Towards a definitive Huttslayer Leia (updated with Part V)

One of the many points that ALWAYS gets taken out of any discussion regarding this specific outfit was that Carrie herself was upset that most of Leila’s outfits were rather drab and nondescript, that made it impossible for her to be seen as a “woman”. While, yes, she felt she needed to work out a bit more to get into this outfit, she wasn’t at all unhappy with how she looked in it, despite how uncomfortable it was (hence her remarks — after the fact). Modern “politically correct” writers tend to ignore that fact in an effort to make it seem she was “forced” unwillingly by Lucas to wear it — which is utter bull$#@t.

Stryker2011 wrote:One of the many points that ALWAYS gets taken out of any discussion regarding this specific outfit was that Carrie herself was upset that most of Leia’s outfits were rather drab and nondescript, that made it impossible for her to be seen as a “woman”. While, yes, she felt she needed to work out a bit more to get into this outfit, she wasn’t at all unhappy with how she looked in it, despite how uncomfortable it was (hence her remarks — after the fact). Modern “politically correct” writers tend to ignore that fact in an effort to make it seem she was “forced” unwillingly by Lucas to wear it — which is utter bull$#@t.

Agreed. While I do get a little bit of a cringly vibe from it -- is overly revealing (although technically all the naughty bits are fully covered up), and perhaps naively so (which may be fairly common in the source fiction), in a cliche sort of way -- it does make sense as Jabba's sleazy fantasy, which is a comment on him, not Leia, and not what the filmmakers feel about women; if anything, they themselves are condemning this choice as Jabba's imposition on Leia (alongside with the whole captivity, dancing girl, eye candy, slobbering thing). Of course, how someone takes this out of context and what one does with it, good, bad, or indifferent, is another thing. It can also be pointed out that apparently, after asking for a sexy outfit, complaining about how uncomfortable it is, and so on, Carrie Fisher herself ended up defending it -- and her role in it -- when Disney tried to pull all merchandise referencing it. Also, while George Lucas asked for an outfit inspired by Frank Frazetta's art, it was ultimately designed by a woman, Aggie Rodgers, who has been interviewed on the subject. While I roll my eyes a bit at the (need for the) Hutt-slayer re-labeling, it is actually quite on the point. Even when captured and humiliated, the heroine can take action, and turn the tables on her oppressor, indeed eliminating him. And of course that would work even if the roles were reversed.

@Randam. Is that an S17B body?

@Revanitez. The stock head looks great in your pics. Did you mod on the head in any way?
To me the S17B looks like the best body for Slave Leia.

@GF. Nice to see actual pics of the TT toys. Since the skintone copied HT's, I hope it'll match the darker S12D body I'm using.
Your repainted TT Bespin head looks more "Leia" to me than HT Endor.

rollotomasi wrote:@GF. Nice to see actual pics of the TT toys. Since the skintone copied HT's, I hope it'll match the darker S12D body I'm using.
Your repainted TT Bespin head looks more "Leia" to me than HT Endor.

I'm delighted you liked it. More "Leia" than HT's!? That made my day. But TT did produce a very nice head, without which I would have been helpless. And, of course, that head was based on HT's.

I'll be posting another update (probably the last), with further modifications to the head, and a more substantial departure with the outfit. As for the bodies, I agree both S12D and S17B look nice for Leia, but I still cannot get over the height disparity -- even S25B might be ever so slightly too tall; but it is about right, and I was able to determine that it has the same slightly-less-than-seven head-to-body proportion with the TT head sculpt as the actual Carrie Fisher.

rollotomasi wrote:@Randam. Is that an S17B body?

@Revanitez. The stock head looks great in your pics. Did you mod on the head in any way?
To me the S17B looks like the best body for Slave Leia.

@GF. Nice to see actual pics of the TT toys. Since the skintone copied HT's, I hope it'll match the darker S12D body I'm using.
Your repainted TT Bespin head looks more "Leia" to me than HT Endor.

Thanks! Is stock head, no mod just added earrings.

Part V: Towards a definitive Huttslayer Leia (?)

I have, of course, continued to make modifications, to the point where this is no longer the Mr Toys Leia set, and owes only a few items to it; it is, on the other hand, a lot closer to a definitive Leia. It is not there, because there are still things that can be improved, and surely others can do much better than I. I stayed with the S25B body, as I was able to determine it is not only closest in terms of matching Carrie Fisher's height, but also provides the correct less-than-seven heads proportion for her, when using the TT Toys head. Here is what was done since Part IV:

1. Made the upper location of the bun permanent and sculpted additional hair to fill gaps above and below (all green stuff).

