STAR WARS Updated Darth Maul Custom Part V Maul 3.0 (updated May 13 2021)

Part I Maul 1.0
Part II in Post 15 below; Part III in Post 27 below.; Part IV (Maul 2.0) in Post 39 below; Part V (Maul 3.0) in Post 54 below

For the Further Adventures of Darth Maul, please see HERE.

Let me preface this by saying that I'm no Maul fanboy. Yes, he has a striking look, but if you think about it, it is as trite and silly as "Wolf Man" or "Devil Man" from the Mos Eisley Cantina. Yes, he was a cooler and more compelling villain than his replacement (and his even sillier name). But he seems to me almost as overrated as Boba Fett, and I haven't gotten into the animated series enough to appreciate the later additions to his story, and his appearance in Solo, while less cringe-worthy than the rest of that entire film (ok, hyperbole), didn't do much for me. Perhaps I lack imagination. Perhaps I only really like the Original Trilogy...

The point is, this one was very much one of those "can it be done?" customs. I had picked up many of the parted-out Darth Maul pieces from the HT set (it was too well done to resist), and I had long experimented with painting TBLeague seamless bodies. I was also inspired by a very cool Kotobukiya statue of Maul. And some fan art, although I've got to say, I ran across some pretty curious things out there (apparently devil boy has become a bit of a sex symbol obsession for some people... to each their own...). The current "canon" is that Maul is basically red-skinned, with black Sith or Dathomirian tattoos; I prefer thinking of them as war paint, which might account why they vary from image to image (apart from parts of this never having been shown in a licensed image -- even the Kotobukiya statue that was my main inspiration is probably less than canonical), and have treated them as such. Anyway, with most of the pieces finally here, although I realized too late some things were still missing or unfinished, here is the first set of images from this custom.



















Hope you liked it or found it amusing...

Part II in Post 15 below; Part III in Post 27 below.; Part IV (Maul 2.0) in Post 39 below; Part V (Maul 3.0) in Post 54 below

For the Further Adventures of Darth Maul, please see HERE.

#starwars #darthmaul #custom #phicen #tbleague

Awesome! Really good job matching the red. I take it those are the pens you used to do the tattoos? Nice job.

Stryker2011 wrote:Awesome! Really good job matching the red. I take it those are the pens you used to do the tattoos? Nice job.

Thank you very much, glad you liked it.

The red on the body is Staedtler's crimson oil pastel. It is close to, but a little cooler in tint than the red HT used on Maul's head. I called it close enough and spared myself some attempts at blending. I haven't applied the protective powder yet, so as not to overemphasize the difference. The black pens are the oil-based Pilot Drawing Pens (I used tips ranging from 005 to 08) that I used for my first attempt to draw body hair; while they can be washed off the silicone surface itself, they are much better at staying put if you apply them over the oil pastel; I imagine it would have been even better if I had applied the protective powder, but holding off on that until I'm done shooting photos. Hope I don't make too much of a mess in the meantime.

Did you happen to see Sideshow’s Mythos statue in your search for images?

https://www.sideshow.com/collectibles/star-wars-darth-maul-mythos-sideshow-collectibles-200109

Looks similar to some of your shots. I just googled this, but luckily I haven’t found any of the Sex-Symbol Maul images, yet.

Stryker2011 wrote:Did you happen to see Sideshow’s Mythos statue in your search for images?

https://www.sideshow.com/collectibles/star-wars-darth-maul-mythos-sideshow-collectibles-200109

Looks similar to some of your shots. I just googled this, but luckily I haven’t found any of the Sex-Symbol Maul images, yet.

Yes, I saw it and liked it, although the one that inspired me is this one (the next set of images will be attempting to replicate the pose, adapted to local conditions like flat surface and the laws of gravity) --

https://www.sideshow.com/collectibles/star-wars-darth-maul-japanese-ukiyo-e-style-kotobukiya-905174

Really? LOL there seem to be so many of them! Apparently in some people's minds Maul enjoys a much more intimate relationship with Amidala, Ahsoka Tano, random Twileks, Obi-Wan, and even Anakin than we ever suspected! Of course I was trying to look up the patterns of Maul's additional body "tattoos" (if any -- there weren't any other than imagined in fan art) so that might have taken the search into some darker corners of the galaxy. LOL

Yike! I’m glad I stopped searching when I did. Some folks need counseling on a massive scale.

Let me say, Guv, you definitely are a Maul Fanboy in one way or the other, otherwise you wouldn't have put so much love and detail in this one. If this guy had hair, I am sure you would have given him a great lamb hair makeover too. Really great work, I guess the first of his kind ever, seamless Maul. Beautiful work on the symmetry.
I am sure the guy who played Maul, whose normal face or name I couldn't remember at gunpoint, would appreciate it too. 

And about those dark corners of fan fiction and fan art, I think there is no limit to it, but I'll let our (star wars) fan fiction historian elaborate on it, she already helped me reduce a lot of prejudice.

Damn, he came out so good!!!! The tattoos/warpaint designs have such nice clean edges, which adds a lot to making the look really work. The variations in thickness of a lot of the lines lend it a very caligraphy-esque feel. And Stryker is right, the color match on the red is excellent.

