Ferret (Iron Grenadier Tank Crewmen)

Having unintentionally become the focus of my on-going fan-fic story Tales from Castle Destro, these guys are near and dear to me.  The recipe was originally the idea of HissTank member COBRACOLLECTOR.  When I stumbled upon it, I quickly recognized it as utterly perfect!  These are all of the Ferret characters I've created to date:

Sergeant Sean Flaherty

 

Captain McLeod

Lieutenant 'Goggles' Head

Lieutenant Eduardo

Sergeant King

Corporal Swami

Sergeant Headman

Corporal Scroll

Corporal Hunger

Wild Boar (Iron Grenadier Vehicle Driver)

Once again, this is a newer version of something I've done before.  This version is much closer to the vintage figure, and uses parts that are very easily available...  so that anyone can replicate this.  I've done two of them so far and I think I'll try to do at least one more so that my Razorback can have a complete crew of them!

Iron Grenadier Medical Specialists

All Iron Grenadier combat troops have secondary training in first aid, but the Combat Surgeons and Combat Medics have the primary responsibility of maximizing the unit's combat efficiency by keeping fingers on the triggers. Combat Medics serve with frontline units and render life-saving aid on the battlefield, stabilizing wounded troops for evacuation to the rear.  Once the wounded arrive at a MARS Medical facility, the Combat Surgeon to take over. Unlike most military medics, Iron Grenadier Combat Surgeons and Combat Medics are recruited from the medical profession and then given combat training.

Combat Medic

Combat Surgeon

Detonator (Iron Grenadier Demolitions Specialist)

Detonators are the Iron Grenadiers' combat engineers.  While they are able to solve problems constructively, their true calling is in destroying things by means of explosives.  Detonators normally operate in 3-man teams, with a Sergeant or Corporal in command.

All of these were made using the PoC H.I.S.S. Tank Driver as the base.  The Sergeant got a new set of legs, taken from the 25th Anniversary Destro v21.  All of them use belts from RoC Reactive Armor Duke or Ripcord figures, shoulder pauldrons from the 25th Anniversary Iron Grenadier v6 and MARS-41A Assault Rifles from Marauder Gun Runners.

Gravedigger (Iron Grenadier Anti-Armor Specialist)

Anyone with a rocket launcher, 15 minutes of training and a little luck is capable of taking out an armored vehicle. Gravediggers make anti-armor warfare an art form. They are specialists in all known anti-armor rocket and missile systems, as well as anti-tank mines and other more 'exotic' means of defeating armor systems.

The Gravedigger uses a PoC Alley Viper figure as the base.  I swapped the legs out for a pair from a 25th Anniversary Iron Grenadier.  I did the same with the head.  The right forearm knife sheath was removed and replaced with the 'Leatherman tool' that has been packed with several figures over the past few years. This item is a must for anyone that works with explosives.  The submachinegun is from a 25th Anniversary Specialist Trakker figure and the rocket launcher is from PoC Duke.

TARGAT (Trans-Atmospheric Rapid Global Assault Trooper)

Updating my older work seems to have become a common practice for me lately.  Back when I created my first TARGAT figures, I used what I had available to make them.  A lot has changed since then and it was time to update these guys...

This version was made using a PoC Skydive figure as the base.  I added the removable helmet from my first TARGAT custom, along with the weapons and accessories from the vintage figure.  I decided to use the webgear from a Retaliation Cobra Trooper for a few reasons; #1) it has a holster for the high-energy hand laser, #2) it included six cylinders on the harness that looked like they could be explosives (like the grenades on the vintage figure), and #3) I used the Retaliation Cobra Trooper as the base figure for my Iron Anvils, so I have a lot of these webgear lying around unused.

Cremator (Iron Grenadier Flame Weapons Specialist)

These are some of the nastiest individuals within the ranks of the Iron Grenadiers. The Cremator's primary weapon system is the MARS-240 Flame Unit, which is designed for close combat situations at the squad and fire team level. The weapon uses a pressurized form of napalm which is ignited at the nozzle burner, and can be used to cover an area up to 25 meters. With a standard fuel reservoir good for up to 20 bursts, the flame unit is considered to be one of the most fierce weapons in the MARS armory. However, the fuel reservoir has a tendency to rupture violently when hit by shrapnel or small arms fire.  Cremators are outfitted with special fire-resistant suits and a closed-system breathing apparatus.

