Who Doesn't Love A Contest???

As I'm sure you're all aware, I am trying very hard to promote interest in this site. I also love a good contest. So, I've decided to host a little contest to promote Tales from Castle Destro, with the goal of attracting more readers to the site. Here's how it will work:
On Sunday, April 1st, 2012, one registered member of the site will be selected by random drawing to receive a custom figure of one character from Tales from Castle Destro. The winner may choose which character they would like made.
To be eligible to win, you must do the following:
1) Go to Tales from Castle Destro (oh, look! You're already here!)
2) Find the FOLLOWERS box on the right-hand side of the page.
3) Click the JOIN THIS SITE button and log in (you'll be asked to select a username and a password).
Once you've done this, an avatar will appear in the FOLLOWERS box indicating that you have joined the site. The winner will be chosen using the following, highly scientific method: On Sunday morning, I will write down all of the names listed in the FOLLOWERS box on individual slips of paper. My son will then choose one slip out of a hat. The person whose name appears on the slip will be the winner. The winner will be allowed to choose any character that appears in Tales from Castle Destro to be made into a custom figure. The only restriction I will place on this is that if your choice of figure requires some sort of specialty parts, then you must be patient as they are often subject to availability.
Is this nothing more than a cheap tactic to draw people to the site? Absolutely! But don't let that discourage you. ;)

G.I. Joe Indirect Fire Support Team

For quite some time now, I have been wanting to make a diorama depicting a Fire Support Team. I pictured a team of Joes set up in the desert outside a small city, waiting to provide mortar support (if needed) to another group of Joes conducting some type of special mission within the city.

Armadillo (Anti-Aircraft Tank)

This version of the Armadillo was released after I had stopped playing with Joes. But like the Lynx, my younger brother had one and kept it in pretty decent condition (based on this, perhaps you can guess which vehicle is next on my workbench?). Once again, this is just a "refurbishing" of the original toy with some added detailing. Specifically, these things were done:

- The drive wheels were painted the same color as the rest of the vehicle.
- The six XXX-101 Surface-to-Air Missiles were "livened up" with a yellow stripe around each.
- The winch cable was painted.

After the vehicle was painted, I applied a new set of decals by Ruben Jiminez. I used the standard Armadillo decals, rather than the Slaughter's Marauder's version because I like my vehicles to be mostly uniform in appearance.

Lynx (Fire Support Vehicle - Artillery)

The Lynx was released after I had stopped playing with Joes. Luckily for me, my younger brother had one and kept it in pretty decent condition. It was originally intended as a tank, but since the Joes have so many of those, I decided to view it as a fire support vehicle, similar to the Wolverine but with a 155mm self-reloading howitzer. Like the Wolverine I posted yesterday, this is just a "refurbishing" of the original toy with some added detailing. Specifically, these things were done:

- The drive wheels were painted the same color as the rest of the vehicle.
- The seat was painted black.
- The engine compartment was painted steel, aluminum and black.
- The tools (which we called "pioneer gear" in the USMC) were painted the correct color.
- The waterproof bags strapped to the vehicle's engine cover were painted the correct color (these bags are used to hold the camouflage netting that hides the vehicle from overhead observation when it is idle).

After the vehicle was painted, I applied a new set of decals by Ruben Jiminez. I used a set of Wolverine decals, rather than the Lynx decals because because I like my vehicles to be mostly uniform in appearance, and didn't really care for the Slaughter's Marauders decals.

























Here's a shot of both Fire Support Vehicles together:













Next up will be the Armadillo!

Wolverine (Fire Support Vehicle - Missile)

The Wolverine was always one of my favorites when I was young. This is just a "refurbishing" of the original toy with some added detailing. Specifically, these things were done:

- The drive wheels were painted the same color as the rest of the vehicle.
- The seat was painted black.
- The engine compartment was painted steel, aluminum and black.
- The missiles were painted in the colors standard to US/NATO ground-based ordnance.
- The tools (which we called "pioneer gear" in the USMC) were painted the correct color.
- The waterproof bags strapped to the vehicle's engine cover were painted the correct color (these bags are used to hold the camouflage netting that hides the vehicle from overhead observation when it is idle).

