Star Wars Miniatures Customizer Lord Scythican

Recently, I had the pleasure of getting to know and up and coming Star Wars Miniatures customizer, Lord Scythican.  Let’s get to know him better:

AFC: Tell the fans of your work a little about yourself
Lord Scythican: To all my fans (New and Returning), I am a part time customizer who enjoys working with official miniatures and loads of green stuff to create miniature works of art. I have always liked creating art, whether it is using Prismacolors or Adobe Photoshop. I have learned a lot of techniques with games such as Warhammer, and found out a few more hints and tips about working with paint over the years from people like Dave Allsop. I majored in Graphic Design during college, but eventually I switched over to Education. Currently I work with Students with Special Needs for my day job, whereas customizing minis is a part time hobby that I spend my weekends doing. I have yet to set up a website, but I will eventually. You can contact me at lord_scythican@yahoo.com

AFC: When did you start making customs?
Lord Scythican: I started making customs about ten years ago in High School. I started with the old Power of the Jedi line of figures. I would use existing figures to make characters for the Star Wars RPG from d6. Nothing beats turning a stormtrooper into a bountyhunter!

AFC: How did you get started making customs?
Lord Scythican: I mentioned that I started about ten years ago with some Star Wars action figure customs, but that was for me only. I started making customs for other people a few years ago, when I was into Warhammer 40K. I started making custom Star Wars miniatures shortly after that.

AFC: How many customs do you work on at one time?
Lord Scythican: I usually work on about ten at a time. I find myself juggling customs for eBay and requests from my fans all the time. I try to list about half that number on eBay and the rest I send in progress pictures to the people who requested the custom. It can be kind of hectic at times, because some fans think I am exclusively working on their custom and no one else’s. I love the e-mails at 7:00 AM that ask “Is my custom done yet?!” (They just requested it the day before…) Now this ten at a time deal is usually a week’s worth. I will usually finish the customs for eBay on Saturday which is listed to sell on the following Thursday night. Then Sunday is spent finishing up requests. On Monday or Tuesday I send out all the packages and then start again for the next week.

AFC: What is the custom you are most proud of?
Lord Scythican: The custom that I am most proud of is: Darth Revan, Dark Lady of the Sith. She was an idea giving to me by one of my long time friends. He told me, “Why not do Darth Revan as a Female? You know there was a petition to make Darth Revan a female and not a male. There are 1000’s of fans out there that refuse to call Darth Revan a “he”. So I did a little magic and made not one, but nine Female Darth Revans. Every one I make sells quickly. (I have one requested right now that I am finishing up). I should note that my friend has yet to try and collect royalty fees on the idea. I guess I own him a couple of free customs…

AFC: What is your favorite toy line to do customs for?
Lord Scythican: My favorite toy line to do customs for is Star Wars Miniatures, hands down. For pre-painted miniatures they are pretty good! In addition they are easier to modify than other lines of miniatures. Some miniatures have really brittle plastic and can be hard to cut and reposition.

AFC: What customs do you have lined up for future projects?
Lord Scythican: I have a lot lined up at the moment. At the time of this interview, I had just finished up: The Jedi Exile in Neophyte Armor, Jaina “Sticks” Solo, Darth Vader Redeemed, Several Nameless Sith Lords from Darth Krayt’s New Sith Order, Vergere. I have a lot of future Projects planned such as, Another Vergere, another Darth Traya, Darth Krayt, Jedi Exile Version 2, Jedi Exile Version 3, Lowbacca, Darth Plagueis, Darth Andeddu, Darth Desolous, Darth Phobos, Bull Rancor, Junk Titan, Galen Marek (Sith Lord), Kento Marek, Darth Bane (Orbalisk armor), just to name a few…

AFC: If you had one piece of advice for other customizers out there, what would you say to them?
Lord Scythican: Buy loads of Green Stuff! It is mother’s milk for customizers. Do not settle for Epoxy Putty at Wal-Mart or Lowes. Only buy the real stuff. Green Stuff has a smooth texture which doesn’t stick to the skin, (unless you hold it there for awhile). It has a long workable time and left over parts that are already mixed can be frozen to be used on another day. Other products (like the stuff at Lowes) have a workable time of about 3 minutes. It sticks to your fingers and generally puts you in a foul mood. (I am not a paid representative of Green Stuff, but I would like to be!).