Harvest Moon

G.I. Joe customs : Slice, Dice, Baby

 Dice : I saw a Dice custom a while back that used Para-Viper parts for the torso and upper legs to cut paint rub. I had to make a few changes from the Temple Snake-Eyes parts out of sheer cussedness. And with a ninja, I didn't have to figure out what those arm blades were for.

Still not a hundred percent on web-gear. The Firefly harness just seems too cramped.

Recipe : Para-Viper torso, upper legs, lower arms and head, Storm Shadow upper arms, Jungle Viper lower legs.

 Slice : The other half of Cobra's ninja bros. I made a one with a Marvel Universe figure, but it doesn't look right. He came about from some parts juggling from an Air-Viper and the Wild Weasel below.

Recipe : Red Ninja torso, Air Viper upper arms and legs, Resolute Trooper knees, Jungle Viper lower legs, mask from Temple Guardian Snake-Eyes, CS Snake-Eyes hands,.

Wild Weasel : After seeing Stronox's lower arm swap, I figured I had to do something about those goofy Snow Job arms. I was thinking of making a more Marvel comics flavored WW, and had been playing with an Air-Viper to do it. I noticed the lower arms were the same color plastic, and easy-peasy. Swapped the hands onto the new arms and away.

Recipe : Air-Viper lower arms, Cyber Viper helmet.

Zarana : I said I'd find that MU Storm jacket. For those Spy Troops fans out there.

G.I. Joe customs : Got to get tough

Metalhead :  I mostly remember him from the time he played mid-boss at the battle of Benzeen, but he seems most notable for being a spaz in the DiC cartoon.

I prefer the v2/v3 body, but I wanted a v1 styled head. I had started shaving down a Ripper head, but I had a James McCullen IX sitting around, so I shaved part of the mustache, and added some greenstuff.

I may repaint the gauntlet gold so it blends in better. I didn't dig the grey on the v3, so I made the leg armor gold.

Recipe: Pilot Destro arms and lower torso, Arctic Destro upper, James McCullen IX head, Firefly legs, Copperhead belt, Low-Light goggles

Tracker (unproduced Night Force version) : Actually painted, trimmed down the cheeks from the Cyclops head. May paint the visor yellow like the DiC version, since the red sort of drops out against the black.

 Mirage : GI Joe's Bio-Artillery/Rocket-Fire/Weapons Expert. I saw someone use the Recondo lower legs making him, and I had a Jungle Duke with a bandana, and everything went together. I plan to make my Repeater more Colonial Marine, so I figured I had to make a Mega Marine to hang with him.

Recipe : Beachhead torso and arms, Recondo upper legs, Destro lower legs, Duke head, Shocktrooper webbing

Night Creeper :  Like the Range Vipers, the Night Creepers are great army builders that aren't easy to army-build. I've got a few CS Snake-Eyes whose legs I've swiped for Sand Vipers, and I dig the wv3 Storm Shadow (except for that spring-loaded torso).

Recipe : CS Snake-Eyes torso and arms, Storm Shadow legs, Shocktrooper head, Night Creeper head-wrap, Cyber-Viper armor 

Storm Shadow vs. Gaddafi

NATO recently deployed Storm Shadow against a C3I bunker at Sirte

"Storm Shadow is optimized for pre-planned attacks on static targets, whose positions are accurately known before the mission. (bridges, airbases, radar installations, communications hubs, port facilities, bunkers etc.) With long-range and efficient stealth design, Storm Shadow can eliminate strategic components of enemy defensive systems, without risking manned aircraft."

(Edited from the SCALP EG page at Defense Update)

G.I. Joe customs: North American Zarana Monopoly

So last Wednesday,  that blessed package arrived from Hasbro Toy Shop:

A choir of angels sang "Golden Age of Leather"

Someone must have talked with the packing department (the complaint I've heard most often online is "Mai produkt not mint case fresh A bloo bloo bloo would not do busnizz aga1n"), since it was tightly packed with crushed Kraft paper. Delicious, Minty Fresh. It lasted a minute after this picture was taken.

I'm happy to see her weed-whacker has a nice modern M4-style stock, and her dagger looks like new tooling (I think the only old tooling is Resolute Scarlett/Helix lower legs, and Ripper's rifle.) I'll have to fab up an appropriate backpack. After looking at her upper arms, I regret not getting the variant for fodder, since they'd be spot on for a Ninja Force Scarlett.

Zarana : I just added the red shoulder holster from PP Copperhead, with the side strap cut off. A Reso Trooper backpack is filling in for her backpack.

May paint up a Beachhead pack, and once I dig up MU Storm's vest, I'll try it out.

BAT v4 :  Did a little painting again, to touch up some RIT dye. Had just about enough to block out the torso on this guy. Still have to dig out the Air Viper from the RoC Night Raven for those lower legs. Man, I dislike paint rub.

 Blackout : Relented on the funky arm armor, after I realized the Elite Viper arms would work with some dying.

I favor dying when I can, since it colors the swivels and joints, effectively cutting down the paint rub. I'm sure it sounds weird for a guy with a painting degree to bitch about painting, but I don't have arm swivels on masonite. Sanding down joints, top-coat, such a pain.

I admit, I've not tried Future or superglue as coats, but I've had them recommended. I've also had better bite from Model Master Acryl brush-on primer (4680), than the spray primers I used before.

