Gung Ho (G.I. Joe Marine)

Man, I don't even know how many versions of old GH I've done now...

This one was inspired by my kids. They're always asking me to play Joes with them, but they want me to use my own figures. Well, most of my figures are the "for display only" variety. So, I decided to make one that I could use to play with them and not worry about it getting dinged up. My little ones are 5 and 6 years old, so they don't really know much about the classic Joes. Most of their figures are of the newer RoC style. So I decided to make a "Jungle Assault" Gung Ho to fit in with the upcoming Pursuit of Cobra themes...

Parts: Entire figure (Comic Pack Gung Ho), Lower Arms (RoC Tunnel Rat), Tactical Vest (RoC Pit Commando), M16/M203 (Marauder, Inc.), Rucksack (Comic Pack Gung Ho).

Supplies: Paintbrushes, Testors paints, Folk Art paints and Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: I had an image of the upcoming PoC Jungle Assault Duke in my head, and I tried to make this figure in the same general style.

The base figure was not modified in any significant way. I did swap the lower arms for a set that didn't have the silly-looking sweatbands (or whatever those are supposed to be). Aside from that, this whole "custom" figure basically amounts to a new camouflage pattern on the cover and trousers and some new accessories.

Jungle Assault Gung Ho recently aided my son's Tiger Force Duke in defeating Cobra forces at the Battle of the Wooden Block Fortress.

Zandar (Dreadnok)

I'm not sure why, but after I finished Zarana, it took me a while to get around to finishing Zandar. I started them around the same time, but there was this big lag after I finished the first figure. Anyway, here he is...

Parts: Head, Bandanna & Shoulder Armor (Mad Joe Customizer's Zandar kit), Upper Torso, Lower Torso & Arms (RoC Monkeywrench), Upper Legs & Knife (Cobra Trooper), Lover Legs (Cobra Viper), Weapon (ARAH Zandar), Shoulder Holster (RoC Tunnel Rat), M9 Pistol (G.I. Joe Greenshirt)

Supplies: X-acto knife, Super glue, sandpaper, Super Sculpey, paintbrushes, Testors paints, Testors Dull-Cote.

References: Photos of the original ARAH Zandar figure.

The biggest challenge on this whole figure was color-matching! I wanted it to look as much like the ARAH figure as was reasonably possible and for some reason, I had a really hard time matching the colors. A lot of custom color mixing went on here...

Anyway, Mad Joe's kit gives you the head, the bandanna and the shoulder armor pieces. I came up with the rest of the parts from my fodder box. Some of them might not be a perfect match, but I've always tended to try and work with what I have on-hand, rather than buy a lot of figures to obtain a part or two from each. With the base figure assembled, I attached the shoulder armor to the upper arms. This was a bit tricky because I wanted to keep the articulation of the shoulders. If you have them lying around, it would have been easier to use the arms from a 25th-style Zartan. The head needed some Super Sculpey packed inside it to fit the neck post, bit after curing it fits perfectly. The little "tails" on the bandanna are actually included with the kit and need to be glued on after painting. The shoulder holster came from RoC Tunnel Rat. I used the X-acto knife to trim all the little bullets off the strap before painting it. After he was more or less finished, I wasn't really happy with him. I decided that he just looked too clean, so I waved a butane lighter lightly over the exposed skin areas to make him look a bit dirty. Seriously, who lives in a swamp and doesn't get a bit dirty? When I applied the Testors Dull-Cote, it really sealed the deal. No pun intended.

Baroness (Iron Grenadier Intelligence Chief)

When I collected Joes as a kid, it always annoyed me that Hasbro didn't make a Baroness figure in Iron Grenadier colors. I figured that after Destro and the Baroness parted ways with Cobra, she'd adopt an outfit that complemented the black, gold and red of the IG forces. Here is my interpretation of the Baroness as the Chief of Intelligence for the IG forces...

Parts: Entire figure (RoC Attack on the Pit Baroness), Shoulder Armor (RoC Pit Commando), Submachinegun (RoC Paris Pursuit Baroness), Holster & Ammunition Pouch (bbi Elite Forces figures).

Supplies: X-acto Knife, super glue, paintbrushes, Testors paints, Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: I was inspired by the custom figures posted by several other members at HissTank.com.

