Post Your Action Fleet Customs Here

[Unreality]

At the request of Goldleaderone, I thought I'd start a customs thread for Action Fleet items similar to Darth_Morpheus' thread for titanium customs. If you have any vehicle or figure customs, please post them. I and many others would really enjoy seeing them, and hopefully we can keep the line somewhat alive.

I'll also include a link to my new site, which will primarily revolve around AF customs. You can find my customs there and techniques I use. In the future, I'll add images to the archives and a list of alternatives to the AF line.

http://actionfleetunlimited.com/

Lastly, I'd enjoy featuring any of your customs on my site, just email me.

Enjoy

 

[djcos25]

Awesome, it's going to be nice having an Action Fleet customs thread now. The main reasons I asked was because we already had a Titanium customs thread going, plus now our customs won't get lost on the 3rd page after a day or so if we were to post them in the regular customs section lol.

Here's a few of my customs.

Concept Design Cloud Car

Baron Fel TIE Interceptor

Baron Fel Figure (using the "George Lucas" TIE Pilot as he has a beard as well)

More to come!

 

[Strikefoil]

Cool customs.

 

[djcos25]

Thanks Strikefoil. Here's a few more for now.

Sandspeeder (based off Titanium version)

Royal Guard TIE Interceptor (based off Titanium version)

Shadow AT-AT Walker (based off Titanium version)

More on the way!

 

[jkno]

Great customs guys! I only customized one of two my Micro Turbo Tanks playsets which I consider to be part of the Action Fleet line.


You can see more pictures and read more info about it here: Micro Turbo Tank / Kasyyyk playset custom

 

[Strikefoil]

You are welcome Gl1. What kind of orange color is that? It looks like a peach color.

 

[djcos25]

@ Sergiu: That's an awesome custom, looks brilliant! I love the figures on the bikes just chillin' inside lol.

@ Strikefoil: I didn't have a peach color to work with, I ended up mixing colors. The body color doesn't match the titanium versions body, but it does give off that "sandy" color.

 

[Darkart99]

I posted this a long time ago but it fits in this thread.
This is my old MF converted to an Action Fleet Falcon.

 

[Strikefoil]

That is a bright sandy color.

 

[Imrahil2001]

Wait, that's the Hasbro falcon? That's amazing!

 

[djcos25]

@ Darkart99: That is an awesome custom! The AF figures are perfect for that as well. Superb dude!

@ Strikefoil: Yeah I can see where your coming from. I think I might go back and just redo that at some point.

 

[Unreality]

Great job on the Falcon Darkart99. I remember seeing it before, but I really wanted to give you a big congrats for really doing a great job on it.

Here's a few of my customs:




More pics and more customs are available on my website.

 

[Darth_Duranium]

Wow. Fantastic stuff, GL1 ... I especially like the McQuarrie Cloud Car and Fel's TIE/In. Sergiu's Juggernaut is superb and Darkart's Falcon is beyond impressive! That Falcon's in a league of its own... incredible detail. Outstanding work all around... very talented folks.

Really enjoyed your site, Unreality. Nice layout, graphics, and your AF customs rock, of course. Particularly liked the AT-LE, AT-PT, and the TIEs. I just started working with an airbrush so I really enjoyed that section, too. Your customs are ahead of their time: I'd imagine that the WOTC TIE Crawler, DA Geonosian Fighter, and Ultra JSF must have come out after you had made your AF customs.

Great thread!

 

[darth_sidious]

The AT-AP turned out really nice, its a shame Hasbro never got to it in the Titanium line, most of their walkers turned out rather nice.

 

[djcos25]

Here's a few more customs.

Horton Salm's Y-Wing from the Battle of Endor - Gray Leader

Imperial Trooper Transport (still needs work)

TYE-Wing (would like to redo this)

 

[Unreality]

Thanks man. Actually the TIE Crawler is made from the WOTC version and an AF TIE. But you're right about the others. I would like to get a DA Geo Fighter...just because it's the only version of that ship in that size.

Congrats on the airbrush. What kind did you get? If you need any help at all, feel free to PM me.