After the vehicle was painted, I applied a new set of decals by Ruben Jiminez. All in all, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.



























I've already started working on the Lynx fire support vehicle and hope to have it posted tomorrow!

Tales from Castle Destro (Press Release)

I am very happy to announce that Tales from Castle Destro Volume I - Mercenary War is now available as a free ebook at www.smashwords.com. The link should take directly to the page where you can download the ebook in any of the following formats:

Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)
Online Reading (JavaScript, experimental, buggy)
Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps)
Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)
PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)
RTF (readable on most word processors)
LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub)
Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)
Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)

Gung Ho (U.S. Marine)

This must be the 7th or 8th version of Gung Ho that I've made. While I usually just have one definitive version of each character in my collection, there is something about this character allows me to just keep cranking them out. This is Gung Ho wearing modern USMC-issue MARPAT camouflage. He's carrying an M32 Multi-shot Grenade Launcher, introduced into the Marine Corps around 2006. He has a trusty old CAR-15 (a commando-sized version of the M16 that was a precursor to the modern M4) slung around his body. The pouch on his left hip is the carrier for his M40 Gas Mask.

Claymore (Special Forces Officer)

Captain Claymore is yet another character that was released after my G.I. Joe hey-day. This wasn't a particularly inspired custom, because I basically assembled the same parts used for the 2011 JoeCon Exclusive Claymore figure. I went with a bit different color scheme, though...

Guillotine (Plague Leader)

Guillotine was made using a Pursuit of Cobra wave 3 Snake Eyes body and the "Plague Leader" kit by Raginspoon. All I had to do was assemble and paint! I highly recommend checking out his stuff at Raginspoon's Custom Cast Parts & Figures.

A.G.P. (Iron Grenadier Anti-Gravity Pod)

This was actually the first piece done in my little Iron Grenadier project and it more or less inspired the rest. I have no idea why it took me this long to publish it...















The entire vehicle was disassembled and washed in warm, soapy water. Once the whole thing was clean, I reassembled most of it. The cockpit canopy was missing, so I had to scrounge one up on ebay. I managed to get one for about $3 shipped. I repainted the missiles and guns metallic 14K gold. The cockpit interior was painted steel. The seat and all of the controls were painted to bring out the sculpted detail.

Some time later, I managed to acquire two more A.G.P.'s (one from ebay and one through the incredible generosity of someone that knew I liked them) and gave them the same treatment. I also upgraded the decals with a custom set from CobraStickers.


























Here are all three A.G.P.'s in the hangar bay of my Castle Destro diorama.

Spearhead (Pointman)

This is the second version of Spearhead I've done. The first was much more accurate to the vintage figure - the color scheme was closer and it included the vintage weapon, backpack and his pet bobcat Max. I was actually happy with that version until I acquired this headless body in a trade with fellow HissTank member Mermaniel. It's mostly a repainted Dusty figure from the Pursuit of Cobra line, but I was really impressed with his replication of the 1990's U.S. military "chocolate chip" camouflage pattern that I remembered so well from my USMC days. As soon as I received the body, I knew it would end up being a replacement Spearhead. In a moment of complete laziness, I used a Rise of Cobra Channing Tatum head sculpt - mostly because I had so many extras lying around, but also because I hadn't bothered to use the head anywhere in my collection yet. I added a repainted backpack from the 25th Anniversary Sgt Airborne and a CAR-15 rifle from Marauder Gun Runners. I added an AN/PVS-4 Night Vision Scope and a suppressor (both also from Marauder) to the rifle, as I found them to be appropriate for a pointman. At first, I wasn't going to post this figure, because someone else painted the figure. All I really did was add a new head and customize a rifle and pack for him... But then I decided that I dug the figure enough that I wanted to share him, easy custom or not.