, or at least it shouldn't have. I ought to have looked harder for the episode to get the pattern just right (insofar as there was a right look, because I can swear the lines changed a little bit between views), but I worked off of a collage of stills I found somewhere that supposedly covered all the angles.

Yes, M33 is a great body, my favorite male one by TBLeague so far (I do like M34 and M35 but they are for very specific types), just wish it was slightly better proportioned (maybe slightly shorter arms and slightly longer legs). This is the only instance I have used the ankle extenders (and not the TBLeague ones that it comes with, which are positively evil), and I think this helped get closer to the right look for Anakin. My rooting is not top notch at all, especially in this case (I should have started lower and had more layers, though I did add some extra after the initial application), but I'm glad that is not obvious.   The artificial hand I ended up using is not one of the ones for Anakin from the Sideshow or Hot Toys sets -- the HT I didn't figure out a way to separate from the accompanying lower arm and elbow without damaging it, while the Sideshow one has a peg where it should have a hole for a peg. So I ended up using an unrelated HT droid hand from the Bad Batch Echo set, repainting it brass (like the improvised vambrace I placed over the lower arm). There was no problem attaching this hand to the TBLeague wrist peg.

There are two different Natalie Portman heads here, one from the SuperDuck set, one from KT. The SD version is nicer, but a bit bigger, which is a potential problem if you compare the size of her face with the somewhat smallish Hayden Christensen face (originating, presumably, as a recast).

It's all good, I liked these backgrounds, and I'm happy to see folks liking different options. This sort of experiment is partly rooted in the painting seamless bodies trials, but also in the using computer screen backgrounds as backdrops attempts.

PART IV: ANAKIN HEAD(S)

For anyone trying to keep track of the new crop of Anakin heads, I did a little research on four of them from the last year or so. They appear to be the same mold going back to a Hot Toys rendition of Anakin, most recently released as the Clone Wars Anakin Skywalker and STAP. Apart from the sculpted hair on the HT original, the sculpts seem to be the same. If they are casts, there is no appreciable shrinkage, although I originally thought the "MomoToys" (which is just the name of the seller) sculpt I modified for the Nelvaan Anakin figure to have been slightly smallish (if it is, the difference is infinitesimal). Then we have the EHToys head, the "MomoToys" head, and the Alpha "Chosen One" head, all featuring "real" hair, usually too much of it and too blond (which is why I rehaired my "MomoToys" head).

The eye paint application of the Alpha head is closer to the HT one than the others, while the EHToys and "MomoToys" ones closely resemble each other. The eyes are given a darker treatment around the edges on the Alpha and HT heads, making them look slightly smaller and more realistic than the others. You can see the most amount of "white" under the irises of the EHToys head.

The quality of the unmodified "MomoToys" head's original hair wig (or, more specifically, its attachment to the head sculpt) was lower than the others, because I was able to pry it off pretty easily before rehairing the head; I don't know if that was a one off issue or uniform across the whole production. This makes me think that the "MomoToys" head is not exactly the same product as the EHToys, merely omitting that brand name. Moreover, the "MomoToys" head, when it still had its integral neck, came with an attached neck adapter similar to (but not identical to) the Alpha head, whereas the EHToys head did not; the HT head has a different neck adapter attached.

So, in sum, these are four different products based on the same head cast (excepting the sculpted hair on the HT head). Naturally, the paint work on the HT head is the best, Alpha is second best, EHToys and "MomoToys" last, but still quite decent. Note that my "MomoToys" head was not only rehaired and denecked, but also slightly repainted (apart from the tattoo decal which does not look so much fresher in color in hand!).

The bootlegs do seem to be thinner in the face than the HT version, which is probably due to the casting.

Wow, that was even more extensive comparison than I was expecting. Thanks for taking the time to put that together.

While some of my custom Anakin's have HT heads, I have a few remaining planned versions that are still in need of a sculpt,  so I've been trying to decide which third party head to pick up.  It was confusing because there were so many knock-offs out there lately and I wasn't sure if they were all exactly the same or different. This definitely answered that question!

And yes, the KO Anakin heads from several years ago (with sculpted hair) were also 'thinner' than the HT version.

Only problem now is that even with the helpful comparison photo I'm still having trouble deciding which one I like best....

Stryker2011 wrote:The bootlegs do seem to be thinner in the face than the HT version, which is probably due to the casting.

