Skystriker XP-14F

The Skystriker I shared with my younger brother Mike was more or less destroyed during our numerous childhood battles and I ended up selling it for parts back before I got back into collecting G.I. Joe toys (oh, how I regret that decision). I recently managed to pick one up for a pretty reasonable price and set about restoring it. The only significant parts that I needed to find were the cockpit canopy and some of the missiles. I picked these up on ebay (for almost as much as I paid for the entire Skystriker, but that's another story). The hardest part of this whole job was removing the stubborn adhesive left behind when I peeled off the old decals. I used Goo Gone to get rid of the adhesive and then soap and water to make sure all of the Goo Gone was removed. I painted the cockpit interior a dark grey and the frames of the seats were done in metallic grey. The engines were painted with the same metallic color used on the seat frames. I Dremeled the back pegs off the seats so that the newer style of figures would fit easily.















I had always hated how the AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range missiles on the Skystriker had the fat tabs in the middle of them (probably to prevent breakage). So I dropped them entirely in favor of two additional AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range missiles.









When I realized that the missiles from the Transportable Tactical Battle Platform were styled the same as the Sparrows, I picked up four of those (and a fifth to replace the one missing from my own TTBP).









I also went back to ebay for two AIM-54 Phoenix long-range missiles to replace the ones with broken fins that came with the Skystriker. To add a bit of "real-world" flavor to my Skystriker, all of the missiles were painted and detailed according to dozens of reference photos I pulled from the Internet.









For reproduction decals, I went to my usual source, Ruben Jimenez.


















Once everything was finished, I also whipped up a flight crew (Ace and Solid-Lock) for my newly restored Skystriker!

Iron Maiden (Iron Grenadier Intelligence Officer)

As soon as I saw this head and torso set at Slayer Design Studios, I knew I'd have to give this a shot. The Baroness had her own squad of female troopers when she was with Cobra, so why wouldn't she do the same after joining Destro's faction? I know I'll probably take some ribbing for the cheesy name, but it's the best I could do on short notice!

Parts: Head & Torso (Slayer Design Studios), Arms (RoC Baroness v13), Legs (RoC Dr. Rex Lewis), Sword & Scabbard (25th Anniversary Iron Grenadier), M41A Pulse Rifle (Marauder, Inc.), Braided Hair (Star Wars Princess Leia).

Tripoli (G.I. Joe Marine Lieutenant)

Back when I made my first G.I. Joe "self-custom", Sgt Humpty, I had planned to do a whole group of Marines for a diorama. After the Sgt Humpty figure, the only other one that I finished was Tripoli (aka Lt Stone). I stumbled upon Lt Stone while trying to make a list of all the Marines on the G.I. Joe team for my planned diorama. Lt Stone was apparently the team commander throughout the G.I. Joe Extreme toy line and TV series. There was another Lt Stone during the Sigma 6 years (a British agent of MI-5) and I think I will probably make a figure for him, too. To avoid the confusion of having two Lieutenants with the same last name on my Joe team, I assigned this one the codename Tripoli, which is a reference to one of the Marine Corps' more well-known battles.

Parts: Head (RoC Sgt Stone), Torso, Arms, Legs, Machete & Tactical Vest (RoC Jungle Assault Ripcord), Boonie Cover & Rucksack (RoC Bench Press), M4 Rifle (Marauder, Inc).

The basic construction was exactly the same as the Sgt Humpty figure, except that I used a different head. The team that I was planning for the diorama was going to be dressed more or less uniform to each other, so the figures would not have differed much. I think this may have been part of the reason I drifted away from the project - the first was was fun, the second one less so... and then I couldn't find the enthusiasm to do a third.

Big Ben (British SAS Trooper)

I've never owned a Big Ben figure before and since he's such a cool character, it was inevitable that I'd get around to making one. Big Ben is a member of Britain's Special Air Service, the most elite of all the Queen's armed forces. My one big complaint about all the existing Big Ben figures is that every single one had him wearing a cold weather hat and jacket - as if the SAS never operates outside of the chillier climates. I decided that my version of Big Ben would be a more variable-climate representation. Since I was straying from the original design anyway, I decided to give him a bit of a modern upgrade, as well.

