Dominator (Assault Helicopter / Tank Hybrid)

 The Dominator was the only Iron Grenadier vehicle that I never owned.  In truth, I kind of scoff at the idea of a tank/helicopter hybrid, but it is sorta fun.  But like I said, it was the only one I didn't own, so I knew I'd get one eventually.

I was able to get this one very cheap on ebay and immediately set about giving it the 'standardized' color scheme shared by all of my Iron Grenadier vehicles.  The vehicle's body pieces were painted gloss black (NOTE: I actually wanted the body to be flat black, but the decals adhere much better to a glossy surface). The engine intakes were painted gloss red.  The engine and the rotor assembly were painted metallic grey.  The missiles and cannons were sprayed with Krylon 14K Gold Plate. I ordered decals from my usual source, Ruben Jiminez (check out his new site, Rattler Repros).

Darklon's Evader (Iron Grenadier Command Vehicle)

This is nothing more than an 'upgrade' to Darklon's Evader.  The gold is a bit shinier and I added some red highlights.  I used steel, aluminum and silver to bring out the sculpted details in the engine and other mechanics.

Destro's Despoiler (Iron Grenadier Command Aircraft)

This is a bit of a touch-up to the classic Despoiler. I wanted all of my Iron Grenadier vehicles to use the black, gold & red paint scheme, so I removed all of the brown plastic pieces and spray-painted them with Krylon 14K Gold Plate. Then I added some subtle red highlights to it.

Rogue Squadron Hangar

01/27/2009 - Today, my kids and I started work on a diorama that I've wanted to do for about six or seven years (that's before they were even born). We started out by using foam board for the walls. The ceiling is not visible unless the viewer is really short or squats down, so there is not going to be a huge amount of detail there. Basically, we painted the ceiling black and affixed three rectangles of foam board to it. While it is still in the very early stages, here are a few photos:

Eventually, this will (hopefully) transform into a fully functional hangar bay featuring two of Rogue Squadron's X-Wings (Rogue Leader and Rogue Nine), a small lounge area for the pilots, a couple of turbolifts, droids, support personnel, mechanics and all of their their tools. Of course, all of our Rogue Squadron figures will be present, along with fellow pilots from Wraith Squadron and Defender Wing.













Adam couldn't resist getting into a photo!

01/29/2009 - Today, Katie and I got the walls painted and we added flooring. The two X-wings are in the photo to show the overall size of the diorama. Tomorrow, we hope to get a bit more done!

01/31/2009 - More progress today! We visited Niubniub's Universe and downloaded some decals to give some detail to the walls of our hangar bay. We added a couple of doors and miscellaneous access panels and control panels around the room. Thanks to Niubniub for providing the downloads for all to use!












We also added our turbolift (that's Star Wars-ese for elevator). It was made from a piece of PVC pipe left behind by some contractors a few years ago (I always say, use what ya got).

The top and bottom pieces are actually rubber rimmed drink coasters. My wife shouldn't mind that loss because they were the hideous ones I bought before we were married. Wait, did I just admit to that? Anyway, the thing fits snugly in the diorama. We used a decal from Niubniub's Episode VI Rebel Briefing Room to make the door to the lift.

Finally, I started using my Dremel with a cutting disc to remove the starfighter maintenance lamps from the bases of four old Rebel Pilot Cinema Scenes. You can see two of them near each of the starfighters in the pictures. When I get all eight lamps cut out, I'll be adding the power cords that run between them.

And because Adam made it into a previous update, Katie wanted to appear in this one. She's been a great help!

 
02/05/2009 - Today, we worked on some of the little details that end up making the diorama as realistic as possible. First, we managed to get pilot ladders painted, weathered and installed.  We also cut out four more of the starfighter maintenance lamps and drilled the holes for the cables that will eventually run from one lamp to the next.













Our biggest accomplishment of the day was designing a hoist system that would be able to lift starfighter engines or laser cannon assemblies anywhere in the hangar. We cut two curtain hangar bars to the width of the hangar bay and then pre-drilled a couple of screw holes. After painting them metallic silver, they were screwed into the upper portion of the walls. Another curtain rod (this time the extendable type) was also painted metallic silver and then each end was inserted into one of the "tracks" formed by the rods already screwed into the walls. The result is a long bar that can move back and forth along the width of the hangar bay. The open side of the moving part is facing down, so that we could run our hoist cables from there. We used three of the zip lines that came with the RotS Clone Commander figure for these. To keep them in place, they were draped over a thin piece of dowel which was then inserted into the moving rod. Both of the clamps are dangling free from each zip line. The premise here is that when the deck crew needs to move a heavy item, they activate one or more of the cable sets, reel it out to the required length and clamp it to the item. The item can then be moved around the hangar bay easily.















When not in use, the cables retract so that they do not interfere with starfighters entering or leaving the hangar area.