 Motor-Viper : Speaking of paint rub, I switched the upper legs to Shock wave/blast uppers. The dark blue matches better, as well.

 Slice : A while back, I made a Slice from a MU Hand Ninja, MU Ms. Marvel sash, and a head made from Cobra Commander's head, some screen, and greenstuff. I'm waiting for the new Storm Shadow to start redoing the ninjas, but I still like the height on this guy.

Mask courtesy of Temple etc. Snake-Eyes, who is a great bundle of parts (not such a great figure).

Swamp-Viper : When the early shots of the Desert Extreme Environment Pack came out, one of the figures was a Croc Master with an AVAC head, Battle Armor Cobra Commander's backpack, and the sword and three-section staff from Snake-Eyes v34. Wow.

Having seen that majesty, I was a little disappointed by the Swamp-Viper we got from the Sting Raider set. He still had a swag paintjob, though. The arms got a black RIT bath. I may dip the helmet later, since it looks much too clean, now. Badab Black for the wash.

Recipe : Croc Master body, Swamp-Viper arms and head, Battle Armor Cobra Commander backpack.

GI joe Customs: A message from the Action Man

I admit, the need for world-building I used to release through RPGs has mostly been channeled into G.I. Joes. From reading Joe related fora, everyone seems to have a "Joe-verse". Post-apocalyptic, near future, retro, no ninjas, Tier-1 Operators only, everything goes.

I'm apparently one of the few people who embraces Sunbow and Comic and Toy versions of GI Joe (I'm a little hazy on DiC, though.) It makes an odd time deciding who I want to have figures of, though.

I'm definitely waiting on that new Kwinn figure (the last one was one of the few I got during my Joe fast), and there's finally a Dr. Monev Venom figure. But there's so many one off characters, I'm not sure where to start sometimes. (Although when I see someone make a Bongo the Balloon Bear, it's heartening to me.)

For that matter, there's the White Clown, who bears a striking resemblance to the Thin White Duke:

Action Man : Action Man was the British GI Joe, and I found out about this when catching the version 2 Animated series (Where he had probability vision, seeing mathematical formula over everything. Take that, Helix and Amadeus Cho.)

Around this time, Action Man took over for Tracker in a TRU Night Force 6 pack. (Head on over to Joe Declassified, and read the story in Issue #1.)

Why the Daniel Craig head? They released a series of Action Man figures dressed as James Bond, so it seemed a good choice. As for Ice Storm, as much as I like new Joe characters, I can pop the head off a Frankenstein and not break a sweat.

Recipe: Ice Storm body, Golden Compass head

B.A.T. v4 : Ahhh, BATs. Finally, someone the Joes could shoot. The v3s don't do much for me, and I've got an Iron Man figure to beat into a v2.

I was looking at the Air-Viper legs, and though about how spindly they were, and it followed from there to the insectile legs on the v4s. Had to sand the shoulder discs down a bit. I'd like to find a weirder looking head, more Ultron or Briareos.

Recipe : BAT head and arms, Air-Viper/Star-Viper legs, Cobra Commander torso.

Big Bear : The Oktober Guard is one of my favorite factions in GI Joe. (Daina doesn't look like Jackie O would be a tenet in my Verse.)

It took a while for the proper Oktober Guard to get toys, but Red Star (who seems to be a bizarro Colonel Brekhov now) and Big Bear held the pass until they got there. He does occupy Horrorshow's ecological niche, but I'm fine with two green guys who wreck tanks. I'll have to sculpt an ushanka, but I think Outback's head will do a yeoman job.

Recipe : Ace body, Frostbite legs, Outback head. Belt from an Indiana Jones Russian soldier. 

Lt. Clay Moore : So in the Sunbow episode "The Traitor", Dusty runs afoul of Clay Moore (even in the Arena of Sport!), who ends up rescuing Cobra Commander in the end. In 2007, the GI Joe Collectors Club made a figure of him promoted to Shock Viper Commander.

YES!

This encapsulates the world building I'm shooting for, and I applaud the club for it. I plan on using the Armored CC body for regular Shock Troopers once I get a head kitted out.

Recipe : Cobra Commander body, Heavy Duty head, Cobra Paratrooper helmet

Crimson Guard : So, in the Sunbow cartoon, the CGs wore gloves. Little things like that bug me. (I suppose you could make a CG Leonard Michaels with a little white paint. I don't think I'm a big enough "Operation Dragonfire" fan to do it.)

Recipe: Crimson Guard, Cobra Commander lower arms and upper legs

Tracker : Once upon a time, it was a right of passage for a Joe customizer to take a Tracker, and make him look less like a Football themed hot dog cart.

I'm planning on making the shirt olive drab, like the Night Force version (you did read that Joe Declassified issue, right?), but leaving the pants black.

Recipe : PP Snake Eyes, Duke arms, Steeler webbing, MU Cyclops head.

Chaos has Paladins now?

You took the Hardest Gary Gygax Quiz in the World and got 50%!



You are a Gary Gygax Swashbuckler. You are cunning in the ways of Gary Gygax. You've probably been to Gen Con once or twice, and if I searched your house, I bet I'd find a Gary Gygax autograph, a humorous D&D-related T-shirt, and/or a stack of Dragon magazines.

Paladin Code: You completed this quiz without using Google.

Man, I never thought I'd find a reason to reread my Gord the Rogue books.