And I do agree that he's a character that just didn't live up to his own potential. I think it's a great visual design. When I first saw him in the movie, I thought that he's be this really scary badass just pursuing them relentlessly through the film. And then he just kinda... wasn't. But seeing your design make me all the more feel like he could be.

Ovy wrote:Let me say, Guv, you definitely are a Maul Fanboy in one way or the other, otherwise you wouldn't have put so much love and detail in this one. If this guy had hair, I am sure you would have given him a great lamb hair makeover too. Really great work, I guess the first of his kind ever, seamless Maul. Beautiful work on the symmetry.
I am sure the guy who played Maul, whose normal face or name I couldn't remember at gunpoint, would appreciate it too. 

And about those dark corners of fan fiction and fan art, I think there is no limit to it, but I'll let our (star wars) fan fiction historian elaborate on it, she already helped me reduce a lot of prejudice.

Thank you very much. And you're totally right -- if Maul had plastic hair, I would have haired him too! I suppose you are partly to take credit, too, perhaps your body coloring experiments inspired me to finally take this step and see if and how well this could be done with this character.

ReverendSpooky wrote:Damn, he came out so good!!!!  The tattoos/warpaint designs have such nice clean edges, which adds a lot to making the look really work.  The variations in thickness of a lot of the lines lend it a very caligraphy-esque feel.  And Stryker is right, the color match on the red is excellent.  

And I do agree that he's a character that just didn't live up to his own potential.  I think it's a great visual design.  When I first saw him in the movie, I thought that he's be this really scary badass just pursuing them relentlessly through the film.  And then he just kinda... wasn't.  But seeing your design make me all the more feel like he could be.

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it. And I'm glad we think alike (though we don't have to) about this character.

Oh my gosh, GF, this looks AMAZING! It's like you read my thoughts.... ever since I saw the KO Maul head floating around on ebay, I had this exact type of Maul custom in mind as a potential future project. I didn't actually collect the parts for it though because, at the time, I didn't think doing the tattoos/markings to this level of detail would be possible!! But now I want to actually go for it and make Maul and maybe even his fellow Nightbrother from the Clone Wars, Savage Opress. They'd have to wait a looong time since I have at least four or five alien ladies I'm working on first, plus a few other male characters I need to get around to, but I'm super excited to see it's actually possible! So yeah, thanks for making this!!! Despite the fact that it's not your fave subject matter, you executed it beautifully! *big round of applause for you from your resident Prequels fan*

My own inspiration for this particular design was actually Iain McCaig's gorgeous concept art for Darth Maul:




Aside from the great Ralph McQuarrie, Iain McCaig is probably one of my favourite SW concept artists, and part of me wanted to make this version of Maul simply as an homage to his awesome character designs.

skywalkersaga wrote:Oh my gosh, GF, this looks AMAZING! It's like you read my thoughts.... ever since I saw the KO Maul head floating around on ebay, I had this exact type of Maul custom in mind as a potential future project. I didn't actually collect the parts for it though because, at the time, I didn't think doing the tattoos/markings to this level of detail would be possible!! But now I want to actually go for it and make Maul and maybe even his fellow Nightbrother from the Clone Wars, Savage Opress. They'd have to wait a looong time since I have at least four or five alien ladies I'm working on first, plus a few other male characters I need to get around to, but I'm super excited to see it's actually possible! So yeah, thanks for making this!!! Despite the fact that it's not your fave subject matter, you executed it beautifully! *big round of applause for you from your resident Prequels fan*

My own inspiration for this particular design was actually Iain McCaig's gorgeous concept art for Darth Maul. Aside from the great Ralph McQuarrie, Iain McCaig is probably one of my favourite SW concept artists, and part of me wanted to make this version of Maul simply as an homage to his awesome character designs.

Thank you, I'm very glad you liked it. Well, it is possible. Probably not perfect (I'm yet to apply the protective powder, and hope that will make it even more stable), but I'm pretty pleased with the result myself (and we are our own worst critics, right?). Actually the Iain McCaig concept art you showed is almost exactly like the finished character... well... the head for the live action film, and the upper body tattoos for the animated series; it also reminds me a lot of the statue Stryker linked. Speaking of statues, I just finished up with my attempt to replicate the look in the Kotobukiya statue I was using as my main source of inspiration; will post some photos in the morning.

You are welcome! I'm honestly glad you 'beat' me to this, since yours turned out so well. And ooh, looking forward to additional pics!

Maul to me was just one big fat cliché, but he can look truly impressive as in those references you've all posted. You did a great job and he looks fabulous!

skywalkersaga wrote:You are welcome! I'm honestly glad you 'beat' me to this, since yours turned out so well. And ooh, looking forward to additional pics!

Thank you again. Extra photos coming up in next post.

AerynDiana wrote:Maul to me was just one big fat cliché, but he can look truly impressive as in those references you've all posted. You did a great job and he looks fabulous!

Thank you very much! I know, right? I mean, let's have the bad guy look like the devil; except let's make him a more streamlined modern devil; and let's subvert expectations by not giving him a tail and making up for it with more horns! But for all that, as you said, he is impressive, hence the interest in working on this little project.