Parts: Head (Golden Compass Lord Asrial), Torso & Arms (RoC Jungle Assault Ripcord), Legs (PoC Recondo), Beret (RoC Sgt Stone), Hands (25th Anniversary Wild Bill), Ammunition Bandoliers (25th Anniversary Rock & Roll), M240 Machinegun (ARAH Big Ben v1), Pistol Belt (RoC Reactive Armor Duke).

Downtown (Mortarman)

Given the fact that I so enjoyed serving as a Mortarman in my beloved Corps, it was just a matter of time before I got around to making Downtown. Credit goes to HissTank member BILL, who originally had the idea of using the Resolute Duke parts for his custom Downtown figure - they just worked so perfectly! I tried to stay as true as possible to the original look of the character, but I've got to admit that the gaudy colors throw me a bit. I'm already planning a modern era update...

Parts: Head, Torso & Upper arms (Resolute Duke), Lower arms (25th Cobra Trooper), Upper legs (25th Wraith), Lower legs (25th Zartan), Revolver & Holster (25th Wild Bill), Knife & Scabbard (Marauder, Inc.), Helmet & Mortar (ARAH Downtown), Backapck (RoC Pit Commando).

Skystriker II

Like many children of the 1980's, the Skystriker was one of my all-time favorite toys. Mine was more or less destroyed and I ended up selling it for parts back before I got back into collecting G.I. Joe toys (oh, how I regret that decision). Once I got back into Joes, I started looking around for one, but vintage Skystrikers were going for quite a bit on ebay at the time. A friend over at FFURG was looking to trade off a Power Team Elite F/A-18 Hornet, so I decided to do the next best thing and create a Skystriker 2.0! So I secured the trade and then set about my research. It didn't take long to figure out that many other customizers had done something similar. In order to make mine a bit different, I decided to keep the low-visibility paint scheme and try to obtain matching decals. I had to go no further than my normal source, Ruben Jimenez. He agreed to modify a set of Skystriker decals to fit my needs. The aircraft itself only received minor paint applications and some Testors Dull-Cote. The funny thing is that as I was finishing this up, I stumbled across a very reasonably priced ARAH Skystriker, so I am now starting to restore that, as well.

Frostbite (Cold Weather Trooper)

I put far more thought into this than it probably appears.

What I mean is that I was torn between loyalty to the ARAH outfit and the desire the keep my Cold Weather Troops outfitted somewhat uniformly. The desire for uniformity won over in the end. Each of my CW guys will have subtle differences, but their uniforms will be... well, uniform!

Parts: Head (Slayer Design Studios), Entire figure (25th Anniversary Snow Job), M4 with AN/PVS-4 Night Vision Scope (Marauder, Inc.).

Muskrat (Swamp Fighter)

This is definitely not one of my more inspired or impressive customs, but I think it gets the job done. I'd been wanting to add Muskrat to my modern era Joe team and this idea hit me the first time I laid eyes on the Pursuit of Cobra Jungle Assault Duke figure. I think that this is a pretty decent modern upgrade, while remaining true to the classic feel of the character.

Parts: Entire figure (PoC Jungle Assault Duke), Boonie hat (RoC Pit Commando), Shotgun (bbi Elite Force).

Driftwood (Dreadnok)

Like many Dreadnok prospects, not much is known of Driftwood's past. He has no noticeable accent or mannerisms that would reveal where he might have come from. What is know about him is that he loves a good firefight, displaying courage in the face of enemy fire that Dreadnoks are not normally known for. Because he handles himself so well in combat, it is believed that he has had extensive combat training and experience. The really frightening part is that this courage is not based in any sort of allegiance to unit or mission, but in the fact that he simply loves the thrill of shooting at, and being shot at by, other human beings.

Parts: Head (Slayer Design Studios), Torso & Arms (PoC Recondo), Legs (PoC Jungle Assault Duke), Equipment Harness (PoC Dusty), SCAR (Marauder, Inc.).

Driftwood was created specifically for the Dreadnok Mission Prospect Contest at Custom Figure Wars. Stop over there and check out the other great entries!

Depth Charge (Navy SEAL)

Depth Charge is the latest addition to my G.I. Joe SEAL squad. The character was originally introduced in 2003 as part of the Spy Troops line.


















