Imperial Special Intelligence Agent
What you need:
- Stormtrooper torso and pelvis
- Ceremonial Luke arms
- Garindan legs
- Tarkin head
- Han Endor trenchcoat
I started by sanding down the Tarkin head so that it looked bald. I also filed down the chin and cheekbones to alter his appearance a bit. Next, I filed down the ridges on the sleeves of the Ceremonial Luke arms. The upper legs were sanded to remove the tunic-looking edges. The trench coat was shortened about 3/4 an inch, and then the pockets and collar were filed off. The last bit of major sanding involved the stormtrooper torso; I filed the belly smooth and filed the "001" backpack off so that the coat would fit better.
Next, I had to alter the positioning of the legs a bit so that they fit in the stormtrooper pelvis correctly and provided an acceptable stance. This involved a repositioning of the feet. The arm and neck pegs were also adjusted to fit in the torso. A wide rubber band was glued around the neck, and smaller rubber bands were glued around the ends of the sleeves to simulate straps. Pieces of rubber bands were glued on the back of the boots to simulate boot straps. To harden the rubber bands, I coated them lightly with crazy glue.
The shoulder-armor was built on the arms using sculpey. Sculpey was also used to create the fabric that extends across the upper breast. Then the figure was glued together, but the coat was left off for the time being. On to painting - black. I started out by painting the coat first, inside and out. Next, I painted the entire body, obviously with the exception of the hands and head. I then painted a gloss coat over the breast plate, belt, and pelvis. I left the shoulder armor flat until I put on the coat.
In order to get the coat on, I discovered I had to widen the arm holes so that the shoulder armor would fit through the holes. Putting the coat on rubbed a lot of the paint off the shoulder armor, as expected. I touched up that paint and any other parts that needed touching up, and then I painted the shoulder armor with a gloss coat. Whew!
This figured was inspired by the picture below, which appeared in X-Wing Rogue Squadron #34. As far as I can tell, the exact rank and role filled by these soldiers is unknown, but it is implied that they are part of an Imperial special intelligence agency.
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