Another Contest? Sure!

When I first started Tales from Castle Destro, I began tying it together with my collection of custom Iron Grenadier action figures.  I have created (or am in the process of creating) a figure for every character featured in the stories.  Because I really like to keep you guys involved, I am going to hold a custom contest.  There won't be a physical prize for this one - instead, the winner will have his or her custom incorporated into the story.  This excerpt from the upcoming Chapter 63 will provide a bit of background:

"One of the things that had plagued them repeatedly throughout the SKAR War was an inability to respond to a specific location quickly enough, with the right forces. In the past, this had never been an issue. As a private military corporation, MARS and the Grenadiers normally chose their battles carefully, based upon the potential for business, and then deployed the appropriate forces to handle a particular mission. However, when forced to react to the actions of an aggressor, they often found themselves responding flat-footed. Destro’s intent was to reorganize a significant portion of the Grenadiers total force into all-purpose units that could respond quickly to any locale and then independently sustain combat operations for a period of time without relief or resupply. This was not a new concept; many nations had been structuring their militaries this way for years, but it was a fairly expensive one due to the redundancies required for each unit to be self-sustaining. Destro’s plan called for the creation of four Rapid Response Brigades, each commanded by a Colonel. A brigade was to consist of three infantry battalions, one artillery battalion, one mechanized battalion, one air group and a headquarters group. The core of the brigade would be the three infantry battalions. The artillery battalion would provide each of the infantry battalions with a dedicated battery for long-range fire support. The mechanized battalion would provide two companies of Ogre APCs to enhance the mobility of the infantry units. Additionally, the mechanized battalion added the firepower of one company each of DEMONs and Razorbacks. The air group would consist of three cavalry troops of Razor Gunships and one attack squadron of AGPs. This would give the brigade additional troop transport, as well as aerial fire support and fighter interceptor capabilities. The headquarters group would be the centralized command element for the entire organization."

So those that are paying close attention are probably wondering what sort of artillery assets the Iron Grenadiers have...  The answer is none.  It's your job to come up with some!  You are the MARS Industries Weapons Designer and you need to design weapon systems for the brigade artillery battalion.  This can be a towed artillery piece or a self propelled weapon.  You'll need to provide technical data and be able to explain the basic operation of the weapon.  My only real stipulation is that the weapon system must be able to fire conventional artillery shells (High Explosive, White Phosphorous, Illumination, etc) - nothing too far into the sci-fi realm. The winning entry will be included in future chapters of Tales from Castle Destro.  Additionally, I will copy it and add it to my personal collection.  And because I like prizes...  I'll also have a little something to send the winner.

Entries are to be submitted to sgthumpty@gmail.com no later than November 10th, 2012.  Please include all technical data and at least three (3) photos of the finished custom.

Now get to work - Laird Destro is waiting!

Author's Notes

After taking a short break, I am now back at work on Tales from Castle Destro.  I hope to have a new chapter up very soon.  The first chapter of each new volume seems to be the one I struggle with most. 

At the same time, I have a few other things brewing...  

One of the most common critiques I've received from readers is that I don't spend enough time explaining what a particular character or trooper type looks like.  Readers who didn't grow up playing with G.I. Joe toys had a difficult time picturing what some of the characters were supposed to look like.  I am told that this is a fairly common problem because the characters are crystal clear in the writer's mind, so it becomes easy to forget that others might not be as clear.  I have two solutions to this dilemma.  First, I am working on a Visual Reference Guide.  Most of you are probably aware that long before I started writing, I was making custom Iron Grenadier action figures.  In fact, I have created figures for almost every single character that appears in Tales from Castle Destro.  The Visual Reference Guide will feature photos of these figures as a means of illustrating each character, along with a brief biography of the character.  A rough version of this guide is already available on the right-hand side of the blog page.  I'd love to hear what you think of it.  Second, I am planning to review the first 63 chapters of Tales from Castle Destro and make some minor edits where I think it will help correct this issue.  Nothing that will change the course of the story, mind you - but if I can insert a sentence or two that clarifies what a character looks like, then it's worth the time.