 

[djcos25]

Unreality, quick question - I'm looking to buy some WWII airplane model kits for spare parts. What size(s) do you think would be good? I've been looking at a lot of 1.72 sizes.

 

[Unreality]

Unreality, quick question - I'm looking to buy some WWII airplane model kits for spare parts. What size(s) do you think would be good? I've been looking at a lot of 1.72 sizes.

72 is great for landing gear/wings/guns, but the cockpits tend to be very bland. 48 scale cockpits give you more control surfaces and seats that are good matches for AF figures. PM me what you're building/need; maybe I can offer some suggestions.

 

[darth_sidious]

I look forward to seeing your completed Imperial Troop Transport - it looks very much like Admiral Screed's shuttle from the Droids cartoon, I made a micro machine of it awhile back, I'll try to dig up a picture.

 

[darth_sidious]

Heres my Admiral Screed shuttle MM size:

 

[Unreality]

That's a pretty cool shuttle design. I may have to look into that sometime.

 

[Darth_Duranium]

dupe post

 

[Darth_Duranium]

Congrats on the airbrush. What kind did you get? If you need any help at all, feel free to PM me.

Thanks... gotta say I'm really happy with it and it's been surprisingly easy to use after experimenting a bit. My buddy gave me a Paasche VL from the 1950's in pristine condition... for free! I went to the art store for some bottles and a water trap and they still sell the same model (without all of the cool 50's accessories, hard case, and Bakelite handle) for $120 so I was even more stoked about the gift. I grabbed a oil-less compressor with 3 gal. tank on sale for $50... noisy when it's filling up but it works great.

I'm used to working with enamels exclusively so your info about acrylics is very helpful, amongst all the the other useful info on the site.

I'm more into Titanium customs than AF so I'm wondering if acrylic paints bond well to metal, or should I continue to use an enamel primer first? Any issues with layering acrylics on top of enamels?

Oh yeah, the DA Geo Fighter's pretty nice... actually a little bigger than the AF Solar Sailer (on a Titanium stand). Talk about scale issues between lines.

 

[Unreality]

For metal, you need some type of primer. For me, I use a spray can of ColorPlace Primer from Wal-mart for 97 cents. But you can use anything that isn't acrylic. If you are having bonding issues, wash the model off first (to get the oil from your hands off of it).

And yes, you can put acrylics on top of enamels...but if you put enamels on top of acrylics, you may see the enamel paint eat the acrylic.

And in my opinion, acrylics are far easier and forgiving than enamels. In the model-painting world, acrylics really started to emerge as good paints in the early 90's and are the most popular paints these days. I don't know what hobby stores stock in Toronto, but you may want to try acrylics.

 

[djcos25]

I've only done 1 Titanium custom (Die Cast back then) which was the Gold to Blue Squadron Y-Wing repaint, and I used Games Workshop Paint. It worked great, but again it was just used for 1 custom so far so I'm not sure how it fares with other ships.

 

[Darth_Duranium]

Thanks for the info!
Hehehe... I've been using Color Place primer from Wal-mart for a few years now... agreed, it's cheap and works really well out of the can... and undiluted in the airbrush, too.
I've used Tamiya gold lacquer once and thought it was great. Their acrylics are readily available around here, too. Do you know if I can use Windex to thin Tamiya acrylics, or do I have to get their thinner? Should I buy another brand? Is "Model Masters" a Testors brand? I think they're available here, too.
I know next to nothing about acrylics so your help is much appreciated. I'd like to move away from enamels... too stinky and a pain to clean up.

I'll keep an eye out for the Games Workshop paint too, GL1.

 

[Unreality]

Ok. Model Masters is a Testors brand, and it (as well as Polly Scale) can be thinned with Windex...which is probably the best thinner for it.

Tamiya can be thinned with Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol), but will clump if you use Windex. It also doesn't brush paint well, but does great through an airbrush.

Vallejo is another brand that gets excellent reviews, but it's not available where I live.

Hope this helps.

 

[jkno]

I posted this a long time ago but it fits in this thread.
This is my old MF converted to an Action Fleet Falcon.

AWESOMENESS!!!!

 

[Darth_Duranium]

Hope this helps.

