Topic: Building a Better Boba: Greetings from Darklord

[Darklord1967]

Greetings gang!

I'm new to the Imperial Shipyards Forums, and I wanted to say hi!   

I'm Roberto "Darklord" Williams, 43 year old STAR WARS toy / action figure customizer from Brooklyn, New York.

I thought I'd introduce myself with my latest project: A custom 3-3/4 " scale Boba Fett action figure that I've planned for about a year, and finally started working on last month.  The figure is nearing completetion, and I hope you like it.

[Darklord1967]

I’ve always  been fascinated with the mysterious STAR WARS character, The Bounty Hunter BOBA FETT.  His awesome outfit, and his mysterious ways have made him a legend and a favorite in STAR WARS fandom.

But it never fails to amaze me how even the tiniest detail on one of his  3-3/4 inch scale STAR WARS Action Figures can make all the difference as to whether or not it truly resembles him.

   I must say in all honesty that I’m of the opinion that NONE of the previous action figure releases of Boba Fett  have completely captured the  full essence of the ornery, mysterious, gunslinger-hunter  that we first saw in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. 

Not one.

What makes this particularly troubling to me is the fact that some truly excellent STAR WARS action figures have been made of some of the other Episode V bounty Hunters (Re: IG:88, Bossk, and the recent, outstanding, Vintage Collection Dengar release)… figures which have all boasted a level of detail and craftsmanship which were un-surpassed anywhere in the Hasbro STAR WARS 3-3/4” scale action figure line.  Yet Boba Fett himself has not received this same level of careful attention nor execution.

Also, call me stubborn, but I am still resisting the continued scale shrinkage of these action figures. For my personal collection (including my custom figures), I therefore insist that (at least primary characters like) Boba Fett be represented in a scale that is consistent with 2001’s Power of the Jedi line.  This was the line which (hands down) represented STAR WARS action figure characters with the sharpest sculpts, the most accurate likenesses, the cleanest castings, and  the neatest paint decos… at least to my eyes.

With this series of posts, I’m going to take a brief (and very critical) look at the history of  3-3/4 inch Boba Fett  Action Figures. 

Then, at the end of my analysis, I’m going to present a step by step look into the creation of my own brand new customized Boba Fett action figure.  I believe I have developed an elegant solution to the problem of presenting this character properly as a custom  3-3/4 inch action figure. 

It is a solution which (after several weeks of intense trial and error and re-sculpting work) comes closest to my preferred version of Fett’s appearance, while still maintaining the super-articulation which we have come to expect from our modern figures. 

So settle in and get comfortable, because this is gonna be very extensive...

[Darklord1967]

In order for you to properly understand my critiques of production Boba Fett figures (and the stylistic direction I chose when creating my own custom figure)  I think it might be helpful for me to establish how it is that I personally “see” the bounty hunter:

Well… to me,  Fett was  about average height (roughly 5 feet 11 inches tall), wiry… athletically built… very much like Bruce Lee was.  This was particularly evident in the prototype Fett outfit photos that ILM shot in 1978.



Later on, during the character’s first film appearance, the most notable thing to me about his look was how sleek and slender he still appeared even while wearing his armored outfit.  The costume was elaborate, yet it somehow did not look cumbersome or bulky in the way it sat upon his frame.  Also, there’s a reason why Boba is sometimes referred to as “ol’ bucket head”:  His helmet… It should look LARGE (even slightly over-sized) above that slender neck and shoulders. It’s the only way a human head could possibly fit in there.




Appearing as though he could move quickly if he needed to, Boba Fett was simply nasty-looking.  Whether pointing his gun at his quarry, or merely standing still cradling the weapon, Fett appeared ready to blast anything or anyone with little provocation.  Like a snake, he would move very slowly, and then suddenly STRIKE if he needed to.  He misleadingly appeared very relaxed, but he was always coiled and ready for action.  He was economical with his words, and economical with his body language (no elaborate posing or “showboating”).  And  for the sake of his dangerous, no-nonense vocation, his outfit’s color-pallate ideally leaned toward less-color and more stealth / camoflauge.  What little color existed in the uniform had been pitted, soiled, and muted over time. Virtually every aspect of Boba Fett’s  physical appearance reflected his rugged and violent past.

