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 My First Official Unofficial Star Wars Custom
Customizing a 1:6 action figure is an engaging experience , perhaps even moreso when you don't have a specific plan and just follow your whim . Darth Fatalus came about by group effort , initiated by me with a simple headsculpt and then by a whole cadre of fellow customizers over at Men With Dolls as I posted the progress of the work . Via the feedback , my " fierce " headsculpt soon began to take on a life of its own spurred on by the ideas expressed at the MWD forum and I just followed along with scissors , needle and thread and all the other pieces of flotsam and jetsom in my parts bins . The materials used ranged from stock costuming , plastic trays , paperclips scrapbooking brads , model kit parts magnets and action figure stands .   I created Fatalus' armor on the fly so to speak , I had sketched out a few ideas of the look I wanted to achieve , but did not intentionally develop a strict design . The gross details were there like the oversized shoulder cops , the gorget and gauntlets but the details of those aspects came about during the actual construction . Having no real experience creating patterns for sewing I just drew out the shape I wanted to create on paper and then cut that shape from the material . The double layered shoulder cops and hip armor were made from red pleather and black leather . These armor sections also have plastic inserts to give them extra support for the shape . The stitching along the edges defines where the plastic inserts stop . I used doubled thread for the edging trim and single threads for the straps and secondary inner trims . All the studs are scrapbooking brads , round and square ones , and I used jeweled brads for the pinbacks on her skirt and the large disc on her gorget . Figuring out how to attach the cops to the gorget was an interesting problem . Originally I wanted to have buckles and straps , but having none of the proper size I was forced to come up with a different solution . During a " seek and find " mission at the local craft store I found some ribbon clasps and thought they would work quite suitably . Bent paperclips form the D-ring on the shoulder cop , then an O-ring connects that to the ribbon clasp that is connected to the wide vertical center belt of the gorget . By the way , that wide center belt on the gorget came about solely as a test using a failed belt loop for the hip armor ( it was too wide ) . 
Prior to this figure , most of my work with pleather was simple bootsleeves . I had created a few pouches and small purses in pleather and knew that there are certain idiosyncrasies about this type of fabric that make it difficult to work with the smaller the item you happen to be sewing . I really was unprepared for the problems that would present themselves when it came to creating the various straps and belts for fatalus' armor . All the straps , and belt loops were sewn inside out , and I ended tearing up just as many as I made when time came to turn them inside out . I would imagine had I sprinkled some talcum powder on the pleather prior to reversing them , it might have made the process easier . I also learned that sewing arcs and curves using pleather is another difficult task . I was not really happy with the end result when I made little snips in the pleather to take the tension out when sewing the curve so I ended up just carefully holding and folding the pleather as I sewed . Another difficult issue I faced was keeping my stitches straight , which was vitally important since I was doing all the stitching with black thread . Crooked lines really show up hideously on red when the thread is black . Some areas were much more successful than others . I used earring posts and endcaps for the shoulder cop straps , and used them really just because I thought they appeared less typical than a spike and their shape and size helped add some contrast to the scrapbooking brads used for the other various studs on the costume .While the large shoulder cop has a plastic insert , the smaller overlaying shoulder cop does not .  The shoulder cops attach at the back of the gorget in the same fashion as the front , the only difference being that there is no jewelled center disc on the back . In the future I may create an alternate cape layer that replaces the shoulder cops for a " dress " version of this costume . I'm currently looking for small c-clasps or lobster claws that will allow me to change out the shoulder armor easily . The top overlapping layer on the shoulder cop can also be removed should I wish to have a lighter style armor or if I want to create another differently styled cloak for Fatalus that is drawn through the cop straps . There are a lot of costuming alterations possible with the design I have worked out .  
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