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

Ephiane wrote:Absolute Great ! The two facial expressions give him a big potential for Storytelling. You really did a fantastic Job in TBL Body painting. I know it´s not easy to paint the Hand and Feet in the same skin tone like the rubber body. Excellent

Thank you very much. Coming from someone with your talent and skills, this is a huge compliment. It does look pretty good, but I've run into some disappointments. I finally got around to trying to apply a dull coat over the painted hard plastic parts and my first attempt (with brush-application of Testors Dullcote) reacted with the black ink, causing it to run -- so there will be a repaint and a spray-paint (with Tamiya's flat clear) down the road. Also, despite how promising the preliminary tests of using this particular oil-based ink on top of the oil-pastel-colored silicone body, after all this time and repeated applications of protective powder, I'm still getting some transfer of the black oil-based ink from it, which I find very annoying. Repeated careful rubdowns/massages with paper towels seem to get the issue under control and might be the way to solve it. Testing for an alternative solution (yet again) today.

Part IV Custom Maul 2.0

After the frustrating experience of getting the oil-based ink on Maul 1.0 to stop transferring (see Painting Seamless Bodies, Post 205 HERE, solved by vigorous massaging with clean dry paper towels), I decided that my first seamless Maul was getting a little used up; perhaps it was always so, but the base color seemed a little light and cold, possibly more so thanks to repeated treatments to deal with the oil-based ink. Also, while Maul was not particularly tall, the M30 used for Maul 1.0 was the wrong physical type. So, between this and seeking a better coloring and painting solution (which has always been my main goal in the project), on to Maul 2.0.



Here I used an M33 body -- still not too tall, but more appropriate for Ray Park's physique (yes, I realize we've only seen Maul showing skin as an animation). I used several different oil pastels for the base body, trying to blend them as best I could (a Sisyphean task), got carried away with the make-up sponge (to the point of damaging the surface of the chest and some other areas, which are no longer smooth, which made painting designs onto them more challenging and less sharp), and ended up with a leaner, taller Maul, with a warmer complexion. The body's skin tone now matches the harder-plastic hands and feet almost perfectly, and at least in some light (which is very variable), it works better with the head sculpt too. It occurs to me that Hot Toys may have made Maul's red just a little bit too dark. For the paint marker I used, see the Painting Seamless Bodies, Post 247 HERE.

Front and back views, for the markings (which are based on the animated look, the Kotobukiya statue, Maul 1.0, and some creative variation -- either by choice, or to integrate errors).



Comparison between Maul 2.0 (left) and Maul 1.0 (right). The makeshift loincloth I'm using on Maul 2.0 is not intended to be a permanent look, but since this is about showing off the customized body, it made sense; Maul 1.0's sarong is based on the Kotobukiya statue.



Apart from more lessons learned and some extra experience, I think it worked out pretty well. Below are a seven more images.















What do you think?

The Further Adventures of Darth Maul

He is absolute fantastic ! It must be a very hard Job th get the body paintings symetric to the other body side. You light sabre effects are amazing, they are better as in the older pictures. You masterd this

The red is so much better than the previous version (or is that partly because the color has faded a bit, as you mentioned)...? Looks really good.

Ephiane wrote:He is absolute fantastic ! It must be a very hard Job th get the body paintings symetric to the other body side. You light sabre effects are amazing, they are better than in the older pictures. You masterd this

Thank you very much! I'm glad you like it. Yes, symmetry is a problem. Sometimes I end up having to make extra designs to match mismatching elements. Sometimes I decide to let it slide (giving it a more "organic" look). I appreciate you like the light saber effects, because they are super basic -- and I'm partly too lazy and partly too unskilled to do better. I do change the length and perspective, but though I try I think I often fail to make the concave or convex curve where the "blade" comes out of the hilt curve just right.

Stryker2011 wrote:The red is so much better than the previous version (or is that partly because the color has faded a bit, as you mentioned)...? Looks really good.

Thank you very much, glad you liked it. Looking at the older photos above, I think Maul 1.0 was always less of a match and I'm not sure to what extent (if any) his base color has faded -- it does look a little messier to me, perhaps in part because I know how much effort I put into stopping the oil-based ink from transferring. Maul 2.0's base color is warmer, and that helps (certainly with the hands and feet, but even with the head). I wish it were just a little darker, but red, scarlet, and purple only got me this far -- plus I didn't want to do more damage to the chest and other areas where I was trying to blend them while ensconcing them more securely into the silicone. That's why (the resulting rougher surface) the edges of the designs there are less sharp than on Maul 1.0.

Great job on your Darth Maul custom, well done!

Love seeing your work buddy. So freaking cool. Great job.