With that in mind, here is my analysis of all of the previous Boba Fett action figure offerings that we‘ve had over the years...

[Darklord1967]

Vintage Kenner  Boba Fett (1979) :




This figure featured a very nice sculpt  for its day.  However, it lacked the weathering, articulation, and fine costume details that we take for granted today.  It is nice to see the return of this sculpt as a special offer figure of the current 2010 Vintage collection line.



POTF 2 Boba Fett (1995 -various releases):




The Power of the Force 2 line launched a new line of STAR WARS action figures  after a re-newed interest in the saga during the mid- 1990’s.  This Boba Fett figure was one of the characters that everyone hailed as a “grand improvement” over the vintage Kenner version.  I vehemently disagreed.

Yes, there was added detailing and weathering to his costume which was missing before, but to my eyes, this figure was actually a considerable step backward from resembling the on-screen character.  At the time, I took to referring to him as “Bulky Fett” since the figure was far too barrel-chested and hulking to resemble the lithe and sleekly-built on-screen character .   The figure’s collar armor was so thick and bulky, that he suffered from what I call “football shoulder pad / no-neck syndrome”

The overall body proportions of this figure were completely off.  And in one aspect or another, these mis-matched anatomical proportions have been a problem that have plagued Boba Fett figures right up until the most recent sculpts.


POTJ Boba Fett 300th Figure Special Edition :  (2001)



 This figure moved a lot closer to Boba Fett’s proper on-screen Episode V appearance.  The trouble was, he was a pre-posed action-less figure.  I DO have a lot of admiration for the EXCELLENT utility belt sculpt, and the  beautifully-detailed wrist gauntlet weapons (the BEST from any Boba Fett Figure) . The backpack was especially nice too (with adjustable rocket nozzels, and removable concussion rocket. Plus the backpack was made from sturdy ABS plastic (versus the soft rubbery PVC plastic of previous releases).  This allows the rocket pack’s sculpt details to be much sharper and for the accessory to maintain its shape.  I was also VERY happy to see the laser rifle that appeared in The Empire Strikes Back used as this figure’s pack-in (versus the different configuration from Jedi)

Aside from the pre-posing and lack of articulation, I do wish the paint had been more neatly applied in some areas.  Also,  the basic size proportions and shape of Boba Fett’s helmet were not yet quite correct…



SAGA I Boba Fett  Pit of Carkoon (2003)




 Looks like a box of crayons exploded all over Fett here.   Far too colorful… even if it was meant to represent  Fett’s more colorful outfit from Return of the Jedi.  The paint was neater this time around.  Upper body was still too bulky and the lower body was too spindly.  There was an oddly articulated right knee that looked something like a cabinet hinge.  The sculpted plastic side-cape truly sucked.  And the (non-removable) backpack looked like a rainbow (even though it was molded in sturdy ABS plastic and held its shape nicely).

Also, this has to be (hands down) the strangest, pre-posed, anatomically disproportioned Fett  since POTF 2!.

So far,  (in my view) this figure introduced the neatest, cleanest, and sharpest sculpt of Fett’s helmet.  I loved the neatness and razor-sharpness of the clean t-visor.    This helmet was also the nicest size we had seen from all previous Fetts .  The face of the helmet was pretty nice, but the  shape of the helmet profile was still off (overly narrow at the crown and wide at the base).  The flip-down target sight was too soft, too short, too thick, and warped its shape too easily.  The target sight from POTJ  Fett is longer, and a lot straighter and sturdier, but it also is too thick.


Vintage Original Trilogy Collection Boba Fett:  (2004)



Kudos for first super-articulated Fett we have ever had.   Once again, this figure represented (my lesser preferred) more colorful Episode VI costume design.  I’m sorry to say the body proportions sculpt continued to suffer:  The upper body was far too bulky once again… arms and hands were HUGE !  Shoulder and elbow ball joints were enormous.  Lower body (pelvis and legs) were proportionately very undersized, and the legs were proportionately too short.  The helmet sculpt took a step backward in terms of overall accuracy and sculpt sharpness (not nearly as sharp a sculpt as SAGA I helmet , and the helmet profile was even more incorrect than before).

