An odd build for an odd reason. A seller recently very kindly gave me a set of 1/6 HT IM Striker legs for free! These wouldn't be cheap to buy even if you could find them! I'd just bought a HT IM Igor figure off him 'cheap' and he'd seen some of my customs and asked if these would be useful to me for a future build, for free no strings attached (he's a British seller ). Of course I was honoured and humbled by his generosity so said "Hell yes!!" with many thank yous added as well.
What to build then? I've already got two variants of the HT IM Striker with one being a custom I made some years back (reversible) so something else then... a cyborg sounded right, he even suggested it, saying they were too big for his planned build of a cyborg. I read about Count Vidian in Star Wars some years ago in the novel 'A New Dawn' but I'm sure I've come across him in Legends and seen some comic book art of him online but can't for the life of me find any of it!
The Wookiepedia interesting bits:
"Biography
Early Life:
The man that would become Count Denetrius Vidian was once a low-ranking safety inspector by the name of Lemuel Tharsa who worked for the Interstellar Thorilide-Guild. Due to Lemuel's work as a Safety Inspector he became acquainted with the thorilide trade and developed a distaste for its endemic corruption within this Mining Industry. While on an business-trip to an Inner Rim world Gorse, Lemuel Tharsa fell ill with Shilmer's syndrome, the flesh eating disease which he had contracted from the countless unsanitary factories which he had visited. This disease devoured most of his body, which then reduced Lemuel Tharsa to his sack of-organs which were patched together by Medical-Surgeons and he was unable to communicate because of the loss of most of his body parts.
Rise of Count Vidian:
After years he'd managed to re-establish rudimentary contact with one of their caretaker Droids. Tharsa was eventually rebuilt as a cyborg with metallic limbs, synthskin coating, artificial yellowish–red alien eyes specifically chosen as they would look unsettling with a Human male face and an artificial voice that had been carefully selected based on research. Having gained a new lease on life, Tharsa adopted a new persona, count Denetrius Vidian. Concealing his past as a safety inspector, he reinvented himself as a defense-contractor who had become a whistle-blower. Desiring a vengeance against the corrupt mining firms that almost destroyed his life, Vidian developed a reputation as a prominent corporate stalker.
Following the rise of the Galactic Empire, Count Vidian curried favour with this new regime and became a member of Emperor Palpatine's cabinet. Due to the management skills and charisma Vidian was assigned the task of speeding up production on Imperial mining planets. As a workaholic Vidian developed a reputation among industrial circles for his ruthlessness and putting profits ahead of the people. Count Vidian's activities eventually drew the attention of an Rebel-operative Hera Syndulla, who was part of the rebellion-network that opposed the Empire.
Imperial Efficiency Expert
Stormtrooper Armor Production:
Under the orders of the Emperor, Vidian and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin traveled to the planet Gilvaanen to investigate a unsatisfactory rate of stormtrooper armor production there.
Managing Gorse System Mining:
When a Thorilide production in the Gorse System fell behind schedule, the Emperor dispatched Count Vidian to restore productivity. Displeased with the slow pace at this mining-convoy traveling between Gorse and Cynda, Vidian ordered the Ultimatum to destroy a freighter in order to terrify an local population and to send a message that the Galactic Empire would not tolerate tardiness. Count Vidian's first stop was a Thorilide-Mine on Cynda where he was greeted by several mining company representatives, with Vidian's first act to declare Security-Condition-One which resulted in the arrest of forty-six potential agitators working within the Cyndan-Mines, and his second act was to impose an age cap on all of their Cynda moon's mining crew and to then dismiss all their elderly workers among this work force."
I edited out a LOT...lol and tried to fix all the terrible grammar but gave up after the second paragraph as it seemed to improve. Basically he put production and results before anything else and would do anything to achieve that including laying waste to a mining planet run by a rival etc..
The build:
I think he or the med droids would have had access to General Grievous' base full of spare parts and incorporated some of those into his own cyborg body, he needed to be intimidating but not agile and of course he would go for efficiency over experimental advantages. His height and arms would most likely have been his biggest concerns (after his brain and senses of course) as theatrical aids to his lectures in the boardrooms and to kill the odd employee whilst making a point. Anyway, I'm building him under these assumptions that shock and awe help increase productivity rather than lots of motivation meetings.
