Recently while browsing ebay, I found a custom figure for sale that was basically a Hoth Han Solo body with a Bespin Han Solo head – creating the illusion that the figure had the hood of his parka down. I instantly decided I wanted to try to replicate the figure. A couple weeks later, I saw another one, only this one also had a custom paint scheme as well, bringing out details in the figure I didn’t even realize were scuplted into the original figure mold.

So, I purchased a couple junker figures from ebay, paying only a few bucks each. The paint was worn but that was ok. Here are the pictures from the ebay auction for each:

The first task was to perform the “head swap”. I did some research and learned that if you place an action figure in near-boiling water for 3-4 minutes, you can easily “pop” the head off without breaking it. I tried it and sure enough, I was able to remove the heads of both figures easily and without damage. However, the hoth Han Solo had a peg that extended from the body up into the head, while the Bespin Han was the opposite with a peg on the head that extended down into the body. I used a dremel tool to grind down the peg, then drill a hole down into the body.

I decided to paint the body before putting the new head on. This allowed me to paint the neck area of the figure without the risk of getting paint on the head. After painting in a more screen-accurate color scheme and repainting the hair on the head, I warmed the peg on the head in hot water again to soften it back up, then pushed the head back on.

Overall, for my first custom figure, I’m pretty happy with it.