Admittedly, the presentation of soft-goods cape was very nice (beautifully deco’ed and cleanly folded for the perfect drape upon the figure).  Unfortunately for me, this fabric was the wrong color for the Episode V cape.  The backpack went back to being a warped piece of chewing gum with soft details and no working/moving parts. This was a disappointment and a surprise, especially in lieu of the fact that Boba actually employed the use of his rocket pack in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

On the plus side, this figure represented some very nice, clean, smooth sculpts of the torso and crotch armor sections.


SAGA 2 Boba Fett  Battle of Carkoon: (2006)



With the exception of a more appropriately toned-down color paint scheme, none of the previously stated problems were resolved with this release… And some were actually made worse.

This Hasbro kit-bash combined the over-sized, awkwardly-posed upper body  of  the SAGA I  “Pit of Carkoon” figure with the under-sized, un-even, overly wide-stanced legs of  the VOTC Fett.

The result was a terribly un-balanced (looking AND standing) figure.

My favorite helmet sculpt had been re-used with more appropriately muted colors, but with a profile that was still unsatisfactory.  In this photo, you can really see the sharpness and straightness of the sculpt.



Legacy Evolutions / 2010 Vintage Collection Boba Fett  




This most recent action figure version of Boba Fett  presents the bounty hunter’s costume in the colors and details as they appeared in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

The figure’s overall anatomical proportions are atrocious.  While the big bulbous shoulders from the VOTC Fett have been reduced, the over-sized elbow joints are still a problem.  “Gorilla’ arms  and hands are still far too large.   Narrow stance of the figure is inappropriate, making the character seem even more top-heavy and awkwardly off balance (like if he could easily topple over).  

There is an offensively pea-headed Boba head sculpt underneath a removable helmet.  The Ironic thing about this head sculpt is the fact that despite how anatomically under-sized it is, it still too large for the inadequately sized helmet.  In fact, the nose of this head sculpt actually bulges through the soft helmet  when worn, warping its shape terribly.

As for the helmet itself, it is quite possibly the WORST helmet sculpt we’ve gotten for a Boba Fett figure yet (rubbery and warped-looking). Incorrect face shape. Incorrect profile.  Target sight articulation offered in previous helmets has been taken away here!

Backpack is still chewing gum with none of the fun articulated parts from previous Fett backpack releases (like removable rocket cone, or adjustable rocket nozzels).

The paint and sculpt of this figure are terribly, terribly sloppy (flash plastic and mold release evident on inner gauntlets and arms.   Shoulder armor is warped (giving this figure the football shoulder pad syndrome again.  The braided wookie scalps  molded to the shoulder armor is a feature left over from the POTF 2 days.  And it has GOT… TO… GO!!! The torso armor plates actually look roughly sculpted… not smooth at all.

Frankly, in some places, this figure looks like it was painted with a house roller.

The soft goods side cape is far too long and it comes off as a large beach towel draped over his left shoulder.

On the plus side:  This figure offers a decent sculpt of the utility belt side pouches, and the pants pockets .  The Laser rifle pack-in (re-used sculpt from POTJ Fett )  is a welcome return. It is now detailed with more paint AND it is actually molded to be sturdier than before.  Unfortunately, the holstered side-gun is a rubbery, warped mess.

[Darklord1967]

Clearly, I’ve had issues with virtually every single Boba Fett figure ever produced. There have been pros and cons to each, and certainly no “out-of the park” home runs on any version as far as I am concerned.

With the pending release of the beautiful new BIG Slave I Spaceship, I was inspired to stop waiting for the perfect Boba Fett figure and to create it as a custom for myself (before the in-evitable ESB paint deco’ed Slave I debuts).

In Hasbro’s defense, I quickly realized that Fett’s uniform is so complex and so elaborate, that a 3-3/4 inch action figure along the magnitude of what I was looking for was only ever going to be possible as a “dress up” custom… unlikely ever to be mass-produced by a toy company.  This would be a figure where virtually every detail would have to be treated as a separate garment!