Part II

The Kotobukiya statue that started it all (my interest in doing this project) by just being so cool (and so informative as to Maul's pattern of "tattoos") is said to be in Japanese Ukiyo-e style. I don't own it, but have looked up whatever good quality promotional photos and video reviews I could find as a point of reference, though some aspects remained a little bit murky (for example, I'm still not 100% certain some of the line patterns on the lower legs were or were not symmetrical). Then there is the question of replicating the pose. This I knew to be practically impossible, as the statue has an uneven footing base, doesn't need to balance itself as it is not free-standing, and (as I learned long ago) sculptures often take certain liberties with shapes and proportions. But I wanted to try anyway, translating this into something a TBLeague body (and arguably a real human body) could actually achieve.* It does fall short of replicating the statue pose precisely, but I do think I've ended up with a cool Maul figure in the process.

* One more thing I wanted to do was to insert bendable wire in the belt; but with hobby stores closed, the wrong color wire on hand, and problems making it work well in practice (oh, and no patience), I gave up on that ambition for the time being.

So here are a few more photos of Maul in statue-inspired pose and a few in neutral pose for reference.













What do you think?

Part I in Post 1 above; Part III in Post 27 below.

For the Further Adventures of Darth Maul, please see HERE.

Looks freaking awesome!!!

I can totally see him and Arnie fighting in a Soviet bathhouse,  with Arnie ripping off Mauls Robo leg, and inside: "Cocainum". Or spice. Whatever.

Great job, also great harmony with that deep dark universe background. Having a neutral and an aggressive expression head is just gold.

Looks great. Nice posing and recreation of the statue.

Haha, Ovy!

And apologies, I was on my phone earlier and couldn't see everything in detail.... I gotta agree that having two expressions really adds to the already-high visual interest here. The poses are very well done. This figure of yours oozes character!

I feel your frustration on stores being closed.... and it's not always feasible to order online, since only essentials are being given priority. But don't worry..... the belt looks ok as it is. I'm sure wire would indeed add that final touch, but it looks great the way it is already.

skywalkersaga wrote:Looks freaking awesome!!!

Thank you very much. If you approve of it, it must be good!

Ovy wrote:I can totally see him and Arnie fighting in a Soviet bathhouse,  with Arnie ripping off Mauls Robo leg, and inside: "Cocainum". Or spice. Whatever. Great job, also great harmony with that deep dark universe background. Having a neutral and an aggressive expression head is just gold.

Yes, but they can wrestle only after the protective powder has been applied (see the post in Painting Seamless Bodies); otherwise Arnie would end up with Maul's war paint imprinted on his body; of course it would probably be removable from a straight-up silicone surface... Thank you. And I agree, it's really good they provided both head sculpts; I don't much like the angry one, so if it was only that one (and if there were no good alternatives), I would have probably passed on the whole thing.

Stryker2011 wrote:Looks great. Nice posing and recreation of the statue.

Thank you very much!

skywalkersaga wrote:And apologies, I was on my phone earlier and couldn't see everything in detail.... I gotta agree that having two expressions really adds to the already-high visual interest here. The poses are very well done. This figure of yours oozes character!

I feel your frustration on stores being closed.... and it's not always feasible to order online, since only essentials are being given priority. But don't worry..... the belt looks ok as it is. I'm sure wire would indeed add that final touch, but it looks great the way it is already.

No need to apologize at all. Completely agree on the benefits of multiple facial expressions (it's like two figures in one ... especially if you end up putting the extra head on another body and have them fight each other; oh wait, I've done that... LOL). Thank you very much. Well, it being a matter of life and death, I can't get upset about stores being closed, or the mail being slower. My preliminary experiment with the (wrong color) wire wasn't very successful either, and actually the elastic cord I used does allow a modicum of shaping -- perhaps not accurately enough for specific poses, but enough to be able to adjust it somewhat.

He looks amazing, while I'm no Maul fanboy either I'm a sith one so... ‍�.

Theboo-bomb wrote:He looks amazing, while I'm no Maul fanboy either I'm a sith one so... ‍�.

Thank you so much! Glad you liked it.

Excellent DMaul custom, though I don't even want the think about how long it took you to draw out all the red markings with a degree of accuracy. I know I'd be going cross-eyed after a half-hour of it.

Nekk-ra wrote:Excellent DMaul custom, though I don't even want the think about how long it took you to draw out all the red markings with a degree of accuracy. I know I'd be going cross-eyed after a half-hour of it.

Thank you very much! It took a while, since I couldn't afford to make too many mistakes with the oil-based ink (which would not be undoable), and the Kotobukiya statue I used as my main point of reference was very strangely posed, so even a bunch of different angle views did not provide as much information as I wanted. It was a bit difficult to figure out where each line was going, but I had a couple of other reference materials that helped, although there was always a good chance that the different representations were not in fact identical in their details. To some extent the result is a bit of a hybrid, with a touch of creative choice on my part.

At first glance I thought the first photo was of the statue.
So obviously: WELL DONE! He looks stunning.