You may notice that I have gone back and renumbered the chapters.  This was also a common source of confusion for many people.  So rather than having each volume start over at Chapter 1, each volume now continues where the previous one left off.  Volume I contains Chapters 1 through 22, Volume II contains Chapters 23 through 42 and Volume III contains Chapters 43 through 62.  The next chapter I publish will be 63.  Once I am done with the edits I mentioned above, I will be uploading revised versions of all three e-books.

As always, I want to thank those who have supported this blog and the three e-books it has spawned.  The first Tales from Castle Destro story was published exactly one year ago today.  Without your support and feedback, I doubt I would have continued with it this long.  I appreciate it and I hope that I can continue to entertain you for a while longer.  :)

Iron Grenadier Infantryman

This is what I've come up with as my 'standard' for an Iron Grenadier Infantryman.  The distinct lack of spare ammunition, grenades and other combat essentials had always bothered me, much like the ceremonial swords, which I felt were impractical to wear into combat.  So I designed an infantryman's belt for all of my IG infantry forces.  I made it by taking an Iron Grenadier belt, cutting the sword scabbard off and then attaching pouches and other items to it.  The IG infantryman's belt features (6) rifle magazines, (1) utility pouch, (3) hand grenades and (1) canteen.  The belt is now available from Raginspoon.

Iron Grenadier Infantry Officer

During the 25th Anniversary line, one of the Senior Ranking Officers sets featured Destro and a pair of Iron Grenadiers.  Oddly, one of the Grenadiers featured purple in place of red in the traditional Grenadiers' paint scheme.  This figure was designated as the Iron Grenadier Trooper.  The Grenadier in red was designated as an Officer.  Like many, I considered this to be a packaging error, largely for my own convenience. Since the black, gold and red troopers were more readily available than the black, gold and purple, it made sense that the more common figure would be the enlisted trooper.  This led to my adopting purple as the standard for IG Officers.  This is what I've come up with as my 'standard' for an Iron Grenadier Infantry Officer.  Each Grenadier's helmet is equipped with an intra-unit communications package, allowing troops to talk to each other during combat operations.  However, the Officer's helmet incorporates global communications system, which allows the unit commander on the battlefield to communicate directly with Castle Destro.  The ceremonial swords are still a part of the official uniform, but I felt they were impractical to wear into combat.  So I designed an infantryman's belt for all of my IG infantry forces.  I made it by taking an Iron Grenadier belt, cutting the sword scabbard off and then attaching pouches and other items to it.  The IG infantryman's belt features (6) rifle magazines, (1) utility pouch, (3) hand grenades and (1) canteen.  Both the helmet and the belt are now available from Raginspoon.

Fan-Fic Spotlight

As I said last week, writing Tales from Castle Destro has allowed me to discover some great fan-fic authors. Another of these authors is a young lady who publishes at fanfiction.net under the name Firestar9mm.  Here is my current favorite of her stories, Breathless, which takes place 'between the scenes' in the old Sunbow episode, Cobra's Candidate.  I know you're going to like it, so make sure you leave a comment for the author!

Tales from Castle Destro (Press Release)

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

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

2012 CoilCon Exclusive Story

A little while back, Jay Hunger, the proprietor of CardedHeroes.com and one of the organizers of the COIL Club's annual CoilCon, contacted me to ask if I'd be willing to help write the file cards and a short back story to set the stage for this year's CoilCon Exclusive Set.  Obviously, I was excited at the opportunity!  

Jay already had a lot of the character information sketched out with significant contributions from Moira Hunger and Jon Cremeans, so the file cards needed very little from me.  The information had to be trimmed down to fit on the cards, but these are the original, unedited cards...

CODE NAME: Dodger

Experimental Equipment Expert

File Name: Renwick, Richard
Grade: E-7
Birthplace: South Bend, Indiana
Primary Specialty: Experimental Equipment
Secondary Specialty: Special Operations

The only surviving member of BattleForce 2000, Dodger is the G.I. Joe Team's authority on all types of experimental equipment. When he’s not helping to repair vehicles and gear damaged in combat, he is off working to develop new, cutting-edge hardware that will help keep his teammates one step ahead of their many adversaries. As if that isn’t enough, he is also quite a good cook and has been known to prepare elaborate meals for his teammates on occasion. Dodger tends to be something of a perfectionist. His tenacity and commitment to mission accomplishment is virtually unparalleled. Because of this, Dodger is one of several Joes semi-permanently assigned to a task force created to locate and capture COIL agents around the globe.