2. Changed parts of the outfit to items from the FAO Schwarz set, because I realized they were more accurate representation of the onscreen look: the two bracelets (more accurate shape and design), the metal (actually plastic) elements of the belt (with smaller and more curved front and back plates), and bikini top (with shorter extensions upwards). At this point only the bun-with-braid, the chain, the fabric flaps, and the boots are left from the Mr Toys set. The FAO Schwarz bracelet on the right wrist is a little oversized, but although I prefer the smaller and thinner Mr Toys one in terms of overall shape, the detail is more screen-accurate on the FAO Schwarz one.

3. Modified a bunch of items: added to the "metal" clips on the bun to get a more screen-accurate lower corner; partly repainted all "metal" parts (both Mr Toys and FAO Schwarz) with Vallejo brass acrylic; "sewed" (yes, me sew!) the parts of the belt together with gold thread in such a way that they could be untied under the front flap, and also sewed an additional piece of red cloth as an actual bikini bottom (where there wasn't one); the front and back plates are held in place with magnets; made a screen-accurate decoration for the bottom of the braid with gold ribbon (and painted that with brass acrylic for good measure). To make them more screen accurate, I shortened the fabric flaps by folding their top parts before sewing in the now thread (not metal ring) belt.











Of course, something was off... it took me a while to get the paint on my additions to the hair sculpt to match the rest of the hair color just right. After a couple of repaints, I think I'm done with with my attempts to perfect the figure for a while; I might be tempted to try evening out the face paint a little more, but am at the point where I'm worried it might end up worse. So here is the present version.











I hope this was informative or fun.

As always, what do you think?

Great Thread and great work all. That must be the best reference to this Character. This Movie Figure has a lot of fans. Looks like G. Lucas and his costume designer made a Kult with it.

Welcome to the herd, Revanitez. fantastic pictures.

The littel clip is great. That shows the skills of an actor to me. The other actress copy the mimic of C. Fisher 100 %. Wow...

Good idea to use the doll outfit on the s25b body, that does seem to fit much better. It's one thing I like about the petite tbleague bodies, you can dress them much more easily in doll clothing. ;D

She turned out great, imo!

Looks pretty good. I like the addition to the hair braid. Nice to see this on one of the smaller bodies.

Looking really good GF! Now I'm tempted to get 25B ha! Just want to see the difference with my own eyes.

Nicely done Gube, I think the 25 works nicely and the TT toys head is a definite improvement on the stock head.

Ephiane wrote:Great Thread and great work all. That must be the best reference to this Character. This Movie Figure has a lot of fans. Looks like G. Lucas and his costume designer made a Kult with it.

Thank you very much Ephiane, I'm delighted you liked it. Yes, the look's effect has been disproportionate and perhaps exaggerated; I think my obsession has been to make it as close to movie accurate as possible -- in part because there were now four sets that failed to nail it, where it should have been possible to get it right.

skywalkersaga wrote:Good idea to use the doll outfit on the s25b body, that does seem to fit much better. It's one thing I like about the petite tbleague bodies, you can dress them much more easily in doll clothing. ;D She turned out great, imo!

Thank you, Sky, I'm very glad you think so, too. To be honest, it did not even occur to me that the FAO Schwarz doll outfit would be better scaled for the more petite body, in part because it came with a huge head (and the right wrist bracelet is a bit oversized). But there may be something to it. Looking more closely and repeatedly at references, including Brandon Allinger's costumes book, I just realized that set had more correct details: the ornamentation of the right wrist bracelet, the heads/tails of the serpentine left arm bracelent, the smaller and more curved bikini bottom plates in the front and back, the shorter "metal" straps going up on the bra; it was also the only one to have the end of braid ornament , albeit vastly oversized.

Stryker2011 wrote:Looks pretty good. I like the addition to the hair braid. Nice to see this on one of the smaller bodies.

Thank you very much, Mark, I'm glad you approve. Now I wish I had something even remotely resembling your gorgeous backdrop (and I mean both diorama and Jabba+throne) to put this Leia in. Since I don't, I'm surprised I spent so much time on this, but I suppose it is a testimony to how we can get wrapped up on getting something right when it seems within reach.

Revanitez wrote:Looking really good GF! Now I'm tempted to get 25B ha! Just want to see the difference with my own eyes.

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it. Well, go for it. The mod to the TT head is described above; some of it was more difficult than the rest. But you can also see how the stock Mr Toys head works with this set, and it works fine with the smaller body.

csyeung wrote:Nicely done Gube, I think the 25 works nicely and the TT toys head is a definite improvement on the stock head.