It does. Thanks! I'm not sure about Polly Scale or Villejo, but the other 2 lines are here. I'll pick some up soon.

 

[Strikefoil]

@unreality. I like the snoopscoot and the tie experimental.

@GL1. I didnt mean to be offensive. That is just an odd color for a custom.

 

[djcos25]

Not a problem Strike, I knew you didn't mean it like that. It's just the more I look at it, the more I don't like it lol.

Unreality, I took a page from your book and made my own Imperial Star Destroyer, hope you don't mind

. Like yours, its the Hallmark Ornament from 2004. Sorry that the pics aren't great, I'll take better ones tomorrow when I got better light.

 

[Strikefoil]

I like your videos and channel GL1. Cool custom.
@unreality. I bet it took a long time and patience to do customs of action fleets and a steady hand.

 

[darth_sidious]

I use the Hallmark Star Destroyers with my WOTC SSB minis because theirs are insanely hard to find and are often warped. Hallmark did an excellent job on them, its probably the best Star Destroyer sculpt I have seen in toy or miniature form.

 

[Darth_Duranium]

I just can't bring myself to chop the wires off my Hallmark ISD... love those cool blue engine LEDs. Those repaints look good, though!
I used the old diecast Kenner ISD as my AF ISD... fits well on an AF stand and it's a bit bigger, if not as accurate.
Agreed DS... the WOTC ISD looked like the crap had been beaten out of it... so badly warped. Shame on them for releasing it in that condition.

 

[Unreality]

Nice Star Destroyer GL1, it just looks "happy" on an AF stand.

I know the blue lights do look cool; I just with it had internal batteries like the newer ornaments. Still, it's a great display piece for us AF fans.

 

[darth_sidious]

It was tough to slice off the wires because the features are cool, but it makes a great display piece. Are there anymore Hallmark ornaments that work well with the AF, Titanium, or Micro Machine lines?

 

[Darth_Duranium]

Here's a couple of old pics that shows my Kenner ISD to AF ISD conversion... the Hallmark ISD's next to it.

Are there anymore Hallmark ornaments that work well with the AF, Titanium, or Micro Machine lines?

Whew... that's a giant topic on its own!
There's a bunch that fit in between the AF and TS scales:
Tyderium
Falcon X2
Royal Starship (very nice)
ISD
X-Wing
Vader TIE
TIE
Naboo N-1
Bongo
Slave I
DS II
AT-AT
A ton of Trek ships

BTW, we're getting a snowspeeder this year.

I love the Hallmark line... it's what started me collecting ships.

 

[Strikefoil]

I love the colonial vipers.

 

[f0rce]

Agreed about the Hallmark Star Wars and Star Trek line. With very few exceptions (like the Scorpion from Star Trek Nemesis... I mean of all ships... why?) they are nicely detailed, and relevant ships. The lights really make them stand out, and I like that they've gone away from having to plug the ships into a string of Christmas lights, and now use button batteries.

 

[JadBean]

I made a handful of Action Fleet custom figures back in the day. I'm afraid they're all lost now, but I had some pretty decent ones.

I made a helmetless Vader by carefully cutting off a Vader head just above the tusks, and gluing on a sliced Xizor head, then painting the head white. It looked great, and I kept the Vader helmet to display next to it.

I also did a simple proportionally-accurate Han in Carbonite by cutting off the back part, cutting the back part down to just a flat panel, and gluing that onto the back of the front part.

I did a Lando in Han's clothes by cutting the head and hands off of a Lando General, and gluing them onto an ANH Han figure. Very easy to do, and just required a tiny dab of brown paint to cover Han's skin at his collar.

Finally, I put together a standing Endor Luke by starting with the speeder bike riding version, replacing the legs with standard standing legs (I think I used Lando General legs), and gluing a lightsaber onto the hand. I also tried cutting off the head and re-gluing it down to look straight ahead, but it didn't work all that well. That one was so involved, that it never stayed together properly.

The biggest omission in the Action Fleet line, in my opinion, was that there was never a Bespin Luke figure. I never got around to figuring out how to make one. I wish I had taken pics of these figs - so many memories!