CODENAME: ZILANT

Guerrilla Fighter

File Name: Classified
Birthplace: Classified
Primary Specialty: Guerrilla Warfare
Secondary Specialty: Airborne Operations

A legendary creature from Russian and Tatar myth, the zilant is a fearsome winged snake. Sometimes helpful, sometimes destructive, they are known for fiercely protecting their homes from incursion. Zilant was born in a small town in the Eastern European nation of Tatahkstan where he grew up sharing his father’s passion for building and flying ultralight aircraft. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Tatahkstan chose to remain independent and Zilant joined his nation’s fledgling armed forces, committing himself to keeping his land free from occupying forces. When Tatahkstan was later ravaged by heavy fighting between G.I. Joe and Cobra, Zilant was able to escape the carnage in one of his father’s aircraft. Driven by a desire to rid his homeland of outside oppression, he joined the COIL and used their resources to raise a homegrown force to repel both foreign armies. He combined it with his knowledge of light aircraft to become an authority in the development and use of ultralight aircraft, gliders and windsuits as a method of covertly inserting special ops troops. Recently, there's been a new force intent on invading his homeland, so Zilant is taking action once again. He thought that he had faced and defeated his enemies, but is this new man his ultimate enemy?

---

So without further ado, here is the background story for the 2012 CoilCon Exclusive...

Tatahkstan, Eastern Europe
1430 hours, local time

It had been like this for nearly two months now; humping the bush all day with nary a sign of his quarry.  The only leads coming from the locals; rumors regarding the ‘winged serpent’ that protects their homeland.  General Hawk had been prepared to bring him home two weeks ago, but Sergeant First Class Richard Renwick, codenamed Dodger, was nothing if not thorough.  The information was sketchy at best, but he’d requested a resupply drop nonetheless, and had continued with his mission.  Now, frustrated and low on supplies, Dodger was ready to pack it in.  He paused in the shade of rock outcropping, wiped the sweat from his brow and then consulted his GPS.  He had a couple more klicks to cover on his current patrol route before he would arrive back at his bivouac site.  Definitely calling for extraction after this circuit, he told himself.

***

Tatahkstan had been peaceful for some time now, and the wounds of war were slowly healing.  But this new intruder threatened all of that.  For two days now, Zilant had stalked him from a distance.  Thus far, the man had found nothing to indicate that the COIL was not only surviving, but thriving here.  But the man was tenacious and his skills were formidable, that much was certain.  Zilant struggled again with the decision to simply kill him and be done with it.  But Zilant was no fool; deep down, he knew that it wouldn’t be the end.  If the man disappeared, others would come to look for him.  Better to let him find nothing and then leave of his own accord.  He’d report back to his masters and Tatahkstan would remain at peace.  Yes, patience was called for in this case.  Still, the man was nearing one of the COIL’s early warning Observation Posts.  The guerrilla fighters manning it had been alerted to the intruder’s presence and would make every effort to remain undetected.  But if he were to stumble upon the OP, then there would be no other choice.  Time to change positions, Zilant thought to himself as he deployed his backpack glider.

***

The heat was oppressive this late in the day and Dodger paused next to a deep gorge to pull out a canteen.  His bivouac site was almost directly across the gorge and Dodger briefly considered breaking out his portable glider to hop across the gorge.  It would have been easy to do so, but it would have cut his patrol route short.  Easy is for wimps, he told himself.  As he tipped his head back to drink, he caught a flash of movement.  A bird?  No...  a glider!

***

Zilant cursed under his breath as he realized that he’d been spotted.  Action was now unavoidable.

***

Dodger used his hand to block the sun’s glare as he studied the glider circling overhead. He heard the ricochet and cursed himself as an amateur; standing in the open, gawking at the glider while its pilot lined him up in his sights.  Dodger ran hard for the treeline to his right, as three more shots struck the rocks behind him.

***

Zilant was furious.  He circled again, but saw no sign of his target.  He needed to end this quickly, before the man was able to report back to his masters.  A disappearance was one thing, but a confirmed report of enemy combatants was quite another.