GETTING STARTED

I wanted to begin my custom figure with a Super-Articulated base figure body that would serve as a nice, clean, starting point for the ornery bounty hunter… a blank slate, if you will.

The trouble was, NONE of the existing Fett figures fit that bill. In addition to the issues I outlined previously,  NONE of them had the anatomical proportions, attitude, nor the neutral stance that I felt was suitable for Fett.



LEGACY OF A NEW HOPE

With the release of Hasbro’s 2009 Legacy Collection,  I finally found an action figure that I considered to be an excellent candidate  for a Boba Fett base figure body:  Imperial Scanning Crewman. 




Here we had an excellent Super-Articulated body, with a really nice balanced anatomical proportion and stance… and a basic STAR WARS jumpsuit sculpt who’s color was a PERFECT match for Fett’s dingy flight suit.  There was undoubtedly going to be some serious surgery required to pull this figure off, but at least Boba now had a basic body.

I gave myself a preview of the overall visual aesthetic of the final custom figure by placing a Boba Fett helmet on the Imperial Scanning Crewman. I must say that even at that earliest of stages, what I saw pleased me greatly.

[Darklord1967]

LEGS DON’T FAIL ME NOW 

Although, the Imperial Scanning Crewman Base figure had a stance that I thought was great for Boba Fett, the details of his legs were, of course, completely wrong. The pants pockets needed to be replaced with the correct ones from Boba Fett’s jumpsuit (taken from 2010 Vintage Collection Fett).






Every once in a while, the customizing Gods smile upon me and offer me a gift.  This was one such occasion.  To my surprise and delight, 2010 Boba's pants pockets were PERFECTLY compatible with the color of the Scanning Crewman’s jumpsuit since Hasbro molded the uniforms of both figures in the exact same color!!!  WOOT!!!!






Then, the lower legs had to be replaced altogether since Fett does not wear tall black boots.  That was when I recieved another customizing "GIFT" from the gods.  I did not like the lower legs from the Legacy / 2010 Vintage Collection Fett for use on my figure because I found them to be far too frail and thin to be appropriate for Fett’s baggy pants (there's that annoying shrinking scale thing again!).







But the lower legs of POTJ 300th figure Boba Fett came to my rescue here.  And although they were not a 100% color match for the  ISC uniform, they were certainly awfully, awfully close!  Close enough that no re-painting would be required since the two leg sections would be separated by the yellow knee pads!  Once again… WOOT!!







If you place your thumb between the upper and lower legs sections in this photo (like Boba's knee pad), you can see how greatly REDUCED the color difference becomes in the two shades of grey pants.




I was forced to re-position the shin pockets that contained  Fett’s cutting tools a bit lower to accommodate the yellow knee pads (cut off of POTJ 300th Boba Fett and Dremmeled out to be wearable).  But the final look is just dandy!





Each leg is bottomed off with the ankle cuffs from  Legacy / 2010 Vintage Collection Boba.  And the boot  feet (with correct color, center stripe, and steel toe spikes) were donated by SAGA 2 Fett.  Ball articulation of the ankles / feet is fully preserved.







The original ISC figure’s (below average) height was brought up to a full 3-3/4” inches with this operation.


When the lower leg section was shaved down a bit to anatomically match the Imperial Scanning Crewman’s upper legs, the result was an absolutely PERFECT pair of legs that did NOT look anorexic, and were still fully articulate!

[Darklord1967]

OUTFITTING A BOUNTY HUNTER

Putting together the articles of Boba Fett’s costume was going to be VERY time-consuming, VERY delicate,  and VERY intricate work…  a supreme challenge, but ultimately VERY important to me.  I really wanted the outfit on my figure to have that “assembled” look that is so identifiable to me as Boba Fett’s signature look. 

I find that when Fett’s various armor sections, garments, and weapons are all molded and / or painted onto the figure (as they are on production figures),  much of that “sectioned” look is lost, in my opinion.

Interestingly enough, virtually EVERY figure that I critiqued before would provide me with vital parts for creating my final custom Boba Fett.

Here is the rundown:

I turned to the POTJ 300th figure Boba Fett for his yellow armored knee pads and shoulder armor bell pieces.  It was a tricky matter of using a single edge razor to cut these sections out, and then Dremeling them into hollow wearable articles.




