Sillof's Workshop brings us Faster, Empire! Strike! Strike!

I've sung the praises of Sillof's Workshop before. He's back with a hilarious commission from comedian Patton Oswalt: a Russ Meyer take on Star Wars. As Wikipedia explains, "Meyer is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful low-budget sexploitation films that featured campy humor, sly satire and large-breasted women such as Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!."

Can you pick out the Star Wars characters in the picture above? If you're stumped, or even if you're not, follow the link for more.

Sillof's Workshop: Faster, Empire! Strike! Strike!

Update on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 10:07PM by Dark Helmet

I've just discovered Patton Oswalt's blog entry explaining his admiration for Sillof (which I have shared for some time now). It's a lovely piece of writing and a fitting tribute to Sillof, who is clearly more than just a guy who's good with his hands. It is also a nice little memorial to film critic Roger Ebert. From Oswalt's post:

What’s bittersweet about the whole thing is, Roger Ebert never got to see these. I turned him on to Sillof’s site last year. He especially loved the Noir Wars figures.

And I sent him the title logo of this set as a tease just a few months ago. As someone who’d worked with Russ Meyer (Ebert was going to write the collaboration between Meyer and the fucking Sex Pistols, fer chrissakes) he was more than intrigued. But I never rush an artist, whether they’re going a poster or album cover or especially something like this.

By the way, I too love Siloff's Noir Wars. See my post from August 2011.

Cyber Wars: the latest from Sillof's Workshop

I have sung the praises of Sillof before. He re-imagines Star Wars characters in a variety of other settings, then crafts handmade action figures for them.

Sillof's latest project is Cyber Wars:  

This line was actually one of the first redesign idea I had almost 15 years ago, in 99, when I first started to redesign characters. The line is intended to have a 90's sci-fi aesthetic. It has some elements of Cyberpunk, the Matrix, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, etc. I envisioned the movie as a struggle by a group of rebel hackers struggling to break free from the oppressive system of control by a mega technological corporation that controlled all aspects of society. I tried to stay true to my original ideas for characters as I made the line.

The figurine to the side is Sillof's reworking of Luke Skywalker--Link Sourcecoder:

Link is a new to the world of hacking he is forced to go on the run after his family was targeted by Vector.  I went with the classic color scheme but incorporated the mechanical hand to go with the sci-fi feel.

Sillof's Workshop: Cyber Wars

Follow him on Twitter: @sillof

Serial Wars: the latest from Sillof's Workshop

The latest creation from Sillof (@sillof) is Serial Wars. From Sillof's web site:

Serial Wars is a line of custom figures that continues my experiment of isolating elements and emphasizing them individually.  The line is intended to be look like the old retro sci-fi serials of the 40's like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.

I have sung Sillof's praises on this site before (see here). His latest work showcases, as ever, his eye for detail and sensitivity to the genre, in this case the 1940s serials which were such an inspiration to George Lucas. Follow the link below to see more photos of Sillof's work.

Sillof's Workshop: Serial Wars

Sillof's Workshop: Star Wars goes steampunk, samurai, western, WW2 and more

Sillof (not his real name) is a high school history and film teacher who, in his spare time, creates one-of-a-kind action figures of Star Wars (and other) characters re-imagined for steampunk, samurai, western, World War Two, mediaeval, film noir and other settings. Amazingly, he claims to have no formal art training.

Art DeterChip PepperdinoIt is not just the quality of the sculptures that is remarkable. Sillof also has a wonderful sense of the genres he is working in and how best to reflect the traits of Star Wars characters in them. Take, for instance, the Noir Wars line of Star Wars characters re-imagined for the film noir era. C-3PO becomes Chip Pepperdino, a reporter for the San Francisco Sentinel who is always around the action but prefers not to be part of it. His sidekick is Art Deter, a photographer for the Sentinel who tries a little too hard to get involved in the cases and stories he and Chip cover. These are just two of dozens of examples. 

Sillof's Star Wars lines include Noir Wars, Samurai Wars, Long Ago & Far Away, Steampunk Star Wars, West Wars and World Wars. Check out his other ranges, too. Note that these are one-of-a-kind pieces and most are not for sale.

Sillof's Workshop