Thank you very much, Craig, I'm glad you liked it and agree with my findings/modifications.

It's really going beyond a masterpiece... The scale of it is, just so Leia.

To say it like a fellow 501st legion, it's movie accurate, but in 1/6.

Jeez, it really does not speak for the set if you all have to put so much effort into it and even replace heads to make it work, haha. But you got better with every update.

I think the s17B is a good choice, like Revanitez (welcome btw) did.  And toning the bodies with pastels, can only recommend it to anyone, especially those always unhappy with head and body matching problems. Unpainted tb bodies look very lifeless anyway, I think.

Btw, I find the term "Huttslayer" offensive, it's speciesist, glorifiying the killing of the Hutt species from a human perspective.

valentin wrote:It's really going beyond a masterpiece... The scale of it is, just so Leia.

To say it like a fellow 501st legion, it's movie accurate, but in 1/6.

Aww, thank you very much, valentin, it is even more flattering coming from that!

Ovy wrote:Jeez, it really does not speak for the set if you all have to put so much effort into it and even replace heads to make it work, haha. But you got better with every update.

I think the s17B is a good choice, like Revanitez (welcome btw) did.  And toning the bodies with pastels, can only recommend it to anyone, especially those always unhappy with head and body matching problems. Unpainted tb bodies look very lifeless anyway, I think.

Btw, I find the term "Huttslayer" offensive, it's speciesist, glorifiying the killing of the Hutt species from a human perspective.

Thank you very much, I'm glad you approve of the upgrades. Well... I was hoping for the set to be the ultimate Leia of that look, but it just fell a little short in a few areas, so I couldn't help but try to close the distance, so to speak. And thank you for illustrating the endless circles of potential offense to be taken at anything and everything in these times. While one could point out that Leia is not technically a human (she is an alien), and she did not make a habit of killing Hutts, I think it was just a reference to having killed that particular Hutt. But your observation is well-made. Perhaps "Jabba-slayer" would be more appropriate, on several counts. And of course that is still offensive, as it glorifies violence. Now if Jabba had been not just male but also ... never mind...

Do you need to do any adjustments with Mr.Toys' bottom piece of on the S25B body GF? It seems S25B's hip is much smaller compared to S17B.

Btw I made some touch up on the stock Mr.Toys' make up (used the HT Endor Leia as reference). The stock HS has much potential, really sad the paint application is not up there.

I think I'm pretty happy with the result, although I'm not sure if the change is that noticeable haha.

Revanitez wrote:Do you need to do any adjustments with Mr.Toys' bottom piece of on the S25B body GF? It seems S25B's hip is much smaller compared to S17B.

Btw I made some touch up on the stock Mr.Toys' make up (used the HT Endor Leia as reference). The stock HS has much potential, really sad the paint application is not up there.

I think I'm pretty happy with the result, although I'm not sure if the change is that noticeable haha.

I don't know about "need," but I thought the stock bikini bottom part was not really hanging naturally even on the recommended S12D body, especially when she was sitting. As late as the Part IV, the figure is wearing the stock bikini bottom. I customized it to hang more naturally with gold thread rather than metal rings in Part V, and although my own work is not flawless, I think it hangs much better. I also wanted to improve the look by shortening the wired cloth flaps -- especially on the S25B body, which I did by just folding their top parts inward before the basic sewing of the thread through them.

That the stock Mr Toys head should have a good sculpt ruined by an uninspired paint job always seemed likely, especially as it is a recast. The screen-inaccurate "sideburns" are definitely inferior to those on both the Hot Toys and TT Toys. I did not trust my own painting skills to match the HT make up. With the "cheap" TT Toys head, I was more willing to experiment, and it worked out -- but that likeness already looked much more accurate for Carrie Fisher to begin with.

GubernatorFan wrote:

Revanitez wrote:Do you need to do any adjustments with Mr.Toys' bottom piece of on the S25B body GF? It seems S25B's hip is much smaller compared to S17B.

Btw I made some touch up on the stock Mr.Toys' make up (used the HT Endor Leia as reference). The stock HS has much potential, really sad the paint application is not up there.

I think I'm pretty happy with the result, although I'm not sure if the change is that noticeable haha.

I don't know about "need," but I thought the stock bikini bottom part was not really hanging naturally even on the recommended S12D body, especially when she was sitting. As late as the Part IV, the figure is wearing the stock bikini bottom. I customized it to hang more naturally with gold thread rather than metal rings in Part V, and although my own work is not flawless, I think it hangs much better. I also wanted to improve the look by shortening the wired cloth flaps -- especially on the S25B body, which I did by just folding their top parts inward before the basic sewing of the thread through them.