In the spirit of keeping things simple, I decided to use the Attack on the Pit Baroness for this project. My decision was aided by the ridiculously low clearance prices on this figure. The shoulder armor was cut from the flak vest of an RoC Pit Commando figure and then superglued in place. I had to be careful in order to keep the glue from getting into the shoulder joints. Once the armor was added, it was on to the paint. I went with simple red and gold hightlights that made her look as though she'd fit in with the other IG personnel. Once the paint was dry, she received a light application of Testors Dull-Cote (except for the head as I didn't want to dull the glasses or the hair).

Zarana (Dreadnok)

This is the second Zarana figure I've done. It's not that I didn't like my first version, because I still do. But I wanted to do a classic version of the character that would fit in better with my other Dreadnoks. In scouting around for fodder ideas, I stumbled upon the Zarana and Zandar kits made by Mad Joe Customizer. I picked up both while he had them on sale and got right to work...

Parts: Head, Upper Torso & Lower Torso (Mad Joe Customizer's Zarana Kit), Arms (25th Anniversary Zartan), Gloves (25th Anniversary Comic Pack Scarlett), Upper Legs (RoC Tunnel Rat), Knees & Lower Legs (25th Anniversary Cobra Viper), Backpack (ARAH Zarana), Weapon (ARAH Zarana).

Supplies: X-acto knife, Super Sculpey, super glue, sandpaper, paintbrushes, Testors paints, Polly Scale paints and Testors Dull-Cote.

References: Photographs of the vintage ARAH Zarana figure.

The kit by Mad Joe provides you with the upper torso, the lower torso and a choice of two heads, one with really tall punk-a-billy hair and the other with a hairstyle closer to the classic look. Because these parts are mass-produced, I needed to do some minor sanding and filling with the Super Sculpey (which happened to match the color of the plastic almost perfectly). A few of the parts needed to be painted prior to assembly due to the difficulty of getting a brush into some of the tighter areas later. Once the paint was dry, I applied a bit of Testors Dull-Cote and then assembled everything. The hardest thing for me has always been painting the eyes on a figure and this one was no exception! I had to start over three times after epeatedly screwing up the eyelashes, but I'm happy with the final results. I ended up painting with the tip of my X-acto knife. The backpack (thanks, Joel!) was modified to fit the newer style of backpack hole. I simply cut off the older style peg and replaced it with a short piece of Plastrux rod (thanks, Gene!). I then painted the sculpted details on the backpack (the fact that they never did this in the ARAH line always bothered me). I gave her the same wicked-looking cutting tool that the ARAH figure came with (thanks, Paul!). A little more Dull-Cote after all was complete and she was ready to join my other Dreadnoks! Seriously, I cannot say enough about the kit I used to make this figure. If you're a fan of Zarana or the Dreadnoks, this kit is a must!

Blizzard (G.I. Joe Arctic Attack Soldier)

This is another figure that I made for my son, Adam. He needed someone to fight the RoC Ice-Viper he recently picked up!

Parts: Head (Garvin Dreis from the Star Wars Scramble on Yavin Battle Pack), Body (RoC Arctic Threat Shipwreck), Uzi Submachinegun, Helmet, Skis &, Backpack (ARAH Blizzard), Goggles (25th Anniversary Para-Viper), Snowshoes & Ice Cleats (RoC Arctic Threat Shipwreck).

Supplies: Super Sculpey, X-acto Knife, super glue, paintbrushes, Testors paint and Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: None

The only real change to the original figure was swapping the head and trimming the hood. The head required a little bit of Super Sculpey inside so that it would fit the neck post properly. The hood was trimmed down using the X-acto knife. I wanted to keep the hood, it just needed to be a bit smaller so that the helmet would fit properly. Once that was done, I set about making the vintage accessories compatible. I trimmed the existing peg from the backpack and replaced it with a little length of plastrux rod so that it would fit the back hole on the figure. I have not yet been brave enough to try modifying the foot pegs on the skis. They would need significant modification to fit the figure's feet. It is possible to do so, but the skis would no longer attach to the backpack to make a nifty E&E (escape and evasion) sled. I may address the skis again, at some point. The goggles were cut and glued to the helmet. The barrel, front sight and handgrip of the Uzi were painted black. The rest of the weapon is sculpted to look like it was wrapped in white cloth for camouflage purposes, so I left it white. I also have the white pistol that came with the vintage Blizzard figure, but lacking a working holster that it would fit into, I decided to leave it out for now. Last, but not least, the entire figure was given a light application of Testors Dull-Cote to seal the paint and reduce glare.

Cobra Sniper Officer

This was another army-builder created from spare parts. I'd still like to do an Elite Viper sniper-variant with a cool name, but for now this blueshirt Officer will have to suffice...