02/25/2009 - Work on this project has slowed down significantly, but it hasn't stopped. We've gotten to a point where the major work is done. The hangar is essentially finished. What still remains are the finishing details (droids, tools, mechanics, pilots, machinery, hoses, cables, etc, etc, etc). Anyone who has built something like this knows that it will likely change periodically as I buy or make new figures or ships. Some of the things we've done recently are...


















Fuel hoses! DarthSchroeder over at FFURG suggested using old speaker wires or computer cables for the diorama. We took his suggestion and found that the plugs from some of these wires worked nicely as fuel nozzles. A length of black rubber tubing was connected from each of the nozzles to the two GP-23 fuel droids we had. A tiny hole was then drilled in each X-wing's fuselage so that the fuel nozzle could be inserted. In the first picture, you can see a Rodian technician about to fuel Rogue One. The second picture shows Rogue Nine being gassed up. When removed, the "fuel ports" are barely visible.

More decals! We printed off a bunch more and used them all over the walls to simulate hatches, panels and access ports. There are also astromechs running all over the hangar now. Additionally, we added a few mechanics and most of our pilots. Down the road, a lot of these will be getting a makeover (or in some cases, a complete re-build).

07/01/2012 - I'm really not sure why we never took photos of this after it was completed.  I mean, you'd think that in the past 3+ years, we might have found a little time to share the fruits of our labor.  Anyway, we recently cleaned out the diorama (it had been undisturbed for all this time and was quite dusty).  After we replaced everything, we decided to take those long overdue photos.  We hope you enjoy!

Dragonfly XH-1 Attack Helicopter

The Dragonfly XH-1 was one of my all-time favorite toys.  I saved up about three weeks' allowance and bought it shortly after it was released in 1983.  Sadly, this is not the same helicopter - mine survived the many backyard battles, but was in such poor condition that I had to replace it.  This one got a completely new paint job.  I used the same paint as I used on my Wolverine (Krylon's Hosta Leaf).  It was reasonably close to the original, but the color just 'popped' a little more.  To get the details just the way I wanted them, I spent a lot of time searching the Internet for various images of the AH-1 Cobra Attack Helicopter, which served as the original inspiration for the Dragonfly.   

With regard to the missiles - the blueprints for the Dragonfly indicate that the missiles are Sidewinders. Although the AIM-9 Sidewinder can be carried by some helicopters, it is an air-to-air missile. Helicopter gunships, like the AH-1 Cobra, are frequently used for SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense) operations.  This means that they are assigned to take out radar and anti-aircraft sites to clear the way for fixed-wing aircraft.  So I decided that the AGM-122 Sidearm, an anti-radar air-to-ground missile, would be way more practical.  The Sidearm is no longer in service with the U.S. military, but it shared a common body style with the Sidewinder, so it was an easy thing to re-paint the existing Sidewinders in the Sidearm's color scheme.  According to the blueprints, the fat, stubby missiles were an HE (High Explosive) variant of the Sidewinder.  I could find no real world examples of anything that looked similar, so I borrowed the approximately color scheme from the J.A.G.M. (Joint Air-to-Ground Missile). 

The rotor was repainted with a dark gunmetal color.  The chin turret was painted to match the rest of the airframe.  The guns themselves were painted steel.  The engines were painted in intricate detail, despite the fact that I will probably never display the helicopter with the engine covers off.  The decals were made by Ruben Jiminez.

The only thing that kind of bums me out about this whole thing is that the 25th Anniversary Wild Bill and Airborne figures don't really fit into the cockpit.  But in the end, that's okay because I tend to always display my pilots and drivers outside of their respective vehicles so that they can be seen.

Star Speeder 1000

During a recent trip to DisneyWorld, I bought the Star Speeder 1000.  A few days ago, my dad was cleaning out his Star Wars hangar diorama and before he moved everything back in, he let me take some pictures of my Star Speeder in the hangar bay.

Bombstrike (Forward Air Controller)

File Name: Stall, Alyssa Renee
SN: 448-34-AS77
Grade: E-4
Birthplace: Cranston, Rhode Island
Primary Specialty: Forward Air Control
Secondary Specialty: Counterintelligence

Bombstrike always hits her target, whether it's scoring a goal in soccer or calling in the correct coordinates for an air strike, she's at the leading edge of the action, her eyes taking in all the details and calculating what will give her team the winning move of the day. In soccer, where it's only a game, she's a gracious loser. But it's different in battle, where lives are at stake. That's when Bombstrike plays to win, with focused intensity and uncompromising courage.

Tales from Castle Destro (Press Release)

I am pleased to announce that my second ebook, Tales from Castle Destro Volume II - Aftermath, is now available as a free download 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)	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

Coil-Vipers (Elite Infantry)

Next up is some elite infantry for the Coil!  Since the Coil is a splinter group of Cobra (a movement within the movement, if you will), most of their troops will be outfitted as standard Cobra troops.  But a small number of extremely loyal, hand-selected men would be chosen to become Coil-Vipers.