I discovered that when the shoulder bells are molded onto the figure’s upper arms (as they are on production Hasbro figures), there are always going to be three (3) major compromises to the integrity of the overall figure (which I was NOT going to accept on my custom):

1) The ball-jointed arms range of motion becomes partially impaired.

2) Un-due bulk  is sculpted onto the figure’s shoulders,  adversely affecting the slender aesthetic of the character.

3)  The collar armor design is altered so that the outer ends curl upward where they meet the shoulder / arm socket.  This is done to create clearance for the bulked-up ball-jointed arm (with the armored shoulder bells molded on).

The curled-up collar armor (in turn) only contributes to “football shoulder pad  and no-neck syndrome”… which significantly reduces the slim, sleek aesthetic that this character is supposed to have.

By creating the shoulder bells as separate appliances, and then attaching them to the sleeve of a separate soft-goods flack vest garment (as they are meant to be), it was my hope to leave the figure’s shoulder articulation un-obstructed and maintain a slender build to Fett’s upper body.

[Darklord1967]

VOTC  Boba Fett provided the armored torso plates of the bounty hunter’s flack vest, and the armored cod piece came from POTJ 300th Figure Fett. Once again, each section was carefully cut out of the molded action figure and Dremelled down into separate plates of an appropriate thinness for a figure of this scale.  The crotch armor actually needed to be completed with sheet styrene since the figure only provided the raised center section of the cod-piece.










After looking at every single Boba Fett figure ever released, I came to the conclusion that vintage Kenner Fett had the best, cleanest detailed, and most solid collar armor.  After cutting the armor off of a spare Kenner Fett body, I Dremelled it down to an appropriate thinness and cleaned the edges up into a really nice wearable plate.








The back armor plate (rocket pack mount) was carefully cut off the Legacy collection Fett figure, and trimmed to an appropriate size to fit an Imperial Scanning Crewman’s back.






Once I created all of these appliances, I did a quick test-fit on the Imperial Scanning Trooper Body (With the helmet) to check on the overall proportions, stance, and aesthetic attitude of the figure.

[Darklord1967]

Creating the pattern for Boba Fett’s flack vest was a matter of trial and error.  But, I produced a paper template quickly enough, and used it to cut out a basic cloth vest. I added small upper sleeve extensions (for the armored shoulder bells to be attached to) and I made a neck hole in the vest with a paper hole-punch.

[Darklord1967]

Prior to the soft-goods flack vest being permanently glued to the Imperial Scanning Crewman body, I performed a test fit of the armored torso plates onto the vest to check the overall color layout and texture contrasts on the figure.

[Darklord1967]

I next decided to give Boba Fett's backpack some attention.

For this figure I always knew that I wanted to use the excellent backpack from the POTJ 300th figure Boba Fett.

Molded in solid ABS plastic, this backpack had superior detail in the casting to the softer PVC rubbery backpacks used by many Boba Fett figures.  It also boasted adjustable rocket nozzels and a removable top concussion missile rocket (none of which are offered by Hasbro's latest Vintage Collection Fett)





There were, however, three (3) issues with this backpack that needed to be addressed:

1) The mounting system for the backpack is completely inconsistent with the custom figure I am creating.  This system features a bulky mounting box molded to the inside of the backpack (which would create an unnatural space away from the figure's back when worn).

This backpack would have to be converted to the simpler peg mounting system utilized on today's figures.

















2)  The sculpted ribs around the neck base of the removable concussion missile rocket were NOT included with this backpack.  They would have to be transferred over from another backpack that had them available.







I cut off the rubbery (non-removable) concussion missile rocket, and drilled a new hole into the ribbed neck to accommodate the removable POTJ 300th figure Boba Fett concussion rocket.












3)  The adjustable rocket nozzels at the bottom of the backpack would have to be drilled open.

[Darklord1967]

TO CLONE, OR NOT TO CLONE. THAT IS THE QUESTION

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I am a huge fan of the STAR WARS movie Saga… all 6 films.   But I am strictly an Original Trilogy Collector. 

Although I gave considerable thought to having a clone / Jango-esque head sculpt on my custom Fett figure, with a helmet engineered to be removable, I decided against proceeding in this direction.

