I've said before that Short-Fuze was never one of my childhood favorites, but I grew to appreciate him after serving as a Mortarman in the USMC. Here is Short-Fuze decked out in RoC-style uniform...Parts: Entire figure (RoC Pit Commando), Helmet (RoC Pit Commando), Body Armor (RoC Pit Commando), 60mm Mortar (vintage Short-Fuze), M4 Rifle (Marauder, Inc.), Kneepads (bbi Elite Force).
Supplies: X-acto knife, Super Sculpey, paintbrushes, Testors paints, Testors Dull-Cote.
Reference: None.
The Pit Commando is a nearly perfect base for just about any character. In this case, I trimmed the kneepads from a bbi Elite Force figure, hollowed them out a bit and then super glued them to the knees (he still has full articulation and full range of motion). The elbow pads were already present. I painted both the knee and elbow pads black, along with the sculpted plastic buckles that hold the groin armor to the vest. If I am able to get my hands on an extra UBP Short-Fuze head, I will probably replace this one. But for now, the Pit Commando
head will suffice. I used some Super Sculpey to add his glasses. After curing the Sculpey in a mug of boiling water, I painted the glasses. I also painted the hair so that it is the same as all previous versions of the character. Finally, I could not call him finished without improving the sad excuse for a mortar that he's been lugging around since 1982. The mortar was modified a bit and is painted to resemble (as closely as possible) the M224 60mm mortar that we used in the Corps. In the photos, the legs ar folded up and wrapped with the spread cable. They can be still be folded out to set the mortar up in firing position. I added the M4 Rifle because it stands to reason that a special mission force like the Joe team will not be carrying that much mortar ammunition in their packs (that stuff is pretty darn heavy). Once he fires it all up, he'd switch to the rifle and jump right in with the other team members!
No comments:
Post a Comment