Reposing Ezra Bridger

I still have two characters remaining for my Star Wars: Shatterpoint Ghost crew. First up is Ezra Bridger, but before I can paint him, I need to adjust his pose...

 

 

The stock miniature for Ezra is in a sort of running or leaping stance: 
 

 

I want to convert the miniature into a more neutral position, so he won't look out of place when standing side-by-side with the rest of the crew. Something more like this promotional image from the animated series:

 

 

Repositioning the legs is going to be the lion's share of the work. Once the parts are clipped off the sprue and the mold lines cleaned up, I dry-fit the pieces to see how everything will fit together, and what kind of adjustments I'll need to make.

 

 

The torso can go as-is, and the the left hip and thigh are straight enough to work for the standing pose.

 

 

I carefully cut his leg off above the knee pad...

 

 

...and then slice apart the knee pad and the shin.

 

 

With the parts of the leg separated, I drill through each component with a pin vise, and insert a length of paperclip to pin them all back together. The paperclip will allow me to bend the leg and make slight adjustments to get Ezra's leg in just the right position. At this stage, I also realize that his ankle will need to bend too, so I separate the foot.

 

 

His right leg and hip, however, extend out at an almost 90-degree angle. I separate the leg at the hip...

 

 

And glue the hip to the figure.

 

 

Now I can really see the pose starting to come together. The right leg even looks like it won't require anymore cutting, and simply needs to be reattached at a lower angle so the character can stand upright.

 

 

Before I attach the leg, I need to check the fit of Ezra's arm– The angle of the arm will dictate the action and direction of the figure, and I will need to make sure the legs follow that direction. I also separate the hand because his saber is angled back a little and needs to rotate forward at the wrist to look more natural in Ezra's new stance.

 

 

The head is another crucial piece. Generally, when building a miniature, the head goes on last so I can ensure that it is looking in the direction of his weapon, or where the character is pointing. When it comes to small, fiddly pieces like this, I find it easiest to do as much work as possible while they are still on the sprue. I scrape the mold lines with the tip of my hobby knife. Then, I clip Ezra's face free and glue it into his hair while the hair is still attached to the sprue.

 

 

With the arm attached, and the wrist drilled and pinned, I check the fit of the head. Ezra original pose had a very forward lean to the torso, so now with him standing upright, his head is looking up a little too high. I'll have to trim his neck to get him looking down, but I can address that in a later stage.

 

 

I'll also note that this is the exact moment where I give up on this cutting mat. I had bought it because it was a nice, small size that fits on my computer desk, but after using it for a few months it's just too damn difficult to use as a backdrop for photography. The grid is so tight and bright it always pulls the focus of the camera to it instead of the subject I'm holding in front of it. Unless the parts are laying direcly on the mat, my camera won't focus on them! So, the lesson is: When you're buying a cutting mat to use for photography, make sure the grid is large, and the color is muted enough so the camera's auto-focus doesn't get drawn to it.

 

 

Anyway... I pin and glue the right leg in position, and then bend the wire in the left leg to create an appropriate stance. Once I'm happy with the pose, I add some thin super glue to fix the leg pieces in place.

 

 

To be consistent with Kanan's lightsaber, I replace Ezra's with a metal wire. And, fun fact: This is Kanan's original rebuilt saber blade– If you'll recall, when I was working on him, the first blade I built was lost and I needed to redo the whole thing. Well, it turned up on the floor, right next to my desk. I can only assume that it was in the folds of a fabric bag that I have on a stack of drawers beside my desk. When I moved the bag recently, it probably fell out. Well, that saves me a bit of work!

 

 

With the metal blade inserted and his hand glued in position, I trim Ezra's neck and attach his head.

 

 

All the gaps where I had made the cuts get filled with modeling putty and smoothed out.

 

 

Once, I attach his leg pouches, Ezra's assembly is finished:

 

 

Looking at him now, however, I realize that his comlink is supposed to sit horizontally on his belt, and the new angle of the leg has it floating a bit. I'll fix it before I paint him.

 

 

Reposing Ezra was pretty straightforward (which is why I chose him first). Sabine will require much more work to get into a standing pose.
 

'Til next time!