Parts: Entire figure (RoC Deep-Six), Submachinegun (Depth Charge v1), Dive Knife, Pistol, Mask, Airpack & Fins (RoC Deep Six).

Night Fox (Navy SEAL)

My kids recently bought me the Pursuit of Cobra AWE Striker for my birthday. It's a very cool item, but I felt like Hasbro kinda missed the mark on a couple of things. I ended up giving it a new paint-job, but that's a different story. The driver, Night Fox, is another Navy SEAL and a Hispanic character. I've always thought the Joes needed more diversity within their ranks, so I'm always happy when Hasbro gives us more characters of varied ethnicities and nationalities. My only real problem with the figure is that they gave him a masked head. Really? Another one? Seriously? A smaller issue was that the gunbelt would not allow the tactical vest to sit properly on his torso. I solved this by dumping the gunbelt in my fodder box. It's a very cool accessory - and it will work well on a different figure.

Parts: Head (RoC Tunnel Rat), Entire figure (PoC Night Fox), M4 rifle (PoC Jungle Assault Duke).

Featured Blog - Kurgan's Customs

I recently completed a couple of trades with the proprietor of Kurgan's Customs. He's a great guy who creates a lot of really nice customs. You should take the time to check out some of his work.

Wet Down (Navy SEAL)

Like Tracker, Wet Down is another character that I had never heard of until 2010. He was released in the A Real American Hero Collection line during 2001. The figure was nothing more than a repaint of the original 1983 Torpedo figure - even the accessories were identical. When I set about doing my Wet Down, he was also going to be a repaint, but I wanted to jazz him up just a little bit. After all, he's going to end up displayed with the rest of my divers and I need to be able to tell him apart from Torpedo, right? So I added some new accessories and deviated just a bit from the original paint scheme.

Parts: Entire figure (RoC Deep-Six), MP-5 Submachinegun (25th Anniversary Cobra Diver), Parachute Harness (25th Anniversary Snow Serpent), Dive Knife, Pistol & Fins (RoC Deep Six), Mask & Airpack (25th Anniversary SRO Lt Torpedo).

Tracker (Navy SEAL)

Tracker is a character that I had never heard of until 2010. He was released in the A Real American Hero line during 1991, well after I had stopped collecting Joes. I had a few extra RoC Deep-Six figures, and decided to flesh out the rest of the G.I. Joe Team's Diver and/or SEAL characters. Tracker is the first of these.

Parts: Head (RoC Pit Commando), Torso & Arms (PoC Jungle Assault Duke), Legs (25th Anniversary SRO Torpedo), MP-5 Submachinegun (bbi Elite Force), Pistol Harness (RoC Copperhead), Dive Knife, Pistol, Fins, Mask & Airpack (25th Anniversary SRO Lt Torpedo).

Duke (G.I. Joe Team First Sergeant)

While he has never been one of my favorite characters, there's no denying that Duke is a great character. So when I saw how great the latest Duke headsculpt was in the Pursuit of Cobra line, I decided to give mine an upgrade.

Parts: Head (PoC Duke wave 3), Body (25th Anniversary Duke v26), Helmet (bbi Elite Force figure), M4 rifle (Marauder, Inc.).

When I started this figure, I didn't plan on posting it. It's basically just a headswap with a new paintjob and some new accessories. The only Duke figure I had was the 25th Anniversary jetpack version which had a really light colored shirt. So I snatched him out of my Pit display and repainted his shirt. While I was at it, I touched up the paint apps on the belt to make them a little bit different shade of green than his trousers. The bandolier was silver (ummm... why?) so it needed to be repainted, as well. With the smaller details, I tried to model this figure after the awesome 12" Duke that was produced by Sideshow. The rifle is not the same manufacturer, but it was the closest I could get. So I painted it and the helmet to match the 12" figure. I also liked the "slightly graying" look of the Sideshow figure. I thought it was a good look for Duke, so I drybrushed light gray over his hair. To finish things off, I repainted the boots with a couple different tan colors to simulate the current style of boots issued to US troops. The whole figure was given a liberal application of Testors Dull-Cote before he rejoined his troops.

Devilfish, Tigerfish & Kittenfish - Oh my!!!

Now that all three of our G.I. Joe Fast Attack Boats are completed, the kids wanted me to take some group shots. I've got to admit that I am really happy with how these turned out...

