Palpatine 1:1 bust

[MaulFan]

ya know I gotta say that after seeing this with the the QTVR, Im not that impressed anymore.

It just looks off to me. Kinda bummed out by the look of it now.
Anyone else feel the same?

I was thrown off a little when I first saw it, but it's just because that's a view of him I'd never have or want. When I get min the hood will be arranged such that you see his features as you would in ROTJ. I think they just did this to show how his hood is poseable as well as to show more of the sculpt work for those wondering if it was a complete sculpt or not.

As for looking more ROTS, I don't really see that at all, his entire facial structure looks very ROTJ and the wrinkling and such along his cheeks and neck is more in line with Jedi, it doesn't have the puffy, chubby look of ROTS with McDiarmid aged.

 

[geto10]

He does look a bit better in the QTVR than the promo pics.

 

[Brent72]

So, I just got faced with a huge dilemma and thought I would post here to see what others think. I can get the custom bust pictured here for about the same price as Sideshow's Emperor bust. This one is geared more towards the look of Sidious in Episode III, but as you can see the detail is absolutely amazing. Also, it would actually be more useful to me as I could potentially create a 1:1 life-size Sidious figure with this bust and that's something I wouldn't necessarily be able to do with the Sideshow piece. So, here's the pic and let me know your thoughts.

p.s. Please don't turn this into a "which one is better" type of debate as I'm not trying to start an argument here. I just want to know which one people would choose to spend their own money on if given a choice between the two busts.

 

[MaulFan]

Could be the lighting, but the cheek bones seem almost soft, not too rigid and defined, for either ROTS or ROTJ.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the custom, it almost looks like a generic old man. It's great, totally looks like McDiarmid, and again could just be the lighting, but the facial structures just don't seem defined enough to make it feel more the emperor and not McDiarmid at age 100.

Go with what you like, either bust would look impressive at home. Your custom there gives you a good looking piece that pretty nicely represents the character's appearance, the Sideshow one offers a bit of emotion and character to it that would likely be a selling point for some, I know for me it's as much about having a feeling as capturing the physical attributes.

 

[Brent72]

Could be the lighting, but the cheek bones seem almost soft, not too rigid and defined, for either ROTS or ROTJ.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the custom, it almost looks like a generic old man. It's great, totally looks like McDiarmid, and again could just be the lighting, but the facial structures just don't seem defined enough to make it feel more the emperor and not McDiarmid at age 100.

Go with what you like, either bust would look impressive at home. Your custom there gives you a good looking piece that pretty nicely represents the character's appearance, the Sideshow one offers a bit of emotion and character to it that would likely be a selling point for some, I know for me it's as much about having a feeling as capturing the physical attributes.

Thanks for the thoughts, MaulFan. The person who has this bust is sending me some additional pics as he said the first batch he sent was really "washed out" and didn't do the piece justice at all. I'm looking forward to seeing additional photos as they're really supposed to give me a better look at how defined the bust really is. Personally, I see a lot more of McDiarmid in the custom than I do in the Sideshow piece, but that's not taking anything away from the SS as I think it's great as well. I'll be sure to post the new pics of the custom as soon as I receive them.

 

[DarthNeil]

So, I just got faced with a huge dilemma and thought I would post here to see what others think. I can get the custom bust pictured here for about the same price as Sideshow's Emperor bust. This one is geared more towards the look of Sidious in Episode III, but as you can see the detail is absolutely amazing. Also, it would actually be more useful to me as I could potentially create a 1:1 life-size Sidious figure with this bust and that's something I wouldn't necessarily be able to do with the Sideshow piece. So, here's the pic and let me know your thoughts.

p.s. Please don't turn this into a "which one is better" type of debate as I'm not trying to start an argument here. I just want to know which one people would choose to spend their own money on if given a choice between the two busts.

Go with your gut-- but this one would seem to be original (how many are there?) and you seem to already have an idea what you'd like to do with it (ie create a 1:1 life-size Sidious). I think you already know which way you're leaning.:emperor

 

[Brent72]

Go with your gut-- but this one would seem to be original (how many are there?) and you seem to already have an idea what you'd like to do with it (ie create a 1:1 life-size Sidious). I think you already know which way you're leaning.:emperor

I'm definitely "leaning" towards the custom bust, but I haven't completely made up my mind yet. I'd like to see some more pics of the SS piece, but I doubt there will be any new ones for a while. Luckily the guy with the custom isn't in a big hurry and is giving me plenty of time to decide what I want to do.

 

[Dynaheir]

Backstage Pass Video

 

[MaulFan]

WOW, that look at his head without the hood looked fantastic, I LOVE this bust.