Awesome!!! I agree, this red is really striking — like him a lot!

BAD WOLF-787 wrote:Great job on your Darth Maul custom, well done!

Thank you very much, glad you like it.

actionfiguremovies2 wrote:Love seeing your work buddy.  So freaking cool. Great job.

Thank you very much, this is quite the compliment.

skywalkersaga wrote:Awesome!!! I agree, this red is really striking — like him a lot!

Thank you very much. I'm glad you agree -- one more reason to justify this second Maul experiment. And now we have the answer to the paint marker question.

Man, Maul 2.0 is looking so rad. I like this body type even more, and the coloring is beautiful. Seriously, so killer!

ReverendSpooky wrote:Man, Maul 2.0 is looking so rad.  I like this body type even more, and the coloring is beautiful.  Seriously, so killer!

Thank you very much, Adam, I'm glad you liked him. I also think the body and the color are an improvement on the first one.

Part V: Custom Maul 3.0

Experimenting with using Gundam Real Touch Markers to color an entire body resulted in yet anther seamless Maul. The photos below are not in the best light, and make the coloring look even more faded and light than it is, but you can also check out the new installment of the Further Adventures of Darth Maul linked below for more photos.







https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t2799-star-wars-the-further-adventures-of-darth-maul-updated-with-part-iii-may-2021#57171

Update: with the hope of unfiltered natural daylight showing the color better, I took a few more photos, below:

I not seen any of this before , He is one of my favourite Characters from the newer movies , you done him proud Ian amazing work . Well done .

You are the master at coloring the seamless body my friend. I didn't think it was possible to improve this, but yet you have. He looks great!

I'm not really into this character so much, but the coloring/painting technique is terrific! Did you do that totally freehand or use stencils as masks?

Great work Ian!

Chip wrote:I not seen any of this before , He is one of my favourite Characters from the newer movies , you done him proud Ian amazing work . Well done .

Thank you very much, I'm glad you like him. He will make some further appearances.

actionfiguremovies2 wrote:You are the master at coloring the seamless body my friend. I didn't think it was possible to improve this, but yet you have. He looks great!

Thank you for the kind words for what I feel is a qualified success, but still has promise. Perhaps with more patience and effort it would have been even better.

tankgirlfuzzy wrote:I'm not really into this character so much, but the coloring/painting technique is terrific! Did you do that totally freehand or use stencils as masks?

Thank you, I appreciate this, and can relate. I'm neither into that part of the franchise nor a Maul fanboy (although I'm sure it looks like I am), while I think he was underused/wasted by the original plot, but he is a pretty natural challenge when it comes to painting seamless bodies in more than a single color. The first two versions used oil pastel for the base color (red) and then different kinds of markers (or marker ink) for the black designs; this one was the first to be all markers, of a different kind. It was freehand, no stencils, hence some unevenness and mistakes (which I tried to mitigate by adding a bit more detail/complexity) -- then again, I'm rationalizing it as natural variation in warpaint.

BAMComix wrote:Great work Ian!

Thank you very much, glad you liked it.

Well, your freehand is clean and crisp enough to look like an airbrushed stencil, so great job!

tankgirlfuzzy wrote:Well, your freehand is clean and crisp enough to look like an airbrushed stencil, so great job!

Thank you for the compliment. I'm just glad it came out pretty decent. Speaking of which, as I suspected, unfiltered normal daylight actually helps show the color better. I'm updating the Maul 3.0 post with these:

Oh, wow, I love the outdoor lighting. I liked your original Maul figures, but somehow this version seems even more naturalistic.


I am wondering whether one could combine oil pastel on top of the marker-coloured bodies for enhancing the colour tones? Or would it not really make much difference?

skywalkersaga wrote:Oh, wow, I love the outdoor lighting. I liked your original Maul figures, but somehow this version seems even more naturalistic. I am wondering whether one could combine oil pastel on top of the marker-coloured bodies for enhancing the colour tones? Or would it not really make much difference?

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked the new photos in outdoor light. It does do it more justice. I have not yet gotten to experimenting with these markers on (or under) oil pastel. But I would be loath to put oil pastel atop the smaller areas left after the two-color coloring of this particular body -- for one thing you cannot get sufficient precision in finer lines and corners, for another you need to allow for spreading/smearing.

