Inspiration comes from many places. As I was inspired to take up art from reading the Art of the Empire Strikes Back, the early Marvel Comics also played a large part in me wanting to write, draw and create comic books.
I loved the art of Walt Simonson and Ron Frenz and both had their hands in the Star Wars line after the Empire Strikes Back took place. In these years between Empire and Jedi without Han Solo, they focused on the Rebellion finding new allies and of course searching for Han. Some great characters were introduced in the Expanded Universe and three of my favorites make up the Rik Duel Gang. They are Rik Duel, Chihdo, and Dani the Zeltron. None of these characters have had action figures made of them… at least not yet. While I haven’t seen them up close, the Carbonite figures that come with the Hasbro Pulse Haslab Razor’s Crest look an awful lot like these three…
The alien races of Star Wars are always fascinating and Zeltrons have somewhat of a Star Trek feel to them. I enjoyed Dani the most from the gang. Why? Well she was feisty, smart and has fuchsia skin. I mean c’mon that’s just cool. She also was trying to seduce Luke and we all wanted to see little Jedi running around the galaxy, cause Luke couldn’t possibly be the last, or could he?
Finding the proper parts for Dani was going to be tough. You can’t easily find a figure with a fuchsia skin tone and long flowing hair. The aqua boots with the flair were also going to be a problem unless I wanted to specifically sculpt something. I am not against sculpting and do it when necessary, but in this case on a joint would be extremely tough, so I opted to pass. If I ever see something compatible, I’ll probably upgrade it. The head was fun. I combined the parts from two different eras of Marvel Legends and it worked perfectly.
Leia was a pretty simple parts swap with a little paint.
Here are the recipes:
Dani the Zeltron
- Head: Marvel Legends Dora Milaje (one with markings on the right side of the face)
- Hair: Toybiz Marvel Legends Spider-Woman
- Vest, Upper and Lower Torso, Holster, Top of Legs: Black Series Jyn Erso
- Arms, Thighs and Lower Legs: Pink Power Ranger S.P.D.
Gloves and Boots are painted with Aqua Folk Art Gloss Acrylic Enamel, Vest and Arms are Orange Testors Craft Acrylic, the legs and torso are Apple Barrel Gloss Black and the head took a lot of coats… It is Anita’s All Purpose Acrylic Royal Fuchsia. The hair is Apple Barrel Purple with a wash of Royal Fuchsia.
Princess Leia
- Head, Vest, Lower Legs (below the knee), and Hands: Black Series Hoth Leia
- Torso, Arms, Upper Legs: A New Hope Black Series Leia
Apple Barrel Matte Black was used to paint upper legs, torso and arms of Leia.
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