Parts: Body (25th Anniversary Cobra Officer), Tactical Vest (RoC Sgt Stone), Dragunov Sniper Rifle (25th Anniversary Cobra Trooper).

Supplies: Super Sculpey, super glue, paintbrushes, Testors paints, Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: Photographs of a Dragunov Sniper Rifle.

Much like my Pyro-Viper figure, this guy started out as a Cobra Trooper with no weapons or webgear, so I dug around in my parts box and came up with something I liked. The tacticla vest fit well, but it was kind of bland, so I made some ammunition pouch casts (using Super Sculpey and some push molds I had created for a project several months back) and super glued them to the vest. The whole vest was then painted flat black. The Dragunov sniper rifle was painted according to a couple of photograhs I found on the Internet (why guess what it should look like when you can be precise?). Once the paint was dry, I gave him a light application of Testors Dull-Cote to seal the paint and reduce glare.

Pyro-Viper (Cobra Flamethrower Trooper)

This was essentially a project inspired by my desire to grow my Cobra ranks and use up surplus parts I had lying around. I'm not sure if Cobra ever had a flamethrower specialist before, but I figured since I had the Charbroil parts left over from my H.E.A.T. Viper figure, I might as well give them one!

Parts: Head (25th Anniversary Comic Pack Hawk), Helmet (RoC Pit Commando), Body (25th Anniversary Cobra Bazooka Trooper), Flamethrower, fuel tanks, torso armor and waist armor (RoC Charbroil).

Supplies: RIT fabric dye, paintbrushes, Testors paints, Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: None.

I had a group of three Cobra Bazooka Troopers that I got in a trade, all of them without heads and webgear. So I decided to try dyeing them a darker blue to match the rest of the Cobra blueshirt forces. The torsos turned out really well, but the arms (being of softer, more absorbant plastic) turned very, very dark blue. So they sat for a while... until I decided to use them anyway and explain away the darker uniform sleeves as being some type of elite troopers. As I had stated earlier, I had all of the flamethrower equipment and the Pit Commando (Steel Brigade) helmet in my parts box, so I put them to good use. I went with a red and blue color scheme and then applied a light coating of Testors Dull-Cote to seal the paint.

Jinx (G.I. Joe Ninja / Intelligence Operative)

Oh, look! Another custom figure that basically amounts to a head swap and some new accessories! This one was inspired by the 5 second clip in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, where Jinx is seen donning her "invisibility suit and then beating several Joes senseless.

Parts: Head (Star Wars Bultar Swann - Legacy of the Jedi 3-pack), Body (RoC Scarlett), Shoulder Holster (RoC Hawk), Sword (RoC Scarlett), Backpack (RoC Gung-Ho).

Supplies: Super Sculpey, Paintbrushes, Testors paints and Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: Screenshots from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Yep, another ridiculously simple custom. And still, I am very pleased with how this one turned out. I spotted the head sitting atop the shoulders of a female Jedi on one of my display shelves and immediately realized she'd make a perfect Jinx. No, I've never been a huge fan of Jinx, but the inspiration was there, so who am I to argue. The head needed a bit of Super Sculpey dropped inside to allow it to fit the figure's neck post a bit better. The skin tone also needed to be re-painted to match the figure. The shoulder holster was cut, trimmed and then glued back together to fit her shoulders better. Last but not least, she got a light application of Testors Dull-Cote.

Outback (G.I. Joe Survival Specialist)

Outback has never been one of my favorite characters, but my son kind of likes him and I had the spare parts lying around, so I threw this figure together in about an hour.

Parts: Head (RoC Monkeywrench), Torso (G.I. Joe Trooper), Arms (G.I. Joe Trooper). Legs (RoC Tunnel Rat), Vest, Rucksack & Carbine (AoCI Outback).

Supplies: Paintbrushes, Testors paint, Folk Art paints and Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: None.

This was just about as simple as it looks. I replaced the G.I. Joe Trooper's legs (which I needed for another custom) with some extra Tunnel Rat legs. The I added the Monkeywrench head (which came from the same mold as the Outback head). After a quick paint job, he was given an application of Testors Dull-Cote to seal the paint and reduce shine. As soon as he was completely dry, I gave him to my son, Adam. Obviously, he looks a bit different from the classic Outback, but Adam likes him!

