EXCAL Han and Chewie (inspired by prince de Lu)
I’ve brought Han solo over to EXCAL previously, but what started out as an attempt to make him more contemporary ended up as a pretty faithful Joe-ticulated version of Bespin Han:

My original goal had been more of a real militaristic version, as suggested in this thread back in the day:
If Han Solo were a Joe…

In fact, I even bought the True Heroes C-130 based largely on the combined thoughts of pluv and Mysterious Stranger in that thread, then tabled the project when I kept drawing blanks on how to interpret a contemporary human Chewie. In fact, I had mostly given up on the concept, and had put my Bespin Han into my box of one shot customs, to one day display in a BMF with the best Chewie figure out there, and call it a day.

Then prince de lu started posting some SW/Joe cross-over projects, and the approach for Chewie – which had been sitting there in front of me the whole time, exploded in my mind. It’s not a direct copy of Ian’s work, but I’d be lying if I said I’d have come up with this without him. I used different parts, and went for a different theme (focusing largely on the idea of Air America type pilots who might have military backgrounds but are now mostly smuggler types) but the inspiration flows directly from his customs.

My goals were to make him big (check), hairy (check) so that he is intimidating when he needs to be (check), but also to have him be very likeable (hopefully check?) . Anyway, meet the long time pal of the discharged Army pilot Captain Solitaire – Charles Edward Wojkowski (I figure his dad was Polish, his mother Armenian, lol) aka The Wookie, or Chewie to his close friends:





I used some artistic license in shooting for that theme, putting him in khakis to fit the place in the verse, giving him a Hawaiian shirt underneath the OD green shirt/coat to give him a bit of a loveable goofball (laugh it up fuzzball) kind of feel. The high-tops were a bit of a compromise. They weren’t intended, but it’s the best I could so with the sculpt of the feet, and given his size, I decided he probably has a background playing hoops in his youth. Kind of fits with the “The Dude” vibe he carries into the character I guess. Lastly, while I loved the head prince de lu used for his Chewie, I already had that head in use in my collection, and didn’t want to change it (incidentally, I’m using that head as a Dwarf, and I’m not thinking said Dwarf should be an EXCAL Ewok… lol, but I’m not going there…). It was just good luck that I had this head nearby, and I like how his hair flowed, almost wookie like.

And, since this Chewie doesn’t really go with my authentic Bespin Han custom, and since I needed Han to look a bit more the part described above, I made a new custom of him as well. Just waiting til I move into a permanent home to begin customizing the C-130 into something a bit more recognizable for them to fly…






Thoughts or comments? All are welcome. Even if it’s just to say stop trying to steal prince de lu’s idea!

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I like Chewie. You took the best design bits from Barf from Spaceballs (khaki, high tops) and mixed it in. I think the hairy skin is a little over done but certainly believable. princedelu's version could use the crossbow and still make sense in a Sillof kind of way. For your verse it doesn't quite work. I'd give him an M-60 as a door gunner type. I think that the design element is still there without being so in your face about it.

Now Han is a work of art. That figure looks cool no matter who he is.

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Han looks pretty cool. I like him. Chewies head looks great and his size but not feeling the rest of him, too hairy actually...sorry

thanks for the comments.

pluv, I get what you are saying on the crossbow. For me though, it's a necessary item. And it's from a modern Joe figure, so I think it's sufficiently removed from the sci-fi/fantasy part. But I know what you are saying. One thing I still might do is re-paint it, which I think would help. As for the door gunner thing, I see no reason why his big gun can't be a part of the C-130 build (if I ever get to that) with this being his personal weapon. Can even add in something about how as smugglers they've found it to be very convenient to have some weapons that don't go bang when they shoot them. If he was a Merc, then I'd be more in line with him toting a BFG.

Great catch on Barf though. I knew there was another element of inspiration I couldn't place my finger on.

Tim - I hear what you're saying also. I feared he would be too hairy, but I will say that painting the flesh undertones turned out better than I planned, when I experimented with it. As for too hairy though, google "hairy dude" and see if you still feel that way

As for parts on these guys:
Chewie:
Head: POTC Blackbeard
Body: MU Wrecker with heavy sculpting
Arms and legs - upper parts MU Wrecker, lower parts: (i.e. hairy parts) SW McQuarrie Chewbacca, with the pants also heavily sculpted.

