It’s funny that the ROTJ Han was why I started the massive Han Solo Project, but I wasn’t happy with the initial pictures I took, so I never posted it. Well here it is…

I started into serious customizing because I wanted an excellent looking, well articulated Han Solo figure based on “Return of the Jedi”. In my opinion this was the definitive look for Han being that it combined his attire from both “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back”.

I like to give credit where credit is due, so I want to thank FFURG forum member DARKLORD for posting his [url="http://www.ffurg.com/FForums/index.php?showtopic=3585&hl=Definitive"]Bespin Han mock-up[/url] which gave me direction as to how I should build my custom ROTJ Han Solo.

At first I wanted a Han with a swivel head post because the VTSC Han Solo Hasbro gave us had a long neck and small head, so this was the result.



Parts:
Head – POTF2 Commtech Han Solo
Torso – POTJ Bespin Capture Han Solo
Arms/Vest – VTSC/ Shield Generator Assault Battle Pack Han Solo
Waist (modified) and upper legs – TSC Carbonite/Carkoon/Sarlacc BP Han Solo
Lower Legs – TAC Bespin Torture Han Solo/ Shield Generator Assault Battle Pack Han Solo
Blaster – Custom made from Saga Endor Raid Han Solo and POTJ Bespin Capture Han Solo



I ended up making several Return Of The Jedi Han Solo figures to try different parts combinations, paint applications, and customizing techniques. Many of the different versions of the same figure that I did were just trying different parts to see how they work together. Here are three of them I made with the same basic recipe with a few variants each. The one on the far right has a non-removable vest that I made by cutting and combining the torsos of the TAC Pilot Han Solo and the TSC Carbonite Han Solo.



Parts:
Heads, waists, torsos, right hands, and upper legs – TSC Carbonite/Carkoon/Sarlacc BP Han Solo
Arms/Vest – VTSC/ Shield Generator Assault Battle Pack Han Solo
Lower Legs – TAC Bespin Torture Han Solo/ Shield Generator Assault Battle Pack Han Solo
Feet – TAC Death Star Trooper
Blasters – Custom made from Saga Endor Raid Han Solo and POTJ Bespin Capture Han Solo
Gun Belt/Holsters – Custom made from VTSC Endor Han gun belt with TAC Yavin Luke retainer


While working on this project the Shield Generator Assault Battle Pack came out. It had a new Han head sculpt so I had to make another custom featuring the new sculpt. It’s the same basic parts as above.





From there I could not deny the fact that Han had 2 different hairstyles in Return of the Jedi.

Hairstyle 1, parted in the middle:


Hairstyle 2, parted to the side:


So I had to make customs for the side part. I tried using the Saga Endor Raid Han solo for this, but the head is kinda small and the sculpt is a little off, so I used the Saga/OTC AT-ST disguise Han solo head.




A bi-product of all this customizing was a Saga Endor Raid Han solo for which I dyed the vest black. It looks much better:

_________________

the last one, definetely.

_________________

wow, dude you put so much work into this project, nice results!

Many people are satisfied with the crappy versions of Han Solo that Hasbro has thrown our way and wonder why I have put so much effort into my little project. Here are some pictures I took to show why I wanted a better Han Solo. The first points out some off the problems with the Vintage Saga Collection Endor Han. The next is a comparison shot of the VTSC version and my custom.



In addition to the problems in the picture above, I hate the split torso articualtion of this figure. That is part of why his torso is too large, but it also puts this weird line in the center of his abdomen.


Here my custom really stands out.

_________________