***

Dodger crept toward the edge of the treeline, craning his head as he looked for his attacker.  He saw nothing and pulled back to consider his options.  Hawk needed to know about this as quickly as possible, but his Sat-Comm unit was hidden safely away near his bivouac site.  To reach it, he could circle the gorge, remaining concealed by the forest, but that would take hours.  The faster way would be to unpack his glider and shoot across the gorge.

***

Zilant caught the movement below and was astonished to see a black glider clear the edge of the gorge, headed for the opposite side.  He wheeled his own glider around and dove after his prey.

---

I hope you dug it and I expect to see some of you this weekend at CoilCon!

Until next time, Weir Aybidin!

What's next for Tales from Castle Destro?

Now that Volume III of Tales from Castle Destro is complete, several people have asked me what I plan to do next.  If my friend Nathan asks, then the answer is that I'm retiring from writing (he gets upset when I say that).  But in truth, I plan to slow down a bit.

Once my pal Hugh finishes the cover art (which I sprang on his rather unexpectedly), I'll publish the collected chapters of Volume III as another e-book.

This weekend, I'll be attending CoilCon at Kokomo Toys.  I hope to run into a few of you there.  If I don't completely fail to remember to take pictures, I'll post some of them here, as well as on the Tales from Castle Destro Facebook page.

After that, I'm planning to do some reading of my own.  Since I began writing this stuff, I've had the pleasure of discovering some fan-fic authors that I greatly enjoy reading.  Until I have something new for you, I'll try to share some work that appeals to me in hopes that you'll like it, too.

One such author is a lady who publishes at fanfiction.net under the name Catswings1026.  She writes a variety of different things, but the stories I enjoyed most were the ones inspired by IDW's Hearts and Minds by Max Brooks.  Here is one of them:  Hearts and Minds: Hard Drive.

 Captain Flaherty and the other Iron Grenadiers will be back soon.

Pathfinder (Jungle Assault Specialist)

I've never had a lot of love for Pathfinder as he was introduced after I stopped collecting Joes.  My little brother had him and I vaguely recall him only because he was released with one of the most ridiculous accessories ever - the giant weedeater.  Otherwise, the design was pretty good.  So my Jungle Assault Specialist gets a simple machete and an assault rifle.  Oh, and I substituted OD green for the turquoise used in his original camouflage pattern.  Lately, a lot of my customs have been aimed at being as 'paint-free' as possible, to keep joint rub to a minimum.  This is a perfect example of this trend.  The only paint on this guy is the head, the vest and the camouflage pattern on his trousers.

More Combat Photography

I threw together a small 'urban battlefield' scene today and wanted to take some pics.  It would probably look a little better if I had bothered to do anything with the lighting, but I was feeling kinda lazy by the time I finished the diorama...

 A Gravedigger anti-armor assaultman awaits orders.

 A Grenadier Officer issues orders to his Sergeants.

 Cremators are flame weapon troopers attached to infantry platoons during combat.

Hunting the enemy.

 Infantry Officers are often equipped with special helmets which allow them to communicate with higher command back in Scotland, no matter where they are in the world.

Captain Flaherty and Sergeant King make their way through the rubble after dismounting their DEMONs.

COIL Elite Guardsman

The Crimson Guard High Command is fond of saying that no one ever leaves the fold alive.  But this is not exactly true.  Myles Pollack, previously known as Fred XXVII, received wounds in a firefight against G.I. Joe operatives that left him with light facial scarring.  Because he no longer looked exactly like the other Fred-series Crimson Guardsmen, he was dismissed from the Guard and reassigned to menial labor duties within Cobra.  When the COIL broke free from Cobra and struck out on their own, Pollack became the only CG to leave Cobra and join them.  Once the Paoli brothers discovered his defection, they began sending men to locate and kill Pollack.  The result thus far has been several dead Crimson Guardsmen.

This was an idea that popped into my head as soon as I saw the black Dollar General Cobra Commander figure. The entire job took me about 30 minutes from start to finish.  Thanks to COIL Club member Don Neal for the figure!

Fast Draw (Mobile Missile Specialist)

This was a simple and fun custom to do. Basically, it's a PoC Blowtorch figure dyed black and then painted with a paint scheme resembling the original Fast Draw figure.  The helmeted head and rocket equipment all came from the vintage figure.  As is sometimes the case with dyed figures, the black dye kept bleeding through the paint and I had to touch up the paint a few times.  There is still a little bit of 'bleed through', but I decided that I kind of liked the look (battle-weathered), so I left it as is.  Additionally, I dry-brushed a little bit of metallic colors to simulate paint wear on the suit's heat-resistant protective plates.