Han: SW head, forget which version
Body: upper torso is the complete torso of a rebel trooper figure, hollowed out, then modded into a Joe-styled upper torso, on top of a Renegades Duke lower. The rest are from those respective figures, except for boots which I *think* I swapped from an IJ Temple Guard figure, but I can't say for sure.

The gun is a modded Renegades Duke gun. I loved prince de lu's modded Colt idea, but I modded this one instead to utilize the slot in the leg.

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wow chewie looks huge next to han, IMHO i think both look great, just maybe a darker tan color for hans gloves would make him pop more.

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After your explanation on the arms, I think I like Chewie a little more. At first, I thought it was just all Hairy arms and legs, like an animal, and thought that was odd. But if I'm hearing you right, you painted the base flesh tone and then drybrushed the raised areas, making those the hair and then the lighter areas actually his skin. If that's the case, I see him a little differently, but with it being so textured, it's hard to think it as just being furry arms and legs.

Like them both, only thing that stops the flow of Chewie for me are the shoes. I could see an open combat boot for him.

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I think we're going to see a lot of people taking on these customs. Great job with yours. Totally dig it.

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I like 'em.

Chewie seems a little too leggy to me, but as some who keeps trying to make short characters, I know how hard it can be adjust the height on these figures, without screwing up the proportions.

As good as Han looks, I don't like that head for him. When I first saw the head, I honestly thought it was a Luke Skywalker custom. I think it's the shape of the face. Love that side mounted scope, on Han's pistol. That's a great character based detail.

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Will - the high tops weren't my intent when I started out. But then, what is the proper boot for a character who has never worn any? Since he's a laid back co-pilot and not a merc, per se, I thought the shoes worked ok, though I'm willing to consider other options.

GR - agree on the leg height being a bit too much. Since I anchored them when I fused them, however, I've been debating whether it's worth the effort. As for Han's head, it's the hair I don't like. The face itself is the best scaled Han head I've seen, and again face only bears a striking resemblance in person.

SPM - yep man, that's supposed to be skin painted flesh tones underneath, with the sculpted hair on top drybrushed to actually represent the hair. It's by no means perfect, but it's the best option I had, as I wasn't too thrilled painted on hair.

J-Byrrd, good call on Han's gloves

John, thanks man. There have been a lot of great SW cross-overs lately,no doubt about it.

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I think they both work great...though can't tell ...... Han needs the scope on the gun.. can't tell if its there or not...other than that perfect.

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These are awesome. LOVE that take on Chewie. You and prince de Lu have given me ideas for my own as well. I like the use of that vest for Han too.

I love the work on these (and Prince de Lu's, too).

I also got a "Dagobah fatigues Luke" feel from the Han one. I think it has to do with both the hairstyle and the overall shape of the chest-rig/vest he has. I loove what you did to his blaster, though.

As for Chewie, I think he looks damn good. After seeing what others wrote about the feet, what I'd suggest is changing the black at the top to look like some crumpled white sport socks coming out of the shoes. (Thinks A-Team era Mr-T.) Also, the crossbow would look a million times better with some paint apps on it - You definitely have the skills for it.

Thanks for the comments. I admit I went lazy on the crossbow, just dry-brushing some gunmetal, and it didn't add much. Will definitely add more detail there.

On the shoes, the kids today all seem to wear black socks with their basketball shoes. While the concept does not fit within my old man sensibilities (at least not without sock suspenders included ), I actually painted the tops black to go for the black sock look.

I like the Han head alright, but I know the hair is a bit off. Closer to this look I think:


I might still add Luke to the crew, which will help differentiate them. But I don't plan on doing SW other than to fill out the crew of the C-130. Then, it's just a matter of deciding if I need a 2nd plane to turn into Serenity...


Pyre - thanks for the comment

RT - yeah, the gun has his scope. You can see it in one of the pics where it is "holstered"


thanks again guys

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I think the lack of black/blue pants w/ bloodstripes on the sides might be taking away from the Han look and where people might be seeing the Bespin Luke look. I bet of those were turned into blue jeans, it'd get rid of the Luke look(I personally don't see Luke, only Han in the custom, but thought I'd mention that).