H.E.A.T. Viper (Cobra Anti-armor Trooper)

H.E.A.T. Vipers are the elite anti-tank troopers of the Cobra ground forces. The acronym H.E.A.T. stands for High Explosive Anti-Tank. This figure was basically inspired by the fact that I had a nearly complete ARAH H.E.A.T. Viper and decided to try my hand at updating him.

Parts: Head (ARAH H.E.A.T. Viper), Body (RoC Charbroil), Weapon, Cables & Backpack (ARAH H.E.A.T. Viper).

Supplies: Dremel, X-acto Knife, Super Sculpey, Super Glue, paintbrushes, Testors paints, Polly Scale paints, Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: ARAH H.E.A.T. Viper figure and pictures of the original card art.

In choosing a body to serve as the base for this figure, I found that once you removed the accessories that came with it, the RoC Charbroil figure had most of the features I wanted and needed very little modification. I used the X-acto knife to trim the shoulder stud from the ARAH figure and then super glued it to the new body. This stud contains the post where one of the weapon hoses would eventually connect. I also used two small bits of Super Sculpey to plug the existing holes in the figure's shoulders. I cut the head from the ARAH figure and then dremelled it out to fit the neck peg of the new figure. The ARAH backpack was modified to fit by cutting off the old back post and replacing it with a small piece from the ink tube inside of a disposeable ball-point pen. Once all of the parts fit together correctly, it was simply a metter of re-painting the figure to match my references. The mixing ended up taking much longer than anticipated, but in the end, the orange yellow matched almost perfectly. The purple I mixed was a bit darker than the reference figure, but I was okay with that as it reduced the "garish" factor. The weaponry, which was badly yellowed, was repainted with a metallic silver color. When finished, the entire figure was given an application of Testors Dull-Cote to seal the paint and reduce shine.

Custom Figures by my Kids

The name DnJcustoms was born back in the days when my wife sat and painted figures with me. It stood for Don & Jen's Customs. Now that the little ones are starting to show an interest in the hobby, it might just be time for a name change...

These two figures were done by my children, Adam and Kate, who are both staunch supporters of Cobra. Although both of them have sat in my workshop slathering paint onto toys before, this is the first time that they each found a specific character or concept that they wanted to create.

Kate has been envious of my Zarana figure ever since I finished it, so she decided to make her own. All of the painting was hers. The only assistance I provided was the undoing of legs screws so that the lower legs could be swapped with those from a RoC Attack on the Pit Baroness. I also applied the Dull-Cote because she is a little young for spray cans.






Adam didn't have such a specific plan, so he sat down with some of my old G.I. Joe Order of Battle comics and tried to fins something he liked. He ended up choosing the entry for Copperhead, which used colors a bit off from the original figure of the 80's. Adam selected the colors and they match the picture almost perfectly. Again, I helped with the Dull-Cote.

Road Pig (Dreadnok)

Once I finished my Zarana figure, it was pretty much a given that I'd eventually get around to Road Pig. This one was a lot of fun, not to mention a bit more challenging than most of my recent work.

Parts: Head (Slayer Design Studios), Torso (RoC Monkeywrench), Arms (RoC Monkeywrench), Legs (RoC Copperhead), accessories (ARAH Road Pig).

Initially, I had planned to use the entire upper body from one of the WWE figures I found on clearance (you can't beat $1.73 for parts). But when I started to mock up the parts, it quickly became obvious that it was going to look weirdly disproportionate. So I ended up using one of the Monkeywrench bodies I had in my parts box. I added Copperhead's legs to give him some additional height. I did end up using the Razor Ramon head, because I liked the sneer on his face (EDIT 05/03/2011 - I replaced the Razor Ramon head with a Road Pig head from Slayer Design Studios). The belt on the Monkeywrench torso was also dremeled away and I added the belt from the same Copperhead figure I took the legs from. Once the figure was assembled, I painted it to match the vintage version as closely as possible. The anarchy tattoo was applied using the X-acto blade. I received a full set of vintage Road Pig accessories in a trade with a fellow FFURG member (thanks again, Gene). This version of Road Pig is deliberately much leaner than the original character was supposed to be, so I had to build up the shoulder pads so that they'd fit correctly. I did this by lining the underside of the pads with Super Sculpey and then gently pushing them onto his shoulders the way I wanted them to fit. I trimmed away the visible excess and dropped the pads into a mug of boiling water to cure the Super Sculpey. Once the accessories were painted and applied, I gave the entire figure some "weathering" and "road grime" by way of a dark wash and careful use of a butane lighter. The entire figure was given a light coat of Testors Dull-Cote to seal the paint and reduce shine.

