Quick Look at StarWarsGeek Head Casts
Posted in
Custom WorkstationHere's a long overdue overview of Star Wars Geek's head casts.
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StarWarsGeek has a wide selection of 3.75in and 6in. head casts, as well as accessories! Not only that, he also offers a painting service so you can choose to receive the head finished and ready to use on your custom.
Social Media:
FigureRealm Username: starwarsgeek
Ebay Store:
https://www.ebay.com/str/starwarsgeekcustompartsandtoys(Ebay Username: jokabofe)
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/swg77Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/_starwarsgeek_/ Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/starwarsgeekYouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/starwarsgeekdotnetDeviantArt:
https://www.deviantart.com/starwarsgeekdotnet/gallery/And please check out his Patreon page if you're interested in getting larger-scale heads shrunk down to 4in./6in. scale!
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/StarWarsGeekI don't get any form of payment for providing these links,I just want customizers to have every chance at success on their projects.
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I ordered some 6-inch scale Phase 2 Clone Trooper helmet casts from SWG because he has the best price for them on ebay. I've tried contacting other casters, but they never respond, so SWG has yet another edge over the competition.
He was kind enough to send several other sample heads too to get a feel for how quality varies between different head molds.
If you've ever bought garage kits or other casts, then you know what to expect. There are imperfections in casts, like pinholes, seam lines, and distorted features at worst. Neckholes vary. It's up to you to fix this stuff, that's part of the customizing process!
However, I think we can all agree that the whole point of ordering head casts is to avoid having to sculpt these complex shapes in the first place.
For example, If you buy a head cast of Ghost Rider, but the flames are all screwed up, the teeth aren't defined, and the eyes are sagging, then what was the point in paying $10 for it, right? I might as well sculpt the monstrosity myself.
SWG's casts are great, though I have to say the other heads he sent outshine the Phase 2 Clone Trooper helmets.
I've ordered P2CT helmets from another ebay seller, and it's interesting to see that the flaws are in the same places:
•The respirator area tends to look chewed up, like the trooper crawled through rocks.
•The 3 tiny ridges on the sides can be distorted.
•The middle section in back of the helmet can be distorted to the point that you have to do some resculpting.
Some of them look just fine though.
In other words, you'll have to put in extra work if you're making a shiny new trooper. However, if you're making weathered troopers like I am, there's nothing to complain about.
The other heads were almost flawless though. Every miniscule detail is preserved, every fine strand of hair on Maria Hill's head is defined, just like the subtle hair texture on the brown head (Marvel Legends Okoye?).
Scrape away a little flash and they're ready for prep and paint. The resin accepts paint well, I've used Tamiya (alcohol based), Formula P3 and Citadel (water based) and there are no nasty, sticky chemical reactions. Just be sure to scrub the heads well with dish soap to remove grease and mold release.
Painted head cast:
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And here's a request I have for all you casters out there:
When listing your heads for sale, PLEASE include at least one picture with them popped onto a common figure, so we have an idea of how big/small the head is. For example, the Maria Hill and brown female head are small, they're listed as 6-inch scale by SWG (presumably because they're direct copies of the original 6-inch scale Marvel Legends heads), but they're so small they look much better on a 5-inch figure.
The size might not look that bad here because of the angle, but the head is so small it even looks borderline too small for the 5.75-inch teen female Marvel Legends body (X23/WhiteTiger/Spidergirl).
Another example, I recently got an upscaled (3.75-inch to 6-inch scale) Asajj Ventress head from a Canadian caster, and the head is still puny. It's useless to me.
The gray Plo Koon head head below is slightly too small to use with this common male Marvel Legends body (Blackbolt/Vision/MachineMan). Growing it by maybe 10% would be great.
On a more positive note, this is an example of how durable the resin is because none of the small details on any of the heads was damaged despite being shipped in a padded envelope.
So I definitely suggest taking a picture of them popped onto the usual Marvel Legends, DC, etc. bodies for the benefit of your customers. Maybe even onto some Dr. Who figures (5-inch scale).
Please wait...
Posted by
Henchmen4Hire on Friday, February 1, 2019 - Updated on Thursday, February 7, 2019
Update Topic
•I placed another order for clone trooper helmets, the respirator areas on this batch are much better, ready to go. There's still some clean up work to do on the back of the helmet, presumably where the mold is split to remove the cast, but that's expected.
As for the size issue - while I can understand your request for including a picture of what types of figures it might fit on.... in my experience that's a bad idea. Here's why: 99.9% of eBay buyers have a combined IQ of 8 and see a picture of a figure and a head cast or a painted head cast and think that's what they are getting. No matter how many times I post in the listing description - even going so far as to put text ON THE PICTURES - it doesn't matter. Buyer sees a painted head cast, that's what they think they are getting. People see the head cast on a figure? That's what they expect to get. And when they don't get what they expect? You can guess the rest. So, all the painted pictures and the pictures of the items on figure bodies were removed from ALL of my listings.
That being said - at the end of the day there really is no such thing as a "standard" figure to use as an example, as pretty much every figure differs from the others.
In the case of Plo Koon - it's a pretty perfectly sized head cast for the PT Obi-Wan Kenobi figure if you have one of those that you can test it on. Star Wars Black Series bodies are definitely more "realistic" compared to Marvel Legends bodies which tend to be overly exaggerated and muscular.
(and just for the record - it's "he" lol)
However, there are definitely cases where it would be appreciated to add a line in the description for items that may be too small/big, according to a customizer's "reasonable expectations".
While there's no "standard" figure size, there are definitely commonly owned and commonly used figures in the customizing community (which I assume is the majority of your buyers).
For example, if you tell me a head looks good on the 7in. Marvel Legends Sentry figure, then I know it's most likely too big for the smaller male ML body, and definitely too big for 5-inch bodies. I can make an informed guess, instead of being disappointed when I order a head and it's too small/big.
(A picture would be great, but as you can see in the picture I posted up there of the small Maria Hill (?) head, even pictures might not be entirely accurate haha.)
Another example, I know for a fact that the official Marvel Select Cable head (ML186 in your store) is puny. Even though the Marvel Select figure is 7-8in. scale, the head actually looks better on 6-6.5in bodies (I used it on my DCUC Warhawk). In your store it's listed as 6in scale, and even if I was completely uninformed about scales, I'd be happy if I ordered it for a 6in. custom.
Another example, the Maria Hill head up there. It's listed as 6in. scale, and technically yeah, it's from the ML 6in scale line of figures, but I can't use it on the adult bodies, it works better with the smaller teenage bodies, which use smaller heads. That kind of info is important to a customizer.
I guess the next point is, who's responsibility is it to know exactly what head will work with what body? And I think that can be addressed if we all just communicate more, and send you bodies to test them on maybe? Then you could provide pictures on demand, instead of with each listing, greatly reducing the chance of misunderstandings.
Check SWG's instagram, etc, many examples of his stuff as well as a note about the new way orders will be handled.
Thanks for givein him ( or her ) the deserved love and attention.
LONG LIVE THE RELM!!!!!