Once I actually got going on these guys, they turned out to be a much bigger departure from the original Convention Exclusive Coil Trooper.  Some may frown at my decision to use the Rise of Cobra Neo-Viper, but it actually came pretty easy for a few reasons: #1) I don't currently use the Neo-Vipers in any of my displays, so they don't look like 'just a repaint', #2) I wanted to choose something that I could hopefully find a lot of, relatively inexpensively and not have to fight other collectors for and #3) I already had a couple lying around, unused.  I do not intend to keep the MP-5's they are currently armed with.  Instead, I plan to place an order with Marauder John for some of his new hardware.

Overlord (Coil Field Commander)

If you follow my blog, you'll remember that I've recently developed a bit of a fascination with the Coil.  It's nothing approaching the fanaticism I have for the Iron Grenadiers, but I've never paid them much notice, so they're new to me and I kinda like them.  Anyway, Overlord is the third figure I've created for my Coil forces.  He is based closely on the 2006 JoeCon Convention version of the character.  Next up will be some elite Coil Troopers for him to lead as he works to achieve Serpentor's goals.

Overlord, pictured with Serpentor, Sidewinder and Dr. Mindbender.

Keel-Haul (U.S. Navy Admiral)

File Name: Colbym, Everett P.
Birthplace: Charlottesville, Virginia
Primary Specialty: Command
Secondary Specialty: Pilot

Keel-Haul graduated from Annapolis and Navy Flight School, and flew Phantom F-4's off the Intrepid in the late 1960s. He attended the Naval War College in Newport, RI and the Armed Forces Staff College, and is a holder of the Navy Cross, DFC and Air Medal. He is a respected military historian, a nationally-rated chess player, and a clarinet player of questionable talent.

I've been meaning to do this figure for quite a while.  But when it came time to paint, I decided not to give him the mismatched uniform items (Officer's khaki pants, Enlisted man's blue shirt, Officer's dress white cap) and go with a proper U.S. Navy uniform.  I dug up a bunch of photos to make sure that I got the details as correct as possible.

Agent Maria Hill (Command & Control Liason)

I don't usually do a lot of cross-overs, but after seeing The Avengers recently, it occurred to me that Agent Maria Hill would make a great background character for the Command Center in my Pit Headquarters diorama.  I decided that she'd be a liason from some government agency, tasked with coordinating and overseeing Intelligence being funneled to the Joe team.  All of the personnel working in that scene are dressed in Rise of Cobra style camouflage fatigues (I had to use those figures for something, right?), so with the uniform set, I just needed to figure out what head to use.  For quite some time, I've wondered if the RoC Attack on the Pit Baroness head sculpt might actually be good under the gobs of factory paint, so I decided to try and make it work.  I removed the hair piece and used acetone to strip all of the paint.  I was left with the bare head, cast in black plastic.  I then sculpted new hair on using several still photos of the actress from the film.  It was a fairly simple style, with the hair pulled back into a bun.  Not too difficult, but I am not usually much of a sculptor, so I was very pleased with how the it turned out.  With that done, I just had to repaint the head.  As I had suspected, I found that the sculpt looked pretty good with a decent paint application!

Badger (All-Terrain 4X4 Assault Vehicle)

This vehicle was actually created over a year ago.  Shortly after finishing it, I got the idea to make a driver for the vehicle and enter him in the Pimp Daddy Destro My Ride Contest at HissTank.











The contest's Figure Category required a new character to be the driver for a vehicle that didn't originally come with one. The character, which I appropriately named Cheesehead, was loosely based on my son (in the respect that he wanted it to be him and helped me decide on the background). The figure ended up winning first place in it's category!
















Sadly, I somehow forgot to take some pics that actually featured the vehicle, so I'm correcting that now...

VAMP (Multi-Purpose Assault Vehicle)

This is a custom that I have wanted to do since I was 10 years old.  Growing up, I had both the VAMP and the VAMP Mk II, and it always kind of bothered me that they were not uniform in color.  From a marketing standpoint it probably made sense for Hasbro to make them different colors because they hoped that the new color would appeal to kids and also because most parents would likely be reluctant to buy duplicate vehicle that differ only in the mounted weapon system (I know that would have been the case with my mother).  So when a fellow collector gave me a second 25th Anniversary VAMP, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it!  

 The missile housing and mount came from a vintage Tiger Sting.  I repainted them to match the metallic colors of the cannon on the original VAMP.  I also drilled two small holes in the rear of the housing so that the cables from the cannon could be connected to it.  This gives the appearance that the driver can control the missile launcher, just as the driver in the original vehicle could control the cannon.  To mount the missile launcher, I had to Dremel the mounting hole a bit.  I ended up having to bore into the vehicle's rear deck a bit, but I got a good mounting hole, where the launcher mount fits snugly and can still swivel.  So while this wasn't the most challenging thing I've done in a while, it was pretty satisfying.