Nothing can beat outdoor light. He looks fantastic. Aww, i really love this Jedi Killer It must be very hard to get the body paint symetrical, but You get it. Has he got a PERS ? Anyway, it´s nice to see a HS with that looks not straight. I think it´s good for posing

Ephiane wrote:Nothing can beat outdoor light. He looks fantastic. Aww, i really love this Jedi Killer It must be very hard to get the body paint symetrical, but You get it. Has he got a PERS ? Anyway, it´s nice to see a HS with that looks not straight. I think it´s good for posing

Very true about outdoor lighting. But I have few places around my yard where neighbors won't spot me "playing with dolls." And I don't have the self-confidence some of our members have. Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked the new Maul experiment. Yes, keeping the design symmetrical (one wonders whether it actually need be symmetrical) is difficult, and then things came out uneven, I had to fix them as best I could -- either extending line (simple), or redoubling elements (which made the design busier). The headsculpt is one of the two HT PERS head sculpts from their first (?) Maul (not the one based on the movie Solo). I also picked up a third party, slightly smaller head sculpt for my second Maul (which used an M33 body instead of an M30). You can see all three in the Oops thread.
If you like this Maul, I also put together a little silent photo story here:
https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t2799-star-wars-the-further-adventures-of-darth-maul-updated-with-part-iii-may-2021#57167

Thanks for being so honest, Gube. You have to see it that way : You are a Artist and You made some pictures of art. I have no Problem with Dolls. Dolls can be so much important for children. They can be a Friend, if they are afraid and they can sleep together with them in their beds. Dolls has to be cute, soft and warm that for, made with cozy fabrik like teddy bears. The 1:6 FIGURES we work with are not cute, they have cold hard bodys with steel skeletons.

Args.... a Darth Maul with Pers... have to check my wallet And i have no Jedi to interact with Maul. Just a simple Twi´lek Smuggler. Maul will finished her with one hit.

Ephiane wrote:Thanks for being so honest, Gube. You have to see it that way : You are a Artist and You made some pictures of art. I have no Problem with Dolls. Dolls can be so much important for children. They can be a Friend, if they are afraid and they can sleep together with them in their beds. Dolls has to be cute, soft and warm that for, made with cozy fabrik like teddy bears. The 1:6 FIGURES we work with are not cute, they have cold hard bodys with steel skeletons.

Args.... a Darth Maul with Pers... have to check my wallet And i have no Jedi to interact with Maul. Just a simple Twi´lek Smuggler. Maul will finished her with one hit.

Thank you, Ephiane. I actually agree with you (while recognizing these are all ultimately species of articulated figures; besides, there are dolls and dolls), but I hope we don't start one of those inevitably subjective and not-so-constructive dolls vs action figures debates. (Seriously, people, don't!)

Yep, my wallet cried (I have given it plenty of grief), but I'm happy with my investment. Still prefer the neutral head to the yelling one, but had to have both when I found them parted out. Where I did save was Maul's transport, where I repainted the Hasbro version (you've seen it before). These are HT's later, improved PERS, where you don't run the risk of messing up a joint mechanism and each eye can be moved separately. So Maul could be cross eyed, if needed. Speaking of Maul and a Twi'lek. I am really really really trying to stay appropriate and not point out a hilarious adult film parody of Star Wars where there is a female Twi'lek version of Maul making short work of a couple of Jedi. Her look is actually quite striking, but I can't bring myself to depict a character with that specific origin.

Excellent work and posing!! The symmetry must be frustrating to get right but you did it perfectly! The later pics show the hs matching the red of the body far better, did you pastel the face too? Sorry you probably explained but I just got up...

I love the look and envy your Darth Maul figures , I think they would be very hard to improve upon .

shovelchop81 wrote:Excellent work and posing!! The symmetry must be frustrating to get right but you did it perfectly! The later pics show the hs matching the red of the body far better, did you pastel the face too? Sorry you probably explained but I just got up...

Thank you very much, Alex! Yes, I worked hard on the symmetry. Inevitably there were some mistakes, which I tried to disguise by adding more details if needed. I think the red improved over the three tries. The first two were with oil pastel, and the first was too cold a color to be a perfect match. The second (the leaner, taller M33) was an improvement, especially when I gave it the knockoff smaller head (mold shrinkage or just different design?) -- for better comparison photos of all three Mauls at once, see here:
https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t4151-oops-photo-heavy#57748
and here:
https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t4234-rivals-photo-heavy#59153.
The last Maul was colored with real touch Gundam markers. It does not always photograph successfully, but I think it might be the one that looks best in hand. I did not paint, repaint, or apply any pastel to any of the heads. Two are from the HT Maul deluxe set (not from the Solo movie Maul), and one is a knockoff (with the warmer, lighter red).

Chip wrote:I love the look and envy your Darth Maul figures , I think they would be very hard to improve upon .

Thank you very much, Chip! Trust me, there is always room for improvement, but I appreciate your support and am pretty happy with them, especially the most recent one (the "tattoo" applications on the first two still annoy me a bit -- the first one might still potentially smudge a little, while the second is subject to a little cracking after all).