Reference pics (literally nearly all the pics available online):
The legs:
The usual 'stuff' and ideas:
I'm going for a sort of 'Steampunk' and 'Cabinet Of Curiosities' look that opens hatches to reveal things..
What to build then? I've already got two variants of the HT IM Striker with one being a custom I made some years back (reversible) so something else then... a cyborg sounded right, he even suggested it, saying they were too big for his planned build of a cyborg. I read about Count Vidian in Star Wars some years ago in the novel 'A New Dawn' but I'm sure I've come across him in Legends and seen some comic book art of him online but can't for the life of me find any of it!
The Wookiepedia interesting bits:
"Biography
Early Life:
The man that would become Count Denetrius Vidian was once a low-ranking safety inspector by the name of Lemuel Tharsa who worked for the Interstellar Thorilide-Guild. Due to Lemuel's work as a Safety Inspector he became acquainted with the thorilide trade and developed a distaste for its endemic corruption within this Mining Industry. While on an business-trip to an Inner Rim world Gorse, Lemuel Tharsa fell ill with Shilmer's syndrome, the flesh eating disease which he had contracted from the countless unsanitary factories which he had visited. This disease devoured most of his body, which then reduced Lemuel Tharsa to his sack of-organs which were patched together by Medical-Surgeons and he was unable to communicate because of the loss of most of his body parts.
Rise of Count Vidian:
After years he'd managed to re-establish rudimentary contact with one of their caretaker Droids. Tharsa was eventually rebuilt as a cyborg with metallic limbs, synthskin coating, artificial yellowish–red alien eyes specifically chosen as they would look unsettling with a Human male face and an artificial voice that had been carefully selected based on research. Having gained a new lease on life, Tharsa adopted a new persona, count Denetrius Vidian. Concealing his past as a safety inspector, he reinvented himself as a defense-contractor who had become a whistle-blower. Desiring a vengeance against the corrupt mining firms that almost destroyed his life, Vidian developed a reputation as a prominent corporate stalker.
Following the rise of the Galactic Empire, Count Vidian curried favour with this new regime and became a member of Emperor Palpatine's cabinet. Due to the management skills and charisma Vidian was assigned the task of speeding up production on Imperial mining planets. As a workaholic Vidian developed a reputation among industrial circles for his ruthlessness and putting profits ahead of the people. Count Vidian's activities eventually drew the attention of an Rebel-operative Hera Syndulla, who was part of the rebellion-network that opposed the Empire.
Imperial Efficiency Expert
Stormtrooper Armor Production:
Under the orders of the Emperor, Vidian and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin traveled to the planet Gilvaanen to investigate a unsatisfactory rate of stormtrooper armor production there.
Managing Gorse System Mining:
When a Thorilide production in the Gorse System fell behind schedule, the Emperor dispatched Count Vidian to restore productivity. Displeased with the slow pace at this mining-convoy traveling between Gorse and Cynda, Vidian ordered the Ultimatum to destroy a freighter in order to terrify an local population and to send a message that the Galactic Empire would not tolerate tardiness. Count Vidian's first stop was a Thorilide-Mine on Cynda where he was greeted by several mining company representatives, with Vidian's first act to declare Security-Condition-One which resulted in the arrest of forty-six potential agitators working within the Cyndan-Mines, and his second act was to impose an age cap on all of their Cynda moon's mining crew and to then dismiss all their elderly workers among this work force."
I edited out a LOT...lol and tried to fix all the terrible grammar but gave up after the second paragraph as it seemed to improve. Basically he put production and results before anything else and would do anything to achieve that including laying waste to a mining planet run by a rival etc..
The build:
I think he or the med droids would have had access to General Grievous' base full of spare parts and incorporated some of those into his own cyborg body, he needed to be intimidating but not agile and of course he would go for efficiency over experimental advantages. His height and arms would most likely have been his biggest concerns (after his brain and senses of course) as theatrical aids to his lectures in the boardrooms and to kill the odd employee whilst making a point. Anyway, I'm building him under these assumptions that shock and awe help increase productivity rather than lots of motivation meetings.
Reference pics (literally nearly all the pics available online):
The legs:
The usual 'stuff' and ideas:
I'm going for a sort of 'Steampunk' and 'Cabinet Of Curiosities' look that opens hatches to reveal things..