Gung Ho (G.I. Joe Marine)

This figure is strictly a repaint. It was painted to match the other figures I've done for my upcoming desert battle diorama.

Parts: Entire figure (RoC Gung Ho), M16/M203 (Marauder, Inc.)

Supplies: Paintbrushes, Polly Scale paints, Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: None.



I included the comparison shot to show the two G.I. Joe team Marines together, as they'll appear in the diorama.

Sgt Humpty (G.I. Joe Marine)

This is one of the simplest custom figures I've done, but it's also one of my favorites... for fairly obvious reasons. A while back, I did a Star Wars "self-custom" as part of a Casting Call over at FFURG. While working on that figure, I found a head that looked a lot like me. I resculpted the hairline a bit, added the mustache and it was almost perfect. After finishing that project, I removed the head from the figure and asked a fellow FFURG member to make a few copies of it (thanks a million, Ash). I now have six extra copies of that "Don" head. Those heads lying unused in my parts box was what led to this project...

I really liked the Rise of Cobra Jungle Assault Ripcord figure, with the exception of the color scheme. I thought the colors were too light and didn't really see them as "jungle" colors. My daughter and I solved this issue by dyeing the figure. We removed the original head, the pistol belt and the load-bearing vest (LBV) from the figure. Then we heated a mug of water in the microwave oven for about 3 minutes. Once it was more or less boiling, we dumped the water into a plastic container with 1/3 of a package of dark green RIT fabric dye. As soon as the dye was dissolved (about 10 seconds) we dropped in the figure and the boonie cover (hat) that came with it. We let it soak for about 10 minutes or so. Using gloves to keep the dye off our fingers, we occasionally repositioned the joints so that the dye got into all of them equally. We rinsed the figure in cold water and allowed it to air-dry. If you look closely in the photos, you can see that the G.I. Joe team insignia is still visible, but is now a subdued green.

Once it was dry, we added the LBV, the pistol belt and the backpack. The backpack appears to be an almost identical match to the old A.L.I.C.E. packs we carried when I was in the Marines. The LBV and pack were painted with a variety of greens to simulate the various shades found in green nylon web gear. The head was hollowed out with a Dremel so that it would fit the neck post. "My" skin was painted a fairly dark tan, so as to imply the tanned features common to troops who spend so much time outdoors. The hair on "my" head was painted dark brown, as was "my" mustache. "My" eyes were also painted brown. The assault rifle is from Marauder, Inc.

I'm something of a history nerd and I always loved the file cards that came with the Joes I had as a kid. So, I used the File Card Creator over at Joe Customs to create a file card for the character. Those who know me are aware that I served in the U.S. Marine Corps for a little over 9 years. I took my own military background and applied it to this character. In trying to remain humble (not to mention somewhat grounded in reality), I stuck strictly to the facts. The only deviation from this was the obvious fact that I am not a part of the G.I. Joe team! The quoted opinions on the bottom portion of the file card are taken from performance evaluations or other such documents. The nickname "Humpty" was actually given to me by another Sergeant that I served with during one of my stints as an instructor.

JBM Patrol Vehicle

This was a really fun project. I made this for my Boss' son. It is a replica of the squad cars we drive each night. I included two JBM Security Officer figures with it (thanks for the bodies, Ash). When I finished it, I put it back into the original package so that it could be wrapped and placed under the Christmas Tree. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any photos until I had completely repackaged the thing! After Christmas had come and gone, my boss told me that his son liked to let the Security Officers "stay home and sleep" while Anakin Skywalker used the Squad Car to patrol the city streets!

Cobra Super F.A.N.G. (Attack Helicopter)

The F.A.N.G. was the primary attack helicopter used by Cobra forces during their early years. It possessed both an open cockpit and a large heat signature, both of which were weaknesses exploited time and again by G.I. Joe gunners. Eventually Cobra Commander directed that the F.A.N.G. be replaced by the F.A.N.G. II. However, design problems and production delays with the new helicopter frustrated him repeatedly. In the interim, he directed that all existing F.A.N.G.s be augmented with additional weaponry, heavier armor and a more powerful engine. This resulted in a helicopter that performed no better, but exploded far more brilliantly when targeted.










This project was completed for my son and is basically just a re-paint of The Corps! attack helicopter, which is available at Wal-Mart for about $6.00.