There are two reasons for this:

1)  I wanted to look upon my Boba Fett figure as faceless and anonymous… just as the character was in the OT.

2)  Although I was confident that I could successfully increase the size of the helmet to be wearable by a clone head sculpt, I realized there was NOTHING I was going to be able to do about the resulting chewing gum helmet syndrome.  This is the condition that exists with the current Vintage Collection Boba Fett figure helmet, where it is too soft to hold its shape since it is fashioned out of soft, rubbery PVC plastic.

The same thing would happen with any available helmet sculpt if I Dremelled it into a wearable helmet.  The walls of the helmet would become too thin, and it would warp terribly when worn by the figure.

Unacceptable.

I also considered making a mold and hard resin casting of a Boba helmet knowing that a hollowed-out resin helmet would will hold its shape fine because it would be solid and NOT be rubbery.

This idea was rejected because during the inevitable shrinkage of the molding and casting process, I would lose 1% - 2% of my original helmet’s overall size.

Again, unacceptable

[Darklord1967]

PROFILING A HELMET

I selected (what I considered to be) the best Boba Fett helmet sculpt of all the available production figures released by Hasbro: SAGA 2 Boba Fett  Battle of Carkoon: (2006)

To my eyes, this was the sharpest, straightest, cleanest  (and certainly largest) sculpt we had gotten out of Hasbro from all the Fett figures they’d ever produced.

Was it PERFECT? 

No. Not by a long shot.  But I did consider it reasonably workable into a helmet that I would accept for my custom figure. 

However… More surgery required.

I liked the face of the helmet very much (although it was NOT 100% accurate to the film prop).

But it was the helmet profile that I had major problems with.



Putting it simply, the crown of the helmet was far too narrow to adequately and realistically accommodate an average human male head.  And with the base of the helmet being as wide as it was, the overly narrow crown was only augmented visually.

In THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Fett was mostly seen frontally.  But we did get a few brief glimpses at the shape of the profile of his helmet. These were probably best seen during his conversation with Darth Vader (immediately after Han Solo’s torture). You’ll note the size of the helmet’s crown in relation to the base.  Not nearly as narrow as Hasbro had presented.

I fixed the helmet’s profile by slicing  it in half  horizontally along the top of the head (ear to ear).  I sliced clear down to the helmet base, but I DID NOT cut all the way through.




I pried the two helmet halves apart (while they were still attached at the helmet base.




Using an additional Battle of Carkoon helmet, I sliced a tiny wedge spacer, and glued it into my  opened helmet (increasing the width of the crown dramatically).








After carefully filling in all of the gaps around the helmet with spare helmet shavings,  I trimmed and sanded the newly created seam until it was smooth.



I was reasonably pleased with the helmet’s new profile when compared to the original.


Next, I knew that in order for the helmet to look like wearable head gear, I was going to have to create a bit of a recess in the helmet’s underside to visually establish the helmet’s (supposed) wall thickness.  I Dremmelled a full recess of about 1/8 of an inch up into the helmet’s base.  I then Dremmelled a ball joint socket that I could pop onto the figure’s neck post.

[Darklord1967]

When I placed the helmet on the figure, I tested the various head positions to ensure the anatomical accuracy and symmetry  of the neck pivot point.






This entire operation forced the loss of raised ridge details around the rear of the helmet’s crown and at the sides.  These ridges will now have to be restored to the helmet.  Also, an all-new flip-down target sight will have to be made for the helmet due to the current sight being too thick and about 1/32 of an inch too tall.
The final planned modification to this helmet will be the addition of a gloss coat to the black T-visor to give it a tinted glassy look.


NEXT UPDATE:  Monday evening. Later guys!

[Phatty]

First and foremost, a great big welcome to the Shipyards!  It's always a pleasure for a new member to join and post, and even a greater pleasure when they start off with both barrels blasting like you have!

This has to be one of the most comprehensive, detailed description of how a custom came to be that I've ever seen.  Your history of the Boba Fett figure was very complete, and I enjoyed reading it all.  I can't wait to see tomorrow's update, not to mention your next custom affair!