That the stock Mr Toys head should have a good sculpt ruined by an uninspired paint job always seemed likely, especially as it is a recast. The screen-inaccurate "sideburns" are definitely inferior to those on both the Hot Toys and TT Toys. I did not trust my own painting skills to match the HT make up. With the "cheap" TT Toys head, I was more willing to experiment, and it worked out -- but that likeness already looked much more accurate for Carrie Fisher to begin with.

Thanks GF, yeah that back flap of the bikini bottom is not hanging naturally. Like others had said, you did an amazing job on your definitive Jabba slayer Leia. Inspired me to work a bit more with mine. Altho at this point there is not much else I can do. I'm just gonna stop working on her while I'm waiting for the S25B.

Here is the make up touch up, but like I said I'm not sure if you can tell the difference or if what I did actually made the HS any worse or better lol. (I should've taken the before and after, which might help)

Nice work guys!

Nice work, Revanitez. Looks pretty good there.

Revanitez wrote:Here is the make up touch up, but like I said I'm not sure if you can tell the difference or if what I did actually made the HS any worse or better lol. (I should've taken the before and after, which might help)

Having worked with the Mr Toys head, I can definitely say that your make up touch up has definitely improved both the look and the likeness. Well done.

BAMComix wrote:Nice work guys!

Thank you very much, Dal!

GubernatorFan wrote:

Revanitez wrote:Here is the make up touch up, but like I said I'm not sure if you can tell the difference or if what I did actually made the HS any worse or better lol. (I should've taken the before and after, which might help)

Having worked with the Mr Toys head, I can definitely say that your make up touch up has definitely improved both the look and the likeness. Well done.

Thx heaps GF!

Revanitez wrote:Thx heaps GF!

You are very welcome. And your beautiful repaint has managed to salvage the Mr Toys head sculpt, showing that they went wrong primarily with the paint. I don't trust my feeble painting skills to do subtle make up work, so I made no attempt to do that on that head, but now you have a head you that matches the TBLeague body without need for a skin tone adjustment.

@Ian
Very nice work with the TT Toys head. I think you came as close as possible to the original look!

@Revanitez
Emphasizing the lower eyeslashes actually helped quite a bit to make it look more like Carrie. Good work!

Which head is the HS from?

Randam Hajile wrote:@Ian
Very nice work with the TT Toys head. I think you came as close as possible to the original look!

Thank you very much, I'm glad you agree and approve.

Nil wrote:Which head is the HS from?

You'll have to be more specific than that. Which head are you asking about? In Part I (the review of the new Mr Toys set) I used the Mr Toys head; the comparison photos showed several, labeled accordingly; in Part II there was more with the same Mr Toys head and then some with a custom head I got from someone else (a modified Hot Toys A New Hope Leia head); in Part III there was the Hot Toys Endor Leia head with just the detachable hairpiece swapped out with the Mr Toys bun; in Part IV there was the TT Toys Bespin Leia head partly modified; in Part V there was the same TT Toys Bespin Leia head, more modified. RandamHajile and Revanitez used the Mr Toys head with various degrees of repainting. (There is also an older Mr Toys head you can see in the comparison photo in Part I, but it hasn't been used in any of the customized sets shown here.)

The HS head Revanitez used and painted, because the mold looks different then the MT 2021 and has earrings which could have been modded in. But, the head looks slimmer that why was wondering what HS head they meant, unless it was a Hot Toy modded one.

Nil wrote:The HS head Revanitez used and painted, because the mold looks different then the MT 2021 and has earrings which could have been modded in. But, the head looks slimmer that why was wondering what HS head they meant, unless it was a Hot Toy modded one.

Revanitez used only the Mr Toys sculpt (MT 2021). He repainted the make up and added the earrings (they are not molded) -- I do not know if he pierced the ears or just clipped them on like I did. Randam also repainted the head, in that case the hairline, to achieve a more accurate effect. The TT Toys head saves us from either part (although it also benefits from some more work on the make up), and is easier to modify if one wants to get rid of the sideburns (which are not screen accurate for Jabba-slayer Leia). But it doesn't match the body's skin tone as well as the MT one. I think all these things have been written up in some detail above.

While the S25 may be closer to the correct height for Carrie, I think I actually prefer the look of the S17 with it’s smaller bust size. While the boobs on the 25 aren’t as pronounced as some of the other bodies, they still look like balloons on that tiny body. If I can get Kayla’s color technique to work on a 17, I’ll put my Endor Leia head on that.