 

[FrankenFan]

I made this image at the behest of a friend's son, and since it uses the Emperor Palpatine Life-Size Bust as its base, I thought I'd share it in this thread:

To see a larger version, click here.

 

[Deak Starkiller]

Wowee! That's definitely art, can I ask how you created the lightning effect? If I can even call it that?

 

[FrankenFan]

Wowee! That's definitely art, can I ask how you created the lightning effect? If I can even call it that?

I wouldn't call it "art," NICTO, but I'd be happy to share with you how it was done! Whatever you call it, it's a simple effect to create. Here's how:

(These instructions are written for a Mac user, but if you're working on a PC, substitute all references to the Command Key [Mac] with the Alt Key [PC].)

1. Create a new image, 600 pixels wide, by 300 pixels high. The size isn't really that important — it can be larger or smaller depending on your base image and the effect you wish to create — but it is important that your image be about twice as high as it is wide to prevent clipping the effect.

2. Press the D Key on your keyboard to set the foreground color to black and the background color to white, select the Gradient Tool and apply a linear gradient by dragging from the top to the bottom of the image.

3. Apply the Difference Clouds filter (Filter>Render>Difference Clouds).

4. Press Command-I to invert the image.

5. Press Command-L to open the Levels Dialog Box, change the Midtone Input Level to .10, and press the Enter Key to accept the settings.

6. Drag this image onto your base image and name this new layer FX.

7. With the FX layer active, choose Screen from the Blending Mode pop-up on the Layers Palette. Move the FX layer to where you want the effect to be on your base image. Don't worry about exact placement, you'll finalize that after the next step.

8. With the FX layer active, choose a Transformation Tool of your choice (Edit>Transform>) and scale/rotate/distort the image to your liking. If necessary, move the transformed effect to its final position.

9. Select the Eraser Tool, set its Mode to Brush, select a soft brush, and erase any undesirable artifacts or hard edges.

(Repeat the above steps for each additional instance of the effect you wish to create.)

10. To colorize the FX layer, click the Add New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon located on the bottom of the Layers palette, select Hue/Saturation from the popup, check Colorize in the Hue/Saturation Dialog, and adjust the sliders to your liking.

Good luck!

 

[MaulFan]

Thanks for sharing the tip FF, I like how your image came out.

 

[FrankenFan]

Thanks for sharing the tip FF, I like how your image came out.

You're welcome!

Glad you like the image, and coming from you, it's a particularly flattering comment!

 

[MaulFan]

You're welcome!

Glad you like the image, and coming from you, it's a particularly flattering comment!

Are you kidding me, some of your special effects are way beyond what I can do, so mutually that comment from you is flattering.

 

[FrankenFan]

Are you kidding me, some of your special effects are way beyond what I can do...

I'm always happy to exchange tips, tricks, and techniques. I know there are quite a number of Photoshop jockeys at various levels of experience on the board and I've been thinking of starting a Tutorials thread in the Art Show Forum. If there is enough interest to justify it, I might be persuaded to get it going.

I didn't mean to derail this thread, so this will be a discussion to be continued elsewhere!

 

[shocktrooper_au]

So, I just got faced with a huge dilemma and thought I would post here to see what others think. I can get the custom bust pictured here for about the same price as Sideshow's Emperor bust. This one is geared more towards the look of Sidious in Episode III, but as you can see the detail is absolutely amazing. Also, it would actually be more useful to me as I could potentially create a 1:1 life-size Sidious figure with this bust and that's something I wouldn't necessarily be able to do with the Sideshow piece. So, here's the pic and let me know your thoughts.

p.s. Please don't turn this into a "which one is better" type of debate as I'm not trying to start an argument here. I just want to know which one people would choose to spend their own money on if given a choice between the two busts.

I think this is the same head pictured here on RS
https://www.rebelscum.com/gallery/propparty2-16-08/image14.asp


Looking again maybe not

 

[Brent72]

I think this is the same head pictured here on RS
https://www.rebelscum.com/gallery/propparty2-16-08/image14.asp


Looking again maybe not

Nope, definitely different.

 

[Brent72]

OK, as promised, here are a couple new pictures of the custom Palpatine bust that the seller just sent me. I'm really liking this piece and think I may just go ahead and buy it instead of the SS Emperor. I know not everyone will agree, but I just see a lot more of the McDiarmid likeness in this custom than I do in Sideshow's sculpt.

 

[MaulFan]

I agree that you see more McDiarmid in that custom, but to me that's a bad thing because even in these new photos, the disfigurations seem too subtle and it almost looks like a generic, "old man" version of McDiarmid face, but not so much Emperor. It's ultimately your dollar so spend it however you like, but I'm more and more happy with Sideshow's design as I see these.