What with the forum shutting down at the end of the year, I've decided to get off my ass and finish and post some customs. While this one is not a Joe Custom, I think I can get away with posting it here.

Asajj Ventress





Head: Cast of Zarana, 2011
Torso, upper arms: Boss Fight Studios Court of the Dead Kier
Legs: Boss Fight Studios female Knight of Accord
Belt/skirt: Boss Fight Studios Dragon Acolyte skirt
Additional materials: heat-shrink tubing and latex balloon

While I never really connected with the Clone Wars animated series, I really love what they did with Asajj Ventress and the Nightsisters. Witches are awesome and make everything better. I first encountered the Dermot Power concept drawings that were later repurposed by Genndy Tartakovsky for the Cartoon Network's Clone Wars 2D animated shorts in the Art of Episode II book. Conceptualized as a potential follow-up to Maul (a roll that was ultimately filled by Count Dooku), she cut a striking figure and, like the best concept art, inspired a deep desire to see the alternate universe Episode 2 in which she was the primary antagonist.




While Tartakovsky hewed close to Power's design, the character's look would evolve as she was further developed in Dark Horse's various comic series and definitively in the 3D animated Clone Wars series, which established the character as a Nightsister (re-conceptualizing an existing EU concept from the mid-90s), and introducing a new aesthetic drawn again from prequel-era concept art. The look of the Nightsisters--skin-tight scarlett and black mummy-wraps offset by layered flares of dramatic drapery--was derived from an Episode I Sith concepts by Iain McCaig.




Which brings me to my favorite interpretation of the character: the Mythos statue by Sideshow. As far as I know, there is no direct antecedent for the character's look in this statue, though Sideshow's sculptor(s?) definitely did their homework, drawing heavily from McCaig and Power concepts and the Nightsister aesthetics established in the 3D animated series to synthesize what feels to me like the definitive take on the character. (They even nod to the original EU conception of the Nightsisters with the Rancor skull.)



My custom is basically a 1/18 version of Sideshow's Mythos take on the character. I pulled back on some of the ornamentation and imposed a bit of my own interpolation of Power's goth-punk club rat aesthetic, giving her a silver mohawk (which may be interpreted as a mid-point to her later pseudo-Jedi EU look).

Finally, I owe at least a nod to 2DARK2C, who turned me on to heat-shrink tubing as a customizing material!

Beautiful work

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That is fantastic

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Absolutely beautiful custom. It's a look I never would have expected for the character, but it totally works. I felt the same way about the Clone Wars series, including the appreciation for the Night Sisters concept. And I can't tell you how much time I've spent looking at the concept art for the prequels and imagining what could have been. So this figure strikes a really nice chord for me. Also, you integrated some non-traditional materials into this figure: the wrapped cloth on the torso and neck tie are a nice echo of both the Night Sister costumes and the Asajj Ventress concept art. As always, you nailed it. And I hope this is just the first of a bunch of customs before January!

Damn!

Wonderful craftsmanship.