For the last month or so, I've taken a break from miniatures and returned to one of my first hobbies from long ago: customizing action figures. I only ever did Star Wars figures though. But also I grew up collecting Playmates' line of Star Trek action figures and have come back to it after over 20 years. So I decided that I needed some random crew members working in the background and it seemed logical to start customizing again.
These are all pretty simple head swaps. Since boiling water tends to discolor the plastic these days, I've been using a hair dryer. However, I had to use silicone sealant on a few because either the neck pegs broke off or the neck post was too thin. It works though.
Firstly, I wanted an Andorian for my crew. They're a classic alien species and were one of the founders of the United Federation of Planets. It's bugged me (and others) that they weren't seen in The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, or Voyager. I decided to make him a Command Division ensign because I wanted to have that sort of representation that we didn't get in the series. Beside him is a Science Division lieutenant.
I wanted quite a few Operations Division officers, as they seem to be the most ubiquitous aboard the Enterprise. Most of these figures were made from SeaQuest DSV figures that Playmates also put out at around the same time. I really wanted the figures to have that awesome 1990s hair that everyone knows and loves, and I was lucky to get a good deal on a lot from eBay.
All in all, this has been pretty fun! I've got enough different figures now to satisfy my needs (though I still have a few bodies in search of heads...sounds weird taken out of context). I'll probably do a few more of these random crew members then call it good.
