First off, the Emperor is by far my favourite villain in Star Wars. Yes, Darth Vader is good but this dude is his boss and to be a dark lord of the Sith you need to be pretty evil. However cool he is, old Palpatine in Emperor form has been under represented by Hasbro in decent figures. The Power of the Force 2 is perhaps the best thus far but is showing its age. Pity as Hasbro has nailed Palpatine's likeness when not in 'evil mode' but they struggled to give us a RotJ figure that was actually articulated.
*The Recipe*
This was a 'pepper pot' Emperor from 2003. It had girly arms, a massive (and I mean massive) hood and a hard cloak. The likeness is very good though and after the robe was cut off, (to reveal a half head), the distinctive stoop was there and I had a figure to work with.
The face and inner robes were all repainted in acrylics, and when dry, the robe from the 'poofy robed' 2012 Darth Sidious were added. I toyed whether or not to use the hard hood that came with the 2012 Sidious but decided to scratch build one from material.I glued the cloak on with UHU and when dry, I coated the soft goods in watered down acrylic matte medium. Final touches were the Sith Clasp from the 2012 Sidious and a removable force lightning from a 2002 Aayla Secura.
NB. He has enough articulation to have the walking pose from the Death Star procession but I have LOST my original POTF2 cane. I am annoyed but can scratch build one easily enough.
I can find plenty to fault with this but I think I have my definitive Palpatine at last.....

'And now young Jedi.....you will die!'