I was originally drawn to the base toy because it so closely resembled the original 1983 Cobra F.A.N.G. (the Cobra F.A.N.G. shared by my brother and I was destroyed during the Battle of Kenny's Ditch during the mid-1980's). It looked a lot like someone had taken the original helicopter and added extra armor, extra guns and a pair of wing pylons to carry rockets. I re-painted it so that the colors closely matched the original toy. I found some suitable decals at G.I. Joe Customs and modified them for the helicopter. I also found some of the winged Cobra logos normally found on later Cobra aircraft. I applied one of these to the nose area, only to discover later that it would be concealed by the dual machine guns. Alas...

Cobra Slither (Fast Attack Fire-Support Vehicle)

The Cobra Slither is an all-weather, all terrain fast attack vehicle capable of delivering precision fire support to Cobra ground forces.

















This project was completed for my daughter and is basically just a re-paint of The Corps! Komotto vehicle, which is available at Wal-mart for about $7.00.













I based the colors loosely on the color scheme used by Cobra Alley-Vipers. I found some suitable decals at G.I. Joe Customs and then modified them a bit for this vehicle. They did not come out quite as vivid as I'd have liked, but I don't think they look bad.











I am thinking about doing a special driver figure for it and coloring him like an Alley-Viper. Kate doesn't have any Alley-Vipers at the moment and that might be something we have to correct. But for now, the Slither serves as the personal vehicle of Kate's favorite characters - The Baroness and Destro.

Gung Ho (G.I. Joe Marine)

I loved the way Gung Ho was portrayed in Resolute. The subsequent figure was good, but not quite where I wanted it to be...

Parts: Entire figure (RoC Gung Ho), Upper arms (Comic Pack Gung Ho), Rifle (custom).

Supplies: X-acto knife, super glue, paintbrushes, Testors paints, Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: Screenshots from G.I. Joe: Resolute.

The mustache was repainted to match what was seen on-screen. To give Gung Ho some bigger arms, as well as the T-shirt he wore in Resolute, I simply swapped his upper arms with the ones from a comic pack GH. I used the X-acto knife to very gently score the lines where the T-shirt sleeve ended. Then, I painted the area to match. I also used the X-acto knife to cut a slit between his trigger finger and te remaining digits so that the finger would fit into the trigger guard. That's the entire modification to the figure.

The rifle was chopped and super glued together from a few different things. The base rifle came from 25th Anniversary Baroness. The stock was cut off and replaced with one that I took from a bbi Elite Force MP5. The scope is a drastically shaved down AN/PVS-4 night vision scope that came with my modular M4's from Marauder, Inc. The ammunition drum was trimmed from one of the many weapons that came with the RoC Pit Commando. The grenade launcher was taken from some really cheap piece of junk that was lying in the bottom of my spare weapons box. Finally, the flash suppressor was a small bit of the thin black hose that is common among Joe figures.

Short-Fuze (G.I. Joe Mortarman)

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!

Zarana (Dreadnok)

As a kid, I was never a big fan of the Dreadnoks. In fact, I kind of disliked them. Lately, however, they have held a new appeal for me and I've started to build my own little gang of them. In keeping with the recent trend of "reinventing" classic characters (or at least giving them fancy new outfits), this is my take on Zarana. Part blue jeans and biker leather, part high tech assassin. All around bad-ass hottie.

NOTE: For wildly accurate classic versions of Zarana, Mad Joe and Novascream (along with many, many others) have done some really top notch work. I think at some point, I'll want to try to recreate the masterful jobs they've done with theirs.

Parts: Agent Helix (entire figure), Shotgun (Bench Press).

Supplies: Paintbrushes, Testors paints, Testors Dull-Cote.

Reference: Various... and at the same time, none!

After deciding that I wanted to use the Helix/Dialtone head for Zarana, I spent several hours mixing and matching parts, trying to get the effect I was looking for. Eventually, I realized that I couldn't do any better than unsing the entire Agent Helix figure.

I painted the legs with a light blue to simulate faded jeans. I liked the knee pads and boots, so I left them as they were. Although I was originally looking for an upper body that show

ed more skin, I liked this one for it's utter practicality. I went with a plain grey shirt under what looks like leather body armor. Won't stop a bullet, but it'll give her the edge in any kind of hand-to-hand engagement. The pink hair was a no-brainer. You can only change so much, right? The shotgun was a nod to Zarana's very first comic appearance (she was carrying the same type when she surprised the Cobra hierarchy at Zartan's swamp hideout).