Tomahawk Assault Transport Helicopter

I never owned a Tomahawk as a kid.  It was one of the few items I would really have loved, but just never managed to save up enough allowance for.  So while completing my Dragonfly restoration, I started accumulating the parts for this project.  I've actually had them all for a little while now, but the backlog of other projects has kept me from diving into it until now.  Like the Dragonfly, I wanted to pack as much 'real world' detail in as I could manage, so I knew it wouldn't be a matter of slapping new decals on and calling it 'done'.

 
Day One (08/12/2012) - The entire helo was disassembled and the decals were stripped off.  A fellow customizer suggested that I use WD-40 to soften up the crusty old adhesive residue.  I had used Goo Gone for this in the past, and it worked far better than the WD-40 did in this case - however, the Goo Gone tended to strip away the factory paint and I really didn't want to have to fix it afterward.  So WD-40 and elbow grease was the name of the game.  It took a while, but eventually it got the job done.  Once I was satisfied with the adhesive removal, I washed every single piece in warm water using Dawn dishwashing liquid to scrub them clean.  This entire process took a few hours, so when I was done, I laid out all of the parts to dry overnight and called it a day.

Day Two (08/13/2012) - Today I spent a while Googling images of the interior of military troops transport helicopters to augment the memories I had of a few hundred flights I took in the Marines.  It turns out that not very much has changed in the twelve years since I left active duty.  The interior of every modern helo I looked at was light grey, so I spray painted the insides of the engine covers and the two fuselage halves with a light primer grey. Not only is this more accurate to real military helos, but the lighter color should help to make the interior details far more visible.

 
As long as I was spray painting, I took the detachable engine pieces and spray painted them a metallic gunmetal color.  It's not too different from their original color, but now they look metallic, rather than grey plastic.  I taped off the tail ramp and sprayed the deck surfaces with this color, as well.

Day Three (08/14/2012) - I taped off the areas around the sculpted engine panels on the fuselage halves and spray painted them black.  Once dry, I gave them a light shot of the metallic gunmetal.  While they were drying, I move on to detailing the deck plate.  The seat covers were painted flat black in accordance with my reference photos.  I added the cockpit decal along with some extras.  I did the same thing for the troop bay, painting the sculpted details and adding some extra decals.

My next step was improving the weapons package on this thing.  I love that they included door guns with this, but they looked like some sort of weird lasers, so I chopped them off and kept the mounts.  A little work with the X-acto knife and the mounts were able to support an M-2 .50 caliber machinegun on the port side and a Mk-19 40mm machinegun on the starboard side.  Not only are these both real world weapon systems, but they are a significant upgrade to what we started with.

Day Four (08/18/2012) - Today, I added a little more detail to the interior - especially the cockpit.  It's a little hard to get a decent camera angle that will show the cockpit instrument panel, so you'll have to take my word for it.

I also started adding the ordnance.  I decided to spruce up the larger white missiles with some yellow striping, a painted fuse tip and a small decal so that they bore a reasonable resemblance to the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile.

The smaller grey bombs are being repainted in a 'standard' HE paint scheme - olive drab with yellow markings and silver fuses.  I hope to have those done by tomorrow.

Day Five (08/19/2012) - I finished up the bombs when I got home from work this morning.  Once they were added to the wing pylons, all I had left was a bit of weathering.  I used steel paint to touch up anywhere that the camo had been scratched off by the original owner.  This was done for two reasons; first, to simulate the normal wear and tear that all military equipment experiences and second, because it was easier than paint-matching the original color!  I used a butane lighter to carefully darken the areas around the engine exhaust. This is a trick I picked up years ago while customizing Star Wars vehicles. It simulates the carbon build-up around the exhaust ports reasonably well and can be wiped away with a wet paper towel if you decide you don't like it.  Once the helo was finished, I just needed to add the pilot, Lift Ticket, and the co-pilot, Glenda.

When I have some time, I will find a good spot outdoors and do some 'combat photography' with the Tomahawk.  This project was a lot of fun. I hope you dig it!