Kittenfish (G.I. Joe Fast Attack Boat)

Yep - you guessed it! As soon as I finished the Tigerfish for my son, my little girl decided that she needed a boat, as well. Fortunately, I had predicted this and I had already scored a nice Devilfish on ebay...













As I had done with my Devilfish and my son's Tigerfish, I used the Dremel to remove the footpegs, which are far too big for the modern era Joes. The old sticker residue was removed using a very gentle dishwashing liquid. The upper portion of the boat was spray-painted with satin pink.













All of the remaining details were painted exactly the same as my Devilfish. The "no-skid" was painted using flat black. I used a lot of aluminum, steel, gunmetal and other colors to bring out some of the sculpted details. The decals came from our pal Ruben in Mexico - except for the prominent Hello Kitty logo on the bow (you should have seen her reaction to that little detail). Finally, the entire boat was given a liberal application of Dull-Cote to protect the paint. I have tentatively dubbed this boat the Kittenfish, but I may change it if I think of something less silly...

Tigerfish (G.I. Joe Fast Attack Boat)

So after I finished my Devilfish, my son was just completely enamored with it. A couple of months earlier I had given him my younger brother's old TigerFish and he immediately asked me to "upgrade" it...













As I had done with my Devilfish, I used the Dremel to remove the footpegs, which are far too big for the modern era Joes. The old sticker residue was removed using a very gentle dishwashing liquid. Where I screwed up here was in allowing my son to help without explaining that if he scrubbed too hard, it would also remove the paint. So once all the sticker residue was gone, we had some seriously messed up white and brown areas. I don't own an airbrush, so the best I was able to do was to use spray-paint cans to try and recreate the gradual "fade-in" of those areas. While it doesn't look quite the same as it originally did, I think the results were good considering the limitations we had.













The missiles and engine covers were spray-painted red because the plastic had faded to a really lame-looking pink. The hull piece was spray-painted with flat white. All of the remaining details were painted exactly the same as my Devilfish. The "no-skid" was painted using flat black. I used a lot of aluminum, steel, gunmetal and other colors to bring out some of the sculpted details. The decals came from our pal Ruben in Mexico. Finally, the entire boat was given a liberal application of Dull-Cote to protect the paint from the future battles my son is currently planning.

Gung Ho (G.I. Joe Marine)

Okay, without exaggerating, I think this is the 6th or 7th custom version of Gung Ho that I've done. How weird is it that it took me this long to get around to doing his original 1983 look? Lately, I've been focusing on trying to fill in my 25th Anniversary collection with all of my childhood favorites so I had to get to this eventually...

Parts: Head, Torso, Upper Arms & A.L.I.C.E. pack (Comic Pack Gung Ho v19), Lower Arms (RoC Tunnel Rat v11), Legs & Vest (25th Anniversary Gung Ho v18), XM-79 Grenade Launcher (ARAH Gung Ho v1).

While version 18 of Gung Ho had the classic colors of the uniform correct, the character's skin tone was really weird, causing many to refer to him as "zombie Gung Ho". Version 19 had normal skin tone, but strayed away from the classic colors in favor of a more realistic green and brown camouflage. Essentially what I did here was take the legs from the zombie version and throw them on the non-zombie version. Then, I just needed to paint-match the pelvis area of the figure's trousers to the legs. This is an idea that I borrowed from several different customizers at HissTank.com. I also swapped the lower arms for a set that didn't have the silly-looking armbands. It always bothered me that the new, modern era sculpt had load bearing straps sculpted onto his vest (as if he were wearing webgear over the vest) but they never bothered to paint it properly. I took care of that here. I also painted the Marine Corps utility cover OD green and then painted the Eagle, Globe & Anchor insignia with black. I also gave him a better mustache (which I have done exactly the same with every Gung Ho figure I own). I really like the M-79 that came with the 25th Anniversary versions of Gung Ho, but I chose to arm him with his original 1983 weapon because I thought it was more appropriate for my purposes. The 40mm HE rounds on his left thigh were painted to match a reference photo of what they actually look like. The loops holding the rounds in place were painted green, to simulate a cloth bandolier-type thigh rig. The A.L.I.C.E. pack was detailed with several different shades of green and the frame was painted black - again, because this is what one actually looks like.