That is true, actually. I was concentrating too much on the vertical dimension, lining up the heads nose to nose (but I doubt many are particularly interested in seeing Anakin seemingly about to kiss himself), to see if one head is smaller than another, and quite forgot about the obvious difference in the face's width. I would have thought that shrinkage would have worked in all directions, but there it is. Although it is less obvious in hand, when looking at them closely... is some of it a visual distortion?

skywalkersaga wrote:Wow, that was even more extensive comparison than I was expecting. Thanks for taking the time to put that together.

While some of my custom Anakin's have HT heads, I have a few remaining planned versions that are still in need of a sculpt,  so I've been trying to decide which third party head to pick up.  It was confusing because there were so many knock-offs out there lately and I wasn't sure if they were all exactly the same or different. This definitely answered that question!

And yes, the KO Anakin heads from several years ago (with sculpted hair) were also 'thinner' than the HT version.

Only problem now is that even with the helpful comparison photo I'm still having trouble deciding which one I like best....

You are very welcome.
I just measured the heads with a taylor tape, and if I did it right, the difference is 1 mm!
Well, if you like the HT look best, Alpha comes closest, but ultimately the main difference between the heads here is the greater whiteness and seeming "flatness" of the EHToys and "MomoToys" eyes.

Yeah, the Alpha one is objectly nthe best paintjob after the HT head, but unfortunately not as readily available as the other two.

Oh man I remember Star Wars Clone Wars, loved that series and how intense it was, at least for me at the time. The nelvaanians were interesting but sadly forgotten by now, perhaps my favorite character's were Ventress and Durge the bounty hunter.

Is it just me or do the noses look weird on all of them? Sort of hawk like.

shovelchop81 wrote:Is it just me or do the noses look weird on all of them? Sort of hawk like.

Yes, the likeness on the original Hot Toys headsculpt is already not totally accurate, including the face being a bit gaunt and the nose being a bit too thin. However, I've always missed out on any custom sculpted versions, so in the meantime I make do with what is available.

Theboo-bomb wrote:Oh man I remember Star Wars Clone Wars, loved that series and how intense it was, at least for me at the time. The nelvaanians were interesting but sadly forgotten by now, perhaps my favorite character's were Ventress and Durge the bounty hunter.

Native-American inspired but Hungarian-speaking.

shovelchop81 wrote:Is it just me or do the noses look weird on all of them? Sort of hawk like.

skywalkersaga wrote:Yes, the likeness on the original Hot Toys headsculpt is already not totally accurate, including the face being a bit gaunt and the nose being a bit too thin. However, I've always missed out on any custom sculpted versions, so in the meantime I make do with what is available.

I wouldn't know about the perfect accuracy to the actor, but I don't think the noses are hawk-like (aquiline?). Perhaps it was something about the lighting. Here are a couple of the heads in profile:

I always thought the HT profile was actually more accurate than the straight-on view.





And here's the original RotS Hot Toys prototype:



It's very similar, but the final version ended up being just a little bit more 'sharp' featured, imo...

skywalkersaga wrote:I always thought the HT profile was actually more accurate than the straight-on view.
It's very similar, but the final version ended up being just a little bit more 'sharp' featured, imo...

I see. Looks like HT made the nose a little bigger and more protruding but otherwise the face looks pretty good.

It does look way better in profile and in the Rebel Scum pic, so it might be lighting.

shovelchop81 wrote:It does look way better in profile and in the Rebel Scum pic, so it might be lighting.

Also, the Hot Toys head in GF's photo is the more recent Clone Wars version, and it has a different hairstyle than the one he has in RotS, which affects the overall impression of the face shape. The likeness seems off because it technically *is* off, since he never actually had that exact hairstyle in any of the films, if that makes sense.

shovelchop81 wrote:It does look way better in profile and in the Rebel Scum pic, so it might be lighting.

I thought so too.

skywalkersaga wrote:Also, the Hot Toys head in GF's photo is the more recent Clone Wars version, and it has a different hairstyle than the one he has in RotS, which affects the overall impression of the face shape. The likeness seems off because it technically *is* off, since he never actually had that exact hairstyle in any of the films, if that makes sense.

Yes, that is the one I had handy at the moment, although I have an older one somewhere, as you know. It is funny how much of a difference the hair makes in such cases.