Back to some incidental Star Wars characters and painting up Bob Olley sculpts where they just seem to fit! Here are Biggs Darklighter (deleted Tosche Station scene) and Orrimaarko AKA Prune Face.
Painting up Biggs gave me a good excuse to have some fun with scene recreation:
Lando was always my favourite character from the original Star Wars trilogy. I particularly liked his guard outfit from Jabba's palace. That said, I've gone with the Cloud City vibe for my Bob Olley version of Lando, as it also allowed me to make Lobot.
This pair of Jedi have taken longer than I anticipated, but I'm happy to have completed my Bob Olley versions of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Like all of the other figures in this Olley Wars project, they are both based on sculpts by Bob Olley.
With several WIP figures from the rebellion sitting unfinished on my desk, I decided to get this pair of Olley Stormtroopers done quickly. Once again they are Kryomek Nexus SWAT troopers with ultra-fast paintjobs using mainly contrast paints.They give me a couple of extra options when building Stargrave lists or similar.
On to two of my favourite Star Wars characters: Han & Chewie (once again with a Bob Olley twist!).
After all those Imperials before Christmas, it was high time to revisit the rebels, and what better way to do it than with the Skywalkers.
No, it's not the Emperor on the Golden Throne; it's the other one with the dark robe, weird eyes and lighting bolts shooting out of his hands!
I'll preface this post by saying that I have no plans to make 4-LOM. I'm drawing a blank on suitable base models sculpted by Bob Olley, so Zuckuss here will be my last bounty hunter! On the flip side, I'm very pleased with Zuckuss, given that a few weeks ago I was struggling to work out how I'd make him!
| Zuckuss & Dengar team up to track down a lucrative mark. |
These should need no introduction after my first set of stormtroopers, just another group of Kryomek Nexus SWAT troopers. These are five different sculpts, again from the hands of Bob Olley, and again still available from Scotia Grendel.
After doing Boba Fett, the next obvious step was do to more of his peers. Doing all six of the bounty hunters from Empire Strikes Back isn't currently on the cards, but I had some decent ideas for a couple more of the motley crew.
| Awaiting details of the next target. |
I think I said a few posts back that I had no intention of recreating the entire cast of Star Wars with Bob Olley miniatures. However, this is looking like a hollow claim, as I'm now actively working on a the bulk of the principle and supporting characters. I'm very pleased with my Boba Fett though!
It was inevitable that after painting up Darth Tevas, there were going to be Bob Olley stormtroopers. This six-strong squad is comprised of Kryomek Nexus SWAT troopers. They are classic Bob Olley sculpts from the early 1990s and are still available from Scotia Grendel.
I suspect that I'm now getting too deep into the 'Bob Olley does Star Wars' concept. But I'm OK with it! I definitely need an opposing Imperial force to face off against my rebels. It's the logical thing to do, right?
First up are a couple of characters to lead the Imperials - Darth Tevas and General Viers.
| Darth Tevas remonstrates a pair of rebel commandos. |
I'm now getting to the point where a fully painted set of Bob Olley's Iron Claw space pirates is a realistic outcome in the near future (I have 6 left to paint). This set of three brings me up to 11 out of 17. Happily, there are still some fun characterful figures to come!
I 've really been enjoying painting my Bob Olley space pirates as not-Star Wars figures. I reckon every Star Wars group needs droids and aliens, so leant into it with the most recent group.
I spent the week painting up another small group of Bob Olley sculpts for my not-rebel commandos. This time it's another pair of late-1980s Iron Claw space pirates, plus a Kryomek alien. They're starting to look like a nice-sized strike force for destroying bunkers, comms relays and such!
Although it's an acquired taste, I really like Bob Olley's sculpting style. The heavily creased cloth and exaggerated faces make for fun miniatures to paint. Over the weekend, I was chatting with my friend Mr Saturday over the delights of Olley figures and upcoming projects. Then we played a massive game of the Battle of Hoth.
When I got home, I couldn't resist digging out my Iron Claw space pirates and a few ancillary Olley sculpts. "I bet they would look good painted up as rebel commandos", I thought...
In my last post I covered the building of my Stargrave crew based nearly entirely on Bob Olley's Iron Claw jump troopers. This post shows off the newly painted crew in their pristine Space Fleet (or possibly Star Trooper?) uniforms.
It was back in 2020 when the seed of this project was planted. I had a pair of Bob Olley's Iron Claw Jump Troopers, and I fancied making a third variant. If you're not familiar with the figures, check out the pics below (sourced from the excellent Stuff of Legends):
A few weeks ago miniatures sculpting legend Bob Olley was selling some converted figures on eBay. At the time I didn't get round to bidding, but instantly regretted it. Carmine over at Indelible Inc. did bid however, and after completing a squad of 5 alien mercenaries based on WOTC Star Wars Yuzzem, had one spare.
| Check out Carmine's cool squad. |
Carmine very generously offered it up for grabs in the Great Yuzzem Giveaway, and I ended up being the lucky recipient as I promised to include the model in my Super Hairy Alien Mercenary Squad.